Sonya Dougherty
ChairSonya joined the organisation during the pandemic in April 2021 during the virtual revolution. In Ocober 2021, Sonya was voted in as Vice Chair after the previous stepped down to take up the role of Chair. As an Organisational Design Consultant for Carmarthenshire County Council working with teams in departments across the Authority, she has valuable skills to share using an evidence-based approach for setting and monitoring priorities.
She is an experienced HR professional, advising individuals, managers, as well as disciplinary and grievance panels and is committed to the promotion of equality & diversity.
Sonya joined the organisation during the pandemic in April 2021 during the virtual revolution. In Ocober 2021, Sonya was voted in as Vice Chair after the previous stepped down to take up the role of Chair. As an Organisational Design Consultant for Carmarthenshire County Council working with teams in departments across the Authority, she has valuable skills to share using an evidence-based approach for setting and monitoring priorities.
She is an experienced HR professional, advising individuals, managers, as well as disciplinary and grievance panels and is committed to the promotion of equality & diversity.
Nita Sparkes
Vice Chair
The majority of Nita’s career has been in a customer-focused environment in both private and public service. She is currently working at Neath Port Talbot Council and has been since 2004. She started out implementing a new customer services project, which included opening several one-stop shops across the County Borough.
She then moved into a strategic role and her areas of responsibility included producing corporate plans, business planning framework, performance management framework, governance, risk management, and equalities. In 2020 Nita moved into Digital Services, a new role, and is now responsible for helping the Council deliver on its digital transformation agenda.
She has gained invaluable experience about the issues people in the local area are faced with and brings this insight to the Board.
Other areas of interest include: being a magistrate, volunteering with the new NPT Young Archaeologists’ Club, and playing in a local samba band (Bloco Vale Samba).
Chris Mann
Treasurer
Chris was elected to the Swansea Neath Port Talbot Trustee Board in October 2013. He became actively involved in recruitment panels and attending external networking meetings on behalf of the organisation including many health related meetings. In August 2015 when the existing post-holder stepped down Chris was appointed as Chair. Having reached the end of his tenure, Chris Stepped down from this role in 2021, but is still an active member of the trustee board.
Chris was a County Councillor from 1985 to 2004 and became Chair of Powys Social Services Committee and then councillor with the portfolio for social care and housing. From 2002 to 2011 he was Chair of Powys Local Health Board. He also became Chair of Powys Citizens Advice and left when he moved to Neath Port Talbot. He was initially involved with Brecon C.A.B. and became involved with Powys in 2004 and became Chair in 2011. While Chair he was involved in recruiting board members, staff and the Chief Executive. Chris has also been Vice Chair of the Institute of Public Health, a former trustee of the Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations and has also been a school and college governor
Chris has worked directly with the Minister for Health and Social Services and other officials of Welsh Government. Prior to 2002 he was a Probation Officer and got involved with the supervision of life sentence prisoners working directly with offenders and their families as well as liaising with police, statutory and voluntary agencies, reports to the Home Office etc.
Geoff Lee
Geoff hails from Hong Kong where he volunteered organising many events for his local church. A native Cantonese Chinese speaker, he is a graduate of MA in Translation and Interpreting and is fluent in English and advanced level Mandarin.
Geoff joined the Board in September 2020. He was a former Project Manager for the Chinese in Wales Association where he has developed many links with the BAME and Chinese Community. He now works for the local council in Neath Port Talbot
Gemma Monk
Gemma joined the board in March 2024. She currently works in the public sector for the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens Rights (IMA) as part of the Data and Insights team. She is an experienced people manager, leading operational teams and driving continuous improvement. Previously she held customer focused leadership roles at Virgin Atlantic and volunteered as a Special Constable for a number of years.
Steve Jenkins
Steve joined the Board as a Trustee in May 2024. He retired back ‘home’ to Swansea in 2021, following a career in Financial Services working at various locations across the UK. Most recently Steve spent 15 years as part of the leadership team of a major Professional Standards Body in London where he was the Director responsible for corporate relationships, in the UK and overseas.
He is experienced in business planning, managing partnerships and people management. Steve volunteers locally and this has given him an insight into some of the social challenges that many local people face. He also spends time keeping fit. travelling and enjoying the Gower.
Victoria Holland
Vicky joined the board as trustee in May 2024. She is currently working as head of office for Rebecca Evans MS for Gower. Vicky is also a County Councillor with Swansea City Council. She has experience in people management, support and advocacy.
