We are proud to have a distinctive role helping higher education be the best it can be worldwide, founded on a deep-rooted partnership with the sector. We share the values of the sector and understand its unique culture and how this varies within local contexts. Through our convening role and our track record supporting leadership and effective governance, tackling inequalities and in enhancing teaching and learning, our membership continues to grow as does our reach and impact.
To help us form and deliver our support our Membership Team are vital. Below you will find a profile and direct contact for each member of the team.
Nick Skeet
Director, Membership & Business Development
Nick supports member institutions with challenges across teaching practice, student experience, leadership and inclusion. Before Advance HE, Nick worked at the HEA and held senior roles in the civil service and sector skills arena, leading large-scale professional development and organisation-wide HR, OD and change programmes. He now leads work to strengthen the relevance, value and impact of Advance HE’s member benefits.
Joni Alexander
Deputy Director of Membership and Development
Joni supports universities and colleges to shape the future of tertiary education. Most recently, Joni led NUS Wales and NUS-USI (Northern Ireland) as director. Originally from Oklahoma, she worked as a journalist in the USA and then the UK after studying at Cardiff University (MA International Journalism, 2009).
Kate Flower
Deputy Director of Portfolio Development & Marketing
Kate leads approaches to member engagement and measures the impact of Advance HE’s work across individuals, institutions and the sector. Kate has over 20 years’ experience in the education sector in New Zealand, spanning vocational education, private training provision, and senior roles in marketing, communications and student recruitment, most recently as Executive Director of Student Engagement and Experience at Lincoln University, Christchurch.
Melvyn Smith
Head of Membership and Development
Melvyn is a Head of Membership and Development at Advance HE, supporting university members in the UK. He has worked as a teacher, senior manager and partnership manager in higher and further education for more than 35 years. His experience ranges from managing adult literacy provision, education opportunities for mental health service users and student services directorates to delivering pre-deployment training contracts for the British Army.
Karen Taylor
Head of Membership and Development
Karen is the Head of Membership and Development for Advance HE members in the UK, supporting across all aspects of Advance HE membership helping increase engagement and value.
Karen joined Advance HE in November 2018 as an Executive within the Commercial Support / Business Development Team. Having spent 3 years working with the Membership Team to support our members with bespoke programmes and consultancy, as well as leading on a series of consultative studies across our governance and Chief Operating Officer communities to improve Advance HE’s offer. Since becoming the Head of Membership, Karen has prioritised increasing member engagement through driving forward initiatives such as the College Based HE Network and Pilot for Race Equality Charter for Small, Specialist and Independent Providers.
Will Allen
Head of Membership and Development
Will is a Head of Membership and Development at Advance HE, supporting our members to gain full value from across our portfolio. He is the point of contact for our members in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Will joined Advance HE in late 2025, having spent ten years leading the engagement team at Jisc. His career began as a dialectology researcher at Newcastle University before escaping academia to join Netskills, a skills and staff development organisation that supported the sector to make effective use of the (then new!) Internet.
