The College’s Leadership is comprised of The Board of Directors and the College’s Directorate Team.

Dr Chris Bamber has devoted himself to fostering the College’s unique position in academia, in the UK and across the Globe. An acknowledged expert and philosopher in the fields of Systems Thinking, Process Management, Leadership and Teamwork, Higher Education Governance and Risk Management, he earned a Doctorate from University of Salford and a Fellowship from the College of Teachers.

As founding father, Dr Chris has been committed to combining teaching, learning and research excellence with a development of the deeper purposes of excellence in higher education. While pursuing academic distinction, he has brought renewed emphasis to OLC’s distinctive mission, rooted in the tradition of every learner matters emphasised by the founding community, to educate the whole person—mind, body, and spirit—to do good in the world.

Dr Chris has developed a formula for improving the college’s Impact on Society; Is = ∑E1 x ∑E2 x ∑E3 x Cp and; is keen to help the communities that the learners and the collegiate serve.

If we focus on our impact on society, we will excel in our values. Our impact on society increases each year and the communities we serve are seeing the benefit of our Excellence in Higher Education.

Dr Chris’s speech at the 2022 OLC Annual Strategic Retreat

As Principal at OLC College, Sally provides strategic direction and to help deliver the college’s vision to provide excellence in higher education. Sally has a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from University of Huddersfield as well as a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from the University of Hull. She has worked in education for over twenty years and has a passion in supporting adults returning to education.

Sally has previously worked at a number of large further and higher education colleges including Education Partnership North East providing leadership for the quality and standards for their higher education provision. She is also a higher education reviewer for the Quality Assurance Agency and has undertaken reviews of colleges for nearly 10 years.

Craig supports the Senior Leadership and Senior Management Teams of the College and is responsible for preparation of monthly management accounts for the College and for the Annual declaration of the College’s financial situation. Other roles include providing financial analysis, financial risk assessment and budgetary information for the Directorate and the Managing Director related to the strategic intent, operations and success of the College activities.

Ronnie Todd has significantly valuable experience in teaching and leadership roles in High Schools, Colleges and University settings. He held a senior leadership role at Hopwood Hall College, Rochdale before moving to Bradford College to lead the International Team and then turned to OLC to become an executive director advising the College Directorate. Ronnie now holds the post of Director of Strategic Growth and passionately drives the OLC senior teams to ensure that a growth mindset is embedded in the culture of the College. He is responsible for identifying and analysing opportunities that support the OLC strategy of five growth visions; Growth in Joy in Work; Growth in Knowledge; Growth in Partnerships; Growth in Capital and; Growth in Stakeholder Satisfaction.

Ernest is a senior director experienced in coordination of multidisciplinary teams within education and consultancy institutions. He is a well-rounded professional with excellent interpersonal skills, a willingness to work hard and mobilise teams to deliver business objectives. Ernest has supported OLC for over ten years with strong collaborative working ethics and relationship management skills with a student-centred approach. He has been awarded an MBA in Higher Education Management and a BA (Hons) in Economics and is tasked with ensuring the resilience, sustainability and strategic management of our London, UK campuses.

Our students are living embodiments of OLC’s Impact on Society through daily demonstrations of the value of Engagement, Enhancement, Evaluation and Consistency of Purpose. In a time when, for obvious reasons (COVID-19 lockdowns), many have sought entrenchment, I have immense admiration for those who have embraced the challenge of self development. At OLC, we promise to do our best to offer maximum support, understanding and conducive on and offline learning spaces, through which these aims can be realised.

2020 OLC Annual Report, Ernest Kwateng Welcome Address

As Director of Teaching, Learning and Assessment Enhancements, Enock is the OLC responsible director for all aspects of the academic journey of our learners and takes responsibility for directing all academic staff that teach across all programmes of study. Over the years at OLC he has shown, a strong leadership drive in exploring with learners, how best to make learning effective and enjoyable at the same time. His leadership journey has followed steps from senior tutor to programme manager and head of school respectively, before his current role. He brings passion and dedication in assisting learners and staff members, especially those with additional needs to be confident, independent and realise their potential. He holds an MA in Inclusive Education, Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Level 7 Teaching Learners with Additional Needs (TLAN) and achieved Youth and Community Work B.A. (Hons) 2:1. He is a dedicated educator with a QTLS Professional Formation Certification and is currently reading Educational Leadership towards achieving a PhD, Doctorate at Lancaster University.

Julie has a wealth of experience in helping vulnerable adults and children from various backgrounds and with varying needs. As a care specialist and professionally qualified in understanding and communicating with individuals who have special educational needs including ASC, ADHD and BESMH issues, Julie has a great aptitude and ability to empathise and support our student’s journey. With a BA (Hons) in Youth and Community and a PGCE teaching qualification specialising in learners over 14 years old, Julie has a great ability to lead our academics and support teams, to deliver a brilliant and fulfilling student journey for all our learners.

Yunus was there at the inception of OLC in 1998, as student of Professor John Sharp, one of the OLC founding fathers, he was at the first Annual Strategic Retreat, where the ideas, vision and ethos of the College were set. He holds an MSc in Advanced Business and Manufacturing Management and gained an Honours Degree in Business. With a wealth of experience in systems and process development and a history of working in the charity sector, Yunus brings highly tuned organisational skills, leadership and compassion to the role of Director. He is responsible for ensuring the support mechanisms, data management and policies are in place for teaching and learning.