meet the team

Chris Beech
Project Development Manager :
chris@zebra-access.com

Chris accumulated 16 years of Retail, Management, Customer Service and Project Management experiences and qualifications upon joining Zebra Access in 2014 to oversee all project developments.

Deirdre Maguire
Community Development Officer :
deirdre@zebra-access.com

Deirdre has been working for Zebra Access since 2017 in various roles. Deirdre grew up in the Deaf community and passionately believe in a person-centric approach with advocating and empowering which mean enabling a platform for Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing people to share their voices. 

Trent Szilva-Beasley
Advocacy/IAG Officer :
Trent@zebra-access.com

Trent was born into the Deaf community in Australia and moulded into the rich vast experience of the Deaf community, frequently moving between two countries. England and Australia, Trent has incredible passion and is very driven to demolish barriers that linger in the Deaf community. He have 7 years of experience in Advising/advocating for a better future in the Deaf community.

Dawn Lynch
BSL and Deaf Awareness Tutor :
dawn@zebra-access.com

Dawn joined Zebra Access team in October 2019 as a qualified British Sign Language (BSL) and Deaf Awareness Tutor and has over 20 years of BSL and Deaf Awareness teaching experience. She has teaching qualifications including BSL Level 6, City and Guilds 7307 in Teaching and a Level 3 NVQ Teaching Assistant.

Bob Marsh
Fundraising Officer :
Bob@zebra-access.com

Bob was previously our Head of Employment services and, with his team, delivered a high class level of employability support for Deaf customers across the Black Country and over achieving all contractual targets. Bob has returned to Zebra Access to utilise his contract and fundraising strategy skills in this part-time role which we are confident will be every bit as successful as his previous roles.

Ella Gadsby
Wellbeing Officer :
ella@zebra-access.com

Ella has recently obtained a First-Class degree studying Psychology with Counselling at University. Ella has a wealth of experience as a volunteer within the Deaf community, some of the highlights include being the senior leader on residential trips for five years and chairing for the Deaf and Hard of hearing Forum at the University.From these experiences Ella has been involved in many training sessions and gained qualifications, which she believes has given her a better understanding regarding the concept of the ‘Duty of care’ within real life situations.  Especially with recent events, Ella feels that she able to understand and empathise the struggles Deaf individuals face daily, as they are her struggles too. This has pushed Ella to act on her passion to improve mental health and wellbeing of the Deaf community by using knowledge gained from her studies in Counselling Psychology and voluntary experiences

Jo Barber
Social Media Officer :
jo@zebra-access.com

Jo has been working in social media exclusively since 2018, honing her skills during an Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs placement in Berlin and then as C.E.O. of Seeing Social. A hearing aid user since the age of 9, she has an understanding of what the deaf community needs to communicate.

Linda Beasley
Specialist Employment Officer :
linda@zebra-access.com

Having been born into a Deaf family and raised within the Deaf Community in the West Midlands, Linda knows many different sign language dialects, and has a wealth of experience supporting a wide range of service users, including deafblind people and people from other countries. She has previously worked in residential settings and as an outreach worker..  

Linda previously worked for Zebra Access during 2021 and 2022 and joins Zebra Access again as Specialist Employment Officer. She is passionate about supporting deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing people to get into work, and challenging communication barriers in the workplace and job centres. 

Honor Whiteside
Outreach Officer :
Honor@zebra-access.com

Services

Zebra Access CIO provides services and support to Deaf, Deaf Blind and Hard of Hearing people with thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund. Services includes Employment Services, English/Maths tutorials, Advocacy, Community Development, BSL/Deaf Awareness, drop-in sessions dealing with a range of queries, complaints, form filling, and many more. Zebra Access staff and volunteers have the right to work in a safe and abuse free environment. The organisation will not tolerate any kind of abuse against its staff, volunteers or property.

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