Shared Services Team

Carla is an experienced leader, who has worked with many national groups and educational influencers. As CEO of Empower Trust. Carla was previously Headteacher of Oakmeadow CE Primary and Nursery School – a Local Authority Advisor and a National College Founding member, sitting on the Leading advisory board at the Chartered College between 2019-2020. Carla is NAHT President within the Shropshire branch, a member of Shropshire Schools Forum and an Executive coach for LLSE.

Carla has been an active voice in Shropshire education for over 10 years, working in close partnership with other Heads to make effective change locally. Carla met Educational secretary, Justine Greening in 2019 as part of this work with Shropshire Heads and has experience of working with Ministers and DfE officials on education policy issues.

As a LA advisor, Executive coach and local leader, Carla has supported over 20 schools and academies in improvement. Under Carla’s leadership Oakmeadow gained outstanding for leadership and management and an outstanding SIAMS inspection.

Carla has led quality assurance work in another successful MAT within Shropshire prior to her CEO role, designed innovative school-led school-to-school support mechanisms, devised networks for effective collaboration between schools, all leading to improved outcomes for Shropshire children.

Carla has delivered keynote speeches at regional and national conferences and has extensive experience specialising in SEND & Safeguarding.

Tricia has worked in Education for 8 years and plays a pivotal role as a Senior Leader at Empower Trust. Tricia leads, develops and maintains the sound operation of financial and business policy/practices across the Trust ensuring that all requirements of the Academy Trust handbook are effectively fulfilled.

Before moving into the Education sector in 2013, Tricia worked for 12 years in the legal public sector working in roles such as press and media relations, training and development and business management.

Between 2013 and 2018 Tricia worked as a School Business Manager in a large primary school and it was here that she completed her Level 5 ILM Accredited Diploma in School Business Management in 2016.

Tricia joined the Trust at its inception in 2018 as the Trust Finance & Business Manager. Her role has evolved and she is now the Chief Operating Officer (COO) also incorporating the role of Chief Finance Officer (CFO) for the Trust. She recently completed her CIPFA Level 7 Diploma in School/Financial and Operational Leadership and Certificate in Financial Reporting for Academies (Cert FRA). She is also a member of ISBL (Institute of School Business Leaders).

Tricia is a DfE accredited SRMA (Schools Resource Management Advisor). The SRMA programme is part of the DfE’s wider work to help schools achieve excellent school resource management.​

​Lucy joined Empower Multi Academy Trust in October 2021 as the Trust Administrator. Since then, her role has evolved significantly.

Alongside Lucy’s initial responsibilities, she took on the role of ITT Coordinator for the Shropshire Primary Partnership, which operates under the EmpowerMAT umbrella. In 2023, Lucy became the Engagement and Communications Administrator for STEP (Shropshire and Telford Education Partnership), supporting wider engagement across the region.

As well as Lucy’s roles with Shropshire Primary Partnership and STEP, she is also now the Trust Communications and Enterprise Lead, a newly created role designed to strengthen strategic communications and enterprise initiatives across the Trust. This position is still developing and will continue to grow with the Trust.

Background:

Before joining the Trust, Lucy worked from 2013 to 2021 as an administrator for a care company supporting adults with learning disabilities. Prior to that, Lucy spent 11 years at the Royal Bank of Scotland, gaining valuable experience in customer service and operational support.

My Impact:

In Lucy’s multifaceted role, she contributes to the Trust’s mission and vision by:

• Administrative Support: Ensuring the smooth running of operations by supporting senior Trust staff and the Finance team with efficient administrative processes.
• Marketing & Social Media Management: Promoting the Trust’s initiatives, events, and achievements to raise awareness and strengthen community engagement.
• Communication: Facilitating clear and consistent communication across departments and partnerships, helping to build strong internal and external relationships.

Molly joined our Shared Services Team in September 2025 as People Services Administrator.

Prior to this role, Molly achieved a Distinction in a Level 3 Business Administration apprenticeship at one of our Trust schools. After completing her apprenticeship, Molly is keen to progress her career in HR and Governance.

Molly will be working closely with various colleagues across the Trust to provide administrative support across key areas such as governance, HR systems, and general people services. In her spare time Molly enjoys travelling, swimming and running.

My Impact:

To provide clerical and operational support with added junior-level Human Resources and Governance responsibilities.

Contribute to a positive employee experience by being approachable, responsive and detail-orientated in everything I do.

Collaborating with colleagues, helping to create a workplace where everyone feels supported and empowered.

