One week to go: building momentum for the Fair Education Summit 2025
With just days to go until the Fair Education Summit 2025, excitement is building across the Alliance. This year’s gathering promises to be our most ambitious and energising yet, bringing together members, young people, regional leaders and practitioners for a day of ideas, connection and collective momentum.
We’re excited to share the line-up of speakers and panellists below. Whether you are joining us at the Science Museum or following the action on social media, you can keep up with everything happening on the day by following us on LinkedIn, Instagram and Bluesky, and by tracking our Summit hashtag #FairEducationSummit2025.
Before we dive in, here’s how one of our members describes what the Summit means to them. Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang from Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust captures the spirit of the day perfectly:
“We’re really looking forward to attending this year’s Fair Education Summit. Every Summit allows us to pause and connect with other organisations equally committed to educational equality. ”
“Since joining the FEA, we’ve come away from previous Summits energised by the enthusiasm shown by the people and organisations we’ve encountered. As a small organisation committed to improving outcomes for children in care, being part of the Alliance matters a great deal to us, and these events have always been a great opportunity to share, learn, test ideas and build collective momentum.
This year’s agenda looks set to be the most inspiring yet, with sessions around challenging mindsets and interactive performances. We’re looking forward to hearing bold perspectives from leaders across different sectors, and we hope to leave the event with new connections, new perspectives and a renewed determination for turning ideas into collaborative action.”
Meet our speakers and panellists
Opening Plenary
Dr Vanessa Ogden CBE (Chair, Fair Education Alliance), Sam Butters and Gina Cicerone (Co-CEOs, Fair Education Alliance) set the scene for a transformative day for our Alliance.
Inside Out: Shifting Mindsets to Shift the System
In our opening panel, we invite leaders and influencers to share bold, challenging perspectives on how we shift mindsets to transform the system. Panellists include Sophie Pender (The 93% Club), Kiran Mihal (Central Foundation Girls’ School), Anna McShane (New Britain) and Natsayi Sithole (Renaisi).
Our panellists will then join interactive breakout sessions focused on the same subject, giving us all the opportunity to explore how we can shift our own mental models and mindsets, as well as those of others.
Power to the people: Driving place-based change
Subhan, a member of the FEA Youth Steering Group, will kick off our afternoon session with his poetry.
We’ll then go deep on place-based change, starting with our keynote from Sarah Smith MP, who will reflect on the opportunity for regionally driven, long-term transformation.
This will lead into one of the biggest moments of the day: the announcement of the three Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) selected as our new Collaboration Partners - a major step forward for our place-based work.
We’re excited that Sarah Smith MP will then join representatives from each of the selected MCAs for a panel discussion exploring how regional collaboration can drive system-wide change.
From Neighbourhood to National: Thematic Collaboration
In our afternoon breakout sessions, we’ll bring together place-based and thematic collaboration and explore the Fair Education Alliance’s three priority themes – Early Childhood, National Year of Reading and Jobs for Tomorrow – through the lens of ‘Neighbourhood to National’.
Each lively session will include plenty of opportunity for discussion with national and Mayoral Combined Authority leaders, members of our Youth Steering Group, and other expert contributors, including David Hayman (National Year of Reading), Farzana Hussain (Teesville School), Elaine Fulton (Common Outcomes) and Barry Fletcher (Youth Futures Foundation).
With such a powerful line-up of voices coming together, this year’s Summit promises to spark ideas and build momentum across the Alliance.
Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates, and we look forward to bringing you highlights and insights from Summit in next week’s Bulletin.
The Fair Education Team