Hayley Fox-Roberts is originally from Liverpool, coming to Ireland in the early 90s and living in Longford, Dublin and Leitrim before settling in rural county Cork. She now awaits Irish citizenship through her paternal grandparents.

An activist since her teenage years (Reclaim the Night, Rock Against Racism, Section 28), and as both activist and community artist/development worker, her focus has always been on minority empowerment and combatting rural isolation. In 1997 she joined the GCN team as a feature writer and later sub-editor of the Lesbian Pages, and was involved in Dublin Pride as well as a number of support groups and the 2nd International Dyke March. 

In 2006 she co-founded Northwest LGBT+ Pride, based in Sligo, which for 10 years supported rural queer communities in 6 counties and lead to the development of a number of local Prides in the region. From 2010-13, Hayley was the Northwest Development Officer for LGBT Diversity, the philanthropic-funded programme for LGBT+ inclusion in underserved areas. Subsequently she worked in Community Development Projects and Family Resource Centres, whilst continuing her own freelance consultancy, providing training, facilitation and design. In 2017 she joined Cumann na Daoine CDP in Youghal as community development worker where she also manages the Seeding the County Cork rural LGBTI+ development project. As a published and performance poet, Hayley has used her voice to advocate for change since her early years, and continues to use spoken word to empower through readings and community workshops.

Hayley brings her experience in charity governance, strategic planning and evaluation to NXF, hoping to extend its reach into rural and isolated communities across the country.