Our leadership

Matt Stringer joined RNIB in May 2019 after 30 years in the retail sector. He held senior leadership roles for well-known high street brands including Marks and Spencer, Carphone Warehouse and Mothercare.

Matt spent 15 years at Marks and Spencer after joining as a merchandising graduate in the Textile division. His final role was as Director of International Operations.

After Marks and Spencer, Matt became the Managing Director of Carphone Warehouse in UK and Ireland. Most recently he played a leading role in the business transformation of Mothercare, and during his six years at Mothercare, he occupied the roles of UK Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer and Global Product Officer.

Vivienne heads up our new social change directorate which brings together our External Affairs, Brand and Communications teams to deliver work that inspires real change. This new social affairs directorate plays an important role in implementing our strategy, overcoming inequalities and shifting perceptions of sight loss through creative campaigning, marketing and communications.

Before joining RNIB in September 2022, Vivienne was Director of Marketing and External Affairs at The Disabilities Trust where she was responsible for devising a new organisational strategy, overhauling the brand and communications of the Trust, as well as driving fundraising growth and overseeing work to support policy development, research and innovation. Prior to this Vivienne held a number of senior marketing and external affairs roles, including Director of Marketing and External Affairs at Alzheimer’s Society, and Director of Communications at Prostate Cancer UK.

In her spare time, Vivienne is a keen traveller. She also enjoys creative writing and swims as often as she can.

Daphne joined the team in September 2023, she has over two decades experience in senior and Board level positions. As a passionate global leader, Daphne takes a strategic, consultative approach and is a champion for innovation and inclusivity. She is joining RNIB after spending a year as Managing Director of Vetz Petz. Prior to that, she has been Head of Organisational Change at Barclays Bank, Vice President of Marketing Effectiveness at Nielsen and Chief Revenue Officer at Machine Vantage.

Daphne heads up RNIB Enterprises – our commercial operations arm encompassing transcription, consulting and retail services. She is driving forward our ambitious plans to grow our commercial income and customer base as well as being responsible for innovation within RNIB to bring new product and service propositions to market.

In her spare time, Daphne likes spending time with family and friends, working out and surfing.

Mari started as our Chief Operating Officer in September 2023 after a 16-year career in the Telecoms industry including at EE and BT. During this time, she filled a variety of roles spanning business operations including, Head of Retail Commercial Operations, she led the Retail and Emerging Channels function in BT’s Small Medium Business Unit and was most recently Emerging Channels Director for the company.

Mari is responsible leading our frontline service operations and delivering our UK-wide Sight Loss Advice Service and the Eye Care Support Pathway to reach more blind and partially sighted people and deliver an exceptional customer experience.

She has several family members with sight loss, including her 10-year-old son, and she is very passionate and committed to the cause.

When she’s not working, Mari is a lifelong learner, balancing that with healthy living for the whole family, travel and much time spent on the beach in Northumberland, where her little boy Finn, is dedicated to becoming a professional surfer.

Sean has significant experience in leading People functions, specialising in growing and transforming organisations of between 2,000 and 150,000 employees. He has worked across multiple countries and sectors from technology to financial services to logistics to infrastructure to central and local government.

His most recent role was VP of People and Culture for Avast, a FTSE 100 Cyber Security company, where he supported the merger with a US business. As someone passionate about making a difference, Sean is hoping to go back to police training in the near future.

Sean will lead the People Function and support us all as we get ourselves in the best place to deliver on our purpose, fostering a collaborative culture where everyone in RNIB plays a crucial role in shaping our collective future.

When he’s not working Sean enjoys climbing and reading.

Linda joined RNIB in November 2024. As Chief Technology Officer, Linda will take the lead in driving tech innovations both internally and externally. Technology is a key enabler for RNIB’s new strategy, launched in June 2024. Linda will transform the charity’s internal IT and technology whilst also engaging with tech industry leaders to champion inclusivity, ensuring that accessibility is built in from inception and in doing so will equalise the tech landscape for blind and partially sighted people.

As an experienced information officer, Linda has an impressive background in tech innovation in multiple sectors within the UK and international organisations. Before coming to RNIB her most recent role was as Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Life Healthcare Group (International businesses), where she led the development and implementation of a health digital strategy that leveraged technology to transform healthcare delivery and improve patient outcomes. Before that, Linda held senior tech positions at Virgin Media O2 and Reckitt Benckiser.

In her spare time Linda coaches women into leadership and enjoys cooking recipes from all around the world with her daughter, two sons and husband