Hamid is the Chief Executive of Star Academies. He has led the Trust since its inception.  Hamid is passionate about the highest of ambition for children and young people from the most disadvantaged communities across the country and this vision has guided the philosophy of the Trust and his work in particular.    Hamid, as a National Leader of Education, is a member of several national and international strategic educational and policy forums.  In this role, he has contributed to the development of strategies and programmes as diverse as teacher training, leadership development, community cohesion, curriculum reform and social mobility. Hamid is committed to the development of a strong and world-class academy sector and actively works to improve its reputation.

In recognition of his service to education, Hamid was awarded a CBE in 2015.

Bethia is the Chief Executive of the Centre for Youth Impact. Prior to joining the team in September 2014 to set up the Centre, Bethia worked at the Dartington Social Research Unit, the Young Foundation, the National Youth Agency and NIACE (now the Learning and Work Institute), in a variety of policy and research roles. She has also worked in further and higher education as a teacher and trainer.

Bethia leads the Centre’s strategy and relationships with its many partners and collaborators. She is also part of the project team for the Centre’s main strands of work, including the Youth Investment Fund and the Youth Programme Quality Intervention (YPQI) Pilot. Bethia is particularly interested in the relationship between quality and impact in youth work and provision for young people, and in the theory and practice of measurement, especially within collaboratives. Bethia is a 2012 Clore Social Fellow and a Senior Visiting Fellow at Nottingham Trent University.

Bill is a Partner and Head of Ares Real Estate Group and a member of the Management Committee of Ares Management. He is a Trustee of Impetus, a charity that transforms the lives of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds by ensuring they get the right support to succeed in school, in work and in life.

Jo joined the British Youth Council as Chief Executive in 2016. Jo leads the staff team and works with the Trustee Board ensure that we deliver for young people. Prior to joining the British Youth Council, Jo was the Operations Director at Girlguiding, leading on service delivery to girls and woman and membership growth across the UK. Jo is passionate about youth participation and advocacy, having found her own voice as a Brownie and a Guide and then as the coordinator of a peer education sexual health project whilst at University.

Professor Shepherd’s research on clinical decisions, community violence and the evidence ecosystem has made many contributions to clinical and public policy and to legislation. Innovations include the Universities’ Police Science Institute in Wales, the information sharing “Cardiff Model” for violence prevention which was adopted in the 2008 UK violence reduction strategy, by the Coalition Government in 2010 and by the present UK Government in 2016. He is a member of the Cabinet Office What Works Council, the Home Office Science Advisory Council and the Welsh Government Public Services Leadership Group.

Laurie is the Trust’s Criminal Justice Programme Manager, his responsibilities include developing and maintaining partnerships with Criminal Justice stakeholders. Laurie works with grant applicants, ensuring that maximum learning is gathered, shared and disseminated to improve practice and policy. He curates and convenes T2A (Transition to Adulthood). Prior to working for the Trust Laurie was a civil servant for 13 years working for the Ministry of Justice, The Home Office and the Department of Education.

Professor Feinstein joined the Rees Centre in October 2019 from the Children’s Commissioner’s Office where he was Director of Evidence. He continues to work closely with the Children’s Commissioner’s Office leading the Data for Children Partnership. Professor Feinstein was Professor of Education and Social Policy at the Institute of Education, has worked in the Treasury and Cabinet Office and holds a Visiting Professorship of Practice at the London School of Economics and is a Visiting Professor at the University of Sussex.

Trevor is the former President of the Partnership Council of the John Lewis Partnership and is also currently the Deputy Chair of the National Equality Standard board and Chair of Green Park Diversity Analytics. He is the former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. He had previously been the Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality and the elected Chair of the Greater London Authority.