The Trustees
As the accountable body for the Trust, the role of the Board of Directors (or Trustees) is to:
- Ensure clarity of vision and ethos
- Determine the Trust’s strategic priorities
- Hold the executive to account for the educational performance of the schools (including the staff) and their pupils
- Oversee the financial performance of the Trust and ensure its money is well spent
- Allocate the school budgets
- Agree curriculum statements for the Trust and each school as necessary
- Agree Trust-wide policies in line with its values and vision
- Be responsible for child safeguarding across the Trust
- Appoint the Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher for each of its schools
- Review the performance and pay of the CEO, Executive Headteacher (EHT), Headteachers and Heads of each school
- Approve the Trust's pay policy
The full Board of Directors (Trustees) meets four times a year, including twice with the Members. It has two main committees composed of Trustees, which also meet four times a year and report to the main Board:
- Finance and Audit Committee
- Curriculum and Resources Committee
- Additional Committees held less frequently are:
- Scrutiny Committee
- Pay Committee
Mary Higgins
Trustee and Member
Mary Higgins has been part of Create’s governance as a Member and Trustee since its designation in 2016. She had over twenty years’ professional experience as a school improvement adviser and senior officer for Schools HR in Birmingham Local Authority with a specialism in employee relations, recruitment, workforce reform, appraisal and performance related pay. She worked with West Midlands authorities on succession planning for school leadership.
Mary has been active in school governance over many years and with different types of schools – primary/secondary/special and academies/mainstream including as Chair of Governors. She is the only Trustee who is also a Member and so she plays an important role in bridging the two levels of governance.
As Trustee she is a member of the Curriculum and Resources Committee and the Scrutiny Committee. She leads the appraisal of the CEO with the support of an External Adviser and is the Board’s safeguarding lead.
Richard Ellam
Richard Ellam, LLB LPC, is a legally qualified and highly experienced governance recruiter, practitioner, consultant, academy trustee, school governor, and Chair of Governors. He supports local and national governance at all levels, having worked with many of the largest Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) and local authority governor services nationwide. He is the founder and owner of Edu-Gov, a national education governance consultancy specialising in recruitment, development, and leadership. Edu-Gov offers a discreet, bespoke, and professional service to build effective governing bodies by supporting school governance at all levels. Services include specialist recruitment, proactive reviews of governance, training, mentoring, and governance leadership. Previously, Richard was Head of School and Trust Support at Inspiring Governance, the Department for Education (DfE)-funded national school governor recruitment service. In this role, he provided expertise, knowledge, and advice to strengthen governance across the country, including in some of the most challenging schools and academies. As an experienced Governor, Trustee, and accomplished Chair, Richard has a proven track record of leading governance through significant change, often in challenging circumstances where community tensions or poor organisational culture prevail. He has served as a Trustee in two Academy Trusts and as a troubleshooting Chair of Governors in eight schools—five secondary academies and three maintained primaries—including two maintained Interim Executive Boards (IEBs) in North Lincolnshire and two Academy Trust Management Boards (MAT IEBs) in South Yorkshire. He has governed and chaired in the West Midlands, East Midlands, South West, and the North and supported governance in schools and academies throughout the country.
Lynn Howard
Lynn joined Create as a Trustee in June 2025. She is very proud to be Birmingham born and bred and has lived in north Birmingham her entire life. She feels a special connection to Hodge Hill however, as it is where her parents were raised and indeed went to primary school. Lynn brings with her a wealth of primary school governance experience. Over the last 20 years Lynn has held many different governor roles including chair of governors in a number of schools. She has been involved in all aspects of governance including school amalgamation and conversion. In 2017 Lynn was appointed as a National Leader of Governance which allowed her to use the knowledge and skills she had developed to support other local schools as and when needed. She found this incredibly rewarding. A couple of years later, she joined the board of trustees of the National Governance Association, becoming its chair in 2020. Having an opportunity to be involved in conversations that shape governance at a national level fuelled Lynn’s passion for all that good governance can achieve for the children in its care. She has now left her role at the NGA, but the passion remains. Lynn believes very firmly that governors can and should support each other in carrying out what can sometimes be a challenging role. She has co-chaired her local independent association for governors for a number of years and looks forward to working with everyone involved in the Create governance community to secure the best possible outcomes for Create children.
