Deborah Peel is a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and is member of the RTPI’s Northern Ireland Branch Executive Committee. Deborah has served on the UK Marine Spatial Planning Task Force and is a Council Member of Planning Summer School. She is a Senior Lecturer in Planning Policy in the School of the Built Environment at the University of Ulster. Previously, she worked at the Universities of Westminster, Dundee and Liverpool, and earlier in local government as a planning officer covering urban and rural communities. Deborah’s research interests include the development and implementation of land use planning, stakeholder engagement and public participation, and the integration of spatial planning into all areas of public policy.

Dr Ken Sterrett is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering at Queen’s University. He is currently the Course Director for the MSc programme in Urban and Rural Design. Ken’s research interests include spatial planning and its links to community planning; designing for sustainable communities; and planning and design in contested spaces. Ken is an expert advisor to the DECAL’s Ministerial Advisory Group on Architecture and the Built Environment and is a founder member of the Forum for an Alternative Belfast.

Geraldine McAteer is a Non Executive Director of the Strategic Investment Board Limited. She is Chief Executive of the West Belfast Partnership Board which aims to drive the economic, social and physical regeneration of West Belfast. She is a panel member of the Strategic Review of the Parading Body and is currently working with the review team to develop a framework for the resolution of the parades issue. Geraldine chaired the North and West Belfast Health and Social Services Trust from September 2006 to March 2007 and has also held office there as a non-executive director for five years.

Heather Voisey is from a social policy background with degrees from the Universities of York, Kent and Glasgow. She was a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment based at the University of East Anglia for 5 years, before giving up the jet-set life to move to Glasgow in 1999. Working for North Glasgow Social Inclusion Partnership she worked with several communities for the next 5 yrs, including supporting the community and agency response to asylum seeker dispersal in Sighthill. She joined Glasgow Housing Association in 2005 and is now Partnerships Manager supporting engagement with community planning structures and driving forward a range of initiatives with partners..

Joanne Morgan is the Director of Community Development and Health Network (CDHN), having taken up post in 2009. A qualified Town Planner, Joanne has worked within the community, voluntary and statutory sectors for the past 14 years. She has managed Peace funds for local government and more recently managed a range of Early Years services including Sure Start projects across Northern Ireland. Joanne is a Board Member of the Centre of Excellence for Public Health at Queen’s with a particular interest in knowledge translation and its impact on communities.

Lisa McElherronis the Head of Public Affairs in NICVA. Lisa began her career as a community development worker before moving into public policy and research and finally strategic development and public affairs. Lisa has responsibility for the innovative Vital Links public affairs project in NICVA as well as overseeing the work of NICVA's busy research unit. An experienced lobbyist, Lisa offers advice and information to voluntary and community organisations on all aspects of strategic policy, government affairs and political engagement. Lisa has worked in the non-profit sector since leaving university and has a particular interest in equality, health, participative democracy, public affairs and economic regeneration. In her spare time Lisa sits on the Board of Directors of the Oh Yeah Music Centre – an innovative tourism, economic and youth development project in Belfast’s vibrant Cathedral Quarter.

Richard Hart is a Director with Cherton Enterprise Ltd. He joined Cherton in 2006 after 13 years as a senior manager within the public sector, holding several posts in various departments throughout the UK and overseas. He has extensive experience of project management and delivery and is a Member of the Institute of Leadership and Management. He has provided top level strategic public affairs advice to Cherton's clients across various industry sectors including retail, property development, financial and banking services, the renewable sector and waste management.

Valerie Watts is Town Clerk and Chief Executive of Derry City Council, having taken up her role in 2008. She returned to Northern Ireland from Scotland, where she had worked in East Dunbartonshire Council since the mid- 1990s, in a number of roles including Assistant Chief Executive and Director of Corporate Services. As Director, she was one of three Strategic Directors, who had responsibility for five heads of service and worked within an overall budget of £240 million.