About us

Emma Holder

Emma trained as a consultant at both Arthur Andersen and PwC and then moved to work in-house for Goldman Sachs and Diageo plc. She facilitates many cross-industry Global Mobility forums and is at the cutting edge of the latest trends and news in the Global Mobility Industry. For fun, she loves the theatre, dancing and travelling.

James Holder

James has over 25 years of Global Mobility experience gained from both in-house and consultancy roles. He started his career with Arthur Andersen, specialising in international tax and HR. His in-house roles include EMEA lead at Goldman Sachs and Global Head of Mobility at both Diageo and BP.

James co-founded Expat Academy in 2010. He has a real passion for training and development.

Sharon Thorpe

Sharon has more than 20 years of broad HR experience. She has worked at JCDecaux and Williams Lea, where her client base was within the Financial Services Sector. Expat Academy partner with best-in class training partners and Sharon works with Expat Academy to ensure that we are always partnering with organisations who can add the most value to our members.

Laura Mayo

Laura brings with her more than 20 years’ account management experience. Over the last eight years she has worked closely with global mobility specialists from a wide range of industries. In particular, her work has focussed on intercultural training and broader corporate training for HR professionals. Laura manages all aspects of Expat Academy’s Corporate Membership.

Greg Smith

He has 10 years of in-house Global Mobility experience spanning aerospace and defence, education, and tobacco sectors. His most recent role was leading the European region for Lockheed Martin's global mobility activities, designing and implementing their EU Posted Worker compliance. Outside of work Greg is married with two crazy kids, a one-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl, and a cat who turned out to be the biggest breed of domestic cat in the world. Greg likes wine, watches, cars, and supports Southampton FC.

Chris Blair

He’s worked in Mobility for 8 Years spanning intra UK, EMEA, APAC and Americas moves for Aviva as well as being responsible for fundamental change and development of the team and it’s processes. Prior to that he's held roles as a HR generalist, following 8 Years of being a Youth Worker with The Salvation Army. He has a wonderful family of 5 Kids (4 girls and a boy), a cockapoo called Oreo and his partner Abbie who ensures he at least tries to eat healthy. In between spending time with the family and work, he enjoys playing in a band, supporting Liverpool FC and completing house DIY projects.

Tony Miller

Tony brings with him more than 25 years of experience within Global Mobility from a supplier perspective. His previous consultative approach to business development allows him to understand both the GM requirement of the corporate as well as the capabilities of the available supply options.

Lynda Brennam

Lynda has more than 25 years international HR experience in both not for profit and commercial environments. Her experience includes insurance, airlines, and consultancy. Most recently, Lynda worked in the charity sector for Marie Stopes International and the Lumos Foundation providing support to staff working in challenging, and sometimes dangerous, environments.

Astrid Hunton

Astrid has over 15 years of experience in marketing. She has worked in a variety of marketing and communication positions covering a broad range of industries such as retail, financial services and design agency. Astrid supports the Expat Academy team in an administration and marketing role.

Chloe Hilsley

Chloe brings with her a background in customer service and looks after all aspects of global event management for the team.

She also manages our client invoicing and oversees our Trusted Supplier Diretory.

Sugi Thatcroos

Sugi has 5 years experience of Account Management in the Cyber Security Sector. As Client Relationships Manager, he focusses on driving engagement to help Global Mobility professionals stay on top of the latest mobility trends. In his spare time, Sugi enjoys trying new foods and creating music with friends.

Cass Machaka

Cass has 11 years of customer service from a combination of retail and events management background.
As an Account Manager, she takes care of client engagement whilst helping Global Mobility professionals in the loop with the latest and informing them on the benefits of their membership or anything else that may be of benefit. In Cass's spare time, she enjoys reading, walking in nature and believes in living life through a positive mindset.

Rachel Mynott

Rachel has a background in project and product management, with a love for learning and organisation! As Virtual Learning Advisor, she is here to help MyGMPD members on their learning journey and support them in achieving accreditation. Behind the scenes, she updates the Learning Hub with the latest content and administers all the learning logs. Rachel has a passion for art & design, and in her spare time enjoys painting and visiting exhibitions.

Doris

A very wise and valued member of the Expat Academy team, who will give you her full and frank opinion on any quandary you may have.

She lives by the mantra "if you don't want my opinion don't ask for it"