I am a Founder of Signalise Co-op and the Business and Development Manager supporting the growth of our multi-stakeholder co-operative. Signalise aims to involve Deaf users alongside sign language interpreters by working together, resolving issues and bringing our community closer together. This serves our customers well and increases both social value and standards of interpreting for the benefit of all users.

Often, Deaf people are left behind and the last to know. Signalise is part of a long-standing co-operative movement and the newer platform co-op movement, building tech to bring together and support all users. As part of a Deaf family, empowering Deaf users with knowledge, inclusion in the interpreting process and the wider co-operative movement is hugely important to me.

I hope to achieve a set of recommendations to support not only Signalise's growth but also the involvement of Deaf users in the movement at a time when we need better ways of doing business - ways which are powered by social enterprises and communities and led by the people who know how services should be delivered, bringing huge benefits to those paying for interpreting, communities and wider society.