100 people making a difference for future generations in Wales

Wales is the only country in the world with a law to protect future generations – it was even lauded by the United Nations as a global leader paving the way for a better future. 

The Well-being of Future Generations Act requires public bodies in Wales to consider the long-term impact of decisions. They are obligated to work with communities and each other to prevent persistent problems such as poverty, health inequalities and climate change.

It comes as The Big Issue’s #BigFutures campaign calls for the UK government to invest in decent and affordable housing, end the low wage economy and create millions of green jobs. After over a decade of austerity and cuts to public services, this campaign is calling for urgent action which will protect people in the long-term. 

Wales’ first Future Generations Commissioner, Sophie Howe, is coming to the end of her seven years in the role. She has marked it by naming 100 people who are making a difference and changing Wales for the better.

Howe said: “I look back at the last seven years with great pride and am often humbled by what Wales has managed to achieve in this time. There is so much more to do but we have gathered enough momentum to make sure the benefits of the Act continue to grow.

“But the change we have seen over my term as the commissioner would be nothing without the thousands of inspirational people I have met across Wales. It is these people who have made the Well-being of Future Generations Act much more than a piece of legislation. The lessons of the act have continued the movement for change, a new way of thinking that now runs through our DNA in Wales.”

These 100 people include climate activists, public sector workers, influencers, Hollywood actor Michael Sheen, Welsh school children – and The Big Issue’s very own Beth Thomas. 

• ‘Poverty kills’: Sophie Howe on fronting the fight for future generations
• Big Issue Group launches campaign demanding long-term solutions to protect future generations and break the cycle of poverty

Thomas, the head of programme operations, has been instrumental in setting up cashless payments for vendors and has worked intensively to help them and others to secure a better future. 

“The number and variety of ways this Act has become reality is breath-taking. Its well-being goals are being achieved every day by a wide range of organisations, communities and individuals across the whole country,” Howe added. 

“And this list is just a snapshot, it’s designed to grow. It is my parting gift to every Future Generations Commissioner that comes after me – an ever-growing network of Changemakers. This role has been an absolute pleasure and honour and I want to thank everyone acting today for a better tomorrow for your incredible effort.”

Below is the full list of Wales’ 100 Future Generations changemakers, as compiled by Howe. We have edited down the list of their extensive achievements as there is just too much to include in one article, but the full details can be found by getting in touch with the Future Generations Commission. 

Here’s what they said…

Beth Thomas

Head of Programme Operations, The Big Issue Group

Thomas is a champion for social justice working with marginalised people across the UK and is a member of the Wales Committee at the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. Amongst other things, Beth was instrumental in setting up cashless payments for the Big Issue vendors and has worked intensively to help them and others to secure a better future. She is also a trustee for Street Football Wales and a proud member of the Women’s Equality Network.

Ali Abdi

Community Gateway Partnership Manager, Citizens Cymru Wales and Cardiff University Community Gateway

Abdi empowers local people to become active citizens and leaders. He leads on the partnership development between Cardiff University’s Civic Mission Programme and the local community. Volunteering with Race Council Cymru’s National Ethnic Minority Youth Forum, he brings together large groups of Black, Asian and minority ethnic young people to engage with political leaders and the Welsh government.

Zoey Allen

Activist and Influencer

Allen is a “trans woman on a mission to educate”. She works hard to increase the visibility of trans and queer people – including equal and better health care, equal access to facilities, and “to be treated like a human being while we’re out and about”.

David Anderson

Director General, Amgueddfa Cymru

Anderson is dedicated to ensuring that cultural wellbeing is at the heart of policymaking. He has spearheaded many pioneering projects involving young people and community. His leadership has ensured the Amgueddfa continues to evolve and respond to current and future challenges, providing space for dialogue, challenge and inspiration.

Zoe Antrobus and Dawn Lyle

Founders, 4theRegion

Antrobus and Lyle are co-founders of 4theRegion, a diverse network making good things happen for south-west Wales. They connect people, run events, facilitate conversations and lead projects in sustainable food, transport, circular economy, travel and tourism. 

