Nominations for the Just IT Apprenticeship Awards closed on 3rd February. We received a record number of nominations this year and our judging panel had to work hard to read all the nominees and shortlist to just the top 3 in each category.
Who is our judging panel?
Our judging panel represents a wide range of experience across education, IT and the digital industries.
Colin Lee-Own
Colin has over 35 years’ experience working as a project manager establishing community projects funded by European Social Fund, North London Training and Enterprise Council, Learning and Skills Council. He is the founder of CareerPaths Online who campaign to increase access to apprenticeships for black and ethnic minority young people who experience unemployment rates that are 3 times higher than their white counterpart. Colin sees that it is vital that apprenticeship training providers promote the value of equal opportunities to apprentice employers to rebalance the inequality that talented BAME young people are currently experiencing within the workplace.
Richard Lester
Having spent over 25 years working in the field of IT, starting out as a programmer at British Airways, Richard has since delivered an assortment of wide-ranging projects and programmes across a variety of industries and managed a vast array of technical teams along the way. He then brought his wealth of experience to BCS to instigate, develop RITTech before launching it in 2015. This new independent standard, a simple and clear benchmark of quality, professionally recognises people in IT who do technical jobs well – which is exactly what good apprenticeships deliver. Encouragement, recognition and appreciation of talent in IT is something Richard is passionate about and be believes quality apprenticeships provide a vital route to be championed.
Ken Gaines
Ken Gaines is a Technical Adviser for City & Guilds for Business and Digital markets. He has worked in and around the business and digital environments for a number of years having held roles in Computer Operations, Supervisory Skills Training, Sales, Marketing and IT Management. While at City & Guilds, Ken has been responsible for the development of a number of qualifications that include IT User, Social Media and Digital Marketing, and led on the introduction of Vendor A like units in ICT Professional programmes. He has worked closely on the development of the new Apprenticeship Standards for Digital Industries and led the assessment plan development for the Actuarial Technician. In his current role he provides advice and guidance to training providers and employers on the suite of City & Guilds qualifications, assessment expectations and development of curriculum.
Zeshan Sattar
Zeshan is CompTIA’s Certification Evangelist. He is fanatical learner with a passion for ensuring IT certifications are the cornerstone of all learning and development programmes. With a background in digital and IT Apprenticeship programmes, Zeshan has worked at the forefront of programme desgin, curriculum development and technical training.
Robyn Harley
Robyn Harley is Just IT’s Senior Operations Manager, responsible for overseeing the delivery of the organisations’ Apprenticeship & Traineeship programmes. Robyn has a wealth of experience within the sector, with experience in supporting Apprenticeships, managing several large contracts and a large group of Assessors. Robyn’s experience has meant that she’s seen countless apprentices progress which has instilled a passion for helping young people start out in their careers.