Gerry Crofts
Gerry Crofts brings over 30 years of experience in education, underpinned by a deep commitment to inclusive, collaborative school improvement. Currently serving as Deputy Director of Education at REAch2 Academy Trust (the largest primary-only multi‑academy trust in England, operating 62 primary academies), Gerry leads a cluster of primary academies across the West Midlands, including schools in Wolverhampton, Shropshire, and Staffordshire. Her work focuses on driving school improvement at scale, supporting leadership teams, and embedding effective practices across diverse contexts. Gerry began her leadership journey as Headteacher at Oakfield Primary Academy in Rugby, a REAch2 school, where she played a pivotal role in leading rapid school improvement. During her tenure, Ofsted praised her as “a highly effective leader” who introduced robust systems that improved teaching quality, pupil progress, and staff development. Her success at Oakfield was a springboard into Trust-wide leadership, where she now oversees a portfolio of academies, supporting strategic planning, curriculum development, and quality assurance. Known for her collaborative ethos and ability to build strong, honest relationships across school communities, Gerry is a passionate advocate for inclusive education. She is particularly motivated by the power of professional learning networks, system leadership, and enabling schools to share expertise to improve outcomes for all children.
Emma Knights
Trustee
Emma Knights OBE joined the Create board in June 2025. Emma was chief executive of the National Governance Association (NGA) from 2010 to 2024, growing its services ten-fold and the understanding of school and trust governance. She had the privilege of representing the voices of school governors and academy trustees across England. Before NGA, Emma worked in third sector organisations, always aiming to support people with disadvantaged backgrounds with advocacy, access to civil rights and entitlements, tackling child poverty or encouraging early education. She had been a governor at her children’s secondary VA school for eight years, helping it improve to good. She is looking forward to working with leaders and local governors at Create. Emma has written extensively, including as author of NGA’s Chair’s Handbook, and her book entitled the Power of Governance will be published in Spring 2026. She has much experience at local and national level of working with policy makers and politicians, participating in governmental and research advisory groups, and responding to journalists. She has particular interests in ethical leadership, accountability, community engagement, equality, diversity and inclusion, culture, and sustainability, and she now also chairs a local environmental charity.
Sarah Crowe
Trustee
Sarah Crowe, BA(Hons), MCIPS has recently joined the Board of Trustees, bringing around 30 years of professional experience in commercial, contract and procurement specialism from an energy infrastructure background. Sarah has a degree in Business Studies and is a chartered member of the Institute of Purchasing and Supply Chain Management . Having gained over 15 years of experience working for National Grid, where he managed a team of around 45. Sarah is now a self-employed procurement and commercial specialist, bringing a wide breadth of skills and knowledge to the Board, including a strong background in professional procurement, commercial and contract management of high value projects in the High Voltage Interconnector, Offshore Wind Infrastructure and Utilities Construction Industry, working within the OJEU Regulations & Directives / Utilities Procurement Regulations. Sarah has previously held the Chair of Governor position at a primary community school in Manchester for 4 years, seeing the school through one of the most challenging times for schools in recent times, COVID. In her time as Chair, Sarah focused, not only on the changing requirements associated with the COVID pandemic but also the schools financing and budgeting activities, Health and Safety aspects of the school and participated in the Achievements and Inclusion sub-committee working to maintain the schools Outstanding Ofsted rating.
Robert Ratcliffe
Trustee
Robert brings extensive experience in estates and facilities management, combining strategic leadership with practical, hands-on expertise. For the past 23 years he has worked in the education sector, currently serving as Estates and Facilities Manager for a large two-school site with over 2,500 students. In this role, he is responsible for making sure the school’s buildings, grounds, and facilities are safe, efficient, and well-maintained, while also planning for future improvements. His work covers everything from health and safety compliance and managing large budgets to overseeing maintenance, security, cleaning, waste management, and site development. Before moving into education, Robert held senior roles in estates and facilities management in higher education and beyond. At Aberystwyth University, as Deputy Director of Facilities Management, he led a wide-ranging portfolio covering building maintenance, cleaning, caretaking, security, car parking, traffic management, and waste services across a large and complex estate. Earlier in his career, as Contracts Manager for Dalkia Technical & Energy Services, he managed construction and refurbishment projects, working closely with contractors, budgets, and safety regulations to deliver improvements on time and to a high standard. Robert is committed to professional development and was one of the first three students in the UK to complete the full Level 4 Diploma in Facilities Management from start to finish in record time. He has since achieved a Level 6 qualification, reflecting his depth of expertise and leadership in the field. He is very keen to give back through this trustee role and sees it as an opportunity to use his skills to support schools and improve outcomes for young people. As a trustee, Robert brings a wealth of relevant experience to the estates, facilities, and health and safety portfolio. He has a strong track record of thinking strategically about the long-term needs of schools and organisations, while also understanding the practical realities of keeping buildings, facilities, and estates safe, efficient, and fit for purpose.