Jose Lopes

Trust Governor

I am proud to be the Chair of the Local Governing Body for Solihull Sixth Form College. I am recently retired from my role as the Pro Vice-Chancellor for External Affairs at University College Birmingham, where I worked between 2021 - 2024.

Prior to that, I was Head of Business Engagement at the West Midlands Combined Authority, after a 30-year career in Engineering, culminating as Head of Technical Excellence at Jaguar Land Rover in Warwickshire.

I believe the need for Level 3+ skills have never been higher. The values and aims professed by the Summit Learning Trust, focussed as they are on outcomes and ambition for learners and underpinned by strengths in your people, safeguarding, application of appropriate resources and diversity, are what I'd hope to see in an organisation focused on growth and success for all their stakeholders. I believe that community engagement and cohesion are crucial when embedding values which resonate, within any college's culture.

My key observation is that the UK education and labour markets still faces significant challenges around ensuring all our young people succeed in life. My previous roles supporting skills within Higher Education, Public Sector and Industry, have provided me with a broad and deep understanding of the requirement to deliver the right outcomes in education, to ensure young people and adults have the best opportunities to succeed in their chosen employment or onward educational journey.

As a previous chair of governors and academy trust board member at a local University Technical College, and governor of my local primary school, I understand how partnership between governors and staff members can deliver outstanding results in education, as well as the crucial role governors play in supporting students, and their families.