Three new members join the Community Foundation Wales board of trustees

Community Foundation Wales have welcomed three new trustees on to their board.

Ian Thomas is from Ammanford and graduated from Cardiff University with a degree in Microbiology. After a few years in research, he entered the medical device industry where he spent the next 34 years, living and working in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and the UAE.

He stepped down from his full-time career in 2018 and since then has held a number of board positions, including Dauntsey’s School in Wiltshire and the Wiltshire Community Foundation before joining the Community Foundation Wales board in June 2022.

Gaenor Howells is from Ponterwyd in Ceredigion but has lived in London for forty years. She was a Board member of Wales in London and, for many years, organised the annual ‘St David’s Day in London Celebration’ at Guildhall. She worked with Community Foundation Wales to establish the Wales in London Philanthropic Fund.

Gaenor was a well-known news broadcaster whose voice was heard by millions around the world. For twenty five years, she presented the BBC World Service’s flagship World Briefing programme and its main news bulletins daily.

Since leaving the BBC, Gaenor runs a communications company offering her clients public relations advice as well as media and presentation training based on her extensive career portfolio in radio and television.

Ruth James is from Denbighshire and started her career in Audit & Assurance with Deloitte in 2005. Shortly after completing her chartership in 2008, Ruth joined Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK as an executive member of the board serving in this role for 12 years. Alongside her role on the board, Ruth has hands on experience across a number of group operations including Business Strategy, Finance, Health & Safety, Quality, HR, Payroll and Marketing & Communications.

Ruth is a chartered member of the ICAEW and has extensive experience of stakeholder management, business strategy, group operations management, project delivery and change management.

Alun Evans, Chair of Community Foundation Wales, said

“We are pleased to welcome new trustees to the Community Foundation Wales board.

They each represent different areas of Wales and bring with them wide ranging experience from diverse sectors. Their collective skills will be of great support to our work in inspiring people to give, helping Welsh communities to thrive and changing lives together.’’