Our Governors | New City College

Appointed: July 2018 Committees: CQ&S (Chair), Remuneration (Chair), Search (Chair)

Marilyn Hawkins (Vice-Chair)

Marilyn had an original background in the National Health Service before working in Further and Higher Education. She has worked in many parts of the country but most recently in London and has been the successful Chief Executive of 2 large Further and Higher Education Colleges. She was an original member of the FE Commission and completed five years in that role as Deputy FE Commissioner in 2018 when she joined the NCC Corporation. She has extensive governance experience and has been a member of over 20 Boards. She was a member of the Mayor of London's Skills Taskforce who developed the 5 year London Skills Plan. Currently, she works as a sector consultant and supports ETF in the development of Governance materials. Her charity work focuses on Royal Trinity Hospice and the homeless charity Glassdoor. Marilyn is a qualified HR professional.

Appointed: April 2013 Committees: CQ&S, F&GP, Property, Search

Gerry McDonald, Group Principal & CEO

Gerry became Principal of Tower Hamlets College in April 2013 following almost four years as the college’s Vice-Principal. Following mergers with Hackney Community College and Redbridge College, he became Group Principal and CEO of the combined New City College in April 2017. He subsequently led the Group’s mergers with Epping Forest College, Havering College of Further and Higher Education and Havering Sixth Form College.

Gerry is a qualified business studies teacher who has worked in the sector since 1993. He holds business degrees from the University of West of England and Aston and a PGCE from Manchester Metropolitan University. Gerry has worked in the sixth form and further education colleges in Birmingham and London, leading on business development, mergers, curriculum improvement, inspection and culture change.

Gerry is a co-opted committee member of the Association of Colleges London following his election to the main AoC board in December 2014. He also serves on the AoC’s national Employment and Audit Committees.

Appointed: November 2022 Committees: CQ&S, F&GP

Brijesh Patel

Brijesh is a senior associate at a magic circle law firm, specialising in finance and capital markets. During this time, he spent two and a half years working as a solicitor in Japan, servicing governmental and quasi-governmental institutions. Alongside providing legal advice to clients across multiple sectors and countries, Brijesh also has experience in change management and has previously led a long-term project driving efficiency and quality on a global scale.

Brijesh was born and raised across East London, Redbridge and Epping, and is passionate about maximising the educational standards across the area. He is a mentor for the Hussain Foundation and regularly participates in workshops aimed at introducing the legal profession to secondary school students.

Appointed: December 2018 Committees: F&GP (Chair), Remuneration, Search

Neil Yeomans

Neil has recently retired having spent over 30 years working in audit, and accounting for one of the largest global professional services firms, and was a partner for the last 20 years. He has travelled extensively and worked in Australia for 2 years and Poland for 3 years. He is a qualified chartered accountant and as well as skills in financial management and control, he has experience in project management, risk management and governance.

Neil is a trustee of 2 multi-academy trusts as well as being governor of a primary school. He works with a number of charitable and voluntary organisations in the fields of education and cares for those with disabilities. He is also a mentor for a number of start-up businesses as well as university students looking to enter in to the world of work.

Appointed: November 2022 Committees: Audit (Chair), Property

Richard Smith-Morgan

After 8 years at UK Export Finance, Richard resigned his role to take a one year sabbatical.

Prior to joining UKEF in 2015, Richard held senior roles both at Moody’s, where he helped establish the leveraged loans rating business and at Credit Suisse where he was Managing Director within Risk Management. Richard also spent 3 years in Paris with NatWest Markets. Together with spells at GE Capital and ANZ Banking Corporation, Richard has over 30 years of experience in risk management and business development functions.

Richard has a BA (Honours) from Durham University, a linguistics diploma from the University of Strasbourg, and is both an Associate and Tutor of the Chartered Institute of Bankers. He was a Non-Executive Director at the Institute of Export and International Trade between 2015 and 2018 and has been the Finance Trustee of the education charity, Mathematics in Education & Industry, since 2018.

He is married with 3 children, a cricket fanatic, and lives in Blackheath, South East London

Appointed: March 2023 Committees: CQ&S

Ruth Gilbert

Ruth has 29 years of experience in professional services and education, holding positions including Principal and CEO in Further Education.

Ruth previously set up and ran a national education charity, the Career Colleges Trust, founded by Lord Baker, now supporting a network of industry-led Career Colleges across the UK.

Ruth has a passion for applying business principles and regional partnerships to educational ventures, to ensure their long-term sustainability.

Ruth is an Honorary Fellow of UCL Institute of Education, and holds several voluntary positions in support of education, linked to industry-led education, to improve the career prospects of our communities and meet national skills shortages.