ATL

Mary Bousted, general secretary

Dr Mary Bousted is general secretary of ATL. Mary represents the interests of her members to the government, and to a wide variety of other stakeholders. As the education union, ATL leads the debate on key educational issues with strong policy positions on, for example, assessment and curriculum changes; school accountability and school structures.

Mary contributes regular articles for newspapers and education journals, and appears frequently on national media. She sits on the executive committee of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and is a member of the ACAS board. Mary is also an accomplished public speaker and has debated at the Oxford Union.

Mary previously worked in higher education at York University, Edge Hill University and at Kingston University where she was Head of the School of Education. Prior to this Mary was a Head of English, and English teacher in comprehensive schools in North London.

Martin Johnson, deputy general secretary

Martin was a secondary teacher for over thirty years, specialising in social studies and pupils with challenging behaviour in schools and units in Merseyside, Yorkshire, and mostly inner London. This experience was distilled in his book Failing School, Failing City. He was also a trade union activist, and became president of NASUWT in 2000.

Martin then became an education researcher at the think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr). In January 2005 Martin joined the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the education union, and has been its deputy general secretary since 2007. Amongst his wide-ranging interests are curriculum; achievement, social class, and inequality; school funding; and resisting the privatisation of England's education system.

Peter Pendle, deputy general secretary

Peter Pendle was elected as chief executive and general secretary of the Association for College Management (ACM) in 2001 and re-elected in 2006. He retained the position until ACM's merger with ATL in 2011, when he became ATL's deputy general secretary. He is responsible for support and representation for members, resource management including finance, HR and IT, and membership and governance administration.

Before joining ACM Peter was director of resources for the Universities UK (formerly the Committee for Vice Chancellors and Principals (CVCP)) and before that was vice principal of Greenhill College in Harrow. He is a mentor for the Black Leadership Initiative Mentoring Scheme and a recipient of the Network of Black Managers' Award for leadership in race equality in FE.

Mark Langhammer, director of ATL Northern Ireland

Mark Langhammer is director of ATL Northern Ireland. He is responsible for the staff team, strategic direction, education policy, negotiations, recruitment and organisation. Mark was previously employed as director of the University for Industry's learndirect initiative in Northern Ireland, as CEO of the North Belfast (urban regeneration) Partnership and director of the Dunanney Centre.

Philip Dixon, director of ATL Cymru

Dr Philip Dixon is director of ATL Cymru. He is responsible for the work of the union in Wales. He directs policy in Wales and supervises caseworkers and organisers in the field.

Previously he was director of CAFOD Wales, an international aid agency, and before that special advisor to the then Leader of the Opposition at the National Assembly, Ieuan Wyn Jones (currently Deputy First Minister).

Keith Robson, national official for Scotland

Keith Robson became ATL's first national official for Scotland in August 2007. Previously, he worked as director of the National Union of Students Scotland. Keith has worked in education, health and housing. He has also served as a school governor in London and on the Scottish Higher Education Funding council.

Keith's main responsibilities include building organisational capacity, providing support to members, representing ATL with key stakeholders, and developing a distinctive ATL response to educational policy developments in Scotland.

Martin Freedman, head of pay, conditions and pensions department

Martin Freedman is head of ATL's pay, conditions and pensions department. He represents ATL on the Rewards and Incentives Group, the social partnership between employers, teacher unions and government on teachers' pay and conditions.

Martin sits on the Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group, which looks at the deployment of teachers and support staff in schools, and leads negotiations for ATL in further education. He has worked in education and employment for more than 30 years.

Nansi Ellis, head of education policy and research

Nansi Ellis is ATL's head of education policy and research. She is responsible for the development and implementation of ATL's education policy.

Nansi joined ATL as a primary education advisor, having previously managed the early years team at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. Before that, Nansi worked as a primary teacher, first in west Wales and then in London.