My name is Gary Headland and I was proud to be appointed as the CEO of Activate Learning and co-chair of the Activate Learning Education Trust on 1 April 2022.

Prior to this appointment, I was CEO of the Lincoln College Group for seven and a half years, responsible for colleges in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire as well as international operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and China.

I hold voluntary offices as a Deputy Lord Lieutenant of the County of Lincolnshire and President of the Royal British Legion in Lincolnshire. I am also a non-executive director and chair of a cyber security company called KryptoKloud Ltd.

Prior to joining the education sector, I was a Director of Northgate Public Services for three and a half years, a Director at Norfolk Constabulary for over two years and a senior Royal Air Force officer for 23 years serving in locations throughout the UK and overseas in Germany, Italy and the Middle East.

I believe that lifelong learning is vitally important and so I have underpinned my public and private sector career spanning over 35 years with high-quality education and training. I hold an MA from Kings College London, an MBA from the Open University Business School and a Level 7 qualification from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). I am in the final throes of becoming a Chartered Director which is a Level 7 qualification awarded by the Institute of Directors (IoD).

I am a Fellow of the IoD and qualified previously as a Fellow of both the CIPD and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

Transforming lives through the delivery of exceptional and highly-relevant education, and meeting the needs of our local communities, are my passions.