Welcome from the Chair:
I am delighted to announce today the re-launch of the National Network for Education Business Partnerships.
Formerly known as EBPn, we have re-constituted and rebranded as AEBP, The Association of Education Business Professionals. We are a membership body comprising of over 55 organisations dedicated to preparing young people for the world of work.
It is an absolute pleasure and honour to work with such a passionate and extraordinary group of people, and to have received such a warm welcome as the first female, Northern, National Chair.
The AEBP’s governing body is a small group of professionals from across the country, with a collective wealth of skills, experience and knowledge of our sector. We are committed to supporting the membership and representing your interests in both the local and national arenas.
It is my privilege to have been a member of EBPn for 13 years, and a steering group member for the last ten. To now serve as your chair is one of the proudest moments of my professional career. I have seen many changes in our sector over the years, and no doubt these will continue, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the commitment, energy and drive of you, the Education Business Professionals. Your remarkable work has continued through challenging funding landscapes and frequent policy changes. Young people are at the heart of everything we do, and I would like to thank all of you for your resilience in keeping our work alive in difficult times.
As we move forward the challenges we face in education are different from those we faced when I first joined EBPn. If we are to remain relevant we must look again at our mission and reshape what we stand for. My challenge as Chair, with help from the steering group is to redefine our purpose and our approach, to ensure we stay at the forefront of the education to employment space. We have lots of work to do – including a new website, a fresh look and finalising the membership offer, but we are ready for today’s soft launch letting everybody know we are here and we are open for business!
I look forward to meeting you at the AEBP conference where we intend to launch a consultation on the changes we envisage which will make sure we have the visibility and profile we deserve among key policy and decision makers. With heartfelt thanks and warmest wishes for a restful and fruitful summer.
Beryl Henshaw
Chair, AEBP
Glad to see this brilliant collective back up and running. We are the ‘secret service’ in education and do so much to raise attainment, aspirations and outcomes for young people. It’s brilliant that we have the AEBP to celebrate and shout about the great work everyone up and down the country is doing. Congratulations and best of luck in your endeavours.
Fantastic news, I look forward to seeing all the latest updates from you. It’s great that we now have this platform to promote all of our good work.
I’m so proud to be able to support you. The work that you are all doing is amazing and is changing lives every day. I will continue to shout about it – let’s move this secret service out of the shadows and into the sunlight!