Wales committee

Committee Chair

Dr Lowthe-Thomas works for the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority as Director Nature Recovery and Climate Change at the Brecon Beacons National Park. Before that she was CEO of Severn-Wye Energy Agency – a sustainable energy charity working in Wales and the border counties. She previously held multiple roles in that organisation, including Director for Wales and Head of Community Energy. She is also Vice-President for Energy Efficiency and Fuel Poverty at Federene (European Federation of Energy Agencies). She gained her PhD at Cardiff University, studying Energy Crops and Biomass.

Dr Lowthe-Thomas was a founding board member at Community Energy Wales and spent ten years at Cardiff University as a Research associate.

Callum is the Engagement & Volunteer Coordinator at Amgueddfa Cymru and sits on the Board of Directors of Mess Up The Mess Theatre Company Ltd. He is also a freelance filmmaker and facilitator.

Callum has experience representing young people’s voices in his roles on the Youth Advisory Board of the Youth Endowment Fund, as a youth support worker at YMCA Swansea’s youth groups, and facilitating a consultation workshop with the young people of the GoodVibes LGBTQ+ Youth Group.

He joins our Wales Committee as part of our Youth Voice programme, a commitment to ensuring that young people’s voices are included in all our work.

Gwenllian is Chief Executive of Mudiad Meithrin, a voluntary organisation and the main provider and enabler of Welsh-medium early years care and education in the voluntary sector with over 1000 settings all over Wales. Gwenllian is a Trustee with the National Library of Wales and volunteers at her local Cylch Meithrin on the committee.

Originally from Bangor, she now lives with her husband and four children in Llanerfyl, Powys. She studied French and Spanish at Oxford University before completing a MScEcon and PhD in Political Theory at Cardiff University where she also taught as a politics tutor.

Gwenllian was elected to represent Riverside at Cardiff County Council in 2004 and was appointed as Plaid Cymru’s Chief Executive in 2007. She also worked as a Publications Officer for the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol at Aberystwyth University where she was also responsible for its research journal, ‘Gwerddon’.

Fadhili is the Director of Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel (SSAP) a network of African communities in Wales working in international development and across Wales. At SSAP, he manages a team working on local and international projects (mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa).

Fadhili is also the Founder and Director of Watch-Africa Cymru: Wales’ African Film Festival. Having started the festival in 2013, it has grown to become one of the leading festival in Wales focusing on African cinema. Other than running SSAP and Watch-Africa Cymru, Fadhili is an Arts Associate for Arts Council Wales and RSA Fellow. A keen runner, footballer and enjoys a healthy debate.

Mutale Merrill has over 35 years of experience in the voluntary sector. In 1995, she founded and became CEO of Bawso, an organisation dedicated to advocating and delivering specialist services to ethnically minoritised victims of abuse, violence and exploitation in Wales.

Throughout her career, Mutale has held numerous directorial and board positions, including a Non-Executive Director of the Welsh Government Board, a founder and co-chair of the Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel (SSAP), and a founder of Women Connect First.

Trystan Pritchard is Chief Executive of St Davids Hospice in Llandudno, North Wales. The hospice delivers end of life care in the counties of Conwy, Gwynedd and Anglesey.

Previously, Trystan spent several years as Head of Communications for a major Health Board. He was later appointed to a senior role in local government in developing strategic partnership programmes across health and social care, children and young people and community safety.

Trystan is currently a Board Member of Social Care Wales, Mantell Gwynedd County Voluntary Council and is a former Chairman of the Citizens Advice Wales committee.

Away from work, Trystan enjoys spending time with his family, Welsh rugby and mountaineering.

Dr Victoria Winckler has been the Director of the Bevan Foundation since 2002. For the last 40 years she has worked at a senior level in the third sector, local government, and higher education, giving her a deep understanding of Wales’ political, social and cultural context.

Victoria is firmly committed to the voluntary and community sector, having worked in it for over 20 years and has served on many charity and non-profit boards. She regularly speaks at conferences and seminars, frequently gives oral evidence to Senedd Committees, delivers webinars and training, and contributes to radio and television.

Kate Young is the Director of the All Wales Forum of Parents and Carers, which is the national network for family carers of people with learning disabilities, engaging with over 4,000 families across Wales.

She holds the Vice Chair for Wales Carers Alliance, is the Health and Social Care representative for the Third Sector in Wales on the Partnership Council and sits on various Ministerial Advisory Groups and policy forums covering topics such as direct payments, Regional Partnership Boards, Advocacy, Inspection of Services and most recently the Covid Vaccine Stakeholder Board for Wales. Kate was also Chair of Vale People First for 10 years and Wales Trustee for the Family Fund UK for five years.

Kate has a sound understanding of the devolved administration in Wales and the cultural, social, and economic opportunities and challenges it offers to communities. She has a strong commitment to communities being at the heart of change, believing that our unique and diverse nature as a nation, when brought together, is a real force for change, innovation and inclusion.

She is a passionate advocate of rights and personal choice, with a particular interest in disability, carers and equality. As a sibling carer to her brother who lives with severe learning disabilities and autism, she has a personal understanding and lived experience of the social model of disability and of the inequality issues within society in Wales.