Our Trustees
Meet the people helping to shape and support our charity.
Lindsay Cordery-Bruce
Board Trustee / WCVA Sole Member Representative
Lindsay joined WCVA as Chief Executive in 2024. In April 2018, the Wales Council for Voluntary Action became the Sole Member of Cynnal Cymru and Lindsay is the primary representative on the Board of Trustees.
Diane McCrea
Chair of the Board
Diane has many years’ experience as a Chair including for Natural Resources Wales, Consumer Council for Water Wales, and Shelter Cymru. She has been a Board member with Transport Focus, Assured Food Standards, and is a Trustee of All Saints Educational Trust.
Stuart Bain
Trustee
Stuart joined Cynnal Cymru in December 2025 and works for Energy Saving Trust. He is deeply committed to conservation and sustainability, supporting initiatives that drive environmental progress. With extensive experience in finance, risk, compliance, and governance, Stuart brings a strong focus on ethical practices and organisational resilience. His expertise helps bridge sustainability goals with robust governance frameworks, ensuring positive impact for communities and the environment
Ruth Billingham
Trustee
Ruth has 20 years experience in the third sector, mainly working in communications, marketing and campaigns roles. She is currently Head of Campaigns for Living Streets the UK charity for everyday walking. Ruth oversees the organisation’s campaign strategy, their digital presence and is responsible for their supporters, donors and local groups.
Helen Draper
Trustee
Nicky Hagendyk
Trustee
Nicky has worked in education and training for over 25 years, both in schools and regional school improvement organisations. Nicky provides training and coaching to school leaders and teachers on curriculum, teaching and self-evaluation, and was heavily involved in developing the Curriculum for Wales. Nicky has a keen interest in all aspects of citizenship and sustainability education and works actively to support organisations focused on equity and equality.
Lesley Kirkpatrick
Trustee
Between 2016 and 2024 Lesley was the Chief Executive of Techniquest Science Centre leading the charity through a period of sustained change. Prior to that she was the Wales Director for The Prince’s Trust Cymru. As a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Institute of Economic Development, she has over thirty-five years of experience working in the fields of regeneration and planning. Between 2020 and 2025 Lesley was a trustee of Community Housing Cymru and for 18 months, a co-opted board member of First Choice Housing Association.
Ben Matthews
Trustee
Ben is a Vice President at Jacobs, a global professional services organisation that provides advisory and delivery services for complex infrastructure and technology projects. He leads business development for major programmes worldwide and has previously held senior roles across Mainland Europe, Transportation and Programme Management. A long-time resident of Cardiff, Ben is passionate about supporting a sustainable future for Wales.
Edward Morgan
Trustee
Fe godwyd Edward ar fferm yn Sir Gar ac mae wedi gweithio yn y sector bwyd am ei holl yrfa.
Edward was raised on a farm in Carmarthenshire and has worked in the food sector all his career.
As Group CSR Manager at Castell Howell Foods, and sitting on other industry groups, he has a broad view on all aspects of supply chain sustainability.
Namrata O'Connell-Bhatia
Trustee
Namrata is a designer, strategist, and trusted creative lead. As founder of OCB Studio, a UK-based consultancy, she supports developers and businesses across the UK, Europe, and the Middle East with sustainable interior design, furniture, and bespoke space solutions. Her time at John Lewis shaped her inclusive leadership through work with diversity and inclusion teams and developer partnerships. Today, she helps purpose-led brands and organisations strategise and deliver on their operational goals and strategic direction, from branding and pitch decks to thoughtful implementation across design execution and brand expressions.
Catrin Rees
Trustee
Catrin is a Civil Servant working for the UK Government. She currently heads up the Department for Business and Trade’s Wales team, where she leads on supporting Welsh businesses to grow internationally.
She brings extensive cross government experience, including senior roles in the Department for Transport, Cabinet Office and No.10 across wide-ranging domestic economic growth policy areas and major infrastructure programmes.
Previously she worked for a large UK ports company working on masterplanning and commercial research, and as a Parliamentary Researcher in the House of Commons.
Catrin is a fluent Welsh speaker, born and raised in Pembrokeshire.
Nirushan Sudarsan
Trustee
Nirushan Sudarsan is a Cardiff University Master’s Student in Politics and Public Policy. He works at OFGEM and runs two social enterprises, Ffair Jobs CIC and Grange Pavilion Youth Forum CIC.
Dan Tram
Trustee
Dan grew up in Cardiff and has worked for Arup, a global sustainable development consultancy, for six years. As a senior engineer in Arup’s Water team, he advocates and delivers sustainable solutions to the many challenges that we face, with a particular focus on using nature and sustainable water management to reshape our towns and cities. Dan is passionate about projects that benefit society, considering and maximising opportunities to address environmental and socio-economic issues.
In 2019 Dan was part of the cohort of Wales’ first Future Generations Leadership Academy run by the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales and was subsequently listed as a Future 100 Changemaker. Dan has built on his involvement in the academy to support the principles of the Well-being of Future Generations Act more generally through his projects, speaking at events and making connections at all levels.
Dan is a chartered engineer and member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).
Sera Turkoglu
Trustee
Sera is a sustainability leader with over 15 years of international experience across corporate and public sectors. She has developed and delivered sustainability strategies across climate action, circular economy, and social equity. Sera is particularly interested in regenerative approaches and long-term systems change, and brings a global perspective alongside a strong commitment to supporting a fair, low-carbon, and resilient future for Wales.
