CIfA Governance: Board of Directors

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is responsible for managing the affairs of CIfA in accordance with the Charter, by-law and regulations, with the day to day running of CIfA carried out by the staff. The Board regularly consults with the Advisory Council on policy, strategy and potentially controversial decisions.

The Board is supported by two decision making committees responsible for applications for individual accreditation or Registered Organisations status. See our committees page for more information.

The Board of Directors usually meets six times per year, and in addition Board members will be invited to attend meetings of the Advisory Council. Meeting minutes are available on the members section of the website.

Our Board of Directors can be contacted on boardmember@archaeologists.net

Penelope Foreman PCIfA

Honourary Chair (Elected)

Dr Penelope Foreman BSc PGCE PhD PCIfA works as a Senior Inclusive Heritage Advisor for Historic England, previously project manager for the British Museum, and Head of Community Archaeology at the Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust. After a first degree in archaeology from the University of York, they worked for over a decade in both education and the third sector, focusing on equality and diversity advocacy and accessibility, and returned to archaeology to research a PhD in Neolithic archaeology. They have been involved with CIfA since 2016, first on the Equality and Diversity SIG, and later with the Voluntary and Community archaeology SIG and Advisory Council. They are a UNISON member and have a long history as a trade union rep and activist across Prospect, NASUWT and UCU. Their passions are industrial heritage, socially engaged practice in archaeology, and creative engagements with the historic environment.

Nathan Baker

Director, Staff - Chief Executive

Nathan Baker has had a portfolio career, working across public, private, not-for-profit and commercial sectors. He is motivated by helping others to deliver value, both personally and for society. He has worked, as a Council Member, staff and Board member, in several professional bodies and brings a different perspective as to the opportunities open to CIfA and its members. Nathan can be contacted at Nathan.Baker [at] archaeologists.net, or you can email Anna Pardoe, Executive Assistant at anna.pardoe [at] archaeologists.net.

Alex Llewellyn MCIfA

Director, Staff - Director of Membership

Alex Llewellyn BSc MCIfA assists the Chief Executive in implementing the strategic plan through the development and oversight of the annual business plan and the effective management of CIfA resources. She advises on and manages the effective governance of CIfA in order to meet legal, constitutional and organisational requirements. Alex is also responsible for the internal communications including publication of The Archaeologist magazine. She took a degree in heritage conservation and archaeological conservation and began work with CIfA in 1998, moving to her present job in October 2001. Alex can be contacted on alex.llewellyn [at] archaeologists.net.

Nick Page

Lay Director

Nick Page BEng FCA is a chartered accountant with more than thirty years’ experience in practice and industry.  The majority of Nick’s career was with PricewaterhouseCoopers where he was a partner focused on advising corporate and private equity clients on M&A.  More recently he was CFO of a fintech business.  Currently Nick serves on the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and is a member of their Sustainability Committee. 

Deborah Seddon

Lay Director

Deborah Seddon BSc Hons, MA has twenty years’ experience of working in UK professional and regulatory bodies, her most recent role being Regulatory Affairs Manager at the Engineering Council. Her responsibilities included professional standards of competence and commitment, CPD, HE accreditation, governance, ethics, sustainability and security. Previously, Deborah held roles in teaching and communications. Deborah’s previous Board level and external committee experience include: lay member of the Intellectual Property Regulatory Board (IPReg); advisor to a government department-led establishment of the UK’s Cyber Security Council; Chair of a London primary school governing body; and HE committees including the OfS Teaching Excellence Panel. Her particular professional interests are: ensuring public confidence in professions through transparency, openness and good governance; quality; and professions adapting to meet evolving needs and challenges. Personal interests include art appreciation; reading; leading shared reading aloud groups to promote well-being; gardens, gardening and growing produce; hiking; and exploring the outdoors. All of this is enriched with the benefit of multicultural experiences of travel and love of the natural world.

Joe Abrams BA MCIfA FSA

Elected Director with responsibility for HR

Joe has worked in the commercial archaeology since the 1990s. Moving within the UK as a field archaeologist, and changing roles as he did so, Joe has managed teams in various different organisations. This has led to a variety of business development and people management roles with different teams. He has taken an interest in the mentoring of staff at all levels and this has included working with Project Managers and other Company Directors; helping them to implement systems for the management of teams and of the individuals from which those teams are made. He takes an active interest professional conduct and ethical behaviour within the context of our profession.

