Women and Girls Adviser

Deborah Perkin

Writer and filmmaker Deborah Perkin had a long career at the BBC in London and Cardiff, where she became Head of Programme Development. She enjoyed her executive strategy and policy roles, but was always a creative at heart, and she left the BBC to pursue projects through her own company. The films of which she is most proud are her 2014 independent cinema documentary Bastards about a woman fighting through the Moroccan courts to legitimise her daughter; her 2009 BAFTA-winning biography of musical legend Quincy Jones; and her BBC1 investigation into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in 1993, the first British exposé of the issue.

Deborah has always devoted time to public service, alongside her professional work, as a member of numerous Boards including primary schools, Moroccan Children’s Trust, Fawcett Society, The Prince’s Trust, University of South Wales, and the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, where she chaired its Sustainable Development Grant Fund for three years. She joined the HCSS Board in 2019, and is also Vice Chair of Cardiff Women’s Aid, which provides government-funded refuge and support services to victims of domestic violence.