Rae Baker and Fen Turner

Senior People and Places Officers, Natural Resources Wales

Baker and Turner have been working in partnership with public sector organisations to bring the Future Generations Act to life from an environmental perspective. They are central to Natural Resources Wales’ role as a partner on Public Services Boards, supporting them in strengthening understanding of the Environment (Wales) Act and its relationship to the Act and the opportunities it presents for the people of Gwent and Wales.

Frances Beecher

Chief Executive, Llamau

Beecher is the chief executive of Llamau – Wales’ leading young people and women’s homeless charity. Llamau works across Wales with over 10,000 disenfranchised and vulnerable young people and women a year. She’s supported some of the most vulnerable people and worked tirelessly on issues including domestic abuse and homelessness. 

Chris Blake

Founding Director of Green Valleys (Wales) and catalyst for Project Skyline

Blake champions community land ownership and renewable energy projects. He works in partnership with the community to refine a concept that connects local people to their landscape by providing jobs, training and health benefits. 

Noreen Blanluet

Co-Founder, Co-production Network for Wales

Blanluet is the co-founder of Network for Wales – an independent, not-for-profit organisation working to transform public services through co-production and citizen involvement. She has led the development of the network as an important place for practitioners to learn and share.

Sarah Bowles and Hywel Wolf

South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC)

Bowles and Wolf are key drivers in the South Wales Industrial Cluster. This is a Decarbonisation Challenge deployment project with a range of partner organisations from the industrial, energy, law, public utilities and academic sectors, working across south Wales to reduce emissions without sacrificing the jobs which are so important to the area. 

Sian Brierley

Activity Co-ordinator, National Exercise Referral Scheme, Wrexham County Borough Council and Public Health Wales

Brierley is part of the All-Wales Exercise Referral Scheme, the only national exercise programme in the UK. She provides behaviour change techniques and activities to support referred clients to make lifestyle changes to improve their health and wellbeing. 

Shea Buckland-Jones and Jess McQuade

Food, Land Use and Nature Policy Manager and Head of Policy and Advocacy, WWF Cymru

Buckland-Jones has held two important roles – firstly at the Institute of Welsh Affairs leading on the ‘Re-energising’ Wales project and more recently as Food, Land Use and Nature Policy Manager at WWF Cymru. And McQuade is Head of Policy and Advocacy at WWF Cymru. Away from the office, she has dedicated her time to community level projects.

James Byrne and Rachel Sharp

Director and Landscape Recovery and Programmes Manager, Wildlife Trusts Wales

Byrne is an “Irishman adopted by Wales”, known for his commitment to protecting and restoring nature in Wales. Both have been early champions of showing how nature can deliver against many of Wales’ wellbeing goals. Sharp has been the director of the Wildlife Trusts Wales since 2011 – she has tirelessly campaigned to invoke action to address the nature crisis in Wales. 

Paul Matthews and Hazel Clatworthy

Chief Executive and Sustainability Policy Officer, Monmouthshire County Council

Matthews, an inspirational and progressive chief executive, is pivotal in numerous sustainable development networks. Clatworthy drives environmental wellbeing projects in her sustainability policy role and with the Sustainable Development Coordinators Cymru +. Monmouthshire.

Mark Cadwallader

Director for Strategy and Development, University of South Wales

As director for strategy and development at University of South Wales, Cadwallader has always explored new ways to innovate and to build partnerships. He was one of the first people to believe in the vision of the Future Generations Leadership Academy. He continues to champion sustainable development within the higher education sector and beyond.

Andrew Charles, Stuart Ingram, Andy Rees and David Warren

Welsh Government

Andrew Charles worked on the development of the Well-being of Future Generations legislation from the start and is now central to embedding and driving it through Government strategy and policy. Ingram has been key in the recast of Planning Policy Wales, helping to ensure that the way we plan our places in Wales is fit for future generations. Rees leads the waste strategy team and “for a long-time has been living and breathing the Act”.  Warren is a key driver in building strong international relations, and in particular identifying new partnerships and opportunities for a globally responsible Wales.

Criccieth Town Council

Criccieth is a small, Victorian seaside town. The town council has been responsible for many activities to improve the area and increase footfall. It developed an ambitious community plan, which included cultural activity, place-making and wellbeing. 

