Leadership
Dan Parkes, our Chief Executive Officer
Dan was appointed CEO of The Mercian Trust in 2019. Since his appointment the trust has grown to nine schools and c10,000 students with eight of the schools being inspected in that time (all maintaining or improving their judgements - including two schools judged Outstanding in graded inspections). Dan has experience of leadership across the education sector. Prior to his appointment as CEO Dan was the founding Principal of Walsall Studio School (14-19) and has a track record of successfully introducing new programmes of study for students and for teachers re-training in different specialisms. Previously Dan was a senior leader in Further and Higher Education responsible for large staff teams, systems, and structures within multi-campus organisations. His experience includes mergers within FE colleges and school Trusts.
Building on a track record of embedding technology-enabled learning and digital convergence in education settings Dan is now Chair of the Microsoft UK Education Leadership Steering Group.
Dan is a member of the DFE’s national Headteacher and CEO Reference Group working with ministers and officials to support education policy development and implementation. He is also a member of the West Midlands Advisory Board (formerly RSC headteacher board). Advisory Boards are responsible for advising and challenging DFE Regional Directors (formerly RSCs) on decisions delegated from the Secretary of State.