Built with parents, from the beginning.

Mike Llewellyn is a software engineer, technology leader and entrepreneur who turns complex ideas into practical digital products. His work spans mobile applications, web platforms and software services, delivering systems for organisations including the NHS, Ford, Audi, Benefit Cosmetics and Clarins, as well as growing businesses such as Zoopla and VoucherCodes. He co-founded Three Goblins, whose Power Rangers game reached more than three million downloads. Combining hands-on engineering with product strategy and experience leading development teams, Mike brings a practical approach to using technology and AI.

At NPA, he is building the digital foundations that connect parents, support participation and enable the organisation to grow.

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Thomas Casemore is a parent, researcher, writer, and educator with a MSt by research in Divinity from the University of St Andrews. His thesis focused on the theology and pedagogy of Bede, looking at the didactic purposes of Bede’s spiritual stories in the Historia Ecclesiastica. He has worked in secondary education, most recently as Head of Philosophy, Religion, and Ethics, with experience in curriculum development, assessment, pastoral leadership, and supporting pupils and families. His academic and professional interests centre on education, history, culture, ideas, and the historical origins of the policies and politics that shape the modern world.

He is also a published writer, contributing to publications including The Spectator and the Catholic Herald, where he writes on education, history, religion, and British culture. He also writes for his own publication, The Case For More, on topics concerning Britain's historical inheritance and culture. Alongside his professional and academic work, Thomas is interested in the relationship between education, family life, and wider society, and in ensuring that parents have a meaningful voice in the decisions that affect their children.

As a NPA co-founder, Thomas is delighted to be a part of building an organisation that supports parents and aims for change. He is dedicated to helping parent’s get the most out of their child’s education, and in encouraging parents to take ownership of their child’s wellbeing.

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Mervyn Pilley is an experienced membership professional with more than 50 years’ involvement in membership organisations, professional bodies, trade associations and voluntary groups. Throughout his career he has been particularly interested in how membership can bring people together around a shared purpose, give individuals a stronger collective voice and create communities in which knowledge, experience and support can be exchanged. He has been involved in establishing, developing and managing a wide range of membership organisations and has extensive experience of membership recruitment and engagement, governance, partnerships and organisational development.

Peter has been a school leader and teacher in independent, state, charitable and for-profit sectors in the UK and Asia. He has 25 years' experience of leadership in very different, dynamic, competitive environments. He has founded a Prep school, has experience franchising a school brand into new markets, is a qualified schools inspector and acts as a mentor and coach to school leaders. The schools he has led have received Best in Country and Best in World Awards.

Outside his school responsibilities Peter has served as education advisor to The London Stock Exchange, The Financial Times, RBS, Barclays Bank, The Personal Finance Education Group, The Jane Goodall Institute and the Ministry of Education in Thailand. He has written textbooks about economics, business studies and technology in schools. He writes on educational matters in the UK and overseas and has been a keynote speaker to school governors at the CBI and Institute of Directors. In Poland, Russia, the Caucasus and Asia he has lectured to Heads and teachers on topics including leadership, AI, wellbeing, pupil recruitment and safeguarding. His education consultancy projects have included creating an online tuition college, an anti-bullying app, an online bank for schools and stock market resources used globally by pupils annually.

Peter has served as Chair of Governors at a UK day and boarding school, governor at a state school and a board member for the University of Wales.

Jay Giddens is a dyslexic dad, education and accessibility professional, and passionate advocate for ensuring that children and families are heard, understood and properly supported.

Diagnosed with dyslexia later in life, Jay knows first-hand what it feels like to spend years believing you simply aren’t as capable as everyone else. That experience has shaped much of his professional life and his determination to challenge the idea that a child’s potential should ever be defined by the way they learn.

Jay has spent much of his career working across education, assistive technology and neurodiversity, helping schools, universities, organisations and families understand how the right support and technology can remove barriers rather than simply work around them. He is known for asking the uncomfortable question when systems, policies or commercial decisions lose sight of the people they are supposed to serve.

He is also the creator and host of Thick No More, a podcast built around honest conversations about dyslexia, ADHD, neurodiversity and the experiences that too often remain hidden behind labels.

But above everything else, Jay is a parent.

That is what makes the National Parents Alliance so important to him. Parents shouldn’t need to become experts in education law, SEND, assessments, technology and support services simply to get their child what they need. Nor should the quality of a child’s future depend on how loudly their parents can fight, how much they can afford, or whether they happen to know the right person.

Jay joined NPA because he believes parents deserve something much simpler: clear information, trusted guidance, a strong collective voice and somewhere to turn when they don’t know what to do next.

And ultimately, because every child deserves the opportunity to discover what they’re good at before somebody tells them what they’re not.

Michelle is a mother of two whose children have experienced both state and independent education. Her career spans business planning, marketing, consultancy and business development, working across organisations ranging from major engineering and manufacturing companies to small businesses and charities.

An entrepreneur, Michelle has founded and developed businesses in food manufacturing, hospitality and enterprise support, including designing and delivering business start-up training and mentoring programmes. She has also worked with young people through enterprise talks and advice clinics in local secondary schools.

Michelle went on to found the Association for Families of Independent Schooling (AFIS), where her work with families strengthened her conviction that parents and carers need better support, stronger representation and a more systematic role in the decisions that affect their children.

She co-founded the National Parents Alliance to help build that permanent, independent national infrastructure — connecting parents and carers, bringing together their knowledge and experience, and turning it into stronger representation and greater collective influence.

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Dr Rosemary Taylor brings more than three decades of experience in education, leadership and educational psychology. Her postgraduate research spans educational management and the effects of change on human behaviour.

Her work includes school improvement, institutional mergers and twenty years advising public and private organisations as Senior Partner at Key Issues Consultancy. An international speaker, she has supported families, educators and leaders across Europe, China and the Middle East, drawing on her knowledge of child development, the brain and organisational change.

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Siobhan was educated at independent schools, including boarding school from the age of 11 to 18, before graduating from the University of Bath with a degree in Applied Physics. She then spent ten years working in Sales and Marketing across the retail and foodservice sectors, developing strong commercial, strategic and relationship management skills.

Siobhan joined The Guardian Family Network in various roles before purchasing the business in May 2016 and becoming its Sole Director. Since then, she has led the strategic development and growth of the organisation, with responsibility for financial management, marketing, business development and day-to-day operations. Her leadership has helped strengthen the company’s international reach and relationships with schools, educational consultants, parents and homestay providers.

As Director of The Guardian Family Network Ltd, an AEGIS Gold Accredited guardianship organisation, Siobhan is committed to maintaining high professional standards while ensuring the welfare and happiness of the students remains at the heart of everything the company does. She brings together her commercial experience, personal understanding of boarding school life and many years as a homestay provider to lead a dedicated team supporting international students throughout their education in the UK.

Siobhan particularly values the opportunity to develop the business while building lasting partnerships and ensuring families receive a professional, personal and reliable guardianship service.