Conference speakers

Bob Geldof KBE
Humanitarian, pop star, broadcaster and businessman

Bob Geldof is best known for organising the 2005 Live 8 and 1985 Live Aid benefit concerts. He is incredibly well informed, not just about African famines and aid organisations, but also about London and Washington politics, global communications and business. His presentations are highly provocative and he uplifts and inspires audiences as he motivates through his own personal experiences and the lessons learned from Live Aid.

Bob was nominated for the Nobel Peace Award 2007. This is Bob’s sixth nomination and follows the Nobel Man of Peace Award that he received in 2005.

Bob Geldof is an influential and inspiring speaker. He is highly entertaining and has great insight into the socio-political and upliftment arenas as well as leadership, communications, marketing in the global village, motivation and self-development.

Ian Gilbert
Founder of Independent Thinking Ltd

After leaving the University of Durham in 1988 with a French degree, Ian embarked on what was known as a ‘Diploma in Entrepreneurial Management’ at the Durham University Business School. During his diploma he was involved in a series of workshops, which included a session entitled ‘The Psychology of Success’. He began to realise that there was more to life than waiting to be told what to do and doing it well: attitude, creativity, taking responsibility, genius, goal setting and much more – all the stuff that he had never been told before but was beginning to wish he had. He also began to formulate the idea of working with young people to take these ideas into schools around the country.

After a career in management and advertising, he decided to move into teaching as a way of moving closer to his goal of working with young people to help them become more successful through improved thinking skills. Whilst teaching he met a colleague in the staffroom who liked his ideas and helped him set up Independent Thinking Ltd – this was in 1993 and since then he has never looked back.

Rt Hon Jim Knight MP
Minister of State for Schools and Learners

Jim was elected MP for Dorset South in June 2001. Between 2001 and 2003 he was a member of the Defence Select Committee. Jim was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Rosie Winterton MP at the Department of Health in 2003, before going on to serve as PPS to the Department of Health’s Ministerial Team in 2004. Following the 2005 General Election, Jim was promoted to Minister for Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity and continued to work at DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) until he became Minister of State for Schools and Learners in May 2006.

Between 1997 and 2001, Jim was leader of the Labour Group, and Deputy Leader of Mendip District Council. In 1999 he became Mayor of Frome. Jim, 41, was educated at Cambridge. Before entering Parliament, he managed a publishing company, based in the West Country, for 10 years. Prior to that, he managed arts venues and worked for a small scale travelling theatre company. Jim is married with two children.

Tony Mackay (conference facilitator)
Director, Centre for Strategic Thinking

Tony Mackay is Director of the Centre for Strategic Education, Melbourne, Australia; Deputy Chair of the recently announced National Curriculum Board; President of the Australian Curriculum Studies Association; Board Director of the Australian Council for Educational Research; Board Member of the University of Melbourne, Faculty of Education; and Australian College of Educators 2006 medallist.

Internationally, Tony Mackay is President-elect of the International Council for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI); founding member of the governing council of the National College for School Leadership; Chair of the Board of Directors of the Innovation Unit Ltd, England; OECD Senior Consultant for Projects on Schooling For Tomorrow, Leadership and New Models of Learning; and a DEMOS International Associate.

Tony’s work focuses on strategic thinking and facilitation for government bodies, education agencies and think tanks.

Estelle Morris
Former Secretary of State for Education and Skills

Estelle Morris is Chair of the Strategy Board at the Institute of Effective Education at the University of York, a member of the House of Lords and active in a number of organisations in both education and the arts. Estelle started her career as a teacher at Sidney Stringer School and Community College in Coventry in 1974.

She was elected as a member of Warwick District Council in 1979 and led the Labour group for seven years. In 1992 she was elected as MP for Birmingham Yardley and in 1994 she was appointed as opposition spokesperson for Education and Employment. After Labour’s 1997 election victory, Estelle became parliamentary under-secretary in the Department for Education and Employment and, in 1998, she became the minister for School Standards.

In 2001 she was appointed to the post of secretary of state for the newly created Department for Education and Skills. Estelle resigned from this post in 2002 but returned to the front bench eight months later as minister in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. She was appointed to the House of Lords after the May 2005 election.

Steve Munby
Chief Executive, NCSL

As NCSL’s chief executive, Steve’s role is to set the College’s strategic direction. He began his career as a secondary school teacher in Birmingham, later moving to the north east of England, where he worked as a teacher and then as a lecturer. In 1987 he became a consultant on assessment and records of achievement working for the nine north east local authorities, before taking up a post at Oldham Borough Council in 1989 as an inspector within the education department. In Oldham, he went on to manage the Advisory Service before moving to Blackburn with Darwen as Assistant Director in 1997.

From 2000 to March 2005, he was director of Education and Lifelong Learning in Knowsley.

Richard Olivier
Director, Olivier Mythodrama Associates

Richard Olivier is Artistic Director of Olivier Mythodrama, a unique leadership development consultancy. He was a leading theatre director for over 10 years and directed Henry V for the opening of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London in 1997. He has worked extensively in the fields of organisational and personal development. His work today is at the leading edge of bringing the world of theatre into the development of authentic leaders.

Richard is the founding voice within Mythodrama, a new form of experiential learning which combines great stories with psychological insights, creative exercises and organisational development techniques to explore issues faced by modern leaders. From 1999-2005 he was the master of Mythodrama at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. He is the co-author (with Nicholas Janni) of Peak Performance Presentations – ‘How to Present with Passion and Purpose’, and the author of ‘Inspirational Leadership – Henry V and the Muse of Fire’.