ATL

Andy Ballard, President

Andy Ballard has taught since 1977 having trained at Whitelands College which was then part of the University of London, Institute of Education.

After two years teaching science in West Sussex, Andy worked for a bank and then in the retail trade for two years before returning to teaching in Somerset where, for the next 22 years, he specialised in biology to A-level. In 1997, Andy completed training as a counsellor and volunteered part time in local mental health and youth placements.

Andy joined ATL in 1983 and soon after became school rep, then the Somerset branch secretary in 2000 and finally the Executive Committee member for Somerset in 2002.

Mary Bousted, General secretary

Dr Mary Bousted is general secretary of ATL. She was previously head of the school of education at Kingston University, where she led a team of 40 colleagues devoted to the education of undergraduate and postgraduate student teachers.

Mary has also worked as head of secondary education at Edge Hill College in Ormskirk, and as director of initial teacher training at the University of York. Prior to this, Mary was an English teacher in comprehensive schools in north London, including being head of English at Whitmore High School, Harrow.

Paul Day, Deputy general secretary

Paul Day is deputy general secretary of ATL. He joined the organisation in 2005 as assistant general secretary after 16 years at Abbey National, where his roles included employee relations, project management, and business process re-engineering.

Paul was national chairman of Abbey's trade union, ANSA, from 1998 to 2000. From 2001-2005 he was a trustee director of its £2bn pension scheme. He has served as a member of his local unitary authority, where he became cabinet member.

Martin Johnson, Deputy general secretary

Martin Johnson is ATL's deputy general secretary. Particular areas of expertise include the future of the teaching profession, funding, admissions, schooling in London, school-business links, personalisation, and staffing schools in challenging circumstances.

Before joining ATL in 2005, he worked at the Institute for Public Policy Research and was president of NASUWT from 2000 to 2001. Martin was a secondary teacher for over 30 years in Merseyside, Yorkshire and London, specialising in social studies.

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.

Martin Pilkington, Head of legal and member services

Martin Pilkington is head of legal and member services at ATL. He manages the provision of support for members who face professional difficulties, which is provided through the legal and member services department at the London office, the network of regional officials working in England, the national casework officials and the senior regional officials.

He qualified as a solicitor in 1988, practising law at Simmons & Simmons, a City law firm, before joining AMMA (ATL as was) in 1990.

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.