Maureen McKenna

Maureen started her teaching career in the former Grampian Region, where she taught mathematics in three different secondary schools before moving back to Strathclyde and becoming Principal Teacher of Mathematics and then Assistant Headteacher at Kilsyth Academy.

In 2000, she joined Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education, where she inspected a wide range of schools as well as education authorities and child protection.
 
Maureen held a number of posts in HMIE, including National Specialist for Mathematics and District Inspector for Glasgow and North Ayrshire.
 
She joined Glasgow City Council as Director of Education in December 2007 and retired in January 2022. Maureen was President of the Association of Directors of Education of Scotland (ADES) from 2015 to 2019 and is Honorary Vice President of Basketball Scotland and was one of the first women to qualify to be an international basketball referee.
 
She is on the Advisory Board of Career Ready UK and is a trustee of MCR Pathways as well as being the chair of Malawi Leaders of Learning, a charity which supports education in the Blantyre area of Malawi.

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She chaired the Making Maths Count Group from 2015 to 2021 for the government which aimed to raise the profile of mathematics.

Since retiring, Maureen has been working with Hertfordshire Council on inclusion and most recently with London’s Violence Reduction Unit supporting the development of London’s Inclusion Charter.

Maureen received an OBE in the Queen's New Year Honours list in 2015 for services to education in Glasgow and Malawi. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in October 2021 for services to education and raising the attainment of those in the most deprived areas.