AAETO/HOLEX Board members

The AAETO board comprises five volunteers who are all senior leaders from within the HOLEX membership. Our wonderful directors are passionate advocates for the benefits of adult education. They bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience of the sector and use this to steer and guide the work of HOLEX.

Dipa Ganguli, OBE. Chair of AAETO Board

Dipa has been in the Adult Community Education sector for nearly 30 years, starting in Croydon Adult Education (CALAT) ESOL department as the Office Manager. After different roles spanning 18 years at CALAT, she moved to Westminster Adult Education Service (WAES) as the Assistant Principal and then Principal/Head of Service at Sutton College Adult Education. She is currently the CEO/Principal of WM College, the oldest Institute of Adult Learning in the UK.    

Dipa has a master’s in economics and a PCGE from Canterbury Christchurch University.  She taught maths for a number of years before moving to management full time. She is passionate about giving adults the chance they deserve to improve their life circumstances. She is a member of the HOLEX Policy Forum and is responsible for the ESOL, European Social Fund and lately the staff Survey.

Dipa has been an AAETO board member since April 2018.

Simon Martin, MBE. – Vice Chair of AAETO Board

Simon currently works as a senior leader consultant for Academy Transformation Trust Further Education in north Nottinghamshire.

He has worked in secondary and post-16/adult education since 1992, mainly in north Nottinghamshire. He has been Headteacher and Principal of a community college/academy, as well as leading a community adult education provider and Director of Further Education for a national multi-academy trust.  This has given a holistic perspective on the leadership and management of lifelong education.   

Simon is qualified as a Chartered Company Secretary and had a career in business administration with Marks & Spencer plc, University College London and the offshore oil and gas industry before entering education.  He holds a MA in Educational Management and recently completed an MBA.

Simon joined the AAETO board in June 2020.

Arinola Edeh, CBE. AAETO Board member

Arinola has worked in the public sector for over 30 years, with over 20 of those being in further and adult education. She is currently the Principal and Head of Service of Westminster Adult Education Service (WAES), a Local Authority, Adult Community Education Service in London. She has held this position for the last four years, having been the Deputy Principal at WAES for the previous five years.

Prior to joining Westminster, Arinola worked at two General Further Education Colleges and in both organisations led extensive employer facing and community partnership work, including the delivery of successful ESF and externally funded projects.

Having moved into Adult and Community Education at Westminster, Arinola really values the difference and challenge that working as a leader within the local authority brings to the education and skills landscape, as the ability to leverage other services in meeting the wider needs of people holistically can make a huge difference and impact on lives.

As a returnee migrant with dual nationality, Arinola is passionate about leading work that enables individuals and communities to benefit from the transformational power of education. Her own journey has made her very keen to help individuals to create their own stories and amplify their voices, with a desire to inspire people from the all walks of life to “dance to the beat of their own drum!

Arinola represents HOLEX London on the GLA’s Skills for Londoners Board and is the HOLEX Policy Forum lead for Equality Diversity and Inclusion and Digital Skills.  Arinola became a Board Member and Director of AAETO in October 2021.

Kerry Gray – AAETO Board member

Kerry Gray has worked in Adult and Community Education in Leicester & Leicestershire for more than 25 years. After graduating from Brighton College of art in the early 90s, she travelled in Eastern Europe and worked for a gallery and arts festival in Germany, before returning to the UK and falling into teaching arts and Family Learning. For the last 10 years she has been Head of Adult Education at Leicester City Council.

As a member of the HOLEX policy Forum, Kerry has led on IAG, Safeguarding and Quality and joined the AAETO board in 2024.