Meet The Team

Adventurer, former Royal Marine, author and philanthropist

Alan Chambers has helped to raise over £14 million for charitable causes, by leading extreme expeditions and exploring over 70 countries from the North and South Pole. Alan’s resume of world-firsts and adventures is truly endless.

Awarded an MBE for leadership in constant adversity, Alan is a devoted educator and motivational speaker. In 2012 Alan conceptualised and launched, ‘Extreme Classrooms’, changing the lives of special needs children through mentoring, adventures, and sports in extreme locations. Classrooms were constructed in over 12 locations, from the Himalayas to the great rift valley in Africa, designed to build confidence and resilience in the students – the initiative was later featured on the BBC and Sky networks.

‘The only limits are those of vision’

A former Royal Marine from 1971 – 1995. During his 24-year military career he served on HMS Hermes, with Naval Party 8901, 45 Commando Royal Marines, and as a Physical Training Instructor at the Joint Services Mountain Centre Scotland, and Joint Services Training Centre Llanrwst. He also served in Commachio Company, at Royal Marines Poole, and the Royal Marines School of Music.

Dave is an accomplished outdoor expedition leader and instructor. His expeditions have taken him to Norway, Canada, Costa Rica, Borneo, Corsica, Panama, Kenya, Tanzania, Nepal, Switzerland, Austria, Australia, France, and Vietnam. Notably, he completed the first successful winter crossing of Iceland on skis, covering the country coast-to-coast in challenging winter conditions.

Beyond his expedition achievements, Dave is a highly qualified instructor with certifications in a range of outdoor skills, including kayaking, skiing, caving, rock climbing, and winter mountaineering. His coaching and mentoring skills are backed by a certificate from the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development.

The culmination of Mission Spiritus – Antarctica on 19 January 2024, saw Dave, aged 68 became the oldest person ever to reach the South Pole.

David is the Founder of the Mako Group. He serves the company and its network of businesses with guidance on strategic initiatives, major partnerships and developing new assets. David also operates a family office, Segel Group Limited (SGL), as the platform for overseeing a business portfolio in entertainment, tech and media activities, as well as philanthropy. He is also Co-Founder and Chairman of the independent motion picture producer Mpower Pictures.

David is an avid outdoorsman and a competitive sailor in Nautor Swan class. He’s a qualified airplane pilot and focuses primarily on backcountry and aerobatic flight. He has explored much of the unvisited world, including a trip on skis to the true North Pole in 2004, and a shorthanded journey on a Rigid Inflatable Boat through the Northwest Passage from Greenland to upper Alaska in 2010.

Billy is a former Royal Marines officer who retired in 2023 after 32 years of service. During his military career, he was deployed on operations in Kuwait, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan. In addition to his operational roles, he conducted environmental training in locations such as Norway, Belize, Brunei, USA, Australia, and across the Middle East. Billy served as an instructor at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines, and later trained officers and non-commissioned officers while on Loan Service with the British Military Advisory and Training Team in the Czech Republic. His final overseas role was as the UK’s Senior Military Adviser to Cameroon.

Since leaving the Royal Marines, Billy has become a listening volunteer for the Samaritans. He completed the Western Front Way Challenge, cycling 1,000 km in 7 days along the First World War trench lines to raise funds for UK brain tumour patients. Additionally, he joined Alan on an expedition climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, raising money for the Kids’ Village charity.

• G. Unger Vetlesen Professor of Earth and Climate Science
• Co-Founding Dean Emerita, Columbia Climate School
• Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University

Dr. Maureen Raymo is a renowned marine geologist and climate scientist in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. She was the first climate scientist to lead the Observatory as well as one of the founding deans of the Columbia Climate School. Maureen is a pioneer in her field with research focusing on the history and causes of climate change and its consequences for future sea level and ice sheet stability.

Her work has been featured in major publications such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Discover Magazine, and on popular media channels such as the History Channel and PBS Nova.

Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs and a Lamont Associate Research Professor at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO).

His Ph.D. study focused on the source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. At LDEO, he established an Environmental Organic Geochemistry Lab with ability to extract, isolate, and identify organic contaminants and biomarkers from environmental and biological samples.

He has successfully traced metals and aromatic hydrocarbons in the waters and air of New York City and linked the exposures of these air pollutants to paediatric asthma outcomes. He is also leading a collaborative study to examine the association between paediatric respiratory outcomes and air pollutants. To determine possible impacts of hydrofracking on environment stresses (e.g., noise and air and water pollutions), psychological stress, and health outcomes. He is also conducting the ecological impact of microplastics in estuaries and oceans.

Kevin Holland is the CEO of Global SpiritEd, a community interest company that spans the educational sector, creating an inspiring and collaborative international network. His work reflects a genuine commitment to education, rooted in a passion for sport and a formative experience with a remarkable PE teacher, who sparked his journey. This early influence led Kevin to train as a secondary PE teacher, beginning his career in 2000. His first teaching years in Hampshire were marked by strong mentorship, allowing him to quickly develop and become an Advanced Skills Teacher by 2005, which solidified his educational philosophies and vision.

Kevin’s leadership journey began in London, where he stepped into senior roles, later expanding his experience in Suffolk. His career evolved with diverse and challenging roles, including serving as a local authority adviser for four years and as operations director for a sports coaching business before working at Bolton University. These experiences ultimately led him to Global SpiritEd, where he continues to work with a network of schools, universities, educational partners, and innovative leaders.

His educational philosophy emphasises agency, autonomy, real-world experiences, and goal-setting, rejecting a top-down, high-accountability model that often leads to stress and decreased well-being. Instead, Kevin advocates for empowering students, teachers, and stakeholders to lead their own learning journeys, fostering an environment of collaboration and mutual growth.

This ethos is central to Global SpiritEd’s support within its network, where Kevin leads with purpose and integrity, tailoring solutions to each school’s unique context to ensure sustainable development across curriculum, leadership, and school improvement. Kevin is excited about this chapter of his career, looking forward to driving positive change alongside a passionate network of educators and leaders.

Andy is a Professor of Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University, a Director of DNA Definitive and a human performance specialist.

Andy develops high performance environments and supports elite teams. He does this through applied performance psychology and a development of evidence-based resilience focused strategies.

Andy works with political leaders, high net-worth individuals, corporate business leaders, world leading athletes and coaches, the emergency services, humanitarian aid specialists, as well as with specialist police, military, and defence organisations.