Executive Team
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John Rogers – Chief Executive, Workforce Development Trust
John Rogers is Chief Executive of the Workforce Development Trust (incorporating SFJ Awards, Skills for Health, Skills for Justice and People 1st). He has spent most of his career in workforce development leadership roles. Much of his career has focused on the health sector, including roles as Chief Executive of Skills for Health, Chief Executive of Healthwork UK, as a Director at the NHS Training Authority, and other senior roles in the Department of Health and within the NHS. John has also worked significantly across sectors including contributions as the Chair of the UK-wide Alliance of Sector Skills Councils and as a non-executive of the South West Learning and Skills Council.
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David Higham – Managing Director
David joined SFJ Awards as the Managing Director in July 2024, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge from a career background in Further Education (FE) from working at Nottingham College as their Head of Growth and Innovation.
Before joining Nottingham College in 2020, David held a series of senior leadership roles across the FE sector, including at Chesterfield College and Tresham College where he was Group Commercial Director and Vice Principal respectively. Previously, David spent nearly a decade at Learndirect – which at the time was the UK’s largest private training provider.
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Christos Lucas – Finance Director
Christos Lucas joined The Workforce Development Trust in 2019. Since 2021, Christos has been the Finance Director for the group, which means he has the responsibility for the group’s corporate operations.
Christos has previous experience working in a variety of finance roles in his previous employment at Dyson. He also worked for EY, starting his career on their graduate programme.
The Board
SFJ Awards’ Board is ultimately responsible for ensuring that SFJ Awards operate to the highest standards and is compliant with regulators’ requirements. Our Board members have considerable business experience as well as expertise within the sectors we work in and in education and learning.
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Erika Bannerman – Chair of SFJ Awards
Erika Bannerman is the Managing Director NHS Shared Business Services (SBS), July 2020, and a member of Sopra Steria UK’s Executive Committee.
Following a successful career in senior leadership roles with Capita and the Manpower Group, leveraging a wide range of skills from management consultancy to technology delivery, Erika’s role at NHS SBS is to harness the organisation’s great people and technology strengths to deliver its purpose: “helping the NHS to save money and enhance quality so that the NHS can improve health, innovate to save lives, and deliver better outcomes with care and compassion.”
An experienced CEO, Non-Executive Director, Chair and Advisor, serving on a mix of Public, Private and FTSE boards; Government Joint Ventures and Partnerships, Erika has a broad range of experience in business services, consultancy, digital and regulated organisations.
Erika is on the Partnership Board Committee for the Bookmark Reading Charity, an Education Charity committed to improving child literacy and is also a Consultant to the Social Mobility Commission, an advisory non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Education.
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Keith Fraser – Board Member
Keith Fraser is the Chair of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB), appointed by The Secretary of State on April 14, 2020, after becoming a member in January 2018. He is also an Advisor for the National Police Chiefs Council Digital Engagement Project for Young People, Chair of Employability UK, and a trustee on the Board of Sport Birmingham and the National Emergency Services memorial.
Prior to this, Keith was a Superintendent and Chief Inspector in the West Midlands Police, having joined the Metropolitan Police as a Constable, during which time he produced the 2016-19 Preventing Gang Involvement and Youth Violence strategy and was Head of Learning and Development for 13,000 staff.
Keith also produced the business plan for City of Wolverhampton council, where he was the Chair of the authority’s statutory Youth Offending Management Board. He led an innovative, preventative project, targeting over 7,000 young people, working with Sport England and was the Strategic Police Lead for the Princes Trust across the West Midlands.
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Dr Allison Jones – Board Member
Dr Allison Jones is the Managing director of AEJ Education Consultancy Ltd and a board member of SFJ Awards.
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Arvind Malhotra – Board Member
Arvind Malhotra is the Co-Founder and CEO of FutureSense Group – a global social enterprise that works in partnership with leading universities in the UK & Australia to provide opportunities for students to gain new skills.
Prior to establishing FutureSense Group, Arvind held a number of leadership roles in global organisations across a diverse range of industries.
Beginning his professional career at Unilever, Arvind progressed to the role of Vice President at Bank of America before joining Zurich, where he became Marketing Director & Member of the Executive Board.
In addition to his role as CEO of FutureSense Group, Arvind chairs the FutureSense Foundation – an international charity that supports children and youth from disadvantaged communities worldwide.
A graduate of Delhi University, Arvind lives with his wife in Wiltshire and they have two children.
The Board meets quarterly.
Quality and Standards Committee
As an Awarding Organisation it is critical that SFJ Awards maintains the highest standards of operation in order to provide learners, centres, regulators and other stakeholders with confidence in us and the qualifications we offer.
The purpose of the Quality and Standards Committee is to oversee the running of SFJ Awards with regard to its Awarding Organisation and regulatory functions in the interest of Learners, Centres, regulators and other stakeholders. The Quality and Standards Committee meets quarterly and reports directly to the board.
Join the Board and/or the Quality and Standards Committee
We currently have no vacancies on our Board or Quality and Standards Committee. When vacancies do arise they will be advertised here.