Mervyn Wilson is Chief Executive and Principal of the Co-operative College and has worked in the co-operative sector for over thirty years, primarily in the field of member education, co-operative identity and governance. He has worked with co operatives throughout the world including Co-operative Colleges in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Mervyn has led the work to develop a distinct co-operative element in the state education sector. The resulting co-operative model for Trust schools has proved highly popular with over one hundred schools becoming co-operative trust schools by September 2010 and many more working towards it. Mervyn is familiar with co-operative models in post 16 and vocational education in parts of Europe, and keen to see similar models develop in the UK.

Mervyn is a co-chair of the global Human Resources Committee of the International Co-operative Alliance, a Trustee of the Co-operative Heritage Trust and the Reddish Vale Trust, and a Fellow of the RSA.