Our speakers

Michelle Donelan was appointed Minister of State for Higher and Further Education on 15 September 2021. She was previously appointed as Minister for Universities at the Department for Education on 13 February 2020.

She was previously Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) from 29 July 2019 to 13 February 2020. She was also an unpaid Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education covering the maternity leave of Kemi Badenoch MP from 4 September 2019 to 13 February 2020.

(Photo source UK Parliament website. Used under Creative Commons).

Catherine Barber is an experienced public sector leader, who specialises in climate and energy policy. Her most recent role was in the UK's Department for Business, where she established a £300m fund to decarbonise industry. She has worked in the UK's diplomatic service, promoting international cooperation between climate scientists and policy-makers, and for Oxfam GB as a re

searcher and policy adviser.  From November she will lead the unit responsible for London's energy, environment and climate policy, delivering the Mayor's ambition to make the city zero-carbon by 2030.  She holds a Masters in Carbon Management from the University of Edinburgh, and Masters in Public Administration and International Development from Harvard University.

Charlotte has over fifteen years’ experience working in the sustainability and education sectors leading transformational engagement and development programmes.

She has recently joined the Education and Training Foundation as National Head of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) .

Prior to joining the ETF she was a keystone of NUS’ sustainability work. She is one of the co-founders of Students Organizing for Sustainability International and led on their partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme. 

Charlotte has an MSc in Energy and Environmental Technologies and is a member of both the Institution of Environmental Managers and Assessors and the Society of Education and Training. She’s part of the Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s Green Apprenticeship Advisory Community and sits on the COP26 Education and Skills Committee.

Climate, Environment and Emerging Issues Lead at NatWest Group. With over 14 years’ experience, Rhona is responsible for leading the bank’s Paris Alignment project which aims to half the climate impact of the banks financing activity and achieve Paris alignment by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

She also represents the bank on collaborative working groups on emerging environmental and climate issues and leads engagement with NGO and civil society on these topics.

Jenny Young is Head of Strategy, Policy & Insights for the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board, the statutory body that supports skills development in the processing and critical energy infrastructure industries. Her role includes overseeing the ECITB response to industrial decarbonisation and the energy transition, understanding what skills support the engineering construction industry will need now and in the future.

Jenny spent 24 years with BAE Systems, specialising in Systems Engineering. Prior to joining ECITB, Jenny co-led the Government-funded Diversity & Inclusion programme at the Royal Academy of Engineering for 7 years, working with many employers and the engineering profession to support wider participation from all demographic backgrounds in engineering.

Jenny is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the IET.

Prof Dave Reay is Chair in Carbon Management & Education at the University of Edinburgh and director of the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute. His research focuses on climate change and sustainable

land use. Dave is also the Policy Director at ClimateXChange, chairs the Scottish Government’s Climate Emergency Skills Implementation Group and was a member of the UK Government's Green Jobs Taskforce. Most recently he has led the development of a suite of open access courses on climate change aimed at young people around the world.