Mark Hopkinson Vice Chair Expand Mark Hopkinson Mark comes to Deafinitely theatre with a strong background in education and training. Following work as an access and development officer for deaf people in different London boroughs, Mark has spent the past 19 years working for City Lit in a variety of teaching and management roles. Since 2014, he has been head of department for Sign Language and Lipreading. Over the years, Mark has taught and assessed all levels of BSL, from introductory to Level 6 and is a qualified Internal Verifier, also providing consultancy and advice for BSL tutors in other colleges. Mark has lectured on the City Lit/London Met University ‘Deaf Studies’ degree and has coordinated a number of training programmes for external businesses across London. He is hoping that his experience will lend itself to supporting the development of Deafinitely Theatre; he has a particular interest in accessibility. Mark has also been a member of the London Deaf Drama Group for over 15 years, enjoying all that amateur theatre has to offer.
Sanchu Iyer Expand Sanchu Iyer Sanchu is familiar with Deafinitely theatre as she was one of the participants for Deafinitely’s creative writing group for two years (during which period she showcased two of her short plays) and she has worked with staff from Deafinitely youth project during their outreach work in a school where she had worked. Prior to the inception of the theatre, she attended BDA’s creative writing retreat where she first met Paula. Sanchu is passionate about global justice, social equality and poverty alleviation. She has been involved in a number of environmental, community and campaign voluntary work such as CSV, VSO and CAFOD. She has trusteeship experience as she was a trustee for Deaf Ethnic Women’s Association (DEWA) and a trustee and chairperson for Aurora Deaf Aid Africa (ADAA). Currently she’s a PhD candidate for Heriot Watt university.
Liina Lowe Expand Liina Lowe Liina is profoundly Deaf and has been working in the Finance department at the Deaf-led health charity SignHealth for over 5 years. They are working to improve Deaf people's health and wellbeing through campaigning and they provide a range of services including social care, therapy and domestic abuse which are all delivered by Deaf people to Deaf people directly in British Sign Language. Liina has a passion for Deaf performances, and has been supporting the access of it for a long period as it is extremely important in culture within the Deaf community and great opportunity to influence new people to get involved. She hopes to offer her skills as a trustee in an environment where she can bring real value to Deafinitely's board.
Ash Pandya Chair Expand Ash Pandya Ash Pandya has spent most of his working life working within the health sector. He has Run his own community Pharmacy and been a senior manager for NHS Direct. For the last twelve years he has been a Chief Executive for a pharmacy organisation representing 339 pharmacies. In this role he has established a separate provider company to deliver specific services for the community through pharmacy and developed many services to improve the wellbeing of the local population. Ever since he operated a pharmacy, he has been passionate in supporting organisations and delivering services to make a better community. To that end he has also been a Vice Chair for Jackson’s Lane community centre in Highgate which also host a theatre and a trustee for National Voices the umbrella body for many health charities. He has also worked with many ethnic diverse charities organising shows and events. Ash has a passion for the Arts and especially theatre. As the result of an operation Ash has recently become completely deaf in one ear and therefore developed a great deal of empathy for people with hearing difficulties. Ash is excited to be working with and supporting Deafinitely Theatre in bringing live theatre to people with hearing difficulties and at the same time raising the awareness and challenges faced by people with hearing disabilities.
Tom Robbins Expand Tom Robbins Job title: Head of Cultural Investment Fund, Senior Policy Advisor at DCMS Tom is a senior policy advisor in the Department for Digital, Cultural, Media and Sport, with a background in arts policy, public finance, and project delivery. Tom has previously worked in HM Treasury including working on DCMS Spending and welfare policy. He enjoys making art in his spare time and has a strong interest in improving the accessibility of arts and culture.
Louise Stephens Expand Louise Stephens Louise Stephens is a dramaturg specialising in the development of new writing. As in-house dramaturg or literary management personnel, she has worked at the Traverse Theatre, Royal Court Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. She has worked as a dramaturg or script reader with theatre companies throughout the UK and Ireland, including the National Theatre of Scotland; Tron Theatre; Tiata Fahodzi; Curve, Leicester; Live! Theatre; Rifco, and the Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland. Her dramaturgical work with maker/performers includes Rachael Young (I, Myself and Me), FellSwoop (Palmyra: Total Theatre Awards 2017) and Jenna Watt (Flâneurs: Fringe First 2012; Faslane, Fringe First 2016). She is the Dramaturg for the Abbey Theatre, Amharclann Na Mainistreach, where her recent work includes This Beautiful Village (Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards Winner, Best New Play 2019) and 2020's Dear Ireland project. She has admired Deafinitely’s productions, ethos and working methods for a long time and is delighted to serve as a trustee for the company. She signs to BSL Level 3 and recently began to learn ISL, completing QQI Award Level 3. She has a PhD in Creativity Management from the University of St Andrews.
Kimberley Thomas Expand Kimberley Thomas Kimberley is currently General Manager of National Theatre Productions. She has worked across the commercial, subsidised and fringe sectors. Kimberley’s background includes producing commercial theatre productions in the West End and on tour, commissioning new work and extensive experience programming major festivals. She has consulted on production general management, large-scale capital projects, and overseen the operations of London theatres. Her passion lies in opening theatre to new audiences and increased inclusion and diversity on and off stage.
Clive Young Expand Clive Young Clive is a local authority groundsman by day, and a Deaf events organiser by night. He has organised and managed well loved and sell out events such as comedian night which featured such as John Smith, Aldo Bossio, Visual Vernacular among other various shows featured both british & internationally actors. Clive also hosted the first ever Britains Deaf Got Talent and sourced many hidden Deaf talents across the country. Clive has a huge passion for the Deaf Arts and the empowering of the deaf community. As a Deaf man himself, Clive joins Deafinitely Theatre with a wide knowledge of the Deaf community and culture.
Dr Junhui Yang Expand Dr Junhui Yang Junhui Yang, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Deaf Studies at School of Humanities, Languages and Global Studies in the University of Central Lancashire, England. She obtained a PhD in Deaf Education from Gallaudet University, Washington, DC in 2006. She was born in Beijing and attended schools for the deaf. She taught Chinese Language Literacy to deaf students before studying abroad. Junhui has been involved in many international projects, European and beyond, during her academic career. This has included a UK-China Partnership project for creating an online English learning platform for sign language users; Signs2Cross - a deaf-led EU project that created an online course for learning International Sign; a Language Skills for EU Mobility project focussing on international mobility of deaf and hard of hearing people, and more recently, “Deaf Museum” Erasmus+ Project.