The Cwmni Bro Ffestiniog Team

The team at Cwmni Bro Ffestiniog are responsible for facilitating cooperation between community businesses and enterprises that employ some 150 people locally. They offer permanent employment and provide career opportunities for professional workers who wish to stay in their community, where there is a tradition of environmental, economic, social,

cultural and community enterprise.

Amanda Davies

Service Improvement Manager, Swansea Bay University Health Board

David developed the Bed Poverty Relief Scheme at Swansea Bay University Health Board, a highly innovative initiative that has improved the lives of many. The project has supplied thousands of surplus emergency beds to people experiencing poverty. Beds were also donated to a children’s hospital and refugee camps in Moldova for Ukrainian people fleeing the war. In 2022, she established the largest community-supported agricultural farm on health board premises in the UK. It will deliver affordable organic vegetables for up to 200 households per week, with surplus going to local food banks. 

Kelly Davies and Mandy Powell

Founders, The Good Wash Company

Davies and Powell set up the Good Wash Company, a certified social enterprise that consistently strives to make a difference. They are helping to change the world “one wash at a time”. All sales and fundraising profits from their soaps and other bathing products go to good causes, and social impact is at the heart of everything they do.

Meleri Davies and the Partneriaeth Ogwen Team

Chief Officer, Partneriaeth Ogwen

Davies and team develop community, economic and environmental regeneration projects that promote a healthy, vibrant and sustainable community. 

Councillors Dan De’Ath and Caro Wild

Cabinet Leads, Cardiff Council

Wild has led the council to some brave decisions and ambitious commitments to sustainable travel. De’Ath, as Cabinet Member for Transport and Strategic Planning has continued Caro’s pioneering work and also championed engaging more people with democracy. 

Sarah Dickens

Economics Correspondent, BBC Wales

Dickens has been reporting on the economy in the context of the climate emergency and has been part of the BBC Wales’ cost of living team.

The team at Down to Earth

Down to Earth have pioneered building sustainably whilst up-skilling young and vulnerable people. A great example of collaboration, they are working with health boards and others to upscale their approach. 

Dr Tom Downs, Dr Stacey Harris and Dr Yasmina Hamdaoui

Junior Doctor, Paediatrician, and Pharmacist, Ysbyty Gwynedd Green Health Alliance

Downs, Harris and Hamdaoui led a multi-disciplinary team from Ysbyty Gwynedd to form a Green Group, seeking to relocate their oath to ‘do no harm’ within the context of planetary health. They have challenged the healthcare system to reduce its waste and emissions, bringing more than 80 others on board to save the planet as well as patients. 

Jessica Dunrod 

Author, Director, Decolonisation Specialist

Jessica, Wales’ first Black children’s author, is challenging the literary system to ensure Black authors are supported and that children can access a range of books representing the rich cultural heritage of people of colour in Wales.

Suzanne Duval

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Mental Health and Dementia Manager, Diverse Cymru

Duval is hugely committed to supporting Black, Asian and minority ethnic people facing inequality and discrimination due to age, gender, and disability. She works with Welsh Government and public services and helped shape the Welsh Government’s Anti-racist Action Plan by highlighting the importance of understanding mental health to avoid discriminatory practices.

Taylor Edmonds

Poet

Edmonds, from Barry, has used poetry to humanise topics of climate change in her role as the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales’ Poet in Residence 2021-2022. She worked with communities across Wales to ensure the rallying cry to protect future generations continues to be heard loudly.

Samantha Egelstaff

Co-founder, Llanrwst Flood Action Group

Egelstaff, a teacher and campaigner, co-founded Llanrwst Flood Action Group in the wake of Storm Ciara in 2020. During this major flooding event she coordinated community members into teams, including volunteer flood wardens, sandbag provision, community clean-up, donation distribution, warm space and hot food provision and advised on temporary accommodation and repair. 

Peter Evans and the staff and pupils at Ysgol Bro Banw, Rhydaman

Led by Headteacher Peter Evans, Ysgol Bro Banw is tackling food poverty by joining the ‘Big Bocs Bwyd’ scheme which helps the children become food literate by growing, cooking and learning about food. 

