Dan Kayne is the founder of O Shaped, committed to making the legal profession better by putting people first. His approach to leadership development creates a much more human and personable way of engaging with business colleagues. 

Dan trained at Dechert LLP before moving in-house to Network Rail in 2007. From 2016 to 2022 Dan was General Counsel at Network Rail, leading a team of 20 lawyers. In that time, Dan embedded his ‘people first’ approach to leadership, contributing to his team having the highest engagement scores across the company. 

In 2019, Dan founded the O Shaped Lawyer, driven by a desire to improve the legal profession for those who use it, are entering it and buy services from it.

Dawn Haywood is Chief Executive Officer of Windsor Academy Trust and sits on the DfE Priority Education Investment Area Local Partnership Boards for both Sandwell and Walsall. She is also a member of the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) Inquiry focused on how School Trusts drive school improvement. 

In this episode of EdInfluence we hear from Rebecca Boomer-Clark is the Chief Executive Officer of Academies Enterprise Trust, one of the country’s largest multi-academy trusts. 

An experienced school leader, she was Director of Secondary at Ark Schools from 2017 to 2021. Prior to that, she worked for the Department for Education (DfE) as Regional Schools Commissioner for South-West England and was National Education Director for Oasis Community Learning.

John Murphy has recently resigned from his position as Chief Executive of Oasis Community Learning, one of the UK’s largest multi-academy trusts with 52 primary and secondary Academies clustered in five regions across the country. 

 With over three decades of experience in school leadership, he has dedicated his career to raising aspirations for all young people and closing the attainment gap for the most disadvantaged. 

John is a committed Trustee of the Place2Be national mental health charity for young people and E-ACT Multi Academy Trust 

Catherine Baker is the Chair of O Shaped and an ex-Linklaters lawyer who has for the second half of her career focused on leadership and mindset. Catherine specialises in blending business and sports insight to drive performance, coaching CEOs and other senior leaders to improve and develop their leadership skillset. 

Sir Julian Hartley joined NHS Providers as chief executive in February 2023, having been chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals since 2013. He previously worked as managing director of NHS Improving Quality - a national organisation set up to drive change and improvement across the NHS. 

Drawing from this wealth of experience, Julian delivers some straight-talking insight into leading cultural change in the face of adversity, believing that: 

“You've got to tell the truth as a leader - not putting a gloss or spin on it, but actually engaging positively and seriously with the reality".

Julian was awarded Knight Bachelor for services to healthcare in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours.

In this second episode of EdInfluence Season 3, we hear from Dame Ann Limb DBE DL FRSA FCGI, who describes herself as ‘a philanthropist, mover and Quaker, trying to navigate her way through life by doing least harm to people and planet’. 

Ann is currently Pro Chancellor of the University of Surrey, Chair of the City & Guilds of London Institute, and Board member of LTE Group in which capacity she is Chair of Governors of The Manchester College. 

In March 2023, Ann was named inaugural Chair of the Lifelong Education Institute, established by ResPublica, to take forward a vision for whole-system reform. Ann co-chairs the FED Ambassadors.

This special edition of #EdInfluence was recorded at the ASCL annual conference, where Nick was able to hear from a range of sector leaders, who shared their varying approaches and perspectives on leadership.

Interviewees include:

• Pepe Di'lasio - ASCL Past President & Head of Wales High School
• Liz Anderson, CEO of Djanogly Learning Trust
• Steve Rollett - Deputy Chief Executive of the Confederation of School Trusts (CST)
• Leora Cruddas CBE, Chief Executive of the Confederation of School Trusts (CST)
• Carl Ward - ASCL Past President & CEO of City Learning Trust

In the first episode of EdInfluence Season 3, we hear about the importance of communication and gain a global perspective from Fiona Forbes, Professor of Practice in the School of Education at La Trobe University Victoria, Australia.

In conversation with our sector leading education lawyer Nick MacKenzie, Fiona shared her leadership insights from a 30 year+ international career in education, drawing on her experience as:

• Executive of the International Confederation of Principals (ICP)
• Chair of the Australian Special Education Principals’ Association (ASEPA)
• Board Member of the Foundation for Education Development UK (FED)
• Foundation member and participant of Atlantic Rim Collaboratory (ARC)