IAITH staff


Board Iaith Staff
Dr Kathryn Jones

Kathryn joined the company in 1999 after completing a doctorate in sociolinguistics at Lancaster University and working in the field of language teaching and research in London, Paris, Tanzania and China. Kathryn led our policy and research unit until 2016 when she took over the role of Executive Director. She enjoys combining academic research, lecturing and examining with practical research and projects that influence public policy, compliance and community use of Welsh. She's a member of BAAL, a fellow of the Learned Society of Wales and leads IAITH’s work with international partners.

kathryn.jones@iaith.cymru

Dr Buddug Hughes

Buddug joined IAITH in 2018 as Director of Education and Research. She has over twenty years of experience  in the education sector, in secondary schools, in further and higher education. She completed her doctorate at Bangor University on the Language Use Patterns of KS2 and KS3 pupils. This was an ethnographic study , drawing on theories from language planning and policy, linguistics, sociology and education. Since joining IAITH she has worked on a range of projects  on children and families, education, literacy and Welsh as a subject.

buddug.hughes@iaith.cymru

Dr Osian Elias

Osian joined IAITH in 2023. He completed a doctorate at Aberystwyth University on behavioural language policy, before going on to lecture human geography. Additionally, he is interested in issues of public policy, welfare and social justice, and the environment. He has experience of strategically leading on the Welsh language within organisations, as well as being experienced in managing, delivering, and communicating research outcomes on projects funded by bodies including UKRI, NERC, the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, and the Saunders Lewis Memorial Fund. Beyond work, Osian is a keen cyclist and enjoys supporting Wales from the Canton.

osian.elias@iaith.cymru

Iolo Jones

Iolo is IAITH’s Project and Research Manager. He joined the team in 2022, and he contributes to the company’s research work primarily, whilst occasionally assisting with other aspects of IAITH’s work. As a manager for the company, Iolo draws upon his background in sociolinguistics and political journalism as he carries out his work. His interests are broad and in his spare time he enjoys writing, learning languages and keeping up to date with current affairs.

iolo.jones@iaith.cymru

Bethan Williams

Bethan is IAITH’s Training Projects Manager. She’s experienced in communicating and negotiating with clients to develop and deliver training specifically tailored to the customer's needs within the public, private and third sectors.

With over 30 years’ experience of working in the field of Parenting and early years, language transmission is an area of great interest to her. Having been brought up in an area very close to the English border, Language Awareness and Language Assertiveness are areas within the field of linguistics that are prominent in her day-to-day life.

bethan.willimas@iaith.cymru

Kelly Davies

Kelly joined IAITH in 2005 and is responsible for the Finance and administrative aspects of the company, while also providing supportive services to our team of consultants. She is a methodical and skilled administrator who has gained NVQ4 Qualification in Administration and Business.

Kelly leads the administrative duties in several key projects. She is very experienced in coordinating fieldwork, organising focus groups and managing and collecting qualitative and quantitative data. Kelly has over eighteen years’ experience in organising and coordinating many events - seminars, conferences, webinars, and training sessions. Kelly spends her leisure time playing hockey.

kelly.davies@iaith.cymru

Lucy Hope

Lucy is a designer who joined IAITH in 2021. She is experienced in the creative field and before joining the company she completed a master's degree in ‘Theatre: Performing’. Through understanding her clients’ artistic preferences, her goal is to capture the attention of the desired target audience by designing marketing materials such as posters, leaflets and brochures, video advertisements, digital courses, social media posts, and other interactive media. She has a specific interest and expertise in Welsh language design as well as bilingual/trilingual/monolingual design.

lucy.hope@iaith.cymru


Associate Consultants

Dr Steve Eaves

Steve joined the company in 2001 following a career in local government as Head Translator and Language Officer with Arfon and Conwy Councils. He was one of the founders of Rhwydiaith, he served as a Vice-Chairman for the Association of Welsh Translators and Interpreters and he is one of the leading experts on corporate language planning issues. Steve was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Open University in 2014 and an academic doctorate from Cardiff University in 2015. Since his retirement in 2016 he has continued his relationship with IAITH as an Associate Consultant.

Gareth Ioan

Gareth took over the company in 1997. Under his leadership the company has maintained and developed its status as the leading innovators of policy and language planning in Wales. His main interest is community language planning but he also has extensive experience of corporate language planning, language socialization and language awareness training. He has published numerous reports to Government and central bodies over the years and is the author of The Big Conference report (2013).

Meirion Prys Jones

Meirion is one of Wales' foremost language planners. He was Director of Education and Chief Executive of the Welsh Language Board until 2012. Since then he has been responsible for maintaining the European NPLD network until 2017. He now acts as an independent consultant under the name LinguaNi and regularly works with the team at IAITH.

Professor Colin Williams

Colin is one of Wales' foremost language planners. He has now retired from a successful academic career at a number of higher education institutions. In recent years he has led the policy and language planning work of Cardiff University. He has published widely and is highly regarded internationally. It's a privilege to be part of the IAITH team.