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Meet each team member

Barbara Rowe – Executive Director and founder of Breaking Down Barriers

“Establishing Breaking Down Barriers is one of the best things I have ever done. I lead a team of highly motivated people with a shared vision and values that are about people rather than profit and a desire to create lasting positive changes in society”

Barbara has lived in rural areas of Sussex since 1999 when she moved from London to escape the rat race and have what she thought would be a quiet life.  Unfortunately she was not given the welcome she had hoped for, and encountered racism, discrimination and challenging behavior from certain sectors of the community, all based on their perception of her.

It is that perception that Barbara wanted to change.  In order to facilitate her personal development and achieve her goal of changing discriminatory attitudes and behaviours, Barbara realised she would have to step out of her comfort zone and confront her fear of public speaking.  Barbara has been actively involved as a Guest Speaker, providing a unique resource for people delivering Diversity Training courses since 2005 when she was a volunteer for Sussex Police.

In 2007 she started operating Breaking Down Barriers as a Sole Trader enterprise growing her team from 1 to 20 and becoming a Community Interest Company 2015.