AoC HR & Employment Law Conference & Exhibition 2026

Faye oversees the development and delivery of our services and programmes and is responsible for their quality and impact. Prior to joining Education Support Faye's role was Head of Workplace Wellbeing Programmes at the mental health charity Mind, where she led on the development of Workplace Wellbeing programmes including the Mentally Healthy Universities Programme, the Our Frontline campaign and the Mental Health at Work website. Faye feels incredibly passionate about supporting better workplace mental health and making an impact across the education sector.

Dr Louise Karwowski is Founder and Lead Neuro-Inclusion Consultant at Bright Brains, specialising in neuroinclusion across education and the workplace. She combines a PhD‑level STEM background with over 20 years’ experience supporting neurodifferent learners, staff and senior leadership teams, translating research into clear, practical strategies. Louise brings together research, policy and lived professional experience to challenge performative inclusion and support institutions to embed meaningful, intersectional practice. She is known for her thoughtful, practical and human approach to inclusion that places belonging, wellbeing and opportunity at the centre of education.

David Hughes became Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges in September 2016. Before that he was Chief Executive at Learning and Work Institute and spent over 10 years at the Learning and Skills Council and Skills Funding Agency where he had national responsibility for funding and improvement with colleges and providers. David holds several Board positions including with the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics and the Bell Foundation. He was Vice-Chair of the East Midlands Regional Assembly in the 1990s, founding Chair of the Education and Training Foundation in 2013 and has helped set-up several third sector organisations.