MAXINE ROOM CBE

Dr Maxine Room, Founder of Medacrii Consulting Agency, Director of MG Consultancy London LTD and Advisor to All of Us, is a respected educator and consultant specialising in equality, diversity and inclusion, anti-racism, executive coaching, and mentoring. Her extensive teaching career in the UK culminated in the position of CEO/Principal of several Further Education colleges and a prominent role as a member of the Black Further Education Leadership Group. Additionally, Dr Room is the Vice President of the Northern Ballet and a trustee of Greenwich and Docklands International Festival.

With a passion for learning, equality, diversity and inclusion Maxine has improved the quality of education and training in Further Education through her leadership and was recognised with a Commander of the British Empire Medal (CBE) in 2012. Though her work and personal life she strives to drive the seam of inclusion and her values can be encapsulated in inclusive diversity. This is particularly evident in her coaching and mentoring practice as she encourages others to take action towards achieving personal and organisational goals. A tireless learner, she is currently pursuing interests in the online learning developments in blockchain, digital ledger technology and cryptocurrency.

Maxine, a trained home economist who formerly ran the London baking academy “The Learning Loaf” now bakes and cooks for pleasure in sunny southern Spain. She’s a keen tennis player, practices both beach pilates and Cross Fit with a “Use It or Lose It” motto and also enjoys entertaining alongside her amateur chef husband.

NIKKI COLLIER

Nikki Collier is a senior leader with over 25 years experience in the education landscape from teacher to Vice Principal to Senior Consultant. As Leadership of Curriculum, her student outcomes were in the top 10% of Further Education Colleges in the UK. She excels at promoting institutional core values, mission, strategy and development.

Her extensive experience at project management for both new builds and startups, including mobilisation across multiple sites and countries, has resulted in a 100% track record delivering new builds on time and in budget for over 1,000 students. Additionally she has successfully improved curriculum areas to achieve outstanding grades in many colleges and training providers.

Nikki is a highly transformative leader who uses noticeable interpersonal communication skills, such as listening, empathizing, coaching and problem solving. She is a skilled strategist who transforms plans into workable solutions and benchmarks performances against key operational targets and goals in order to deliver a down-to-earth approach for improvement.

In her free time, Nikki enjoys soaking up the sun in tropical climates!

BALVIR DHILLON

Balvir Dhillon is the Founder of Golden Ethics Company Limited, a solution-based company focusing on entrepreneurship, employability, business development, leadership and education. She is non-Executive of Himilo/Ashley Community Housing (ACH) focusing on asylum and refugee settlement while advocating and providing leadership for the Community Impact Group. Balvir works tirelessly in delivering international humanitarian rights and ensuring the empowerment of diverse communities for justice, freedom of speech and instigating positive actions at home and overseas. Her leadership, management and teaching career led to senior positions within the different sectors as Ambassador, Governor, Chair and Vice Principal.

An experienced NLP executive coach, Balvir focuses on coaching and mentoring innovative cultures, and shifting fixed mindsets to nurturing growth mindsets through a practice of organisational development at corporate, public and third sector levels. An active member of Operational Black Vote (OBV), a Fellow of the International Entrepreneurial Educators, and an Ambassador for Global Poverty Project, she practices genuine interest in closing the gap on child poverty, human rights of women and disadvantaged groups both local, national and international.

Her core values of respect and pure challenge are embedded in her Sikh faith as “Nishkam’ a practice of selflessness service to others. This strong belief system that every individual has special qualities to be nurtured and uplifted ensures the universal growth of active global citizens for UN sustainable goals.

Living life to the fullest, her mantra is: ‘Everybody has a Good Soul’, and the motto borrowed by Wayne Dyers, “Tao” of ‘Doing Nothing but Leaving Nothing Undone’, along with the latest phrase: ‘Live with Uncertainty and Be Ready to be Disrupted’.

Balvir describes herself as ‘a bit wild’ as she enjoys exploring and creating new pathways in everything she touches. Living on the edge is where she feels most energised and productive, so jumping out a plane at 15,000 feet is no issue! Her future bucket list aspirations include climbing Mount Kilimanjaro followed closely by walking the Great Wall of China.

AMANDA DICKENS

Amanda Dickens is an experienced board member, technology entrepreneur and former Big 4 strategy consultant with over 25 years’ experience in leadership, coaching and mentoring. Previously she co-founded and created a multi-million pound disruptive innovation consulting practice for PwC UK and has recently built a startup helping stroke survivors rehabilitate using virtual reality.

A board member of Capital City College Group, Amanda has a strong commitment to education and lifelong learning. She is also passionate about diversity and inclusion, in particular, LGBTQ+.

Amanda is a married mother of three teenagers and a rescued French Bulldog called Winston. In her spare time she mentors young people and visits local schools to give career talks and run disruptive innovation workshops. She’s also writing her first book.

DENNIS FRANCIS

Dennis Francis is an experienced human resource professional with a passion to transform equality, diversity and inclusion within organisations. His successful track record of senior managerial positions and working with a number of stakeholders has led to the creation of practical and innovative diversity strategies; which in turn he has translated into people management practices and business processes to support high performance and service excellence.

Through achieving the United Kingdom Investors in Equality & Diversity (UKIED) Gold Award on behalf of organisations, introducing a Senior Management Shadowing Scheme, or developing strategic ED&I objectives, Dennis has demonstrated an ability to be pragmatic and resilient and results focussed as well as the talent to navigate ambiguity and complex issues with confidence.

