Directors' profiles

Who are the current directors?

Jen Bird was an interpreter for 16 years and comes from a Deaf family. Three years ago, she completed a highly competitive Google scholarship leading to a qualification in Front End Web Development. She has worked on many business websites including for e-commerce and has experience of working in teams of Developers. She was previously part of a tech start-up trying to create a booking platform for interpreters and has learnt from that experience. She was the first Chair of NUBSLI and her speciality was looking over government contracts and taking part in consultations. As part of her Voluntary Service Overseas placement, she gained $10m in funding from the Indian Government which was used to set up the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre.

Wes Mehaffy has a Masters in Web Design & Content Planning and seven years of experience in developing business websites and platforms. He has a thorough understanding of how to take web projects from start through to completion. He has led the planning for the initial phase of the platform and the user experience work. He has been an interpreter for over 16 years.

Katie Mowat has been Deaf since birth and involved in the Deaf Community for a long time. She presently works in the field of Mental Health with Deaf people and has done so for over 20 years. She has great understanding and insight about Deaf people, accessibility and communication within the public sector, and has been involved with different organisations regarding the matter (including the Scottish Government).

Samantha Riddle is a Registered Sign Language Interpreter who moved to the North West 4 years ago. She has a strong passion for activism and social justice. She graduated from the European Master's of Sign Language Interpreting in 2019 after she wrote her thesis on Industrial Relations and Deaf Communities where she concluded that Sign Language Interpreting co-ops were a viable mechanism to challenge the negative impact that huge spoken language agencies are having on our profession and the people we work with.

Mariella Reina qualified as an interpreter in 2008. After 4 years working in house for RAD she became freelance in 2012. She has always been passionate about supporting the interpreting profession to provide high standards of service for the deaf community. This has led her to take voluntary roles in ASLI and the inaugural NUBSLI committee. Mariella also trained to become a professional supervisor and has been supervising interpreters supporting their growth, development, and resilience for the past 5 years. Signalise really excites her as a truly progressive step towards achieving more equity for deaf people and she is keen to offer her experience to the board.

Dan Birtles has previous experience as the Head of IT at Co-operatives UK and distinctly remember the launch of Signalise. In his current role, he serves as the Director of Digital and IT for Career Connect, a charity headquartered in Liverpool. He's an experienced senior leader with the ability to implement IT solutions and ensure IT Infrastructure is secure, reliable, fit for purpose and evolves with an organisation’s needs. Dan enjoys working with peers to identify and advise on new cutting-edge solutions that can improve productivity. Ensuring all relevant risks around information infrastructure are documented and managed appropriately.

Andy Smith (co-opted) has skills in finance to support scrutiny of the co-op’s finances. He runs an accountancy business, especially for interpreters. He is also married to a sign language interpreter and lives in Cheshire.

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