Lynne Sedgmore CBE

Executive Director

Lynne is currently Executive Director of the 157 Group of FE colleges and has advised Whitehall on a range of projects including leadership, innovation and community/interfaith cohesion.

Lynne was Chief Executive of the Centre for Excellence in Leadership, (CEL) - the national leadership college for the learning and skills sector for four years (2004-2008). Previous roles include Principal of Guildford College, Vice Principal of Croydon College and Head of Croydon Business School. Lynne has held a range of full-time Leadership, Marketing, Curriculum and lecturing posts in Further Education for over 30 years.

Lynne is a qualified teacher and has an MSc in Change Agent Skills and Strategies. She was awarded the CBE in 2004. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a fellow of the Institute of Directors and is a Chartered Marketer.

She is passionate about leading learners and learning, and has worked also in higher education, the adult, community, charity and voluntary sectors and in secondary schools.

She was a Council member of Surrey University for 6 years and is a senior fellow of the University of Surrey. She has had several articles published on leadership, emotional intelligence, and well being in the workplace; she co-authored a workbook on 'Marketing for College Managers'.

Her organisations have won a range of awards including BT Vision, International Spirituality at Work award, Best College Prospectus, the British Diversity award and CEL was in the top 50 Stonewall companies.

Lynne is an experienced board member and has held 15 non-executive posts since 1984 including Vice-Chair of Croydon Health Authority and Chair of the UK Interfaith Seminary. Currently she is a Director of the Anne Frank Trust UK, the Talent Foundation, the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and Servant Leadership UK. She has chaired and sat on numerous national and Ministerial public sector committees and advisory groups.

Lynne has three daughters, 2 grand-daughters and travels extensively to explore different cultures.