Governance

Kerry Kirkwood

Chair of Corporation

Kerry Kirkwood has enjoyed a successful career in education spanning almost 40 years. She has extensive experience in secondary, sixth form, and further education.

Kerry was the Principal of an outstanding sixth form college in Cheshire which achieved results that were amongst the best in the Country. She went on to form a multi-academy trust comprising the sixth form and two secondary schools.

Kerry has specialist knowledge of Level 3 curriculum design, quality assurance, school improvement and leadership development. She recognises and is passionate about the unique and invaluable role education plays in social mobility.

Kerry is an experienced Governor and Trustee. She has been the Chair of Governors at a Church of England high school and is currently a Trustee of and a Member of multi-academy trusts in Lancashire and Cheshire.

A former student of Hugh Baird College, Kerry has fond memories of her time studying for A-levels, and credits Hugh Baird with igniting her life-long love of learning.

Lydia Redican

Vice Chair

Lydia is an experienced Widening Participation and Outreach Practitioner for the University of Liverpool. She leads large access programmes designed to support young people to transition into higher education and gain access to the professions. Her experience is rooted in both higher and further education and her work has a strong emphasis on collaboration, working with multiple stakeholders across the sector. She leads local programmes as well as hosting national, collaborative projects. She is the Co-Chair of the University of Liverpool’s BAME Staff Network and works to advance the University’s strategic priorities around Race Equality.

Rachael Hennigan OBE

Principal and Chief Executive

Rachael joined Hugh Baird College in February 2020 as Principal and Chief Executive. Rachael has over 15 years’ experience in the further education sector and is no stranger the Liverpool City Region, having grown up in Bootle and completing her A-levels at Hugh Baird College.

Rachael has overall responsibility for the strategic direction of the College. She is passionate about ensuring students develop relevant knowledge and skills that will enable them to progress in the future.

Paul Cherpeau

Chair of Search and Governance Committee

Paul is the Chief Executive of the Chamber of Commerce in Liverpool.

Paul joined the Chamber as a Graduate in 2006 and has substantial experience across the business including the delivery of membership, marketing, policy, trade and training services to businesses. As Chief Executive Paul’s job is to ensure the Chamber is undertaking its mission and purpose, to represent the commercial interests of Liverpool businesses and enable them to connect, support and thrive.

Paul’s role varies from oversight of the Chamber operations, connecting with city partners on all issues connected to the economy and supporting and engaging individual businesses within the business network.

Paul also represents a business voice on several external organisations boards including MSIF, Liverpool BID Company, Hugh Baird College and Liverpool City Council’s Education Improvement Board.

Ruth Harding-Quinn

Chair of Audit Committee

Ruth moved into the Health and Safety profession in 2004 after holding a number of general administration roles. After completing a NEBOSH General and then a degree in the subject, Ruth continued to develop her skills with experience before joining a large outsourcing firm in 2008. Ruth has enjoyed a variety of roles in the past 13 years but all with health and safety and the wellbeing of her colleagues at the heart of what she does. This has resulted in her holding the position of Quality Lead which allows her to influence policies and procedures that guide the organisation.

Lynsey Unsworth

Governor

Lynsey is a HR professional with 23 years’ experience in Financial Services, the last 6 of those as a Chief Operating Officer for HR in HSBC Bank.

Her career spans multiple roles and specialisms, but with a consistent focus on driving change, improving business performance, and building highly engaged teams.

Lynsey's current role covers all aspects of Finance, Risk and HR Operations, but her passion is social mobility, specifically supporting others as a coach/mentor to help them reach their career aspirations, regardless of their background and self- belief.

As a single mum of two young boys, with a demanding full-time job, Lynsey doesn’t get much spare time, but when she does, she loves to run. She has been lucky enough to travel a lot in her career, but always has and always will call Liverpool her home.

Jas Samra

Governor

Jas is a senior Human Resources leader with 20 years of public sector experience and knowledge as well as being a proud resident of the Sefton community. He has a proven track record of strategic leadership, a breadth of HR disciplines and has been actively involved in areas such as audit, risk management, inclusion and diversity and people management.

Jas was Chair of Governors in a Crosby school before joining Hugh Baird College and will bring enthusiasm and passion for education, skills development and community to his role.

Chris Lyons

Governor

Chris is currently Director of Strategic Programmes and Development within Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. He joined Mersey Care in January 2016.

During his time with the Trust, Chris has provided the programme leadership for several significant acquisitions and strategic programmes. His role is to lead and deliver on significant Strategic and Organisational wide change within the Trust with a focus on improving the operational efficiency of the Trust. He is a member of the Executive Management Group.

He began his career as an NHS General Management Trainee in Northern Ireland (1992– 1994) and subsequently went on to hold a number of accountable officer and Director positions across healthcare, local government and the university sector in both the UK and Ireland. Throughout his career, Chris has led on a number of significant strategic change programmes including spending three years overseeing a major reconfiguration of five hospital sites on the east coast of Ireland and as the programme Director responsible for the Operational planning and commissioning of the new Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in 2014- 2015.

Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Economics (London School of Economics), MSc Health Economics (University of York), MSc Health and Social Services Management (Ulster University).

Robin Leatherbarrow

Governor

Robin enjoyed a successful academic career having gained a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Liverpool, followed by a DPhil from the University of Oxford. He held academic positions at Oxford before moving to Imperial College London, where he was Professor of Chemical Biology and Dean/Consul of Natural Sciences. In recognition of his scientific standing, he has been awarded a DSc from Imperial College and is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal Society of Biology.

He finally returned to Liverpool to take up the position of Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research, Scholarship and Knowledge Transfer at Liverpool John Moores University. Since retiring from the academic world, Robin remains a visiting Professor of Chemical Biology at Imperial College London and a part-time consultant for pharmaceutical companies engaged in patent litigation. Outside science, Robin continues with business interests in software development and the hospitality industry. He is a part-time technical advisor for the Professional Association of Self-Caterers UK.

Lisa Pearson

Governor

Lisa is a senior marketing professional with over 15 years’ experience in driving business growth through expert development and delivery of marketing strategies, as well as overseeing overall brand development & management.

Dedicated to making an impact through considered growth strategy integration for SMEs, Lisa founded Luminare Consulting in early 2024, having served in several corporate marketing leadership roles within both the private and public sector.

As well as acting as Governor for Hugh Baird College, she also holds NED and Director across multiple boards, including acting as a Trustee for The Womens Organisation.

An advocate for equality and equity, Lisa proudly champions many personal and professional development initiatives for women and girls and is vocal in raising awareness on the benefits of health and fitness to positively support physical and mental wellbeing.

Dany Johnston

Governor

Dany is an experienced C-suite executive, data consultant, and PhD researcher specializing in data privacy, human rights, and blockchain technology. With nearly 30 years of expertise in business and digital transformation, she has worked internationally across multiple sectors including aviation, finance, and pharmaceuticals, to drive strategic change and innovation. Through her PhD research she has presented to UN sub-committees and publishes papers on the intersection between human rights and the advancement of technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence. She is passionate about ethical technology and advocates for responsible data practices and digital inclusion, ensuring the next generation is prepared for, and protected within, the evolving digital landscape.

Dany is also fortunate enough to have established a film production company in 2018 which specialises in human rights based documentaries with a mission to celebrate “the extraordinary lives of ordinary people”. This digital media production company looks to educate and inform through visual and audio content, and utilises film, animation, and immersive technologies, to share information and inspire creativity.