ACSONI Announces the Appointment of new Chairperson and Two New Board Members
ACSONI Announces the Appointment of new Chairperson and Two New Board Members
The beginning of May 2024 ushered in a new Chair of ACSONI board of Trustees after the expiration of Dr. Livingstone Thompsons stewardship of the ACSONI board from 2019.
The new Chair of ACSONI is Ms. Lori Gatsi-Barnett, a Business Consultant with strong history of leading high-performance teams to meet or exceed objectives. Dedicated and hardworking with internal drive to deliver excellence. A tactical team builder with strong background in training and team development, Lori is a qualified business operations manager with extensive background in advanced management processes.
Commenting on her new role Lori said “Change is inevitable but we must be patient with this process as we all stand to gain as we unlearn old ways to make room for better robust ones.”
New additions to the ACSONI team include two new trustees namely Sipho Sibanda and Shannon Doherty.
Sipho is deeply engaged in political matters, having actively participated in the previous election representing People Before Profit. Prior to this, she worked for the Participation and Practice of Rights (PPR), advocating for destitute refugees in Northern Ireland affected by Home Office policies.
Serving as Deputy Chair of the BME Women’s Network (voluntary) from 2021 to 2023, she worked towards advancing gender and racial equality awareness among BME women and the wider community. Alongside her part-time role as a support worker in various hostels, where she assists homeless youth grappling with substance abuse, Sipho pursued her education, graduating in Social Policy from Ulster University (2023).
Recently, she joined the NIHE, furthering her commitment to social welfare.
Shannon Doherty is a former staff member of ACSONI who has joined the Board of Trustees as of May 2024. Shannon is passionate about social and racial justice, combatting hatred and anti-immigrant sentiment, and working to build a fairer society for all on the island of Ireland. Shannon is a researcher in the areas of refugee and asylum issues, racist intimidation and the Home Office hostile environment.
Other members of the ACSONI board of trustees include Anurag Deb; who engages in a broad range of civil and public law practice, having acted and continuing to act in cases involving the proper powers of the police and coroners, complex medical matters including the provision of medicinal cannabis, local authority environmental duties, high-profile defamation actions and Legacy claims arising out of Conflict-related violence and death.
Having read law at Queen’s University Belfast in 2014, Anurag went on to obtain a Master’s degree in human rights law in 2015, also at Queen’s. After completing further studies in London, Anurag was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2019. In September 2020, Anurag returned to Queen’s to begin part-time PhD studies in constitutional law, having been awarded a highly competitive and prestigious scholarship from the Northern Bridge Consortium of the Arts and Humanities Research Council in May 2020.
ACSONI Vice-Chair is Clover Watts who is currently a Senior HR Business Partner with Sensata Technologies Limited located in Antrim. She has been working in the field of HR for 23 years at various levels starting in Jamaica, her original home country. She began honing her leadership and management skills whilst in her first job within the Finance and Banking industry and later on, HR experience and skills within other industries to include, Computer retail, Telecommunications and Electronic Manufacturing. Clover has a BSc in Management and Social Psychology, ILM qualification in Leadership & Management, ILM Coaching & Mentoring and CIPD qualified. She has many other facets and interests. She is involved in a number of ethnic minority organisations that support the community and share the rich culture & history of the Caribbean. Clover is also a trained Classical Contemporary singer with DipLCM & ATCL in Voice Performance. She performs at a range of events when she is not working in Sensata and her greatest wish is that she brings happiness and a sense of wellbeing to those she has the privilege of entertaining.
Simon Barr is an Immigration Lawyer based in Belfast; his is an organisation registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner at Level 3 providing advice and representation in respect of –
UK Visas – Spouse and Fiancé, Visitors, EU Settlement Scheme, EU Settlement Scheme Family Permits, Naturalisation, Human Rights, Complex Casework, Skilled worker, Intra-company, Health care professional, Sponsor licence applications, Immigration Tribunal Appeals and Administrative Reviews.
The ACSONI staff complement is steered by Omer Osman the Business Manager, assisted by Rebecca Schwindt the Finance Administrator and Takura Makoni the Policy Officer.
ACSONI [African and Caribbean Support Organisation Northern Ireland]
9 Lower Crescent
Belfast
BT7 1NR
Tel: 028 9043 4090
Mobile: 073 1130 0397
Email: admin@acsoni.org
Website: https://www.acsoni.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acsonibelfast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/InfoAcsoni
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/acsoni/