Meet theBoard

Trustee & Joint Chair
Board member since 2017
Joint Chair since 2018

Trustee & Joint Chair
Board member & Joint Chair since 2019
Former Chair of Deaf Direct and Board Member 2007-2019
Barry has two sons, one of whom is profoundly Deaf.
Throughout his career, Barry worked in sales and marketing environments, gaining an understanding of both disciplines. Barry has been a trustee for Deaf Direct for 12 years before the merger with Action Deafness.

Trustee & Vice-Chair
Board member since 2009
Roland recently retired, having spent the last 25 years as an engineering consultant for Interfleet in Derby.
Roland is a former trustee of the National Association of Deafened People (NADP).

Trustee
Board member since 2013
Ben is a qualified architect with his own architecture business based in Rutland.

Trustee
Board member since 2015
Alison is profoundly Deaf and has significant experience in the areas of deafness, disability, discrimination & equality. She was also the first ‘Deaf’ person to qualify as an Audiologist in the NHS in England & Wales.

Trustee
Board member since 2017
Helen is a freelance consultant. As a qualified teacher and NRCPD-registered Sign Language Translator, she was previously Programme Manager in Family Sign Language for the National Deaf Children’s Society, where she worked for 10 years.

Trustee
Board member since 2018
Lucy has a strong background in fundraising and marketing management. Having worked for a range of voluntary organisations, including Sense, she is now at international development charity, Practical Action.

Trustee
Board Member since 2020
Former Trustee of Walsall Deaf Community Services 2019-2020
Former Specialist Employment Service Manager at Action on Hearing Loss Cymru (RNID) in Wales. Now works for NHS based in the Black Country for the Early Intervention Team.

Trustee
Board member since October 2019
Former Board Member at Oxford Deaf & Hard of Hearing Centre 2014-18 and at Deaf Direct 2018-19
Penelope was asked to join the board of the Oxford Deaf and Hard of Hearing Centre because of her financial background: she had spent most of her career working at the Bank of England.

Trustee
Board Member since 2019
Deaf Direct Trustee for 20 years 1999-2019
William was previously a Trustee of Deaf Direct, serving as the Chair for eleven years. He continues to work as a Freelance BSL Tutor and is based in Malvern, Worcestershire.

Trustee
Board Member since 2020
Former Trustee of Walsall Deaf Community Services 2019-2020
Andrew was previously a Trustee for Walsall Deaf Community Service, serving as the Chair from 2019 to 2020. He is Self Employed working in Building Construction and is based in Derbyshire.
Emma is a parent of two Deaf young adults.
She is a seasoned professional with more than 10 years’ of senior management experience in B2B and B2C technology sectors at an international level.