Bob has over 30 years’ experience in the voluntary sector in England and internationally. Prior to his appointment at I CAN, he was Chief Executive of Essex Community Foundation and Chief Executive of The Children’s Society. Internationally, Bob started his career as a secondary school teacher in Zaïre, followed by posts as Country Director for Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) in Chad and Country Director for ActionAid in Bangladesh. He settled with his family in England in 1994. Bob has served on several national boards supporting children and young people, including The Youth Justice Board, the Social Work Task Force, the Children’s Workforce Development Council and as Chairman of Children England. He received a CBE for services to children in 2012.

Since April 2010, André has worked as the DfE SEN and Disability professional advisor, contributing to a range of policy developments, in particular the Children and Families Act. André has been a teacher and educational psychologist and held a number of practitioner and leadership roles in local authorities. He was a regional director in the National SEN Adviser team, and was an adviser to the Lamb Inquiry into parental confidence.

Nick Whittaker is one of Her Majesty's Inspectors. He is a qualified teacher and, prior to joining Ofsted, was the executive headteacher of two all-age special schools for children and young people who have severe learning difficulties and complex needs. Nick has also worked as a senior local authority adviser and school improvement partner.

Laura completed her training to become a Speech and Language Therapist at University College London in 2003. She has worked in a range of settings for both children and adults and has been working in Camden Speech and Language Therapy team, Whittington Health, since 2009, initially as Listen-EAR Lead working in a range of schools, and now as a Speech and Language Therapy Team Lead role. Listen-EAR is a strategic whole school approach to supporting and developing language and communication skills for all students. Laura has also appreciated having the opportunity to use her clinical skills and whole school approaches when working with a wide range of young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health and Speech, Language and Communication Needs, and their teachers, support staff and parents, at Gloucester House school, since 2015.