Ruth Fabby MBE

Fabby works so everyone can participate in the arts in Wales and that disabled and deaf people are pivotal to the creative industries. For three years, Ruth worked as Artistic Director at Disability Arts Cymru and championed the importance of disabled people’s rights.

Graeme Farrow and the WMC Team

Artistic Director, Wales Millennium Centre

Farrow has been a long term champion for the role that arts and culture can play in wider well-being, leading the Wales Millennium Centre to focus their work on supporting and developing young people. 

Catherine Fookes

Director, WEN Wales

Fookes is the director of the Women’s Equality Network (WEN), a county councillor for Monmouthshire and cabinet member for Equalities and Engagement. She has launched a mentoring scheme supporting women to move into leadership positions and prior to that, she was a campaigner on the environment at Sustain, the Alliance for Better Food and Farming and Action Aid.

Professor Debbie Foster

Professor of Employment Relations and Diversity, Cardiff Buisiness School, Cardiff University

Foster is the author of the Locked-Out report and the co-chair of the Disability Rights Taskforce A disabled person herself, she has been instrumental in implementing the work of the taskforce and in its success.

Emyr George and Qualified for the Future Team

Director of Qualifications Policy and Reform, Qualifications Wales

Emyr and the team behind Qualified for the Future have pushed to reform GCSEs and qualifications in line with our changing economy and the new curriculum. The Act has been applied every step of the way, ensuring an outcome that is fit for future generations.

Helen Goddard

Section Head of Culture, Libraries and Information, Conwy County Borough Council

Goddard is dedicated to ensuring cultural well-being is reflected in the Conwy County Borough Council’s approach and decisions. She has demonstrated the importance of celebrating heritage and culture when putting in place measures to reduce regional inequalities, including isolation and deprivation.

Dafydd Gruffydd

Managing Director, Menter Môn

Gruffydd has worked for Mentor Môn for 25 years, which first started life as a European-funded rural development agency taking an integrated and cross-sector approach, long before the Well-being of Future Generations Act was introduced. Dafydd has driven projects focusing on culture and language, farming, supporting the vulnerable, and more recently has been part of the team that has developed the ‘Morlais’, tidal energy project located off the coast of Holyhead. 

Julie-Ann Haines

Chief Executive Officer, Principality Building Society

The first female to lead Wales’ Principality Building Society as CEO, Haines has committed the principality to delivering net zero and to be a forerunner in the private sector in reporting against the Welsh well-being goals.

Becky Harford, Jane Booty and Ella Smillie

Co-founders and Directors, Benthyg Cymru

Harford, Booty and Smillie are co-founders and directors of Benthyg Cymru – Wales’ fast growing library of things, bringing people together to share and borrow household items, saving waste and reducing carbon emissions. 

Natalie Hodgkinson

Founder, Boss and Brew Academy

Hodgkinson, a former maths tutor, is using coffee to tackle unemployment in Cardiff. Boss & Brew Academy was founded in lockdown in 2021 and has since offered free barista training and employability programmes to young people primarily in Butetown and Grangetown where she grew up, to help them gain skills and confidence to create pathways to success. 

Helen Howson

Director, Bevan Commission

Director of the Bevan Commission, Howson has been a tireless advocate and practical implementer of reform in health and care policy and practice in Wales. Helen initiated and led the Bevan Innovators through the Commission which has established hundreds of innovators working across the healthcare system.

Christine Hughes

Centre Manager, Felin Fach Pwllheli Community Hub

Hughes has dedicated 30 years to Canolfan Felin Fach, I-CAN community hub, a place which aims to provide a safe haven in Pwllheli for the most vulnerable members of the community. 

Bill Hunt

Vice Chair of the Cartrefi Conwy Board and Chair of the Tenant Services Board, Cartrefi Conwy

A resident of Rhos-on-Sea, Hunt is Vice Chair of Cartrefi Conwy’s Tenant Services Board and future generations champion. He has been a tenant voice on a number of the association’s regeneration projects, which embody our well-being goals.

