Alan woods and kirstie donnelly appointed as co-chairs of fab

Following a succession plan put in place over the past summer, Kirstie Donnelly MBE and Alan Woods OBE have been announced as co-chairs for the Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB). They will replace Paul Eeles and Terry Fennell (chair and vice-chair respectively) upon their retirement at the next Annual General Meeting being held December 8 2020. The succession comes at a time when FAB has undergone a strategic review, aiming to transform into a ‘best-in class digital industry association’ over the next three years. The federation has aspirations to “step up its policy influencing, member engagement and stakeholder co-operation roles.” On their appointment, Kirstie and Alan commented: “Our appointment comes at a time when further education is at last centre-stage in our national story about how we build a more prosperous, productive and inclusive economy in future. Our role is to make sure that it is a bright future built on better skills and opportunity for all.” They continued: “There are some significant upcoming challenges, including an FE White Paper in England; but also other key policy and regulatory reforms in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We're already planning a series of virtual 'Town Halls' with members and key stakeholders in the New Year.” “We'd both like to thank Paul and Terry for the excellent leadership they have displayed in taking the whole organisation forward over these past several years. To have volunteered the amount of time and energy to the cause that they have is extraordinary." Paul and Terry commented: “On behalf of the whole organisation, we would like to congratulate Kirstie and Alan for taking on the baton from us at board level. There’s no doubt they will provide inspired industry leadership for our part of the education profession during these unprecedented times.” Of their success as chair and vice-chair, Paul and Terry continued: “A recent member survey found that 97 per cent of awarding and assessment organisations in membership are satisfied with the performance of FAB. We occupy a different place in the skills ecosystem as a representative trade association, to where we did four years ago. After our combined tenure of 14 years, we both feel that we are leaving FAB in excellent hands.” Read about Alan Woods' previous work with VTCT here.