Taking action for your needs.

Meet theLeadershipTeam

Craig Crowley

CEO

Chief Executive Officer
Craig has pioneered many prominent leadership and management positions over the past 25 years within the Deaf and Disability Sectors, obtaining an MBE in recognition of his work. Craig is co-chair of the BSL Advisory Board under the UK Government’s Disability Unit and Trustee of Royal School for the Deaf, Derby. A Deaflympian, he also served as the 8th President of Deaflympics 2009-2013 and Honorary President of UK Deaf Sport 2014-2022.
Karen Draper
Director of Finance & Operations
Director of Finance & Operations

Karen joined Action Deafness in January 2020 and has extensive experience in both public and private financial accounting and has worked in educational establishments and charitable organisations.

Christopher Reid

Director of Service Delivery

Director of Service Delivery

Christopher joined in March 2024 and has extensive experience in roles of managing services for D/deaf people and in health and social care commissioning. At AD, his focus will be on Community & Care, particularly on growth and business development.

Charlotte Jefferies
People Executive
People Executive
Charlotte is a qualified HR Manager who worked for a large telecommunications company before joining Deaf Direct. Charlotte joined AD following the merger with Deaf Direct in 2019.
Jayne Oakes

Sensory Services Manager

Sensory Services Manager

Jayne joined in February 2022 and has an extensive background in Sensory Services / Interpreting & Deafblind work, having worked previously for RNID / BID Services & Deafblind UK. At AD, her focus is on exploring new business and innovation opportunities for the organisation.

Phil Smith
Booking Manager
Booking Manager
Phil joined in May 2023 having worked previously as Bookings Manager for RNID. Phil has extensive experience in customer focused roles gained from working for Thomas Cook and also Watson Petroleum.
Jessy Young

Registered Manager, Community & Care

Registered Manager, Community & Care

Jessy joined AD in 2018 and has risen through ranks from being PA coordinator to Team Leader and is now the Registered Manager.

Tanvir Ahmed

Hubs Manager

Hubs Manager

Tanvir brings a wealth of experience to Team AD, having worked in Deaf and Disability organisations like RNID, Shaw Trust, and Serco for the past 30 years. He previously served as a Trustee for Action Deafness and is now excited to take on the Hubs Manager role.

Mags Smalley

Finance & Operations Manager

Finance & Operations Manager

Mags has around 20 years commercial management experience gained from working for Manchester Airport Group, TUI Holidays and Holland & Barrett, to name a few and now plays a key role in the Finance & Operations Department.

Michelle Hunter

Team Manager for Durham

Team Manager for Durham

Michelle brings a wealth of experiences to AD due to her experience with supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals: from community work at BID Services to working with young Deaf children with complex needs at the Percy Hedley Foundation’s Northern Counties School. She now leads the Durham Hub team at Action Deafness.

Ellie Parfitt

Brand Manager

Brand Manager

Ellie joined Action Deafness as Brand Manager in August 2024, with a focus on the marketing of all AD services, campaigns, and brand communications. Ellie has over eight years’ experience in the marketing sector, and has extensive expertise with design, social media, and blogging within the Deaf Community. Ellie previously worked for RAD, British Deaf News, Phonak, and The Limping Chicken.

Mike Lane

Technical Manager

Technical Manager

Mike, our Technical Manager, is responsible for overseeing IT Provision, website, AD 360 (Live customer service via BSL video call), and other important projects for Action Deafness. He also heads up our BSL video production department providing accessible videos for organisations.

Thank you for your support!

Action Deafness would like to thank Signapse who hove kindly translated our home page. Signapse are a team of Deaf and hearing people; entrepreneurs, engineers and researchers. They build artificial intelligence solutions for clients who want access to sign language translation and interpretation.