AMBA & BGA are proud to announce that Debbie Kemp has joined the team as Head of Membership

Could you please introduce yourself and tell us about your background?

I am delighted to have joined the AMBA & BGA team as the Head of Membership where my role is to assist member schools with their strategic challenges and offer consultative support and insights into programme development. I plan to draw on my leadership experience in industry and academia spanning 30 years, to make a positive impact in this job!

Before joining the team in January, I was a senior academic for the past 13 years at Kent Business School (KBS), which is Triple Crown accredited. I was the MBA Director for six years (I enjoyed the role so much I did two terms!) and won the overall University Teaching prize for the development of the programme.  Prior to this, I held other faculty leadership roles as the Interim Head of School at our satellite campus and as the Head of Employability and Placements.  I was a Senior Lecturer in sales and marketing and I am a Senior Fellow of the HEA. I also attained my Executive MBA at KBS, so I also understand the student’s perspective.

Prior to life in academia, I was a Senior Executive at Marks and Spencer PLC for 15 years with a diverse career path from store management, store design, marketing and merchandising, and ultimately finishing as Head of Buying managing a large team of staff with a global portfolio of products.   I also held a Non-Executive Director role in a UK Charity for five years.

How do you feel your experience in industry and within a business school will give you a unique perspective in this role?

As an experienced academic I feel I can really add value to the BGA and AMBA schools as I understand them.  I appreciate their ambitions but also the challenges and pain points of delivering in a highly competitive market with financial objectives and societal priorities that need to be delivered.  Developing programmes that exceed students’ expectations to ensure they get a return on their investment of time and money, whilst also supporting faculty development and research is also a balancing act.  I also have a lot of experience with the AMBA accreditation process and in my time at KBS, we moved from single accreditation to also gaining AACSB and EQUIS to achieve the coveted ‘Triple Crown’ accreditation status.

I am experienced in strategy formation, mentoring faculty, programme development and marketing, student recruitment, alumni programmes, embedding employability and sustainability, and working with industry and accreditation teams.

What are your goals for your first year in the role?

My list is ambitious!

1. To support my colleagues by offering an academic perspective on everything we do at AMBA & BGA.

2. To offer relevant and highly valued membership support for the faculty and professional service teams in our BGA & AMBA schools, before and in-between accreditations (when our dedicated accreditation team takes over).

3. To connect with as many business schools as possible in the year, in-person or online and understand their unique propositions and challenges.

4. To explore how I can use this role to support responsible management, especially promoting women in leadership, which is a passion of mine.

5. And a personal one:  To enjoy the experience of working back in London and embracing new cities and cultures with the many conferences and workshops planned for the year.

What attracted you to AMBA & BGA? What excites you about the organisation?

I have seen firsthand the positive impact quality business education can have on individuals and communities.  In challenging financial and geo-political times in can be easy to lose sight of this. What excites me about working in the AMBA & BGA team is their vision to drive high quality and impactful education standards globally.  The team is small, agile and innovative so the office environment is very positive.  I am excited to work with the senior academics on our International Board and Advisory Councils as they are some of the best in the world.  And as mentioned, I am looking forward to the travelling, with conferences and workshops in some of the most exciting cities in the world.

What are you most looking forward to in Berlin for our global conference?

As an MBA Director I always prioritised the Global Conference as it always exceeded my expectations, offering excellent guest speakers on relevant topics. I would share these insights with my business school colleagues and MBA Advisory Board to shape our strategic direction.  The networking opportunities are also excellent at the many social events, which are held in stunning locations.  Berlin has many historical sites as well as vibrant night life so I will be booking onto the city tour on the Sunday before the conference starts. In my new role I look forward to connecting with old friends as well as making new connections with our global audience.