Speakers

	Carole Carson Event Chair Babington Group To be published shortly.

	Judith Compton Assistant Director UKCES Judith works at the UK Commission for Employment and Skills supporting the development of policy on Employer Ownership of Skills, Apprenticeships, and vocational education. She is focusing on encouraging employers to come forward with scalable ambitious propositions for Round 2, after her successful contribution to getting employers to step up in Round 1. She worked for the Sector Skills Development Agency and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority previously on a range of reforms to national occupational standards, vocational qualifications (including Diplomas and Foundation Degrees), and regulation. She taught for fourteen years in three different further education colleges, and recognises the important role providers have in shaping and delivering vocational education and training so that it meets the needs of employers and individuals in their geographies.

	Mark Froud Managing Director Federation for Industry Sector Skills and Standards Mark has been Managing Director of the Federation since January 2012. He has simplified the process of certifying Apprentices and wants to increase the quality and quantity of Apprenticeship demand and supply. He is an experienced business leader, economist and business strategist. He has been involved in skills policy and delivery for over 20 years. Until May 2012 he was Chief Executive of Sussex Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise (16 years). In addition to being one of the largest Chambers in the UK it ran the Business Link Service in Sussex (27,000 businesses assisted), managed Sussex Learndirect and national eskills delivery and worked with over 5,000 employers to complete training needs analyses on behalf of training providers. He developed the company’s reputation for delivering high quality, action focused research that underpins operational capability. He used this to develop the organisation’s media relations and campaigning activity and managed their economic development projects, delivery of business networking opportunities to businesses, and economic and customer research. Mark was until May 2012 a Director of the British Chambers of Commerce. Before moving to Sussex Mark was commercial research manager at the Policy Research Institute. He specialised in economic and skills development and worked (with Professor Mike Campbell) on the groundbreaking earnings return on learning research in 1995. He advised the Sri Lankan government on their vocational training policy as well as working extensively in the UK and in Europe.

	Elaine McWilliam Co-investment Manager Skills Funding Agency To be published shortly.

	Stella Turner Head of Qualifications and Delivery Association of Employment and Learning Providers Stella is responsible for keeping a ‘watching brief’ on matters related to qualifications and curriculum development. She represents AELP on groups such as the Skills Funding Agency’s Qualifications Approvals and Governance Group and the BIS Vocational Qualifications Forum plus various Awarding Organisation Consultative Committees. Since joining AELP Stella has managed a number of projects, including work related to the Qualification Credit Framework (QCF) Readiness Programme, Functional Skills Support, Unit Delivery Trials, the review of FE Teaching and Training Qualifications and the promotion of Higher Level Skills. More recently she has taken on responsibility for overseeing and managing work allocations within AELP’s delivery team. Stella has always worked in the education and training sector and has over 10 years experience of working for a work based learning provider. As a Senior Training Manager for a large training provider in Bristol, she was responsible for a team of ten, overseeing and contributing to the design and delivery of a range of both government funded and commercial programmes including IT courses, Apprenticeships and NVQs in a variety of occupational areas. Prior to joining AELP Stella worked for the Awarding Body OCR as a Customer Support Manager. This role involved working with local authorities, schools, colleges and training providers providing information and guidance on qualifications and government reforms.