Hanan Issa

Poet and Writer, Cardiff

The Welsh-Iraqi writer is the current National Poet of Wales and Hay Festival’s International Fellow. In an essay, Have You Heard About the Niqabi on a Bus?, for Welsh Plural, an anthology on the future of Wales, Hanan explores Welshness and ends describing the honouring of trees in Islam.

Mrs James and the staff and pupils at Radnor Primary School, Cardiff

Led by Headteacher Mrs James and class teachers Kane Morgan and Eoghan Walsh, pupils, teachers and parents have committed to regular active travel to school to benefit future generations of schoolchildren. By promoting walking, cycling and scooting in the surrounding streets, the school is helping reduce congestion and pollution in the local area.

Dr Salamatu Jidda-Fada

Founder and Director, North Wales Africa Society

Based in Bangor, Jidda-Fada works as a conservation consultant in promoting a greener Wales and is active in promoting environmental awareness amongst ethnic minority communities and the wider Welsh society. She founded the North Wales Africa Society to support Africans living in North Wales to access services for housing, transport, healthcare, education for ethnic minority children, students and professionals. 

Professor Calvin Jones

Professor of Economics, Cardiff University

Professor Calvin Jones is a talented economist who is not afraid to challenge the economic status quo. He has been instrumental in establishing Cardiff University Business School as the UK’s first Social Value Business School.

Simone Joslyn

Head of Arts, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and the Cardiff and Vale Health Charity

Joslyn is head of arts for the Health and Well-being programme at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board with the support of the Cardiff and Vale Charity. Her team has created places holistically with well-being in mind. She works with many groups including Wales Probation Services to provide young offenders with placements in nature to learn new skills and provide social value.

Dan Langford OBE

Founder and Chair, Wales Week London and Wales Week Worldwide

Langford is a future generations advocate in the business community in Wales and internationally. Focused on promoting Wales in the UK through Wales Week in London and globally via the wider Wales Week Programme and engaging with Welsh diaspora, he has provided a platform to promote the Act and develop international interest and enthusiasm.

Michelle Lesch

Company Secretary, Ogi

Based in Cardiff, Lesch is company secretary at one of Wales’ fastest growing companies, which is on a mission to transform South Wales with large-scale full-fibre broadband connectivity. 

Marten Lewis

Head of Corporate Responsibility, Bluestone National Park Resort

With over 15 years’ third sector experience in Pembrokeshire, Marten has led the development of Bluestone’s sustainability agenda since 2019. He has earned numerous awards and recognition in Pembrokeshire and beyond. 

Phil Lewis

Programme Lead, Valleys Regional Park (hosted by Bridgend Council)

Lewis’ energy and drive were instrumental in helping set up the Valleys Regional Park in South Wales. The park champions the iconic landscape and people of the South Wales Valleys and works with partners to maximise the environment, social and economic benefits for local communities and future generations.

Dr David Llewellyn

Integrated Wellbeing Networks Lead, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board

The Valleys Regional Park involves over 40 partners, driving and promoting activities related to the environment, tourism and heritage across the South Wales Valleys. Llewellyn has led and championed this vision through a number of roles, including currently at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. 

Ena Lloyd

Ex Audit Wales

Lloyd led work at the Audit Wales Good Practice Exchange (GPX) when the Act was being imagined and during its early days of implementation. Continually striving to challenge the status quo within public bodies, GPX events, resources and support took people out of their comfort zones and promoted the Act far and wide.

Pedr ap Llwyd

Chief Executive and Librarian, National Library Wales

As chief executive and librarian of the National Library Wales in Aberystwyth, ap Llwyd is a big believer in embedding sustainable development at the core of the library’s actions. One of his first acts as CEO in 2019, was to re-frame and re-submit a large funding bid that had already been approved, to make the project more environmentally conscious.

Helen Lucocq

Head of Policy, Brecon Beacons National Park Authority

Based in Brecon, Helen was the ideas-person and driving force behind Brecon Beacons National Park Authority adopting the doughnut model as a way of making decisions. She also developed the approach the park authority is taking to its emerging Local Development Plan, which aims to create ’20-minute neighbourhoods’. 

