Director

Experience and Background

Jodie Croft

Jodie is the founder and chief executive of the Omnia Learning Trust, formerly known as GEMS.  She established the GEMS Learning Trust in January 2013 prior to working with Swedish Free School Company, IES, where she established a new secondary free school in Norfolk, UK. Her previous roles have included Deputy Head of Brentside High School in Ealing and Middle Leadership at Longford Community School in Feltham.

Alison Hill

Alison Hill is a tax partner at PWC, advising high net worth families in relation to their international tax positions. She is responsible for a portfolio of clients, leading relationships and ensuring clients receive the advice they require from across the firm.  Alison is a qualified Chartered Tax Adviser.

Silvia Holgado-Gomez: Chair of the OLT Board

Silvia has over 26 years of experience in the financial services industry. Following several years based in Spain in BBVA's Business and Corporate Banking Division, Silvia moved to the UK and has been BBVA's UK Head of Commercial Banking since 2019. She is mainly responsible for supporting UK-based companies and for developing a global relationship model throughout BBVA's network, providing solutions and expertise in each region to support clients. Silvia is a qualified EFPA European Investment Practitioner (EIP) and ISF Advisor Level 1. In 2021 she completed the MBA Fundamentals Online Programme at the London School of Economics. Silvia is also a Mentor for IMFAHE and collaborates as a Mentor with the University of Westminster. Most recently, Silvis became a member of the Industrial Development Advisory Board in April 2023. 

Tyler Jeffs

Tyler works at chartered accountancy firm, Ellacotts, as a Charity and Academy Specialist. As part of his role, Tyler provides advice and support to Academy Trust clients of all sizes, leads audits of large multi academy Trusts, and publishes articles online to help keep his clients updated on the latest sector news.

Russell Massie

Russell is the Safer Schools Officer for the Thames Valley Police and has a passion for early intervention and pupil engagement. Russell is currently seconded to the Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit and is the VRU and TVP Tactical Lead for Children and Young People and Child Centred Policing. As TVP’s Schools Policing Coordinator, leads the force’s Safer Schools Officers and develops content for both colleagues and educators to help keep children safe and increase trust and legitimacy in the police.

Jason Murphy

Jason is a qualified civil engineer with extensive engineering experience. He manages design delivery for residential and commercial developments and assists with planning authorities and statutory consultations on all aspects of project delivery. He helps companies plan and grow, and advises on Health and Safety/CDM, Technical Standards and quality management. 

Ada Simpson

Ada works with the Department for Education, where she leads the government's work on Early Years Foundation Stage education and on strengthening quality across early years settings (nurseries, childminders, pre-schools and reception year). Ada’s background is primarily in working for the government developing and delivering policy and programmes that support children, young people and families, as well as equalities.

Arjun Thiru

Arjun is experienced in Joint Venture partnerships between big businesses and start-ups. He advises Imperial College on the commercial development of PhD research. A core function of his role is to meet businesses and scope out meaningful opportunities for collaboration. Arjun also has experience on Quality Assurance and Auditing and is proficient at assessing monthly / quarterly reports for compliance in terms of finance and delivery outcomes.