Dr Wendy Fowle is Associate Dean, Student Outcomes at Oxford Brookes University. She is academic lead for the University’s Access and Participation Plan (APP), ensuring that the student experience and the teaching and learning environment supports students from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds. Her academic interests in adult learning and widening participation developed through her role as Assistant Director (Access, Participation and Success) at the Open University and she has worked in research roles at the Learning and Skills Council and NACRO – a social justice charity. She is a qualified primary school teacher and has been involved in community-based initiatives over many years. She was awarded her doctorate in February 2022 for research exploring the transformative benefits of higher education to adult learners within the context of widening participation. She is a founding member of the FACE APP Special Interest group which was established in September 2021 and co-Vice-Chair to the FACE Executive. She represents Oxford Brookes’ within the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning, editorial board of the journal ‘Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning’ and NERUPI’s Peer Evaluation Advisory Group.

Gino has worked in widening participation for 20 years. He started his career at London School of Economics where he coordinated early iterations of a range of outreach projects. He then moved to the University of Brighton, where he was Widening Participation Manager responsible for overseeing outreach. Following this he joined the University of Sussex, where he worked in multiple roles including Head of UK Recruitment and Widening Participation. He has been in his current role – Director of Widening Participation and Social Mobility at the University of Southampton – for three years. During this time the University has reorganised how it delivers access and participation work across the student lifecycle and achieved a “Gold and Highly Commended Award” for University of the Year at the Social Mobility UK Awards 2022. Gino’s particular interests are in the evaluation of widening participation and ensuring outreach is done with students rather than to them.

Ashleigh Hope has been the Head of Access and Participation at Guildhall School of Music & Drama since 2018, building an ambitious portfolio of access activity and raising the profile of the School’s work and the inequality that exists in accessing performing arts pathways. She leads a multi-award winning team to support young people UK-wide with the development of their creative skills and their applications to, and student journey through, Guildhall School. Ashleigh has previous experience of working in widening participation at the University of Leeds and Queen Mary University, and was a beneficiary of access support as an applicant and student at Newcastle University. She has previous voluntary experience with HELOA and a local music hub, and is currently a local board member for the City Academy, Hackney. Ashleigh’s first-hand experience of being an access student informs her approach to work, and she is particularly focused on transition to HE, ongoing student support for those who join through access routes, and ensuring young people are equipped with the information and tools needed to make the right decisions for their future.

Baljit Gill, Widening Participation Manager, University of Warwick.I have worked in the education sector for nearly thirty years in a variety of roles, but all with a common focus on social inclusion and equity, and a genuine commitment to the ethos of widening access and participation in higher education.

Professor Ross Renton is the Principal of ARU Peterborough, a new university for Peterborough. Professor Renton was previously Senior Pro Vice Chancellor at the University of Worcester, where he held strategic responsibility for key aspects of the student experience, widening participation, employability, international and a range of partnerships and resources.
His experience has included being a designated Widening Participation Expert for the Office for Students, Co-Chair of the Forum for Access and Continuing Education (FACE), Chair of Widening Participation for GuildHE and a main panel member of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) Subject Pilots.
He is also a Visiting Professor at the Open University, and was previously Dean of Students at the University of Hertfordshire.
Professor Renton continues advise both public and private organisations through a range of external roles. His research interests include education policy, and he is regularly invited to contribute his expertise in this area.