Wanjiku Ngotho Mbugua

Acting Chief Executive Officer, BAWSO Cymru

BAWSO supports people from Black and Ethnic backgrounds who are affected by domestic abuse, violence and exploitation in Wales including female genital mutilation, forced marriage, prostitution and human trafficking. 

Professor Laura McAllister

Professor of Public Policy and the Governance of Wales, Cardiff University

McAllister’s leadership in multiple fields, from equality, politics, academia and sport is a shining example of “how we can live and breathe the Well-being of Future Generations Act”. 

Dan McCallum and Emily Hinshelwood

Manager and Creative Director, Awel Aman Tawe and Egni Co-op

McCallum and Hinshelwood have been energy warriors since 1998. In spring 2023, AAT will open Hwb y Gors, a beautiful former school which is being refurbished as a zero-carbon arts, education and enterprise centre. Their other venture is £5m pioneering solar energy co-op Egni, which is backed by over 1,000 people via a community share offer and is now the largest rooftop solar co-op in the UK.

Heather McClure, Chris Woodfield and Chris Byrne

Co-founders and Directors, Aber Food Surplus

Aber Food Surplus wants to change the way we think about food. They take surplus food from major supermarkets and redistribute it to the community. They are enacting a more circular food system through composting, community gardening, reducing food waste, community meals and supporting local food producers.

Noel Mooney and FAW Team

Chief Executive, Football Association of Wales

Mooney instinctively makes the connections between the nation’s passion for football and opportunities to enhance well-being. He and his team at the Association have developed their first sustainability and well-being strategy ‘Cymru, Well-being and the World’ with an ambitious aim of becoming the most sustainable football association in the world.

Edward Morgan

Group corporate social responsibility and training manager, Castell Howell Foods

Morgan has been employed by Castell Howell since 2001 and leads on the corporate social responsibility for the group’s seven food manufacturing units and six distribution depots. He has championed local producers, reduced waste and worked on an ambitious net zero action plan.

Yvonne Murphy and The Democracy Box co-creators

Executive producer and artistic director (and creator of The Democracy Box and The Talking Shop projects), Omidaze Productions

Murphy and the young co-creators at the Democracy Box are creating a movement for change, raising awareness in Wales about our democracy and how to get involved. By putting young people at the heart of this movement Murphy has opened doors and made it accessible, telling the story of our democracy in a way that people can engage with. 

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Professor Kelechi Nnoaham

Whilst at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, Nnoaham helped to shake up the status quo and bring about change. He now leads health programmes development with Shell International and is an Honorary Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology at Cardiff University.

Chris Nott OBE

Founder, Capital Law

A leading Welsh lawyer, founder of Capital Law and a long-standing advisor to the Welsh Government, most recently as vice chair of the Ministerial Advisory Board on the Economy. 

Claire O’Shea

Head of Partnership, Hub Cymru Africa

Claire has been a long-term champion for international solidarity, social justice and global responsibility in Wales. In her current role at Hub Cymru Africa, she is a strong leader for partnership working and engaging the public in being a caring nation. 

Alfred Oyekoya

Director, BAME Mental Health Support

Based in Swansea, Alfred works with public bodies to highlight the mental health challenges specific to Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. 

Peter Perry

Chief Executive Officer, Dŵr Cymru

Perry has brought a clear vision to the work of Wales’ main utility provider. A community fund and a commitment to keeping bills affordable are part of his approach, as well as ensuring that communities and public bodies are involved in projects, which range from sustainable urban drainage, flooding to water quality and waste reduction.

Dr Tom Porter

Consultant in Public Health Wales and Cardiff & Vale University Health Board

Porter is a public health specialist working in transport and helping to bring about modal shifts in Wales’ capital city. He introduced the Healthy Travel Charter concept and has been instrumental in some of the major changes to active travel in the capital.

Dr Eurgain Powell

One of Wales’s longest serving sustainability gurus, Powell transferred to the Future Generations team in 2016. Powell has led projects around transport, climate change, procurement and the Welsh Government’s budget. 

Rob Poyer

Director, NappiCycle

Rob is the founder of NappiCycle, which processes 800,000 nappies every week, diverting 100 per cent of the waste from these from landfill.  

