James England

Director, Data Protection Education

James England founded and has led the Data Protection Education team since its inception and developed the mix of services and platform tools that support all Data Protection Education clients. With extensive experience navigating the complexities of GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and now the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 James has built a team at Data Protection Education that customers trust with their data protection programme. With Masters Degrees in Law and Information Systems, he brings a unique blend of legal and  technical insight, as well as years of practical educational experience, ensuring schools and multi-academy trusts build resilient and compliant data governance frameworks.

Arati Patel-Mistry

Cyber Education Lead: Department of Education

Arati Patel-Mistry is an experienced education leader with over 25 years in senior roles across the sector. She is the former Director of a Multi Academy Trust in Greater Manchester and currently serves as Trustee in the Northwest. She also spent 20 years as Chair of Governors at a local primary school. Since 2018, Arati has worked at the Department for Education, where she now leads national cyber security engagement. Her role focuses on strengthening cyber resilience in education and driving cross-government collaboration on cyber initiatives. Her previous roles include Director of Operations, where she led academy conversions under the BSF programme, safeguarding case lead at the ESFA, and Schools Commercial Engagement Lead, coordinating a national network of school business professionals. Arati is passionate about improving communities and transforming the lives of children and young people through education.

Joe Tidy

BBC Cyber Correspondent and author

Joe Tidy is a reporter, presenter and author. His book of Ctrl+Alt+Chaos: How Teenage Hacker Hijack the Internet is out now and investigates the dark side of teen hacking culture and why we are repeatedly failing as a society to address the growing issue of teen cybercrime. Joe is the BBC’s first ever Cyber Correspondent and the foremost voice in the corporation on cybercrime and hacking. Over the past ten years he has covered all major cyber-attacks for BBC and before that at Sky News working across TV, Radio, social media and news websites. He has made documentaries about cyber security travelling to the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Germany and Ukraine to track down stories and characters. 

Emma Martins

Chief Commissioner - Data and Marketing Commission (UK)

Emma has worked in data protection for over 25 years. Starting her career as a data protection officer in the public sector, she moved to work in the regulatory office for Jersey, Channel Islands, in 2002.Since then, she has been Commissioner for Jersey and, from 2018 to 2023, for the Bailiwick of Guernsey where she worked with a team responsible for implementation, oversight, and adequacy assessment for the new GDPR-standard legal framework for the Islands. In January 2024, Emma was appointed as Chief Commissioner for the Data and Marketing Commission. She also has a small portfolio of work acting in an advisory role and is a charity trustee. Throughout her career, Emma has been committed to driving high standards of ethical and legal data handling and encouraging more inclusive and accessible conversations around the role of data in our lives. She is a strong advocate of cultural engagement and has spearheaded a number of community-wide initiatives to support social and economic benefits that come with effective data protection.

Claire Archibald

Legal Director, Browne Jacobson

Claire Archibald is a Legal Director at Browne Jacobson LLP, advising UK schools on data protection and information law. As a former DPO for schools, she deeply understands the practical challenges faced by education sector DPOs. 
Claire is a leading voice in data protection and AI governance, providing practical strategies and guidance for schools. She champions DPOs as a strategic partner, helping them navigate emerging risks and ensure compliance.
With her unique legal and DPO background, Claire supports schools and DPOs with their most complex matters. Her work empowers the education sector to develop robust governance and effective compliance strategies. 
Claire was named the European PICASSO Champion in 2024 for her work advocating for the education sector.

The UK Information Commissioner's Office

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) upholds information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.ICO is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Chris Everard

Chief Operating Officer, Active Learning Trust

Before joining The Active Learning Trust, Chris had worked for The Wensum Trust since 2016, most recently as Director of Operations and Finance. In this role he lead successfully on a number of key strategic projects and has gained extensive experience overseeing the strategic direction of the central team.

Chris previously worked in a number of data focused roles, including Data Manager within a school. He was awarded a MBA in 2021 to add to his Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership and a MSc.

Matthew Woodruff

Founder | CEO | Chair of Trustees | NED

As a data professional and PhD candidate in the field of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Education, Matthew has helped education institutions leverage value from their technology investments for many years. Through his work with Microsoft in the UK and internationally, Matthew understands that schooling systems are often data-rich but information-poor.

Abdul Ikbal

Head of Cyber Presales @ Zenzero

Abdul has over 14 years of experience in cyber security, starting in IT support before moving into penetration testing, where he rapidly became Head of Pentesting. 
At Zenzero, he led the creation of a CREST-accredited penetration testing capability and oversaw the broader cyber function, building it from the ground up as Head of Cyber. 
Throughout his career, Abdul remained hands-on, delivering advanced penetration tests, red team operations, and expert-level social engineering engagements. Now as Head of Cyber Presales, he helps clients identify and implement tailored security solutions to protect against real-world threat actors. 
Abdul will be joined by Ridhwan Roshan - Security Consultant - Red Team @ Zenzero: 

Michelle Ohren

The Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands

Providing free resources and guidance to improve online safety and resilience to the SME community, helping you keep your business more secure.

As a police-led not-for-profit organisation, the West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre (WMCRC) is a trusted nexus of information and guidance. By working in partnership with industry and academia via our Cyber Path programme, we also support and develop a talent pipeline throughout the UK.