The members of the ColegauCymru Board serve as the trustees of the Charity and Directors of the Company Limited by Guarantee. The membership of the board is independent of the representative body, the ColegauCymru Chief Executive and Principals’ Forum, but works closely with it to achieve the Charity's strategic mission, promoting world-class education, training and skills and outcomes for all post-16 learners in Wales. All Trustees and Directors appointed shall hold office for an initial period of three years and use their personal and professional experience to support the Chief Executive and staff of ColegauCymru Ltd.

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Chief Executive / Principal, Coleg Gwent

Guy Lacey, Chair
About Guy Lacey, Chair

Joined: July 2018

Guy was appointed CEO/Principal of Coleg Gwent in August 2015.  Guy graduated from Oxford Brookes University and has post graduate qualifications in Secondary Education from Bath University.  Guy has spent the last 25 years in a number of UK schools and colleges and has gained knowledge of a wide range of approaches to the delivery of skills and training to meet the needs of young people and adults. In addition Guy worked as a GCSE examiner for the University of Cambridge examinations syndicate and worked as a peer Inspector with Estyn for over ten years.  

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Chief Executive / Principal, The College Merthyr Tydfil

Lisa Thomas, Vice Chair
About Lisa Thomas, Vice Chair

Joined: January 2023

Lisa joined the FE sector as Assistant Principal in September 2012. Having started her career as a history teacher in 1993, Lisa benefits from over 25 years’ experience of leadership and management roles within secondary and further education and local government. As a member of ColegauCymru, Lisa has represented the sector in several Welsh Government working groups and played an influential role in shaping government policy regarding the FE sector in Wales. She is also an experienced ESTYN peer inspector. Lisa has more recently acted as Interim Chair for the ColegauCymru HR Director Network and Wales Negotiations Committee FE (WNCFE). 

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Chair, Learning and Work Institute

Jeffrey Greenidge
About Jeffrey Greenidge

Joined: August 2019

Jeff Greenidge is an experienced senior education leader, with a reputation for independent and strategic thinking. Jeff has taught at all levels of education from Primary, Secondary, Adult Education and Post Graduate teaching at Swansea University. He then worked for the Welsh and UK Government on the design and implementation of the National Curriculum before spending 3 years developing European vocational training programmes. Then followed 17 years at learndirect where he was first Director in Wales, then Northern Ireland and ultimately responsible for the delivery of education and training to circa 70,000 adults per annum across the UK. Since leaving learndirect in 2015, Jeff has supported education and community organisations to assure their impact. The impact approach moves people and organisations quickly to insight and helps them stay focused on their breakthrough thinking so that real sustainable change takes place. In his spare time he walks and cycles in the mountains of South Wales.

Jeff brings over 25 years of experience of senior level strategic leadership and management in large complex education organisations within the public, commercial and not for profit sectors in UK and wider Europe.

 

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Louise Casella
About Louise Casella

Joined: August 2019

Louise Casella is an experienced leader in higher education in Wales and beyond with particular expertise in the strategic development of organisations. Since January 2018, she has been Director of The Open University in Wales, leading the strategic management, development and growth of the OU in Wales and supporting strategic change in the OU across the UK.

Prior to joining the OU in Wales, Louise worked as a consultant and interim manager and assignments included periods at Stirling University, and at Wrexham Glyndwr University for 18 months, where she was Pro Vice Chancellor. Louise built her career at Cardiff University, where she held posts as Head of Planning, and Senior Executive & Head of the Vice Chancellor’s Office, before becoming Director of Strategic Development between 2004 and 2012. She has also held a wide range of non-executive and board positions with a variety of organisations in education, sport and media.

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Governing Body Vice Chair, Coleg y Cymoedd

Dr Paul Smart
About Dr Paul Smart

Joined: January 2021

Having graduated with a BSc and PhD in Engineering, Paul commenced his career in Operational Research in both the gas and steel industries.  He subsequently join the UK manufacturing plant of an International Cosmetics company where he worked as both a Production Manager and Head of Human Resources.  He subsequently took a role in the company’s headquarters as UK Human Resources Director for Operations, Supply Chain, Finance and IT. 

After 37 years with the company, Paul has now retired but still works part-time as the company’s Pension Liaison Manager and as a Pension Fund Trustee. 

Paul has been a Governor of a number of FE colleges over a period of more than 20 years.

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Senior Lecturer, Cardiff University

Dr Rhiannon Evans
About Dr Rhiannon Evans

Joined: November 2021

Dr Rhiannon Evans is a Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University. She is a member of the executive management team at the DECIPHer research centre, which focuses on the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

She has extensive methodological expertise in intervention evaluation research, particularly in educational settings. Her substantive research interests focus on the promotion of mental health and wellbeing, in addition to the prevention of self-harm and suicide.

She had led and supported national evaluations of education-based mental health services, including MHFA training for secondary-school staff and counselling provision. She has a particular focus on educational and health inequalities, notably outcomes for care-experienced children and young people.
 

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Chair, Wales Tourism Alliance

Suzy Davies
About Suzy Davies

Joined: November 2021

Following a career in arts marketing, Suzy Davies worked as a solicitor in Mid Wales before being elected to the Senedd in 2011. She has served on several Senedd committees including those covering education, skills, Welsh language and Brexit. She was Shadow Education Minister during the passage of the Curriculum Bill and was directly involved in scrutiny of education legislation and policy during her ten years in Cardiff Bay. 

Suzy has volunteered and been a board member for several small Welsh charities and been a school governor. A founder member of the Welsh International Film Festival, she is currently a board member of the international Iris Prize LGBT+ Film Festival and Chair of the Wales Tourism Alliance. A campaigner for more women in public life, she continues to mentor for Women's Equality Network Wales and Ethnic Youth Support Team.
 

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