The Board of Governors

Ian sits on a number of boards in the UK and the Middle East. He became Chairman in 2017. He is a former investment banker, headmaster of a leading UK independent school, and CEO of the oldest and most respected education consultancy in the world. Ian has led on international educational school projects globally and is a regular contributor to global education debates in the UK National and International press such as The Times, Financial Times, The Telegraph, and Huffington Post.

Kalamkas has an economics degree, extensive experience in management, and is currently developing franchises for top commercial retail brands. She has been involved in the running of Haileybury schools in Kazakhstan since they opened. She has a passion for the educational project that Haileybury Kazakhstan represents and is a member of the Education and Finance Committees.

Erlan is responsible for overall management of the Verny Capital Group. Prior to the foundation of Verny Capital, he served as Deputy Director General of the ATF Group Holding Company in Kazakhstan. He graduated from Bauman Moscow State Technical University’s Department of Robotics. He also received a degree in Finance and Credit from KIMEP University, and an MBA from the University of International Business (Almaty).

Olga Abdrakhmanova manages public relations of the Vervy Capital Group and is in charge of reputation of the Company. She headed Communications Department of British Embassy in Nur-Sultan. She graduated from Robert Gordon University with a degree in corporate communications and work with government agencies, received a PR qualification from Royal Institute of Public Relations, United Kingdom.

Gail is an entrepreneur and has been involved in education consultancy for 10 years. She most recently developed education software, in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust (YST), in the UK. This programme was a digitally delivered assessment of the whole child based on unique, educational content developed by the YST and distributed in over 1000 schools in the UK and internationally. She has a BSc in Civil Engineering and an MSc in Internet Programming. Gail educated her four children at Haileybury UK over 15 years and was Chair of the HPA (Haileybury Parents' Association) for four years. She is an honorary member of Haileybury’s Alumni organisation, the Haileybury Society.

Martin has joined Haileybury from St John’s School in Leatherhead following the retirement of Haileybury’s previous Master, Joe Davies. He has an MA in Modern History from Oxford University and currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference Academic Policy Sub-Committee. He is also an author and editor of numerous history text books. Martin is Haileybury’s 15th Master since the College first opened in September 1862.

Peter serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Air Astana, the flag carrier and national airline of Kazakhstan. Peter entered the airline industry immediately after graduating from Cambridge University in 1982. In the 2015 UK New Year’s Honours List Peter was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to British aviation in Kazakhstan. He sits on the marketing committee of the Board.

Adrian spent 23 years with Shell in seven countries across three continents, becoming Chairman and Chief Executive of Shell Gabon (West Central Africa). He holds a PhD in Geodesy from Newcastle University and is a magistrate in the criminal and family courts. He is a current Haileybury parent.

In addition to running a parish and serving as a Priest-in-Ordinary to the Queen, Paul spent over thirty years working in education, serving as Chaplain at Brighton College, Mill Hill and Emanuel before retirement in 2017. A qualified teacher, Paul holds Theology degrees from Durham, King’s College London and Lampeter. Paul Hunt is the Governor overseeing Safeguarding and Child Protection.

Nurzhas is the Founder and Managing Partner of NKM Capital, an early stage venture capital firm rooted in thesis-driven investing. Nurzhas received an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, an MBA from Wharton, where he was elected Managing Director of Wharton Venture Partners, and a pair of bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Computer Science and Engineering from MIT, where he attended on full scholarship. Currently, Nurzhas serves a mentor at Alchemist Accelerator, a judge for Startup Chile, and a Board member at Haileybury Almaty.