LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Wales Conference

Dan Walsh is Chair of Pride Cymru, Wales’ largest grassroots LGBTQ+ charity and live event. Dan has been a trustee of the charity since 2020, leads the charity’s strategic direction and oversees its operations. Dan grew up in Cardiff and has seen the change in the city over 30 years into a much more inclusive and vibrant place. Dan was previously the youngest Chair of Governors of a primary school in Wales and works full-time in international trade.

Dr Alessandro Ceccarelli (he/him) is a leading advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, HIV justice, and health equity. He led the creation of Wales’s first LGBTQ+ Action Plan and co-founded Fast Track Cymru, helping shape national campaigns including Wales HIV Testing Week, Stop HIV Stigma, and Are You PrEPped?, now run by Public Health Wales.

He has contributed to major reports such as Wales HIV Outcomes and HIV Services at a Crossroads, and helped promote the HIV Confident Charter to support people living with HIV in the workplace. Alessandro serves as a trustee of the National AIDS Trust and LGBT Consortium, chairs LGBTQ+ Council Cymru, and is a non-executive director at the University of South Wales and Coleg Merthyr, championing underrepresented voices in policy and education.

As Director of Services at METRO Charity, he oversees work in HIV prevention and care, sexual health, mental health, youth work, and LGBTQ+ community support.

Menai has a portfolio career and is an award winning Chief Executive, Non-Executive Director and Independent Adviser.

She has fourteen years’ experience as a Chief Executive and recently won the IoD Wales Director of the Year Public and Third Sector Award 2024 in recognition of her leadership as CEO of LATCH Welsh Children’s Cancer Charity since July 2022. Until September 2021, Menai was Chief Executive of The Pituitary Foundation, a UK-wide award winning health charity, where she successfully led transformative change during her ten-year tenure, establishing the charity as leading in its field worldwide.

Menai is also an Independent Adviser to the Senedd Cymru Commission, Co-Vice Chair of Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) and Senior Independent Governor and Chair of the Governance and Nominations Committee at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Previously she has been a Trustee of organisations including ACEVO, Race Council Cymru and Daring to Dream.

She is a qualified Chartered Director, with a Postgraduate Certificate in Welsh Government and Politics and holds a Law Degree from Cardiff University.  For the past twenty years Menai has contributed widely to civil society in Wales, and the UK, across numerous causes. A lifelong volunteer also she is passionate about social change, equality, learning and social justice.

Menai is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), the IoD and the Institute of Welsh Affairs. She is an Ambassador of IoD Wales and holds advisory appointments, including Chair of Social Leaders Cymru Programme 2023 – 25.

She is an advocate for inclusive leadership and has broad interests, networks and wide-ranging experiences across several disciplines and organisations. Menai spends time voluntarily mentoring and coaching others. In 2019 and 2021, Menai was awarded the CEO Today UK and Global Awards, for innovative and strong leadership.

Menai is a first language Welsh speaker.  She has lived experience of being part of a minoritised community (LGBTQ+) and actively works to challenge inequalities. In 2023 she was awarded a Black History Wales Community Award for contributions to race equality and inclusion and in June 2024 she was named in The Pinc List as one of the top 40 influential LGBTQ+ people in Wales.

I am the inclusion manager at Principality Building Society, a role I have now been doing for two and a half years.  Prior to that I have a background in HR, and was part of the Pride Network for several years after joining the Society.

Dionne is an experienced DEI professional with over 10 years of expertise in DEI and Human Resources. Her focus is on fostering equity in the workplace, ensuring fair outcomes, and creating opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds. Dionne excels at building inclusive environments where everyone feels a sense of belonging and can contribute meaningfully.

In previous roles, Dionne has developed and led initiatives aligned with strategic goals, collaborating closely with employee resource groups to drive inclusion. She enjoys travelling and dog walks and volunteers annually at UK Black Pride events, reflecting her dedication to social justice and community support.

Sara Peacock (she/her) is Head of the Strategic Team at S4C, which leads on the organisation’s Diversity and Inclusion, Education, Welsh Language, and Sustainability work. She has a background in publishing and worked with small businesses, in the third sector and in the public sector before joining the Welsh national broadcaster. Sara brings a personal passion for inclusion to bear on the cultural and strategic work of championing diversity in the Welsh-language media sector. She has postgraduate degrees from Durham and Cardiff universities, and has had articles around culture change published in the magazines Planet and BARN. Sara is Chair of S4C’s LGBTQ+ staff network.