Ian Price

Director, CBI Cymru

Ian brings a socially conscious perspective to the work of the CBI, working constructively in partnership with anyone who can help make Wales a better place. He is a strong advocate for helping young people.

Wyn Prichard

Senior Consultant

Based in Neath, and with over 25 years in the learning environment, Prichard is a champion for green and sustainability skills, recognising the connections between the transition to net zero and the opportunities for young people. 

Natalie Rees

Head of Sustainable Development and Climate Change, Transport for Wales

Rees is responsible for embedding the Well-being of Future Generations Act into the operations of Transport for Wales. She has worked on a range of progressive projects including the award-winning circular economy approach to furnishing the Transport for Wales headquarters.

Reverend Gethin Rhys

Policy Officer, Cytun

Rhys has championed the need to ensure that the Well-being of Future Generations Act is central to many social and political aspects of policy. He has often advised the team on how public bodies and others can consider faith and religion, including the relationship between these and other policy areas such as climate change and education.

Chris Roberts

Co-Founder, North Wales Dragons Community Football

Roberts is one of the founders of the award-winning North Wales Dragons recreational community football team – players with a social conscience helping to make a difference by playing for purpose.    

Emily Roberts

The YouTuber, comic, presenter and disability advocate uses her social media platforms, including How Emily videos to challenge stereotypes and raise awareness of disability issues.

Neville Rookes and Richard Dooner

Policy Officer Environment and Programme Manager a Welsh Local Government Association

Rookes has led the work of Welsh Local Government Association on the creation of the Well-being of Future Generations Act, supporting the early adopters scheme and explaining the Act to many. Dooner has championed the role procurement can play in delivering outcomes that improve well-being and has worked closely with members of my team on my Section 20 Review into procurement in public bodies.

Nina Ruddle

Head of Public Policy Engagement, Wrexham Glyndŵr University and North Wales Insight and Research Partnership

Ruddle is an inspiring example and advocate for systems leadership in Wales. She leads the Civic Mission at Glyndŵr University and has convened and galvanised others across the north of the country. 

Michael Sheen

Sheen is a true future generations champion. He helps amplify the voices of those on the margins of society and from disadvantaged backgrounds. Amongst many other things he has been intensively involved in work to end homelessness, in highlighting the importance of culture in communities and helping to engage people in decision-making.

Show Racism the Red Card Wales

Show Racism the Red Card Wales visits schools, colleges, universities and workplaces to promote awareness of racism within society. They break down the ideology of stereotypes, explore how to challenge and eliminate racism, promote diversity and inclusion within communities and provide people with the skills and knowledge of how to become an anti-racist. 

Lleucu Siencyn

Director, Arts Development, Arts Council of Wales

As Literature Wales’ CEO for many years, Siencyn embraced the Well-being of Future Generations Act by embedding it into the organisational strategy and championing the seven well-being goals within literature. 

Dr Lynn Sloman MBE

Director, Transport for Quality of Life

As Chair of the Welsh Government’s independent Roads Review Panel, Sloman’s work has been transformative in doggedly applying the Well-being of Future Generations Act to transport planning.

Jeff and Chloe Smith

Founders, bigmoose

The Smiths are the founders of bigmoose, a charity and coffee shop whose motto is “leaving the world better than we found it” with a specific focus on mental health, homelessness and prevention of suicide. The money raised provides life-saving interventions and quick, effective therapy which they believe truly saves people’s lives. 

Mymuna Soleman

Founder, The Privilege Cafe

Soleman is an influential changemaker for race equality in Wales, challenging civil society to do more to tackle racism. In 2020 she established the Privilege Cafe, bringing together hundreds of people for weekly online sessions exploring a wide range of race related topics. Mymuna has a knack for speaking truth to power and bringing people together to dismantle prejudice and systemic inequality.

Ionwen Spowage and the staff and pupils at Ysgol Bro Dinefwr, Llandeilo

Led by Headteacher Ionwen Spowage, Ysgol Bro Dinefwr is a rural secondary school growing its own vegetables. They work with local chefs to make canteen food locally-sourced and sustainable. And they want to be carbon neutral by 2030 by looking at how the school uses energy and expanding outdoor learning areas.

