Our Governance Board

Mark Howard has worked in education and culture most of his professional career, first as a History teacher in the UK and as an English teacher around the world. He joined the British Council 25 years ago, and he has worked in different countries like Spain, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Romania, Portugal, Korea, Singapore and Argentina. Mark has also developped other rolesin the British Council as a Country manager and Regional director for America.

Ms. Mercedes Hernández Estrada joined the school for the 18/19 academic year. Her previous role was CEO of Pioneer Educational Trust in Windsor and Slough and executive principal. She has worked in UK schools since the late 80s after completing her Philology degree and CAP at Oviedo University. She has been a Lead Practitioner for Curriculum Design and Leadership and recently, as National Leader in Education, she has supported schools, the Spanish and UK ministries and the Comunidad de Madrid.

Director of Finance and Resources of British Council Spain since 2013. Previously held several positions in private sector companies in the areas of Finance, Controlling, Administration, Internal Audit and Business Consulting, as part of more than 25 years of professional experience with a multicultural international exposure. Born in Mexico has also lived in Switzerland and is resident of Madrid since 2005.

Since 2012, she has also held the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Eden Academy Trust. In her position as Senior Adviser at the British Council, Susan provides sector expertise and advice to a wide number of educational programmes involving ministries of education, school leaders and teachers across approximately 40 countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. She has a particular interest in leadership and professional development and inclusion.

Carolina is head of Education, British Council Spain since 2012. Previously she was in charge of Science and Society Team and manager of international EU funded programmes as OPENCities, a 2.5 Million project focusing on internationalisation & competitiveness, engaging 10 EU cities.  Her role includes promoting UK Education in Spain, building UK/Spain educational relations, supporting internationalisation and better understanding of each other systems and standards. 

Rafael J. Muñoz joined the British Council in 2020 as HR Director Spain & Portugal. He holds a degree in Law (UCM), Master in HR Management, Master in Secondary Education, Expert in NGO Promotion and Management. Over 20 years leading HR functions within organisations of different sectors and cultures, with international responsibilities. He actively collaborates with NGOs as a member of their board of trustees or through international volunteer work in Africa, South America and Asia.

Mark is Head of English Programmes for the British Council in Spain and manages the partnership with the Spanish Ministry of Education in the national Bilingual Education Programme since 2011. He manages the collaboration with Regional Governments in their bilingual education programmes and the teaching and learning of English. He was previously an English teacher and a teacher educator working with Spanish teachers of English.