Meet the Team

Ben is an Assistant Professor at the University of Bath and a co-founder of the Centre for Biosensors, Bioelectronics, and Biodevices – the largest research centre of its type in England.

In 2019, he was appointed a Director of Studies and was made a Trustee of the Institute for Physics and Engineering in Medicine. His research interests are in the areas of neural interfaces, neural computing, and signal processing.

Catherine currently works as Deputy Director of Student Support and Safeguarding at the University of Bath. Prior to this role Catherine has managed and worked in the disability service at the University and has also worked as a freelance Needs Assessor for Access West of England at UWE-Bristol, ensuring that disabled students from across the region had the equipment, support and funding needed to succeed in their degree studies.

Anna is an Associate Professor in Engineering Design at the University of Bath. She holds a PhD in Production Engineering and Engineering Management coupled with a background in Intellectual Property.

Her expertise lies in areas of socio-technical data-rich systems, design cognition, empathy and privacy, while also addressing complex societal challenges especially in the realm of diversity and inclusion. Her commitment to inclusivity is underscored by her lived experience of disability, providing a unique perspective that enriches her work and advocacy.

Emma is Director of Adult Care Operations; Access and Reablement at Wiltshire Council. She currently supports the delivery of a wide range of adult care services which focus on maximising independence and choice and control for the most vulnerable people in our society.

Andrew is the Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations at the University of Bristol, leading a team of 70 who work to build connections with the University’s 190,000 alumni living in 198 different countries. He leads the team to work with a range of philanthropists, foundations and companies raising around £25m a year.

Andrew is passionate about enabling independence, having suffered personally with a spinal infection which affected his mobility. Although now fully recovered, he understands the transformational impact that a greater sense of independence can bring with the help of adapted equipment.

Lis is the Executive Director of Operations at the Samaritans charity, whose vision is that fewer people die by suicide. Lis is responsible for developing and maintaining operational excellence to deliver Samaritans’ strategy and develop services that meet the highest standards. She is also a Listening volunteer at Samaritans’ Bath branch, a commitment she finds hugely rewarding and helps her to stay connected to front line delivery.

Lis joined Samaritans following almost 5 years as Services Director at Help for Heroes, a charity that enables military veterans and families to manage the varied consequences of injury and long-term conditions. Whilst there she led the transition to community and digitally delivered services and increased the attention on evidence-based practice.

Sam is a qualified accountant with 15 years’ experience advising on government and third sector projects and programmes, prior to which he held a range of commercial finance roles in and around the IT and telecommunications sector.  He brings experience of business and commercial strategy development, and more latterly experience in governance and compliance.

Julian works as Vice President of Designworks Collective, a design led consumer products business with offices in Nashville, Bath, The Hague, Melbourne and Hong Kong. Julian’s role involves managing global sourcing and supply chains as well as regulatory and compliance activities within the Designworks group of companies. He brings experience in the world of product development, sourcing, licensing, compliance, sales and marketing.

Julian is passionate about people and organisations living to their potential and enjoys the challenges of helping to create a framework where this happens.

Michael has practised as a professional litigation lawyer for approximately 20 years and holds an MBA having previously worked in business prior to starting his legal career. He is a partner in a leading independent national law firm acting for commercial clients across many sectors and for the UK Government on various high-profile matters.

He is married with two sons, the youngest of whom has dystonic cerebral palsy.

Kathryn is a chartered accountant with 20 years of corporate experience. She qualified at accountancy firm PwC where she worked in financial services audit and advisory, then moved to media company Sky where she worked as a Commercial Finance Director in several different roles including subscriptions, marketing, media, cost efficiency and business-to-business.

Kathryn’s late father was paralysed from the waist down following an operation to remove a spinal tumour, so she has witnessed the journey of a new wheelchair user adapting to life in a chair and is passionate about removing obstacles which adversely impact disabled people.

Nicky is a chartered accountant currently working for the National Trust, Europe’s largest conservation charity.  Her finance career has had a strong focus on investment appraisal and financial analysis across a number of manufacturing and technology companies, before gaining specialised charity accounting knowledge in a wide-ranging central finance role at the National Trust.

Paul’s career began as a corporate lawyer with international firm Simmons & Simmons. He moved into the commercial sector, spending most of his career with InterContinental Hotels Group then drinks giant Diageo, focussed on capital investment and partnerships in emerging markets. He then spent four years with the UK charity Jubilee Sailing Trust.

Having sustained a life-changing injury in 2011, Paul is passionate about disability-related causes. He is a trustee, mentor and ambassador for spinal cord injury charity Back Up Trust. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Foundation Trust.

Jerry is a senior executive with a career that spans the retail, wholesale and hospitality industries. He is currently Group Managing Director of AF Blakemore & Son, running one of the UK’s top 50 privately held businesses with sales of £1.2billion.

He is delighted to lead the Board of Trustees of Designability, building on his experience as a trustee of Crisis, the charity for homeless people and as Chair of the local scout group which keeps him active in village life with his wife and son.