Principal
Mark Ford brings a significant amount of experience and expertise to The English College. Mark has worked in both UK state and independent schools, but the majority of his experience has been in international schools across the world, in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia. Mark is passionate about teaching, learning and helping students, teachers and leaders to be the best that they can be.
Board Member
Ahmad Rizwan is a Malaysian national and is currently attached to the Government of Dubai as a Senior Legal Advisor at its Legal Affairs Department. Ahmad holds a LLB (Honours) from Malaysia and LLM from Bond University, Australia and qualified as a lawyer in 1993. Ahmad brings with him a wealth of experience in governance and compliance and possess a unique combination of experience in international business and transactional legal experience spanning across 4 continents. Ahmad has lived in the Emirate of Dubai for more than 15 years and is well immersed with the cultural sensitivities of the UAE.
HR & Administration Director
Maud was born in France and moved to Dubai in 2007. She is an HR executive with 20-year experience in planning and implementing HR operations and strategy. In Dubai, she had several HR positions in global corporate banking and services industries being responsible for operational and strategic HR, advisory to management and boards, change and competence management programs and day-to-day admin delivery. Being a mum and a certified yoga teacher gives her a proactive and “feet on the ground’’ approach. She is currently Director of Admin & HR matters for Hasheem Group.
Managing Director
Born in Geneva (Switzerland), Bilbo is a businessman of global vision and experience. Bilbo has a vast network thanks to his golf career which brought him to many different parts of the world: he was 11 times the Swiss National Golf Champion, he played for the Swiss National Team as well as for the European Continental Team. He also played 3 years on the Tour as professional.
Bilbo also has several years in the educational sector of on boards and committees.
COO
Christian has specialised in corporate strategy and international investments for the previous 15 years, having carved out a career that has spanned across sectors of Real Estate, Hospitality, Agriculture, Retail and Media. With a truly global reach, that has seen Christian regularly undertake assignments in Africa, Central Europe, the Middle East and North America, he has been involved with investments valued in excess of US$ 7bn. Currently serving as a Director at EBC, his previous positions have included serving as the EGM for Kanoo Real Estate, on behalf of one of the largest multinational family offices in the GCC. Prior to this he was the Managing Director for The Birch Group Inc, a private equity company focused towards investments in real estate, retail, media and agriculture, and the Head of Strategy and Business Development for Rakeen, a government owned real estate investment and development company based in the United Arab Emirates.
Parent Council – Board Representative
A self-confessed Francophile, Martin has a passion for watches, shoes and generally to volunteer and give more. This British national has two lovely children at The English College, Martina in Y4 and Andrew in FS2, with his day job as a Managing Director for a global premium spirits firm.