Leon joined Empower Trust in August 2024 as Trust Facilities & Estates Apprentice. Before joining the Trust Leon spent 6 years in the military. One and a half years were spent in the Royal Navy where he trained to be a chef and joined the crew of the then newly built aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales. During his time on HMS Prince of Wales, the crew took the ship out of build, embarked on its first sea trials, and Leon was involved in the commissioning of the ship which was formally commissioned into the Royal Navy at a ceremony with King Charles (the then Prince of Wales) and Queen Camilla in attendance.

Shortly afterwards, Leon joined the Royal Marines where he passed out as an original and went onto join 47CDO. He deployed on multiple exercises and also got the opportunity to go skiing in Austria and Germany. After 2 years at 47CDO, Leon then joined 40CDO where he was involved in the Kings Coronation and various military duties. Leon was also involved in actively training partner forces to go into conflict, several deployments, and was involved in multiple exercises, and heavy weapons packages during his time in the Marines. Leon decided to leave the Royal Marines to spend more time at home with his family and enjoy a better work-life balance.

In his spare time Leon enjoys going to the gym, camping, hiking and spending time with his family and his dog Obi.

My Impact:

Ria joined the Trust in March 2024 as Director of Finance.

Ria has worked in finance for the education sector for 18 years and is a qualified member of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) and is part qualified with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

Ria will support schools and leaders to achieve financial security and sustainability, whilst helping to provide the best possible outcomes and life chances for all young people and families.

Ria has been a governor of a Primary school since 2022, a role which she enjoys and has given her a greater insight into other aspects of school life. In her spare time, Ria enjoys dancing, ballroom and Latin and is also learning Spanish.

Sian joined the Trust in March 2022 as a Senior Finance Officer.

Before joining Empower Trust Sian has worked as a Senior Finance Officer at another Multi Academy Trust for over 3 years. She was responsible for providing financial and system support to academies and to the Finance Manager. Prior to this Sian worked in accounts for 5 years in the renewable energy sector at an anaerobic digestion plant.

Sian works closely within the finance team and provide support to schools across the Trust.

Becky is the Financial Officer for Empower Trust based at the central office. Becky joined us in 2018 as a Financial Administrator. In October 2019, she was promoted to Finance Officer.

From 2010 – 2018 Becky worked in retail banking with 5 of those years spent as Counter Manager in various different branches.

Becky works closely with the Headteachers, Business Managers and Admin teams and visits each School on a monthly basis to review school income and expenditure and is responsible for maintaining accurate financial records across the Trust.

At Empower Trust the Director of Training and Partnerships role involves leading the development and implementation of training strategies, building partnerships with external organisations, overseeing trust wide staff development, ensuring quality assurance, promoting innovation and best practices, contributing to strategic planning and facilitating communication and collaboration among stakeholders. The role helps to foster excellence, collaboration and innovation within the trust to benefit students, staff and the community.

The Strategic Lead for Safeguarding is responsible for overseeing and coordinating all aspects of safeguarding policies and practices across the Empower Trust, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements and fostering a safe environment for students and staff.

Using national legislation and best practices, the Strategic Lead for Safeguarding develops and updates safeguarding policies, providing support to Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs), monitors safeguarding practices through audits and quality assurance and collaborates with external agencies to enhance safeguarding provision.

Regular liaison with the safeguarding trustee ensures a commitment to the welfare and protection of all children within the trust.

The Strategic Leads for Assessment are responsible for developing and overseeing assessment strategies across the trust, ensuring alignment with educational objectives and fostering continuous improvement. They review assessment frameworks, analyse data and provide guidance to schools to improve and maintain high standards, working alongside colleagues, particularly the Strategic Lead for Teaching and Learning.

The Assessment Strategic Leads collaborate with senior leaders to share best practices and ensure policy compliance. They are responsible for summarising trust wide data and reporting to the Board of Trustees. Their role is crucial in driving assessment excellence, promoting evidence-based decision-making and ultimately enhancing student outcomes across the MAT.

The Strategic Leads for Assessment are responsible for developing and overseeing assessment strategies across the trust, ensuring alignment with educational objectives and fostering continuous improvement. They review assessment frameworks, analyse data and provide guidance to schools to improve and maintain high standards, working alongside colleagues, particularly the Strategic Lead for Teaching and Learning.

The Assessment Strategic Leads collaborate with senior leaders to share best practices and ensure policy compliance. They are responsible for summarising trust wide data and reporting to the Board of Trustees. Their role is crucial in driving assessment excellence, promoting evidence-based decision-making and ultimately enhancing student outcomes across the MAT.