Mike Gibbons - Chief Executive
Mike joined DfES Innovation Unit in November 2002 as its founding Lead Director and became The Innovation Unit's first Chief Executive in November 2006 when it became a 'not for profit' independent company.
He has occupied a number of senior roles in education and the civil service over the last twenty five years. Before becoming Chief Executive he was a Director in the Senior Civil Service and before that led four large schools, three in the Midlands and North of England and then became Principal and Chief Executive of a 3-18 international school in Brussels with students from 65 different countries.
He is a founder member of the Governing Council of the National Council for School Leadership and during his time as a headteacher served on the National Councils of Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and the National Association of Head Teachers as well as the qualifications committee of the QCA.
In his present role he has spoken extensively in the UK and internationally on innovation and reform both in education and in public services and has worked with a wide range of public and private organisations and agencies. He is currently a member of the Education Advisory Board of Channel 4. In September 2006, Mike was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Wolverhampton for services to Education, both regionally and nationally.
He is passionate about the role of education in developing people and communities and of the part played by schools and teachers in this. He has a particular interest in the reform of public services, the leadership of education and the future of schooling.
He has four grown up children, all of whom attended comprehensive schools in the Midlands and North of England and who then went on to graduate from universities in the UK.
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Valerie Hannon - Director of Strategy
As Director of Strategy for The Innovation Unit, Valerie Hannon has led its work in developing its role as an innovation intermediary, designing methods and approaches to build the innovative capacity of organisations in the public services. She is responsible for The Innovation Unit's Next Practice Programme, and commissions The Innovation Unit's stream of publications in thought leadership. She is also responsible for The Innovation Unit's future strategy.
Her interests include the contribution of other sectors (particularly the creative, cultural and third sectors) to the transformation of public services in the 21st century; the role of leadership; and international approaches to these issues.
Valerie was, until 1999, the Director of Education for Derbyshire County LEA. Formerly Deputy Director of Education in Sheffield, she has worked in a broad range of Local Authorities, and was an advisor to the Local Government Association. Before joining local government she was a senior research fellow in the University of Sheffield and a teacher. She is a former USA Harkness Fellow.
Valerie Hannon was a member of the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education, which produced the report All Our Futures (1999, DfES/DCMS). She subsequently acted as advisor to the then DfES (now DCSF), the QCA and to the Creative Partnerships programme, to promote creativity in learning, teaching and leadership.
She has worked independently with a range of Local Authorities, UK public agencies, and overseas education systems interested in building innovative capacity. She is a regular contributor to conferences and seminars on these themes, working for both the OECD and ANZSOG (Australia and New Zealand School of Government). She is a Trustee of two third sector organisations working in the field of creativity and learning.
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Deryn Harvey - Director for Practitioner Development
Deryn joined The Innovation Unit team as a Director in September 2002. Previously Deryn was the Headteacher of Willow Tree Primary School in the London Borough of Ealing. One of the largest primary schools in England, Willow Tree is the result of an amalgamation of three schools undertaken by Deryn in 1993. She had 17 years of headship experience, with Willow Tree being her second headship, Islip Manor Middle School having been the first.
She led Willow Tree School through a design and build process ensuring that her vision of ICT at the heart of the primary school became a reality. The new Willow Tree emerged as a 'state-of-the art, ICT-driven' primary school which has won national and international acclaim.
Deryn has advised the former DfES School Buildings Department on procurement issues and contributed to the former DfES guidance publication on the building of new schools and the 'Schools of the Future' project.
During a year with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, where she was a management consultant, Deryn worked with various public bodies. In that role she supported the NCSL website team, the 'Transforming Secondary Education' programme and the Fast Track graduate scheme. She also advised the former DfES on the development of the 'Curriculum Online' programme at ICT in Schools (DfES).
Deryn has appeared on radio, television and has published numerous articles in the education and building design media. She is also a trainer and assessor for HTI and the Intel 'Teach to the Future' programme. She is a fellow of the RSA.
As a result of her work in The Innovation Unit, Deryn has an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the reality and potential of federation of schools to raise standards. She also has an extensive knowledge of innovative practice across schools and local authorities in England.
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Gareth Wynne - Director for Business Development/Company Secretary
Gareth oversees resource and contract management (both human and financial), analysing business development and project investment opportunities as well as overall project and risk management across the Unit. In addition, he is the Company Secretary for The Innovation Unit Limited.
Gareth has worked with The Innovation Unit since 2002, when it was part of the former DfES, and he was responsible for operationalising the start-up of the Unit. In 2006, he became Director for Business Development and Company Secretary.
Prior to this, Gareth was a Managing Consultant with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young where he worked with a diverse range of national and international organisations (including Boots, Virgin Megastores, GlaxoSmithKline and Ocado) focusing on developing customer-centric solutions to address organisation / business needs. He has brought his experiences and insights from working in a wide range of other sectors (eg healthcare and retail pharmacy, book publishing, pharmaceutical, drinks manufacturing, e-grocery, aviation repair, entertainment, financial services and travel) to bear on the work and activities of The Innovation Unit.
Particular foci included: project planning and management; designing and implementing new business processes; risk management; stakeholder management; business case development; financial analysis of opportunities; workshop facilitation; supply chain analysis, implementation of major IT systems acting as both expert business user and user acceptance testing manager.
