Our Chair, Deborah Cohen
Deborah has more than forty years working as the Executive Editor of the Radio Science Unit at the BBC Radio. In her role as EDI Specialist medical and health Journalist Deborah has followed and reported on changes in the NHS, the experiences and expectations of patients and developments in treatments and therapies.
Our Board
Yas'ina Christopher, Vice Chair
LEAD FOR SICKLE CELL DISORDERS.
Yas'ina has had an extensive career as a nurse, including at Homerton Hospital, with a particular focus on accident and emergency. She is an active member of the local sickle cell group, SOLACE and has been involved in various public health programmes including Alzheimer’s, sickle cell disease, cancer, heart disease and arthritis. She has lived all her life in Hackney.
Rebecca Thomas, Vice Chair
Rebecca is an experienced community and mental health professional.
She grew up and attended school in Hackney, and her experience of gentrification and social inequality within the borough led to an increased interest in provisions for minoritized communities, peoples’ experiences of intersectional discrimination and the importance of relationships.
Rebecca currently works with several charities across London. She is also a Community Board member for Nationwide’s Community Grants Programme.
Rebecca is passionate about system change, reducing health inequalities and creating equity.
Anthonia Onigbode, Treasurer
Anthonia is chief financial officer and deputy chief executive of Hackney Co-operative Developments, a local social enterprise development organisation. She has worked in Hackney since 1993 and has been treasurer of Healthwatch Hackney since its incorporation in 2013. Anthonia is a fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified and company secretary for a number of organisations, charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Her passion is seeing businesses and individuals thrive.
Maggie Gibbons
Maggie Gibbons lives in Hackney. She is a Learning and Development specialist, working for Terrence Higgins Trust and the British Museum. Her key focus is on supporting managers and leaders. When not at work, she can often be found running in the local parks, "I recently completed the NHS Couch to 5k programme and feel like a whole new world has opened up to me. I'll never be a speedy runner, but the benefits to my heart and mind are just as great, I'd recommend it to anyone".
Past Board papers
We make the papers for our public Board meetings available online.
Check out our past meetings to read more.