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Ashok Ahir (President)
Ashok grew up in Wolverhampton and his home language was Punjabi. He graduated from Cardiff University in 1992 and did a postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism at Westminster University, London. He learned Welsh in 2005. Between 1994 and 1998 he was a reporter and producer with BBC Wales. He moved to London and worked on major BBC news programmes, before moving back to Cardiff in 2002 to become Head of Politics at BBC Wales. Between 2012 and 2018 he was a director with Mela communications company. In July 2018 he was appointed Director of Communications with the Wales Office and subsequently became Deputy Director of Communications with the United Kingdom Government. He now works for Qualifications Wales. In October 2016, he was appointed Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Cardiff National Eisteddfod of Wales 2018. He was elected President of the Eisteddfod Court and Chairman of the Eisteddfod Management Board in August 2019.
Andrew Evans (Vice President)
Andrew Evans is a consultant specialising in fundraising and business development for startups, charities and not-for-profits, particularly in the cultural sector. He was formerly Director of Development for National Museums Liverpool and Head of Fundraising and Communications at Liverpool's Bluecoat arts centre. When he isn't working Andrew is an avid reader and enjoys making a mess in the kitchen. He finds it hard to walk past a museum, gallery or library without going in and loves to run the streets and hills around his home in Flintshire.
Gronw Percy (Treasurer)
An economics graduate of Cardiff University Gronw is a chartered accountant with over 30 years experience in advising and delivering on a wide range of projects. Gronw is skilled in fundraising, business planning, investment appraisal, commercial negotiation, PPP and other strategic initiatives.
Gronw currently works as Director of Finance for Orbis Education and Care UK, but prior to that, he was chief financial officer for Open Genius Ltd, with responsibility for finance, finance raising and operational data reporting. He has also worked as development funding director for Castleoak Group, with responsibility for finance and funding, and also spent 10 years as Associate Director with PwC in Cardiff and London, as a key member of the PwC Government and Infrastructure business leading the Wales based team, and with responsibility for a number of large scale mandates covering outsourcing, franchising, strategic partnerships, finance raising, outcomes based commissioning and strategic consulting.
Gronw is also a member of the Wales Millennium Centre Audit Committee, and Board Advisor to both Drop Task, a software company based in Cardiff Bay, and Right Now Digital, a smart phone applications business focused on the sports and leisure sector.
Quentin Howard
Quentin is a broadcast engineer, award winning radio presenter and and experienced media executive. He is recognised as the driving force behind DAB in the UK and led the development of DAB overseas. As Programme Director for the country’s largest radio group, he managed the output of 30 radio stations and was responsible for building Classic FM where he was a presenter. He modernised the Ministry of Defence’s worldwide TV and radio systems, delivering TV via internet and Wi-Fi for British Forces serving overseas. He created digital video archive services for the Ministry of Defence and is a Trustee for the British Wireless for the Blind Fund. Quentin is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Susan Davies
Sue studied in the National Library as an Aberystwyth English degree undergraduate. She has over twenty years’ heritage sector experience to senior level, specialising in learning, audience development, community engagement and exhibitions after a first career in teaching. Her Pembrokeshire-based cultural consultancy has operated since 2016. Sue’s museum career took her to large museum services in the north of England: Tyne and Wear Museums, Harewood House Trust, Leeds Museums and Galleries. She has an MA in Museum Studies, a PGCE, is an enthusiastic Welsh learner, a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management, has been a Museums Association Wales and is a Group for Education in Museums Wales representative.
David Hay
David is a career archivist, records manager and heritage professional with over 35 years’ experience in the public and business sectors. Until retirement he led BT Heritage and Archives, developing the function into a leading business archive recognised by UNESCO as a significant part of the UK’s cultural heritage, and one of the few corporate archives to be awarded Designated Collection status by Arts Council England and Archives Service Accreditation by The National Archives. He has worked with many museum and university partners on numerous heritage projects, often with external funding, and is experienced in generating commercial income from archive collections. David is also a trustee director of the Sainsbury Archive.
Dr. Janet Wademan
An alumna of Cardiff University, Janet studied for a BA in Pure Mathematics and following original research was awarded a PhD in Group Theory. Janet enjoyed a corporate R&D career in the systems engineering, programme management, marketing and international bid directorship of safety critical applications. In 1995, she founded her advisory practice specialising in technology and innovation. She has been an advisor to consortia of international corporates which resulted in the creation of many 100s of STEM jobs. She was, from 2006 to 2009, a Member of the Ministerial Advisory Group for the then Department of the Economy and Transport. She also served as a Member of the First Minister's Economic Research Advisory Panel between 2002 and 2012. Since 1998, Janet has contributed to the common good by her non-executive positions.