After an accomplished career in the public sector, Dennis, a qualified Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) coach, moved his role as the Group Manager, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion to develop a portfolio career in August 2020. His expertise has been sought by the Association of Colleges to support the equalities impact of the merger of two Colleges in the North East of England and, in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement, to review the recruitment and selection practices of a newly formed College group in London. He has also been engaged by an established College to help support a newly appointed ED&I team on a number of strategic and operational projects.

Dennis balances the demand of his career, by doing pro bono work for a Christian-based charity, leading Bible discussions, cooking, baking (a skill developed during lockdown) and doing DIY projects.

JO HEGGIE

Jo Heggie is an accomplished education professional with two decades of senior level positions and 13 years experience as Headteacher. Jo understands the challenges senior leaders face and is keen to work with them to successfully manage their professional demands whilst retaining a sense of self. With a passion for finding solutions and developing people and teams, she nurtures strong trusting partnerships with those she works with and specializes in developing resilience and managing change.

Motivated by a desire to support leaders in their personal development, Jo coaches and mentors leaders, enabling them to gain new self-awareness, helping them to identify goals and plan positive steps for action in areas including leadership, management and personal effectiveness. She is currently completing the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) Level 7 Executive Coaching and Mentoring Certificate and has specific skills in executive coaching and mentoring with a focus on offering 1:1 support to experienced, new and aspiring leaders in the education field and beyond.

Jo loves to cook and in her spare time you might find her making some of her favorite dishes from one of her 19 Jamie Oliver cookbooks, exploring in her camper van, or sweating it out with some hot yoga.

JOHANNE PENNEY

Johanne Penney is a senior executive leader who has proactively championed the equality and diversity agenda throughout 20 years of working for a range of professional bodies. She is Deputy Chief of Staff at Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), an Equality and Diversity Associate at INVolve The Inclusion People, holds a Bachelor of Law degree and is a motivational speaker and can be booked on the social media ‘PepTalk’ expert platform. She has nearly a decade of experience as Senior Policy lead with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, collaborating across peer organisations to create innovative education and training policies. She is a naturally excellent communicator whose key strength lies in building and maintaining constructive relationships. Johanne radiates positive energy and enthuses others as a leader while demonstrating her experience in influencing at a senior level, including lobbying government ministers. She has a wealth of policy experience and extensive capability in research, writing policy papers and with a strong consultation background of both internal and external senior stakeholders, she delivers inspirational programmes for any forward-thinking organisation.

In 2020, after seeing a gap in education in equality, diversity, and inclusiveness within corporate companies she founded ‘Amp Up Your Voice’, an equality and diversity consultancy, to focus solely on delivering high energy, unique training, and education for the workforce. Johanne educates, trains, facilitates and mentors up to senior executive & board level for corporations and organisations.

Johanne is also a freelance culture writer and currently writes for ‘Millennial Femme’ a social media platform dedicated to the empowerment of Black women. She is an experienced content writer specialising in press releases, statements and blogging on behalf of organisations, particularly on current affairs and racial disparity. Unapologetic in her passion to achieve real equality for black, minority and ethnic groups and ensure diversity and inclusion, Johanne strives to shift the dial establishing fundamental, tangible change for progressive companies and individuals alike.

Johanne’s passion is also in music and she can be found dancing and singing most of the time, whether home alone or with her strong cohort of girlfriends.

DARCY TUSCANO

Darcy Tuscano is a journalist, content creator, social media manager and editor who has worked in marketing, advertising, and in non-profit education in the USA, Europe and Asia. An experienced writer, blogger and public speaker her professional and volunteer work have led her throughout four continents and 35 countries. In 2019 she was featured as a keynote speaker at the Bali Family Adventure Summit, a week-long venture for families seeking educational alternatives. She formerly held the position of Staff Writer and Copy Editor of the family travel magazine “Everywhere”. Darcy is deeply committed to education equality with a focus on LGBTQ issues and her humanitarian aid work has brought her to the front lines of the refugee crisis in Greece and Turkey.

Originally from the USA, Darcy has lived and worked in Japan, France, and Thailand. Her future plans include returning to South East Asia and devoting her time to organisations involved in championing the rights of human trafficking victims. A single mom, she is currently raising her children in a coastal southern Spanish village where she embraces learning a new language, culture and customs.

Darcy, whose motto is “Don’t Call it a Dream, Call it a Plan” is a baker, yogi, swimmer, lover of 80’s alternative music and avid hiker who plans to walk the Camino de Santiago in 2021.

LESLEY SHEPPERSON

Lesley Shepperson is an Education and Business Consultant and Executive Director of Shepperson and Shepperson Consultants Ltd with more than 30 years experience in the Education sector. She is a Certified LEADing Practice Business Analyst and her passions lay within education development, business and the creative industries. Working within the Public, Private and Third Sectors, Lesley strives to improve the performance of individuals and teams, unlock strategic solutions for leaders and managers and develop policies, strategies and training for the benefit of communities. In short, Lesley maximises the way people learn and work.

Her journey has led her to work with local, national and international organisations, developing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standards, writing an international education column, national and international qualifications development, quality assurance, designing coaching and mentoring frameworks and support of emerging businesses within the Creative Industries. Lesley is committed to her family and local church in Scotland, where she serves in the leadership team, is an author and motivational speaker. She enjoys life and expresses her creative childhood passion through leather craftsmanship where she designs and manufactures luxury handmade leather goods for LellieBag. Lesley’s motivation is to franchise and re-enfranchise the disenfranchised so that individuals and organisations can realise their highest authentic expression of themselves and add value to others.

Contact

For more information on COST-EFFECTIVE SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, TRAINING DAYS and CONFERENCES for STAFF or STUDENTS contact us to develop a package within your budget.

Dr Maxine Room CBE

E. info@medacrii.com

T. +44 (0) 7507 525 100