Amanda Broderick

Professor Broderick has over 20 years’ experience in senior executive and board-level roles across UK
higher education, with a strong track record in organisational transformation and innovation. An
eminent social scientist, she holds a rare insight into a cross-section of strategic groupings of universities
and a track record in delivering sector-leading results.

Professor Mark Simpson

Professor Mark Simpson graduated from Teesside University with a degree in politics and a PhD in Criminology. He has written and researched in the fields of youth crime, youth justice and drug use. He was a director of the British Society of Criminology for over nine years. Holding numerous roles within the University, he was previously Dean of Social Sciences, Humanities & Law.

Professor Osama Khan

Professor Khan is a senior academic leader with over 25 years’ experience in higher education. His
work focuses on learning and teaching quality, innovative pedagogy and digital transformation.
His work includes leading digital learning initiatives that use data-informed approaches to improve student outcomes.

Dr Miri Firth

Dr Firth’s work focuses on vocational education, employability in education and flexible assessment
design in higher education. With over 15 years’ experience, she has published textbooks on employability and graduate skills and is a regular speaker at national and international events.

Helen Blaikie

Helen leads data strategy at Aston University. Her work focuses on the use of data, analytics
and AI to support informed decision-making, student experience and organisational effectiveness. In 2025 she was recognised as a Data IQ Top 100 European Data Leader

Professor Janice Kay CBE

Professor Kay is co-founder of Higher Futures, supporting universities and sector organisations to deliver in challenging financial circumstances. Before this, Janice was Provost and Senior DVC at the University of Exeter.

Dr Debbie McVitty

Debbie is Editor of Wonkhe, the home of higher education policy. She is a former Chief of Staff
at Universities UK, Director of Policy at the University of Bedfordshire, and Head of Policy at the National Union of Students. Debbie is a founding member of Wonkhe’s editorial group.

Toby Vaughn Kidd

With over 15 years’ experience in higher education, Toby brings creativity to his work on
experimentation, innovation and future skills development. Prior to joining the University of
Exeter, he worked at Arizona State University, exploring emerging technologies to support innovation in learning

Jen Wyatt

Director of Education for Microsoft UK, Jen leads a team that helps learners and educators at all levels embrace technology and achieve their goals

Deepa Shinde

James Gray

James has spent over 25 years pioneering digital content provision in HE. He founded Kortext in 2013 and now, over a decade later, Kortext is a global leader in digital learning and student engagement solutions.

Andrew Bates

Andrew is responsible for defining and delivering the Kortext product strategy, working with his team in Canada and gaining insight from Kortext’s university partners.

Dr Rachel Maxwell

Dr Rachel Maxwell has extensive experience in higher education, with a focus on learning,
teaching, academic policy and governance. At Kortext, she leads collaborates with universities to
support change and enable data-informed approaches to student success

Raghav Sandhu

Raghav works on product development at Kortext. His work includes developing AIenabled features and data-driven insights. He also supports the development of digital solutions designed to improve learning and operational efficiency for institutions.