Gareth has an MBA, with Distinction, from Warwick Business School. The outcomes of his research project on how main Board Directors of FTSE 200 companies are selected, prepared and developed was reported in The Financial Times and on Radio 4's Today Programme amongst others.
He is a Member of the Institute of Business Consultancy, a PRINCE2™ Practitioner and a Fellow of the RSA.
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Gavin Dykes - Associate Director
Gavin holds an overview of technology and innovation, for the Innovation Unit. His key focus is at the interface of technology and learning and the pedagogies that can motivate and engage learners, help build their creativity and innovation and transform education. He contributes particularly to the Parents and Carers and Resourcing Personalisation Next Practice Projects. His interests include the development of virtual worlds and social networking and how they relate to learning and building international links.
In the last five years, Gavin has worked on technology-related policy and programmes for Government. He has led on international projects including the Moving Young Minds Ministerial Seminar which, in January 2007, attracted 59 Ministers of Education from 60 countries around the world to London. He produced an ICT policy toolkit for the UK Government's Joint International Unit, and he has advised and worked with a range of organisations including the National College for School Leadership, the British Council, the British Education Communications and Technology Agency and the European Commission on technology and education. He has also worked for the Maltese Government to develop its e-learning strategy.
Gavin's earlier career was in Further and Higher Education. He was Director of Development of a Further Education College where his focus was developing links and partnerships between industry and education, and on applying technology to teaching and learning. He developed a Foundation Degree in E-commerce Technologies, advised and held a contract with the Football Association Premier League for development of their education website which gave real employment and experience to his students, and was education advisor to Cisco Systems.
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The Innovation Unit Board
 Tony Mackay - Chair, The Innovation Unit Board
Tony Mackay is Director of the Melbourne based Centre for Strategic Education, Australia, a Centre focused on leading educational thinking and practice at State, National and International levels. Tony is also a Senior Fellow in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne. Tony specializes in the areas of school and system leadership, improvement and innovation.
Tony's work at State, National and International levels focuses on strategic thinking and facilitation for Government bodies, education agencies, think tanks, school boards and leadership teams. It encompasses the areas of school and system leadership, improvement and innovation, teacher professionalism and curriculum and assessment policy and includes the design and implementation of Research and Development Programmes.
Tony is a founding member of the Governing Council of the National College for School Leadership in England and is a Visiting Fellow at the London Leadership Centre. He is an OECD Senior Consultant for the Schooling For Tomorrow Project and a Demos International Associate. He is currently working on a number of 'Next Practice Projects' on School Leadership and School Improvement and Reform in Australia, UK, Europe, Canada, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Tony is a Board Member of the International Council for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI).
Tony has a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Education from Monash University and a MA in the Economics of Education from the University of London. Tony is a member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER); a Board Member of the University of Melbourne, Faculty of Education; a member of the Advisory Board of the Asia Education Foundation (AEF); a Patron of the Education Foundation (Australia); a Committee Member of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), and a Governing Body member of a Prep to Year 12 Melbourne school. He is President of the Australian Curriculum Studies Association. Tony is a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators (ACE) and the College's 2006 Medallist; a Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) and a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) (V).
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 David Albury - Member, The Innovation Unit Board
Since January 2001, David has been an independent organisational, management and policy consultant. He specialises in strategy formation and consequential organisational development, in leadership and improving organisational performance, in organisational and systemic change in public services, and in establishing and developing public-private sector partnerships.
From May 2002 to January 2005, David was also a Principal Adviser in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, playing a leading role in a number of projects including long-term reviews and strategies for education and health, the path-breaking analysis of the strategic issues facing London, an analysis of - and recommendations for the removal of - systemic causes of unnecessary bureaucracy, and system design principles for public services. He was co-author, with Geoff Mulgan, of the highly influential report on Innovation in the Public Sector. He also advised David Milband and the Department of Communities and Local Government on development of the Thames Gateway Strategic Framework; chaired a Review of the National College for School Leadership; advising Ministers and senior officials in the Department for Education and Skills on developing and implementing policy for local education and children's services. He has also led projects within the NHS relating to Primary Care Trusts.
Previously David was a Senior Fellow at the Office for Public Management, a visiting Research Fellow at the London School of Economics; Director of Corporate Strategy at Thames Valley University; Dean of Educational development and Director of the Docklands project at NE London Polytechnic (now University of East London). He has a BSc (Hons) Logic-with-Physics - from the University of Sussex from 1969 to 1972 - and he has also done postgraduate studies in Paris and Sussex on technological and organisational development and the management of innovation and change.
Throughout his career David has published extensively, been the keynote speaker at many major conferences and been interviewed several times on television and radio. He has undertaken a wide variety of leadership and management development programmes and participated regularly in a large range of policy and organisational development round-tables, workshops and seminars, as well as numerous private reports and presentations to Government Ministers, senior officials and other clients.
David is also Member of the International Board of KaosPilots, Denmark - International School of New Business Design and Social Innovation; Member of the Advisory Board for the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery.
He is a former Member of the West London Leadership Board/Park Royal Partnership and a former Member of the Advisory Board for ESRC Programme on Information and Communications Technologies (PICT).
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