Sara Peacock (hi) yw Pennaeth y Tîm Strategol yn S4C, sef y tîm sy’n arwain ar waith Amrywiaeth a Chynhwysiant, Addysg, y Gymraeg a Chynaliadwyedd y sefydliad. Mae ganddi gefndir yn y diwydiant cyhoeddi, ac mae wedi gweithio gyda busnesau bach, ac yn y trydydd sector a’r sector cyhoeddus, cyn ymuno â’r darlledwr cenedlaethol Cymraeg. Mae Sara yn dod ag angerdd personol dros gynhwysiant i ysgwyddo’r gwaith diwylliannol a strategol o hyrwyddo amrywiaeth yn y sector cyfryngau Cymraeg. Mae ganddi raddau ôl-raddedig o brifysgolion Durham a Chaerdydd, ac wedi cael erthyglau ynghylch newid diwylliant eu cyhoeddi yn y cylchgronau Planet a BARN. Sara yw Cadeirydd rhwydwaith staff LHDTQ+ S4C.

Sarah is an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion specialist, trainer and facilitator, as well as a youth worker at Impact LGBTQ+ youth group in Cardiff.. They are Inclusion and Engagement Lead at Cats Protection, and have worked with other national charities including Samaritans and Stonewall.

Sarah brings a passion and extensive knowledge of inclusion practice, expertise in youth empowerment and engagement built from over a decade as a youth worker, and a strong background in co-creation and elevating lived experience.

I am Connor Freel and I am a trainer within North Wales Police and an active member of the North Wales and All Wales LGBT+ Police Staff Support Network. I have worked for years promoting E, D & I and, as an openly transgender male, I have used my lived experiences to educate and advise on various platforms throughout my career. I was awarded the Wales LGBT+ Excellence Award and the Julie Barnes-Frank Award at the National LGBT+ Police Network Conference in the Summer of 2023 for my contributions towards organisational awareness of E, D & I within Policing which I am incredibly proud of.

Sarah has worked in the field of HR since 1999, Sarah joined Gower College Swansea as Director of Human Resources in 2017.

Sarah has transformed the culture of Gower College Swansea with her passion and determination to embed wellbeing into the working lives of the workforce.

Sarah has been inspirational leading on women’s health and driving forward a menopause initiative which has been recognised as best practice by the Government Menopause Champion Helen Tomlinson, Mimms Davies MP and Carolyn Noakes, Chair of the Women’s Equality Select Committee. Sarah was invited to present her work on the menopause at the first Menopause Roundtable Event and her work was highlighted in an article for the Times on World Menopause Day. Sarah and her team at Gower College Swansea were recognised at this year’s National CIPD Awards winning Best Health & Wellbeing Initiative for Public/Third Sector.

Sarah had championed employing a dedicated wellbeing team and investing in staff wellbeing as a key people strategy to become an employer of choice, reduce absence levels, build resilience and futureproof Gower College Swansea’s workforce.

Yana Williams became Chief Executive of Coleg Cambria on January 2020.

She was educated at both primary and secondary school level in Mold, and completed her A level studies at the former Deeside College.

An alumnus of Cardiff Metropolitan University, her first teaching role was at Knowsley Community College in Liverpool. She later moved to Runshaw College in Lancashire before re-joining Deeside College in a management role, overseeing the curriculum in a wide range of areas from construction to catering.

It was then on to a Vice Principal role at Blackburn College and later Hugh Baird, Liverpool where she was CEO/Principal for 8 years.

Hannah joined Bad Wolf in 2020 to lead on staff engagement and human resources, IT, Health and Safety, facilities and asset management, philanthropy, communications and external relations within the Corporate Operations team. She was previously Director of BAFTA Cymru (BAFTA in Wales), Manager of Skillset Media Academy Wales, Marketing Manager at Sgrîn Cymru Wales and started out as a locations scout and festival co-ordinator. Hannah is passionate about raising aspiration levels and creating opportunities for all to work in the media industry in Wales as well as issues relating to industry sustainability and accessibility.

Professor Sian Rees is Deputy Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Swansea University, were she also holds the position of Faculty Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead.  She is Chair of the Swansea University Culture Board, and Deputy Chair of DASSH UK (Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities).  Prior to academia Sian worked in the creative industries, as managing director of her own marketing and PR consultancy and also Publishing Director for Haymarket Publishing’s consumer electronics magazines.

Sian writes academically on authentic public relations and branding in the digital media age, challenging existing understanding of corporate identity and corporate brand personality management.  Sian explores the difficulty of developing “authentic” brand narratives in the digital age focusing on how organisational values, such as EDI, can be embedded in both practice and representation in an authentic way.

Dan Walsh is Chair of Pride Cymru, Wales’ largest grassroots LGBTQ+ charity and live event. Dan has been a trustee of the charity since 2020, leads the charity’s strategic direction and oversees its operations. Dan grew up in Cardiff and has seen the change in the city over 30 years into a much more inclusive and vibrant place. Dan was previously the youngest Chair of Governors of a primary school in Wales and works full-time in international trade.