Rebecca Hunt MCIfA

Elected Director

Rebecca Hunt BA MA ACIfA had her interest in archaeology first confirmed when she volunteered with Aberdeen City Council Archaeological Unit nearly 20 years ago. She was tasked with assisting on various projects across a menagerie of archaeological disciplines, for which a particular highlight was excavating the medieval graves of St. Nicholas Kirk. Rebecca then went onto to study archaeology at the University of Birmingham where she became a Student Member of CIfA. Since then, Rebecca honed her skills on fixed term contracts and moved up through the career ladder from Site Assistant to Supervisor to Project Officer. She now manages and mentors archaeological teams of various sizes in the field on a variety of sites. She engages with archaeology both commercially and at a community level, volunteering as a leader for the Young Archaeologists Club and heading community projects within CFA Archaeology Ltd.

Kirsty Dingwall

Elected Director

Kirsty Dingwall BA MCIfA FSAScot has over two decades of experience in the industry, currently working as a Project Manager with Headland Archaeology. Over her career she has worked extensively in the field, running excavation and evaluation projects of all sizes, and taking complex archaeological results through to both academic publication, and public dissemination. She also had stints working in environmental impact assessment and for Historic Environment Scotland as part of the team responsible for Properties in Care. In her time as a manager, she has developed a particular expertise in overseeing large-scale linear infrastructure and energy projects, in challenging upland environments. Throughout her career, she has been an active member of CIfA, having served on the Scottish Group committee, various advisory panels, and undertaking RO inspections. She has also worked throughout to ensure early career archaeologists get the support and advice they need to progress in the industry, and she is passionate about enabling career progression, skills development and expanding opportunities.

Rob Wiseman

Elected Director

Rob Wiseman PhD MA BSc FSA MCIfA came to professional archaeology in his mid-forties, after careers in pharmaceuticals, policy, consulting, social and communication research. He is Australian, and has lived in the UK for 15 years. He has been a company director, charity trustee, a union representative for Prospect, and a former CIfA Advisory Council member. He currently works with the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, primarily in post-excavation and contracting. His main archaeological interests are in late prehistoric and Roman Britain. His published research spans the economics of Roman Britain, Bronze Age metalwork, and the use of cognitive science to interpret archaeological remains. Alongside his professional work he has led numerous volunteer projects in archaeology. He is past president of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society and is currently a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He is particularly concerned about long-standing poor pay in the sector; providing archaeologists with training in business and people management alongside archaeological expertise; ensuring CIfA delivers value to its members; and addressing the maze of standards in the sector.

Tiffany Snowden

Elected Director

Tiffany Snowden MCIfA IHBC is the Director of Blue Willow Heritage, having founded the company in 2021 following a decade of work in a variety of archaeology, planning and heritage roles across the UK. In addition to having achieved MCIfA level accreditation, she is also a full member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) and serves as a Trustee of The Victorian Society. Her key interests and experience include aerial archaeology, retrofit of historic buildings, and the sustainable conversion of traditional agricultural barns. As a young business owner, Tiffany has made it her mission to give back to the next generation of archaeologists by offering work placements, mentorship schemes, and ongoing careers advice. Going forward, she hopes to continue in this aim in her capaicty as an elected Director of CIfA to improve standards for graduates and early career professionals across the sector in terms of pay, working conditions, and career progression, ensuring that CIfA members feel supported at every stage of their career.

Katie Sanderson

Elected Director

Katie Sanderson MA ACIfA is a Project Officer at Oxford Archaeology, Lancaster office, and has been working there since graduating from the University of Manchester. She has worked on a diverse range of fieldwork predominantly prehistoric and Romano-British sites, with an interest in wetland sites, survey and GIS. Katie spent time working on community projects within Oxford Archaeology and student training research projects with universities in her spare time as she has a passion for training people in archaeological skills and methods. Katie is eager to make archaeology a better sector for future archaeologists and to provide a platform to early career voices. Therefore, in addition to her work commitments she has been volunteering on the Early Careers Special Interest Group since joining CIfA and sits on the EDI working group at Oxford Archaeology.