Tarina Chow is Chief Operating Officer at Brighter Futures Learning Partnership Trust, a multi academy trust of seven schools in Doncaster, a secondary school, a UTC and five primary. She leads the trust’s central operations, with a remit spanning HR, estates, IT, finance oversight, governance and compliance across every school. 

Having stepped up from Director of Operations, Tarina has reshaped the central team into a directorate model and is leading the trust’s Operational Excellence agenda, building a maturity roadmap across estates, IT, finance, HR and procurement. Her focus is on creating the systems, processes and people capacity a growing trust needs, from bringing new schools into the trust to capital projects and sustainability work such as solar and EV charging. 

Tarina holds a CIPFA postgraduate diploma in financial and operational leadership and has completed the Strategic Operational Excellence training. Alongside her executive role, she is a trustee of Keystone Academy Trust in Lincolnshire, giving her a view from both sides of the governance table. 

She believes that strong operations are what free schools to concentrate on teaching and learning, and is keen to make the work of operational leaders more visible across the sector.