Hannah Lindsay
Hannah was born and raised in Newcastle Emlyn, south Ceredigion and now lives in Cardiff. She studied for an undergraduate degree in Modern History and Political Science at the University of Birmingham. After graduating in 2012, she went on to complete a Graduate Diploma in Law, from The College of Law in London. After beginning her career in marketing and communications in London, Hannah’s career took her to Beirut, before returning to Wales where she has since worked primarily in public sector communications. In her current role for NHS Wales, she has worked on the COVID-19 pandemic response and vaccination campaign, with a focus on reducing inequities through engagement with seldom-heard groups.
Lee Yale-Helms
Lee is a Chartered Accountant working as Director of Finance and Resources for Birmingham Children’s Trust. Before that, he worked for 16 years as Senior Manager, Financial and Accounting Services at Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
Lee has also served as Vice Chair and Vice President of CIPFA North West and North Wales, President of CIPFA North West and North Wales, a Trustee of CIPFA (nationally) and Vice Chair of CIPFA’s National Audit Committee.
Lee has fundraising experience which includes helping a significant number of public bodies to attract funding from the Lottery and Government. Lee has also fundraised on a voluntary level for groups with which he is personally involved.
John Trevor Allen
John is originally from Shropshire, spending his formative years at Aberystwyth first as a student, then as a trainee librarian (and then as a student again), before moving to Oxfordshire to take a post in the public library service. From there, he has worked in NHS and Government libraries, and developed a longstanding career in charity governance, in particular as a Trustee, Chair, and President of CILIP, the library and information association. Outside the information world, John is a school governor, a Trustee of the Family Rights Group, and a volunteer Director at the nonprofit organisation Three Rings CIC.
Andrew Cusworth
Andrew Cusworth works at the University of Oxford where he acts as Programme Manager & Senior Research Facilitator of the Digital Scholarship at Oxford initiative. An alumnus of the University of Cambridge, he received his PhD from the Open University for work on digital collections, traditional music, and cultural history. Subsequently, he has held digital scholarship and collections positions at Ceredigion Archive, the University of Exeter Special Collections, the National Library of Wales, and the Bodleian Libraries where he was 1851 Research Fellow and worked with Royal Collections Trust and the 1851 Commission on the archive of Prince Albert. Separately, he is active as a composer and musician, and has a keen interest in photography.
Dr. Mohini Gupta
Mohini graduated from the University of Delhi with a BA (Hons) in English, and undertook an MA in Cultural Studies at SOAS University of London. She subsequently gained her DPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Oxford. She currently works as Co-Convenor for Education South Asia, but will take up a post as Postdoctoral Fellow at the Danish School of Education, Aarhaus University in January 2025. Mohini is also a member of the Management Board of the Vedica Scholars Programme for Women (New Delhi).
Mohini is an active and vocal supporter of Welsh language and culture on public platforms, and has been a guest speaker at multiple schools and universities across Wales, and a regular Welsh-language speaker on Indian politics and culture on BBC Radio Cymru and S4C.
Mohini has published numerous articles and reviews, and in 2023 co-edited The Hindu Bard: The Poetry of Dorothy Bonarjee, and co-compiled Many Roads: Women’s Personal Stories of Courage and Displacement in Wales in 2024, both of which were launched at the National Library of Wales.
Mohini speaks English, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish and Welsh.
Michael Gibbon, K.C.
Michael is the head of a set of barristers’ chambers in London, and a bencher of Lincoln’s Inn. His parents were from Glamorgan, and he also has family connections with West Wales and Mid Wales. His undergraduate studies were in Modern History, and he then took a masters degree in International Relations. Michael was a choral scholar while at university, and has a continuing interest in music, particularly singing. After a short period in finance, he trained as a barrister. He started practice in 1995 and was appointed QC (now KC) in 2011. He is particularly interested in the late mediaeval and early modern history of Mid Wales, about which he has published various articles. He has been a member of the Council of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion since 2016, and is a former President of the Montgomeryshire Society. He divides his time between central London and Mid Wales, where his wife shares responsibility for running her family’s farm.
Heledd Bebb
Heledd is co-owner and Director of OB3 Research, a respected consultancy based in Wales, where she leads impactful research, evaluation and advisory services which inform and shape public policy development across diverse sectors such as education, health, culture, and the economy.
Heledd is also a former Business and Management senior lecturer and led pioneering Welsh-medium higher education provision in the subject. She has served as a trustee for the National Eisteddfod of Wales and was a member of several government advisory boards as leisure and culture policy adviser at the Welsh Local Government Association.
She graduated from Aberystwyth University with a BA (Hons) in Welsh and an MSc (Econ) in Entrepreneurship.