Hastings Board

Find out more about the members of the Hastings Board

Led by community or business leader: Rebecca Conroy, East Sussex College Group CEO, Chair - education sector

Rebecca is a people-centred and values-led leader who has worked in the education sector for over 25 years. She held various senior leadership positions focused on widening participation in Sussex before joining East Sussex College as a campus Principal May 2018. Rebecca was then appointed as CEO & Principal in October 2020. East Sussex College has a c.£50 million annual turnover and supports 5,000 young people and 10,000 adult students, employs 1,200 staff and plays a vital educational role in regenerating the communities it serves. Rebecca also chairs the Board of Trustees at South Downs Learning Trust.

Led by community or business leader: Simon Mansbridge, Kurt J Lesker, EMEIA Vice President, Vice Chair - business (major local employer)

Simon is the Managing Director EMEIA & Vice President Global Product Distribution Division of the Kurt J. Lesker Company, whose UK operation and European HQ is based in Hastings. Simon grew up in Hastings, attending William Parker School before moving away for work. He lived in the USA, France and also spent a lot of time in Asia before returning to live in Hastings in 2018. He is passionate about the town and ways in which he can work with the community to deliver better outcomes for young people and build on the successful high vacuum / high tech manufacturing cluster that has emerged in Hastings.   Since joining Kurt J. Lesker Simon has grown and expanded the UK business significantly. Already a major player in the European high-tech world of science, Simon has played an important role in the development of local industry in the East Sussex area and provided a continually increasing flow of jobs and prosperity to the town.  

Led by community or business leader: Tracey Rose/Tracy Dighton, Co-chair of the Hastings Community Network Executive or rotational between them, Vice Chair - voluntary, community and social enterprises.

Tracey is the CEO of FSN, a charity in Hastings which supports children, young people and families which has been in existence for 85 years. She has over 30 years experience working in the private, statutory and voluntary sectors and as a resident of Hastings, has a commitment to ensure that the voice of local people, and in particular young people, is heard.
As a co-Chair of the Hastings Community Network Executive Committee, Tracey works with members to build a greater understanding to the wider community of the valuable role that the voluntary sector brings to the town.

Tracy Dighton biography and photo to follow

Helena Dollimore, MP for Hastings and Rye 

Biography and photo to follow

Councillor - upper tier local government: East Sussex County Council, Cllr Peter Pragnell - public sector, political

Biography and photo to follow

Councillor - lower tier local government: Hastings Borough Council, Leader Cllr Julia Hilton - public sector, political

Julia is leader of Hastings Borough Council and leader of the Green Group of councillors. She is the also the county councillor for Old Hastings and Tressell and portfolio lead on regeneration, culture, tourism climate change and the local plan. She is also part of the Hastings as a garden town team working in a voluntary capacity to input into the Town Deal Green Connections and public realm project in the town centre as well as the wider vision of Hastings as a garden town. Other roles include trustee of Hastings Greenway Trust and chair of Energise South, a local community energy coop.
She trained as a ceramicist at Edinburgh College of Art and worked in the field of public art before retraining as a landscape architect with a particular focus on play and working with communities, schools and housing associations to regenerate their green spaces.

Business Improvement District: Love Hastings Ltd Chair Andrew Harvey - business

Andy has worked in the retail & hospitality sector for 30 years and has been the Centre Manager of Priory Meadow Shopping Centre for the past five years. During that time he has formed strong relationships with retailers, local businesses, and the community.  
Andy sits proudly as the Chairman of Hastings BID and proactively immerses himself within all aspects of the town. 

Police and Crime Commissioner: Katy Bourne, Sussex Police - public sector, police

Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne was re-elected for a fourth term in 2024.
Katy Bourne was raised and schooled in Sussex before graduating from Aberystwyth University. She still lives in mid-Sussex, is married to Kevin and has two adult sons. She was a successful business woman before entering politics and is now in her fourth term as Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Sussex making her the longest serving female PCC and one of only two to have been elected four times.
The PCC's role is to hold the Chief Constable of Sussex Police to account for the performance of the Force, effectively making the police answerable to the communities they serve.
Katy is responsible for setting the strategic direction and priorities for Sussex Police through the Police & Crime Plan. This includes setting the police budget and local police precept - the amount residents pay for policing in their council tax.
She also has a statutory duty to commission support services for victims of crime - including stalking and sexual and domestic abuse - and to deliver community safety initiatives including restorative justice and crime reduction grants.
Katy is currently National Lead of the Association of Police & Crime Commissioners (APCC) portfolio for Business/Retail Crime and Chair of the Sussex Criminal Justice Board. She is also the APCC National Spokesperson for Stalking and a Board Director of the APCC. Katy was a former Chair and non-Exec Director of the national Police Digital Service and former Chair of the APCC. In June 2019 she was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of her public and political service.

Integrated Care Board: Mark Smith - Interim CEO (NHS Sussex)

Biography and photo to follow

Youth voice: TBC Connected Futures rep from young person researchers group - community representation

Biography to follow

Business: Sean Dennis, Director Chamber of Commerce - business

Following a successful career in commercial banking, Sean is now the Deputy Chief Executive of Let's Do Business Group and Managing Director of its subsidiary, Let's Do Business Finance, which are two of the largest social enterprise business support and finance organisations across the South East and East of England assisting hundreds of micro and SME's to start, grow, prosper and access finance every year. 
In addition, to his 'day job' Sean has helped head up the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce for the past 8 years, as Chamber Director, representing a diverse membership from start-ups and micro enterprises to some of the largest employers in the area, as well as community, voluntary, charity and public sector. Through this role he has sat on a range of boards including the LSP, Town Deal, Connected Future, Hastings and Rother Task Force and many more.

VCSE: Hastings Voluntary Action, Steve Manwaring - VCSE

Biography to follow

Culture: Culture representatives, Adam Daly (Fat Tuesday)/Mandy Curtis (18 Hours) - Culture

Adam has over 35 years of experience in the production and event management industry, managing conferences, trade shows, exhibitions, theatre shows, music events and tours in the UK, Australia, Europe, South East Asia and North America. 15 years ago Adam was a founding member of Hastings Fat Tuesday and is also co-owner of the Albion Pub in Hastings Old Town.

Mandy has a background in History of Art & Archaeology (Africa and Asia) | PGCE Primary | PhD: Human Geography. She has over 20 years experience in delivering events and festivals in Hastings and Sussex. Her organisation, 18 Hours, is driven by a passion for fostering global understanding through events, education and research. Her current portfolio consists of seven festivals including: St Leonards Festival, Hastings Storytelling Festival, Journeys Festival of Dance, Bexhill After Dark, University of East London After Dark, Streets of Wealden, and Sidley Festival. Mandy's most recent research focuses on measuring attitudinal change in community light festivals, wider societal impacts of community festivals, and audience perceptions of performances augmented with haptic technology (in partnership with Falmouth University and Deaf Rave).

Education: Lorraine Clarke, ARK - Primary/secondary education

Lorraine, born and raised in Hastings, served as a Detective Sergeant in Sussex Police for 10 years, before retraining as a teacher in 2002. She joined Ark Multi Academy Trust in 2014 as the Principal of Ark Blacklands Primary Academy before becoming Executive Principal of Ark Little Ridge and Ark Castledown Primary Academies. She than became Regional Director for Hastings and in 2020, Ark Alexandra joined her group of schools. Lorraine also works as an Inspector for Ofsted and is part of the DfE Education Investment Priority Area Board. In 2022, Lorraine was awarded an OBE for services to education.