Having previously worked for the Welsh Language Board and the Arts Council of Wales, in 2000 Efa joined Urdd Gobaith Cymru, the largest youth movement in Wales, as their Director of Development. She was responsible for fundraising from various sources and for policy development.

In 2004, she was appointed Chief Executive of the organisation. The number of staff employed, and the Urdd’s turnover, doubled during her period in the post.

In 2016, Efa was appointed Chief Executive of the National Centre for Learning Welsh, the body funded by the Welsh Government to provide a strategic  leadership for the field of Welsh for Adults in Wales. The Centre has developed a new curriculum and resources and has set up several innovative projects, including the ‘Work Welsh’ Scheme.

In the past, Efa has been Vice-Chair of CWVYS, a trustee of the WCVA, and a member of the Welsh Language Partnership Council. Currently, Efa is a member of the Interim Youth Work Board, Wales.

Read about Efa’s appointment as Chair here.

Catrin was born in London and brought up in Cardiff.  After graduating from Aberystwyth University, she was a teacher at Ysgol Glantaf, Cardiff for 4 years where she established the Drama department.

For many years, Catrin was a familiar face on S4C presenting popular programmes such as Hel Straeon, Sioe Gelf and Croma. She is currently working as a self-employed translator, author and broadcaster.

She has an active interest in the arts and can be seen and heard often reviewing and discussing various issues on radio and television.

Arwel was brought up in Llanfairpwll, Anglesey, and studied Law at Aberystwyth University and Chester. He is currently Senior Manager at Bond Pearce LLP in Bristol, a company specialising in commercial property.

In his spare time, he helps his partner to run two businesses in Bristol – a shop selling organic food, and a card and gift shop.

Originally from Bala, Carys is the head of Drama at Ysgol Maes yr Yrfa, Cefneithin. Previously she was Head of Drama at Ystalyfera and Ysgol Gyfun Gŵyr before being appointed senior lecturer at Trinity College, Carmarthen.

Carys is the Director of Menter Cwm Gwendraeth’s Youth Theatre since its inception in 1995, and continues to direct various productions with children between 7 and 18 years old.

She was also the Director of the Urdd Youth Theatre that produced Les Miserables at the Wales Millennium Centre in 2005 and Ffawd in 2009. Carys is also the Chair of the Urdd and National Eisteddfod Drama Panel and an examiner for the WJEC.

She was honoured by the Gorsedd of Bards at the Bala National Eisteddfod for her work in training children and young people in the field of Drama.

Gwenda was our leading independent television producers since establishing her company Fflic in 1982, until she left the industry at the end of 2014. She has been managing businesses throughout her career, and Fflic has inspired, developed, mentored and supported a number of individuals who went on to have successful careers in the media on the basis of the experience they gained under Gwenda’s guidance. She is a member of the Council of the Gorsedd of Bards, a member of the Board of Nant Gwrtheyrn, and an Honorary Member of the Royal Society of Architects in Wales. In 2002 she was presented with the Women in Media Award. Gwenda was raised in Corwen, and educated at Bala Grammar School for Girls before graduating from the University of Wales Aberystwyth. She currently lives in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Originally from Tanygrisiau near Blaenau Ffestiniog, North Wales and a graduate of Bangor University (BA Hons, Welsh). Further studies include post-graduate diploma in performance from the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, London. Professional experience includes 20 years as actor in theatre, television, film and radio, and Literary Manager at former new writing theatre company, Sgript Cymru, Cardiff.  Then ten years as a director of first film and then theatre, including Associate Director at Sherman Cymru, Cardiff (2008–2011). His current position (since May 2011) is Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru (the Welsh-language national theatre of Wales). Arwel became a member of the Board in 2016.

Originally from Bala, Elwyn contributed to the local drama scene before studying Drama at Trinity College, Carmarthen. Later, he settled in Aberystwyth where he worked for Urdd Gobaith Cymru as the Eisteddfod organiser before joining the public relations company, Stratamatrix; he was with the company for 14 years and was promoted to Director. Elwyn joined the Welsh Books Council Marketing Department in 1997, and following a period as the Head of Administration and Public Relations, he was Chief Executive of the organisation from 2009 to 2017.

Gwyn was brought up on a farm in Tregaron, Ceredigion. Educated at Ysgol Gynradd Penuwch and Ysgol Uwchradd Tregaron, he graduated with a BSc in Mathematics and Computer Studies at the University of Wales, Cardiff.

He started working with Dyfed County Council in 1976 as a Trainee Accountant. In 1979 he was appointed Internal Auditor with Ceredigion District Council in Aberystwyth, and in 1996 he was promoted to the post of Chief Internal Auditor.

When Local Government was restructured in 1996, he was appointed Chief Internal Auditor to Ceredigion County Council, and promoted to the post of Ceredigion Director of Finance in 2002. In 2013, as part of the County Council’s internal restructuring, he was appointed Strategic Director – Corporate Resources, a post he held until his retirement in 2015. Between 2001 and 2015 he was also Honorary Treasurer to the Welsh Books Council.

In the past, his main interests were playing rugby and an occasional round of golf, but nowadays he enjoys playing bowls in Aberaeron, cycling, walking, and enjoying the company of his grandchildren.

Catherine Rees is Senior Manager for Corporate Affairs and Human Resources with Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol. Her fields of expertise are Human Resources and Governance, and in 2017 she won the Wales Human Resources Award for the best use of the Welsh language in the field of Human Resources.

Catherine was brought up in Pwll, a village near Llanelli, and graduated in Welsh from Bangor University. Following periods working as a Careers Officer in Newport, and as a producer of radio programmes with BBC Radio Cymru in Swansea, Catherine and her family emigrated to live in the Netherlands, and later the USA. Having returned to Wales, she started working for Menter a Busnes, the economic development company, as a researcher, project manager, director, and eventually as Deputy Chief Executive, focusing in particular on Human Resources and project management. She has worked with several companies and organisations to help them in developing their business and was a member of the Welsh Language Board until 2012. She now lives in Carmarthen, but retains a foothold in Llanelli.

Gwyn Williams is S4C’s Director of Communications. After working at Nant Gwrtheyrn Language Centre for a year, Gwyn started his career in the media by working for BBC Radio Cymru in Bangor. Later, he worked on the programmes Newyddion 7 and Hel Straeon before starting his own company. He was one of the founder members of Cwmni Da, and later the chief executive of Barcud, the resources company based at Caernarfon.  He has been a Communications Director with the Welsh Language Commissioner, and joined S4C as Communications Director in 2015.

Meilir Rhys Williams is an actor from Llanuwchllyn. He was educated at Ysgol Gynradd O. M. Edwards, Llanuwchllyn, and Ysgol Uwchradd y Berwyn, Y Bala. He decided to follow a career as an actor after attending a summer course arranged by National Youth Theatre Wales in 2006. He studied for a diploma in Performance Studies at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in 2007, before graduating from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2010 with a BA in Acting.

Since graduating, Meilir has performed with several theatre companies in Wales and beyond, including with Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru in ‘Y Storm’ and ‘Deffro’r Gwanwyn’. He has also appeared on television in various programmes, and he can now be seen regularly in the popular television series ‘Rownd a Rownd’, playing the part of Rhys.