Meet our Governors

Carol Cooper-Smith

Carol is proud to be from Barnsley and is passionate about lifelong learning to improve aspirations, skills, careers and lives.  She has had an extensive career in regeneration and economic development, in both national and local government, with over 30 years of delivery experience – from small community-based projects, to large multi-million pound programmes and build schemes, as well as strategies, funding bids and work with funding bodies. Carol has worked with businesses, community groups and residents, schools, colleges, universities, police, national and EU Funders, Government Departments, artists and Politicians local and national.

Carol started her career in the Civil Service and later moved into Local Government. Most recently she was interim CEO at Ashfield District Council where, during the Covid pandemic, as well as being CEO, she worked in Pest Control, Bulky Waste collections and Bereavement Services teams. She retired from paid work in 2021, but since then has worked in a range of voluntary roles: she was a Trustee at Barnsley Civic from 2017 - 2025, helping to steer the recent £3m frontage redevelopment and was a Governor at Shelley College from 2014 - 2025. She has been Chair of the Board at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield since 2022 and believes that the creative arts, like education, are life enhancing and are for everyone.

She attended Barnsley High School for Girls, has a BA (Hons) degree from Hull University and an MBA from Manchester Business School. She has held a season ticket at Barnsley FC for 30 years.

She is the Chair of the Governance and Search Committee and the Chair of College subsidiaries BCDC and Think. She is also a member of the Remuneration Committee.