Robbie de Santos

Director of Communications and External Affairs

Pronouns: he/Him

I lead our Communications, Campaigns, Policy and Research teams at Stonewall. This means ensuring that our supporters, partners and stakeholders are inspired by our campaigns and join us in fighting for the freedom, equity and potential of every LGBTQ+ person. I also make sure that Stonewall is using every tool it has to bring social, legal and policy change for LGBTQ+ communities in the UK and across the world. Finally, it’s my role to ensure we’re telling a wide range of LGBTQ+ people’s stories and addressing inequities that hit some of our communities hardest.

Before joining Stonewall, I spent 14 years leading successful campaigns on housing, debt, welfare, disability rights and education. I played a key role in changing the policy landscape on private renting as a Policy Officer at Shelter, leading to real changes in private renters’ rights and protections. I also led a policy programme at StepChange Debt Charity that helped re-frame problem debt as a political issue and built cross-party support around better protections for people in financial difficulty. These measures helped millions of people struggling with debt to stabilise their finances.

When not in a global pandemic, I run a free ‘supper club’ with one of my best friends. Every couple of months we have six strangers over in our homes for dinner. We’ve met dozens of amazing people over the years and have learned so much from getting to know people over food and wine.