Caroline McDonald – CEO

Caroline is HOLEX’s first CEO and has over two decades of expertise in adult education and community engagement. Caroline brings a wealth of experience and a commitment to shaping the future of adult education.

Caroline joins us from Birkbeck, University of London, where she served as Director of Access and Engagement, preceded by distinguished roles as Head of Access and Engagement and Head of Outreach. Caroline’s professional background demonstrates a dynamic and results-oriented leadership style, marked by creativity, responsiveness, and a strong focus on access and progression.

Throughout her career, Caroline has been instrumental in advancing the role of adult education as a gateway to longer-term employment and empowerment. She has championed the importance of adult education in addressing social and economic inequalities, creating vibrant civil societies, and enhancing employment prospects through the teaching of vocational, soft, transferable and fusion skills.

Contact Caroline – caroline.mcdonald@holex.org.uk

Dr Sue Pember CBE. – Policy Lead

Sue is the Policy Lead for HOLEX, which is the professional body for adult education providers. Her role includes building up an evidence base on why Lifelong Learning is vital to this country’s prosperity. In this role she has published several reports including the CfL sponsored No time to Lose: Response to Covid 19, Shaping the National Retraining Scheme and the FETL sponsored Adult Community Education Supporting Place and People.

Between 2000-2013, she was the lead senior civil servant working with Ministers on post 19 education and skills policies including adult skills funding and workplace learning. Sue joined the Civil Service in 2000 to head up the new DfEE Skills for Life Unit and in response to the Lord Moser Report create a new national strategy for improving adult literacy and numeracy skills. The strategy was successful, met its targets early and went on to ensure that between 2001 and 2011 some 14 million participated in adult literacy and numeracy activities with over 8 million qualifications being achieved, which produced a 13% improvement in literacy in the adult population with over 5 million more adults with skills at level 2. In 2006 she led a review on apprenticeships which led to a renewed focus and increased investment and in 2011 supported Ministers in developing a new adult education strategy New Challenges and New Chances which is still the main policy document covering adult education.

Before joining the civil service Sue successfully ran Canterbury College for nine years and before that was a local authority education officer. She started her career in teaching and believes that grounding still underpins everything she does.

Contact Sue – sue.pember@holex.org.uk

Charlie McKenna – Business and Operations Manager

Charlie is the Business & Operations Manager at HOLEX, where she plays a key role in supporting adult community education providers across England, working behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly. 

With a strong background in systems and operations management and business analysis, Charlie has worked in both fast-paced retail and non-profit sectors, bringing valuable expertise in process optimisation and project management. Passionate about adult education, she finds working in this sector particularly rewarding, driven by her commitment to improving access and opportunities for lifelong learning.

Contact Charlie – charlie.mckenna@holex.org.uk

Caitlin Percival – Membership & Operations Assistant

We are thrilled to welcome Caitlin, who joined HOLEX as our Membership and Operations Assistant in December 2024.

With a solid background in business and administration, and having started as a Modern Apprentice, Caitlin is highly organised and skilled at managing a wide range of tasks. In her previous role at Scottish Borders Council, she gained extensive experience in local authority operations, honing her communication skills through collaboration with diverse stakeholders and developing expertise in data analysis by managing complex transport planning and reporting processes.

Currently in the final year of her Environmental Studies course through the Open University, Caitlin has developed valuable insights into enhancing community well-being, fostering social equity, and promoting sustainable economic development. We greatly value Caitlin’s passion for system and process improvement and are excited to have her support as HOLEX embarks on its journey to enhance operations and strengthen its impact.

Contact Caitlin – caitlin.percival@holex.org.uk