Speakers’ Biographies

Speakers’ biographies are included for your information.

Speakers’ biographies (alphabetical order by surname)

Amira Campbell [Ah-meer-ah Kam-Buhl] is the National Union of Students’ UK President. Her background in liberation campaigns, notably the black voices campaign during her time as an undergraduate at the University of Birmingham established her as the first remunerated community organiser at the Students’ Union and led her to then also take up office as Guild President there. Amira continues her anti-racism work as a Board Member for BRIG (Birmingham Race Impact Group) and as an Executive for Talawa, a collective envisioning the interconnected futures of black feminism, climate justice and liberated education. Amira has hosted multiple roles in arts organisations including the Birmingham Royal Ballet, CBSO (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra) and Underscore, a community orchestra that celebrates music of the global majority.

Anila DeHart is an Advisor, Researcher, and Executive Educator on education-workforce coordination and future-of-work. She examines coordination mechanisms that enable sustainable education-workforce partnerships and equitable pathways from learning to meaningful work. Current collaborations include Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) on university-employer partnership infrastructure and the University of Oxford’s AI in Education (AIEOU) 2026 Shared Research Agenda on Future of Education, Work and Institutions. With twenty years at Deloitte, most recently as Global Managing Director leading talent strategy and workforce transformations for 500,000+ professionals globally, Anila brings deep expertise in future-ready skills systems and organisational change at scale. Her career began in higher education, teaching at universities in Central Europe and as a Fulbright scholar in US, and leading organisational development and strategic recruitment at the University of Arizona. Anila serves as Executive Coach and Leadership Facilitator at Headspring Executive (Financial Times-IE Business School joint venture). She regularly briefs industry forums on transformation and skills development, and advocates for societal equity through initiatives supporting career advancement for youth and underprivileged groups.

Professor Bobby Duffy is Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute. He Chairs the Campaign for Social Science and the CLOSER Advisory Board, is a member of the Executive of the Academy of Social Sciences, a trustee of British Future and a Senior Fellow of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto. He was previously Global Director of the Ipsos Social Research Institute, has been seconded to the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, and was a fellow at the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at LSE. His first book, The Perils of Perception – Why we’re wrong about nearly everything, was published by Atlantic books in 12 countries, drawing on a set of global studies on how people misperceive key social realities. His latest book, Generations – Does when you’re born shape who you are?, came out in 2021 and challenges myths and stereotypes around generational trends, seeking a greater understanding around generational challenges and intergenerational connection.

Josh Fleming is currently the Interim Chief Executive of the Office for Students.
In his substantive post, he is Director of Strategy and Delivery, overseeing strategy, delivery, communications, data and evaluation. He previously served as Sir Michael Barber’s Chief of Staff, helping to establish the Office
for Students in 2018.

James Gray is the founder and CEO of Kortext, a business he started in 2013 and which is now the UK’s leading supplier of digital content, learning, analytics and AI solutions into UK Universities, helping improve the student learning experience and reduce student withdrawal by identifying at risk students early. Prior to Kortext, James spent 6 years in the US and was the CEO of Ingram Digital, a pioneer in the early eBook industry who set up Amazon’s eBook store prior to their launch of Kindle and built out digital content work flows for Apple, Sony, Google, Microsoft, and multiple global publishers across the world.
James started working with Universities in 1992 as the founder of Coutts Information Services, a global supplier of research content to university libraries across the world with offices in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, the UK and Southern Africa and which was sold in 2006 and is now a part of the Proquest / Clarivate organisation.
Kortext is based in Bournemouth and James lives in Poole with his family enjoying the delights of the South Coast!

Rose Stephenson is the Director of Policy and Strategy at the Higher Education Policy Institute. Rose leads a high-profile programme of research, analysis and public engagement, shaping national debate on higher education. Her work focuses on strengthening the links between evidence, policymaking and practice. Rose also drives HEPI’s strategic direction, setting priorities that position the institute at the centre of national debate on higher education. Rose works closely with policymakers, regulators, and sector leaders, and has particular expertise in the evolving student experience, lifelong learning, the impact of AI on higher education, and issues of social mobility and equality . She is known for her ability to translate complex evidence into clear, practical policy insight and for building constructive dialogue across government, institutions and the wider public. Before joining HEPI, Rose held a series of transformational roles at the University of Bath, spanning student experience, policy development and programme delivery. She brings a strong understanding of how national policy decisions are implemented on the ground, and is a regular media commentator, speaker and chair on higher education reform.

Luke Tryl is the Executive Director of More in Common. Luke leads its ground-breaking UK public opinion and thought leadership work, shining a light on what the public thinks about topics as diverse as immigration, climate change, gender identity and mental health. With a focus on the nuances and complexity of public opinion, he has helped policymakers, business and civil society navigate issues often regarded as tricky and divisive. He is a regular media commentator and has appeared on flagship current affairs broadcasts on BBC radio and television. He has written for publications including the Times, Telegraph, Guardian, New Statesman and the Spectator. Before joining More in Common, Luke served as a Special Advisor to the then Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan, during the David Cameron administration and as Director of Strategy at Ofsted, the UK government’s Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills.

Dr Gosia Turner has nearly 20 years’ experience in UK higher education. Gosia is a specialist in student surveys and social statistics. She began her career at the Higher Education Academy, contributing to the early development of the NSS, PRES and PTES, before completing a PhD in Social Statistics at the University of Southampton. She later worked as a Senior Statistical Analyst at the University of Oxford and is now Head of Surveys at Jisc, where she leads the Graduate Outcomes survey.

More biographies to follow soon.