Teach First boss Russell Hobby will take over as CEO of The Kemnal Academies Trust (TKAT) from September.
Mr Hobby will take over on 1 September from current CEO Dr Karen Roberts, who is retiring from the trust as of 31 August this year.
TKAT has 45 schools across the South East and the East of England. Its academies include secondaries, primaries and two special schools.
Mr Hobby announced last year that he would step down as chief executive of Teach First this summer after seven years in the position.
He was previously general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union.
Russell Hobby takes MAT leadership role
Mr Hobby said: “I am excited about the opportunity to lead The Kemnal Academies Trust.
“The trust’s commitment to ensuring children of all backgrounds achieve their potential resonates with my own values.
“This role can bring me even closer to what truly matters: improving outcomes for young people.”
He added: “A trust of TKAT’s scale can make a significant impact in areas that connect with my vision for education, focusing on leadership quality, recruitment of the best talent, curricular and extracurricular excellence and community engagement - all of which can be transformative for young people.”
TKAT chair Gaenor Bagley said she is “extremely grateful” to Dr Roberts, and the trust is looking forward to welcoming Mr Hobby as CEO.
Under Dr Roberts, she added, the trust has “made enormous progress in raising the quality of education in its 45 schools and has developed a strong culture of working together to ensure that disadvantage should never be a barrier to any child achieving their potential at school”.
Teach First was launched in 2003 to place graduates in challenging schools.
Last year it launched its strategy for the years up to 2030, which includes a plan to recruit and train 10,000 new teachers.
Dr Roberts has been CEO of TKAT for 13 years.
She said: “I wish Russell and team TKAT every success as they look forward to the next exciting phase of their journey.”
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