Lisa Capper MBE

CEO and Principal – The Sandwell Colleges

Lisa joined The Sandwell Colleges, the largest group of colleges in the West Midlands, in November 2024 as CEO and Principal. This includes Sandwell College and Central St Michael’s Sixth Form in West Bromwich and Cadbury College in Birmingham as well as new campuses such as the new Learning campus on the site of the new Midland Metropolitan Hospital.

Prior to this she turned around the fortunes of Stoke on Trent College where she was instrumental in transforming the quality of provision and financial health, securing significant partnerships and profile for its continued success. This included national awards for learner-voice, £20m capital and a significant increase in enrolments and achievement. Its ‘Skills Ready Future Ready’ strategy, the sector-skills hubs, and dynamic partnerships meant that 96% of young people progressed to positive destinations.

As Director and Principal at Nacro the national social justice and education she created a respected voice and national campaigns on issues relating to disadvantaged young people such as the ‘Learn Without Limits’, and a national youth-voice Knife Crime report. She was a VP of a well-known Further Education (FE) College group and Executive Director of a successful Academies Trust of 7 schools.

After working in adult and community learning in her earlier career, Lisa became a senior civil servant in FE in the Departments for Education and Business for over 10 years leading on the ‘Skills for Life’ campaign, National Skills Academies and CAVTL (commission on adult education), and the prestigious WorldSkills London 2011. In 2024 she was a finalist for Woman of the Year awards putting FE in the spotlight.

In January 2021, she was awarded an MBE for Services to Young People.