Colonel Leona Barr-Jones VR
Chief Executive
Colonel Leona Barr-Jones served 21 years in the Regular Army and 12 years in the Army Reserve. She joined the RFCA in 2017 as a member, chairing the Hertfordshire County Employer Engagement Group, also sitting on the RFCA Essex Forum as Commandant of Essex ACF, and on the board of East Midlands RFCA as Colonel Cadets East Midlands before being appointed Chief Executive of East Anglia RFCA in 2023.
Colonel Barr-Jones graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) in 1991. Her postings included training units and loan service with the British Military Advisory and Training Team in South Africa, where her team were awarded the Wilkinson Sword of Peace. Regimental Duty was with the Royal Artillery in Germany and Royal Signals, as Officer Commanding at the Defence College of Policing and Personnel Administration and as Training Major at Cambridge University Officer Training Corps (CUOTC) with operational tours of Bosnia and Kosovo. Col Leona served in Brigade, Army HQ and MoD HQ, in People Policy and Defence Diplomacy, International Policy and Planning and as Change Programme Manager.
She was co-founder and Chief Operating Office of Focus7, a brand and marketing strategy agency. She has sat on the boards of the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce, the Institute of Directors (IoD) East and the Eastern Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committee (VAPC).
Colonel Barr-Jones is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (FIoD), Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI) and Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management (FInstLM). She is a Freeman of the City of London and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers. Colonel Barr-Jones was awarded IoD Director of the Year 2019 for Inclusivity, and the Defence Inclusivity Award at the Soldiering On Awards 2020.