TRUSTEES

Katie has a background in journalism, communications and public affairs.

She is currently the Wales Director for the Stroke Association and has spent more than ten years leading on external affairs for various UK-wide charities with operations in Wales, including RNID and St John’s Ambulance.

Katie was born in Cardiff and studied journalism and broadcasting at Cardiff University, going on to work as a broadcast journalist for South Wales-based radio stations including Red Dragon FM and Real Radio. She reported on high profile stories including the Clydach murders, Wales’ ban on smoking in public and her team won a Sony award for their report on the 40th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster.

Katie is also trustee for Pregnancy Sickness Support, a charity which supports women experiencing the pregnancy complication hyperemesis gravidarum. Katie is a Welsh learner.

Carol is a fully qualified counsellor/ psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and coach, working in private practice. She works with many different types of mental distress and specialises in working with trauma, in particular with survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence. Carol’s approach is focussed on not pathologizing distress – asking not “what’s wrong with you?” but “what happened to you?”

In her previous career, Carol worked in many different roles as a senior manager in social housing, mainly with housing associations in Scotland and England. Latterly, Carol was able to pursue her enthusiasm for empowering those who use housing services as Director of the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) Cymru. Her most recent role was as housing regulator with the Welsh Government where she sought to improve housing association sector performance across the board and, particularly, in the areas of diversity, service user empowerment and governance.

Carol’s aim in life is to promote and support empowerment and improvement through genuine collaboration, based round equality of status and contribution. As a feminist, Carol is strongly committed to changing the elements of current prevailing cultures which are damaging to women.

For relaxation, Carol enjoys walking the legs off her two dogs, Hector and little Maisie in the beautiful Welsh countryside around her home and does a lot of reading, mainly crime fiction.

Ffion (she/her) is the Head of Programmes at Stonewall Cymru and is responsible for working with a wide variety of organisations to embed inclusion across their settings. She is also responsible for income generation, financial planning and grant funding in Wales.

Ffion is a fluent Welsh speaker and a trustee for LGBTQymru, a charity that aims aim to create opportunities that represent the diversity of LGBTQ+ communities in Wales.

Ffion is a feminist and trans ally and believes equality is the foundation of any fair society where everyone should be able to reach their full potential and diversity should be celebrated across Wales. She believes in the importance of achieving equality and rights for all protected characteristics, including those for women, disabled, LGBTQ+, POC and BAME people. Everyone should feel free to be who they are at all times, feel supported when necessary and that diversity is celebrated as it is good for our economy, our society and our culture.

Ffion has a background in buying and teaching and has lived and worked in the Middle East. In her spare time, she enjoys beach walks with her children and dog.

Ron is a retired housing professional and chartered town planner who worked in the social housing sector in London and the South West for over 35 years. His main tasks included managing homelessness and advice services, running council housing, doing policy work, supervising housing development and negotiating affordable housing. During this time he was instrumental in getting funding for women’s refuges and other hostels. Having been out-of-hours homeless officer, he also understands the importance of women and children accessing support and suitable accommodation during times of crisis.

Since retirement he was a charity trustee for an Exeter domestic violence charity for over five years and helped found a new charity in Devon to help young people with mental health issues access creative therapies. Inspired by the need for equality and to build a fairer society, throughout his career he’s worked with fellow professionals and carers to alleviate poor housing conditions, improve people’s welfare and raise their self-esteem using his Coaching skills. Having moved to South Wales, he says it’s a pleasure to have the opportunity to use his skills, knowledge and experience to help people through CWA.

Gemma is an experienced communications specialist. She currently works for a major high street bank, leading their strategy to support businesses across Wales to start up, thrive and grow. One of her key priorities is supporting those who typically face additional barriers to success in business, including women and those from an ethnic minority background.

She has worked as a print and broadcast journalist, including for local newspapers and news organisations such as the Press Association and BBC Wales, where she researched and produced TV and radio news and current affairs programmes. She has also overseen a pilot project in hyperlocal media, and has worked in corporate PR.

Gemma is host of a podcast series, Inspiring Women Wales, which tells the stories of the female founders of some great Welsh businesses. She runs regular events where women in business can find their community and network of peer support.

Jas is Head of Human Resources at Confused.com and is responsible for both operational and strategic HR. Jas has been a HR professional for over 20 years predominately within the financial service industry.

Jas is passionate about the work carried out by the CWA and the importance of providing accessible support for women and children. She decided to become a trustee as this gave her an opportunity of using her skills and her personal experience to give back to the welsh community, joining the Board in xx 2023.
Jas was born in the Midlands moving to the Southeast for both study and work, finally settling in London for most of her professional career. In 2019, Jas moved to Wales to enjoy a work-life balance and has never looked back.

Barbara (she/her) is Deputy Director of Size of Wales, a Welsh Climate Change charity that supports local and indigenous communities protect tropical forests and inspire climate action here in Wales.

Barbara has over 17 years’ experience in the international development sector working on peace building, promoting human rights and gender equity. This has included supporting projects in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe to tackle gender-based violence, protect women human rights defenders, and increase women’s participation in climate action at local, national and international level.

At Size of Wales, she manages their international programme and leads on Size of Wales’ policy and advocacy work, engaging with Welsh Government, public sector bodies, businesses, and community groups to promote ethical supply chains. Barbara also has extensive grant funding and is safeguarding lead.

Barbara is passionate advocate for women and Indigenous Peoples’ rights which has seen her engage with decision makers at UK, EU and international level, to bring about change. Barbara has been a mentor in the Equal Power, Equal Voice programme for a number of years with the aim of promoting diversity of representation in public and political life in Wales.

Barbara is also half German and a keen linguist.

Becky (she/her) is Policy and Research Officer for Care & Repair Cymru, supporting policy and leading on the public affairs and EDI work of a multi-agency movement for older people across Wales.

Becky was born in Gloucester, and moved to Carmarthenshire to study a BA Hons in Primary Education with QTS in 2014. A qualified teacher, she spent two years leading her own university Students’ Union, before being elected as the National Union of Students President for Wales. In these roles, she worked on developing a cross-sector student mental health charter, oversaw the Welsh Government tertiary education transition, and created a ‘Women of Recognition’ award to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of women in academia.

Since moving to Cardiff, Becky co-created the Reclaim These Streets vigil that was held in response to police violence, and has become more active in her local Labour Party. Becky has been a previous trustee of multiple organisations including NUS Charity and STOPP, a Swansea-based grassroots movement tackling period poverty in the city. At 28, Becky is one of the younger members of the Board, but is keen to bring her enthusiasm and prior Board experience to Cardiff Women’s Aid.

In her spare time, she enjoys softball cricket, running and video games. She is a keen Welsh and BSL learner.