Wil Stewart

Warden, Isle of Anglesey County Council

Stewart is part of the Council’s Countryside and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Service. He leads walks prescribed by the health services in North Wales in Breakwater Country Park, Holyhead. This natural therapy aims to give people the emotional, mental and physical benefits of connecting with nature to improve their health. 

Shavanah Taj

General Secretary, Wales TUC

Taj is a passionate trade unionist and the first Asian woman to hold the post of General Secretary of Wales TUC. She’s been leading the charge for fair and equitable work, and also making the connections between what unions can do collectively to bargain for green jobs and greener workplaces. 

Sharon Thomas

Director, Ceredigion Recycling and Furniture Team (CRAFT)

With the motto “Caring today for the world of tomorrow” Sharon at CRAFT finds treasures amongst the trash. This social enterprise has been part of Aberystwyth’s community for over 20 years. Their sole purpose is to reuse domestic items which would otherwise have been thrown away and to find them a new home. 

Ian Titherington

Senior Advisor, Sustainable Drainage, Cardiff Council

Titherington led the award-winning Greener Grangetown project and has played a huge part in greening urban communities in the capital. He is soon to take his Cardiff-based knowledge to a Wales-wide audience when he joins the Welsh Government.

Together Creating Communities

Together Creating Communities is the UK’s oldest community organising charity – they are an alliance of faith organisations, community groups and schools from north west Wales. They tackle social injustice by supporting diverse communities to gain the power they need to enact change. 

Dafydd Trystan

Chair, Active Travel Board

Trystan has been passionate about active travel for decades and as chair of Welsh Government’s Active Travel Board, he has motivated others to work together to bring about change. 

Susie Ventris-Field, Hayley Richards and Hannah Harvey

Chief executive and joint heads of programme development and policy, Wales Centre for International Affairs

The team at the Welsh Centre for International Affairs has worked tirelessly to embed action and understanding of global citizenship across all sectors in Wales, through projects, partnerships and campaigns. 

Lee Waters MS, Delyth Jewell MS, Jack Sargeant MS, Jane Dodds MS and Peter Fox MS Members of the Senedd, Senedd Cymru

These are champions of bold ideas and progressive thinking to benefit current and future generations. Whether pausing spending on road building, the climate emergency, our food system, public involvement, free transport for young people or a shorter working week and universal basic income, these MSs are at the forefront of bringing about real change in Wales.

Jonathan Williams

Co-founder of UBI Lab Wales

A lawyer and leading light in the movement to adopt a Universal Basic Income in Wales, Williams has been instrumental in the development of UBI labs across Wales and in securing Wales’ first basic income trial.

Alwen Williams

Portfolio Director, Ambition North Wales

Williams has framed the work of the North Wales Economic Ambition Board around the aspirations of the Well-being of Future Generations Act including a focus on environment, education and transport. 

Dr Roisin Willmott OBE

Director of Wales and Northern Ireland, Royal Town Planning Institute

A champion for change in the planning system, Willmott has been instrumental in reforming planning policy in Wales in line with the Well- being of Future Generations Act and in raising the profile of planning as a lever to deliver Wales’ well-being goals. 

Wrexham Well-being Hub

Wrexham Well-being Hub is a collaboration between Wrexham County Borough Council, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and the Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham (AVOW). It offers community, health, social care and third sector activities and services all in one place. 

Indo Zwingina

An estimated 245,000 properties in Wales are at risk of flooding – a result of climate change caused by rising carbon emissions. Zwingina takes part in community activities set up in response to floods that have caused terrible damage to her hometown, Treforest, including growing vegetables on flooded land. 

Future Generations Leadership Academy Alumni

A cohort of 50 brilliant young leaders who have graduated from the Future Generations Leadership Academy – they are ambassadors for the Well-being of Future Generations Act in their organisations, sectors and communities – and are passionate about the Act and how it is implemented. Academy participants have also reverse mentored senior leaders in Wales to advise them on how to implement the Act in their organisations.

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