Kathryn Townsend

Kathryn has been leading the advancement of accessibility in business for more than a decade.

Kathryn has been leading the advancement of accessibility in business for more than a decade. In addition to her day job, Kathryn is the Government’s Disability & Access Ambassador for the banking sector. This is a voluntary role, tasked with driving the advancement of accessibility across the banking industry. One of Kathryn’s key priorities as Ambassador has been to help tackle barriers faced by deaf and hard of hearing people, in accessing and understanding financial services. Prior to joining Nationwide, Kathryn led the disability and vulnerability programme at Barclays, she championed a number of initiatives to support deaf customers including the launch of instant video relay services into telephony and in-branch and a lip speaker service. Kathryn has spoken to global audiences as an ambassador for financial inclusion and accessibility, including at the UN in Vienna. Kathryn is a trustee of Euan’s Guide; the disabled access charity.

Meet the rest of our Advisory Board

James West

Chair - Signing banks UK

Kathryn Townsend

Nationwide/ Disability Ambassador/ Lived Experience & Banking

Rachel Vann

CODA/ Customer Inclusion Lead Domestic & General

Reg Cobb

Chief Executive Officer of deafPLUS

Mark Applin

Co-Founder at Signly

Alastair Griffin

HSBC - Distribution Director/ Lived Experience

Daniel Clements

RAD/ Lived experience/ BSL User

Teri Devine

RNID Associate Director for Strategic Programmes - Inclusion and Employment

Damian Brewer

BDA - National Training and Consultancy Manager

Anna Roughley

Leading Insights & Engagement Team at LSB (Lending Standards Board)

Tamzin Bayne

Business Development Manager at Close Brothers

Serena Cobb

Project Manager - St James Place Wealth Management

Get in touch

Are you deaf or supporting someone who is?
Or part of an organisation that wants help?
Get in touch using our contact form