Wiltshire Council Inclusion Conference & Exhibition 2026

Amjad Ali

Amjad is regarded as one of the most engaging and empowering voices in the fields of inclusive leadership and professional development. With his trademark humour, warmth and clarity, Amjad brings a rare ability to translate the complexities of teaching and educational leadership into practical strategies that challenge, inspire and stick. Having spent over 19 years teaching and leading in diverse and high-need schools; including seven years as a founding leadership team member of a new secondary start up school. Amjad now serves as CPD and Inclusion Lead for the Chiltern Learning Trust, supporting leaders, teachers and school communities to grow cultures of equity, ambition and sustained professional learning. Amjad’s delivery is grounded in lived experience. He began his career as a Play Worker and then a Teaching Assistant in Young Offender institutions before training as a teacher and later becoming an Advanced Skills Teacher in Teaching and Learning, before training as a SENDCO and senior leader. This journey has shaped a leadership philosophy rooted in equity, high expectations and transformational CPD. He has delivered keynotes, workshops and INSET to audiences across all phases of education, from early career teachers to CEOs working with over 650 schools and thousands of educators across the UK and internationally. Whether in front of newly qualified teachers or leading a trust-wide leadership event, Amjad’s sessions are consistently praised for being funny, thought-provoking, energising and immediately actionable.

Kit Messenger

Kit is a former headteacher with over 30 years’ experience working with children and young people. She is the co-author of Curious Not Furious and the founder and CEO of Changing Chances CIC. www.changingchances.co.uk Changing Chances is a not-for-profit organisation on a mission to move the world away from traditional behaviourist approaches and towards ones grounded in what we now understand about the brain—approaches that are neuroinclusive and enable all children to feel great, do well, and experience a strong sense of belonging within their communities. Changing Chances CIC provides training for professionals across schools, wider educational settings, youth justice, social care, and health, as well as courses for foster carers, kinship carers, adoptive and birth parents, and guardians. Their flagship programme, The Empowerment Approach®, weaves together neurobiology, psychology, education, and coaching to equip young people—and the adults around them—with a deep understanding of the brain and the tools they need to feel better and do better. The organisation works with a wide range of Local Authorities and is a strategic partner of Sussex Police, delivering Strength-Based Cognitive Assessment and family coaching. Alongside her work at Changing Chances, Kit is also a tutor and lecturer at the University of Sussex.