Our Trustees

Dr. Steve Ball (Chair) was the founding Chair of Birmingham Pride Community Trust, now known as Birmingham LGBT. He was Artistic Director of Language Alive Theatre in Education (1986-2000); Head of Arts for Birmingham City Council (2001-2003); Associate Director at the Birmingham REP (2003-2021) and Director of Birmingham Arts School (2022-2024).  Steve also chairs the Birmingham Pride Community Foundation, the For/With/By European Youth Theatre network, and the Birmingham Music Hub. He is co-chair of the Drama and Theatre Education Alliance, Secretary of the Sir Barry Jackson Trust and a Director of Southside Business Improvement District and the Cash for Kids charity.

Simon Hale (Treasurer) is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and is currently Head of Finance at Sanctuary Supported Living in Worcester, He was previously Senior Finance Manager there, and, before that, Senior Finance Manager at Sanctuary Care North and Scotland.

Rita Tappia is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. She graduated with a BSc in Psychology and holds an MSc in Human Resources and Business. She is currently Head of Talent at Lagan Aviation and Infrastructure.

Rita was previously Head of Talent Acquisition at Cabot Credit Management (2022-2023), National Resourcing Manager at Tarmac Europe (2019-2022) and Head of Resourcing at HS2 (2015-2018). Previous roles include Head of EDI at Shoosmiths, Recruitment Manager at Accenture and Human Resources Consultant at PwC.

She has supported and worked with Birmingham LGBT since 2009.

Kavan McDaid graduated from Birmingham Newman University in 2022 with a MSc in Social Psychological Research, following a BSc in Psychology and Counselling in 2019. He was the full-time Student Groups Co-Ordinator at the University of Birmingham (2019-2020) and now works as an Administration Officer at the Office of the Public Guardian.

Hetal Rajani is currently Head of Finance at St Basil’s, the Birmingham-based youth homelessness charity. She previously worked as Credit Risk Manager at Fullerton India Credit Co. Ltd. and as Risk Manager at Bajaj Finserv. She gained her Chartered Accountant (ACA) qualification at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and graduated from Pure University with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance and a Master’s degree in Cost and Works Accounting.

Gareth Moore has been an elected member of Birmingham City Council, representing the ward of Erdington since 2011, and is Secretary of the Conservative Group on Birmingham City Council. He is also a member of Birmingham City Council’s Business Management Committee, Health and Adult Social Care Oversight and Scrutiny Committee, Planning Committee and Standards Committee. He is also a member of the West Midlands Police and Crime Panel. He is a Trustee of Birmingham Citizens Advice, the Sir Josiah Mason Trust and the Richard and Samuel Banner Trust.

David Coffin is Head of Participation for a national anti-poverty charity and was previously Relationship and Contract Manager working on the “Ageing Better” project at the Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (BVSC). He consulted on participation and engagement at Moseley Road Baths for the National Trust, and worked at Birmingham LGBT for nine years, starting as Community Development Officer, then SHOUT Festival Producer, then Health and Wellbeing Manager. David graduated from Birmingham City University with a BA in Art & Design, followed by a MA in Arts & Project Management from Birmingham School of Art.

Jamie-Lee Tipping is a self-employed Accredited Therapist and an experienced Lecturer in Higher Education, Consultant, Writer and Trainer. He holds a Diploma in Counselling Supervision from The Centre for Personal Development and was previously Therapy Services manager at The Priory Group and a Counsellor at PAM Therapy.

Mat Lovell is Midlands Marketing Lead at Arup, and was previously Marketing Manager at Millenium Point, Birmingham, and Communications Executive at the Jewellery Quarter Business Improvement District. Mat graduated from Nottingham Trent University with a BA in English with Creative Writing and is also Esports Editor at Geeky Brummie and a member of the Advisory Board at TEDx at Aston University.