I am originally from North Wales but have lived and worked across the
UK; I now live back in North Wales. My academic background is as an
historian, and I am particularly interested in the modern period, especially
the history of colonialism and how it impacts on our world today. I work
professionally as a heritage consultant, a career which grew from nearly
twenty years of working for the National Trust, Britain’s largest
conservation charity. There, I was responsible for bringing new audiences
to National Trust sites across North Wales. I achieved this by
reinterpreting their stories and finding pioneering ways of encouraging
people to learn about them.
This experience has led me to be passionate about engaging people with
history – all aspects of it, the good and the bad. Now, as a skilled heritage
consultant, I specialise in developing innovative ways of sharing the past
with diverse communities. Through my work I challenge how people view
the past, and I encourage everyone to question what they see – no matter
what their cultural heritage is. Integrity and honesty are crucial in all I do.
My doctorate, gained at Bangor University, explores the challenges faced
by heritage organisations in acknowledging how their assets and artefacts
are connected to colonial atrocity. I publish in peer-reviewed journals,
speak at conferences across the UK and abroad, and teach courses on
history and heritage. As an educator, I teach on general history, Welsh
history, the Atlantic slave trade, and diversity in Wales, and have taught at
Bangor University, Plas Tan y Bwlch Study Centre, and at other sites
across the country. I am an historian on the Colonial Countryside project,
a child-led initiative run jointly by the National Trust and Leicester
University, which challenges traditional narratives at heritage sites.
I work with heritage organisations, large and small, across the UK, to help
them build, fund, develop and deliver heritage projects. My expertise
includes strategic planning, fundraising, stakeholder analysis, community
consultation, staff training, volunteer management and community
consultation. I am currently writing a book on the slave plantations of the
Pennant family in Jamaica.
I am delighted that my work with Race Council Cymru enables me to bring
both my academic and heritage backgrounds together.