Chris Kenyon
What are you passionate about?
I am passionate about helping schools to become places where the ‘whole child’ will flourish (academically, socially, physically and spiritually), enabling them to become the best version of themselves.
What are your greatest accomplishments?
I am incredibly proud of the work we do at The Key Group, whether that’s how we helped school leaders navigate Covid right from day one; expanded our support for governors to reach 15,000 schools; or helped almost 9,000 schools modernise their MIS by getting onto a cloud-based platform. We are now working with over 20,000 state schools which is a fantastic achievement.
Prior to joining The Key Group, I am proudest of my work at Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux. The ubiquitous use of the Linux operating system on public clouds is something I played a small but significant role in. I negotiated the arrival of Ubuntu Linux on Azure, Amazon Web Services and the Google Cloud - almost 70% of workloads in the Cloud now run on Ubuntu. These layers of technology may seem abstract to school leaders, but they lie at the heart of the ability of the developers to deliver innovation effectively.
What do you love most about being part of The Key Group?
At its core, it is the extraordinary opportunity to serve the sector, improving the way that schools work, to create a situation where data is used comprehensively by everyone connected to the school: leaders, managers, teachers, support staff, admin staff, governors, parents and carers. The effect of this is a reduced workload for a stretched workforce, better decision-making and well-informed parents who are engaged in their child’s development.
What else should we know about you?
I really enjoy my role as Chair of Governors at a local primary school in London. Working with school leaders on the ground is an enormous privilege, and it means I'm always alive to the day-to-day challenges and opportunities that schools face.
I'm also a big advocate and campaigner for improving the nature of living space in the city - most notably through developing better cycling infrastructure. I founded CycleWorks London and have been a trustee of the London Cycling Campaign.
