Meet the committee
DEAC is a Committee made up of 14 members and a Chair.
We feel it is important that there is a mixture of people on the Committee. This helps to ensure it gives advice that takes into account the many different ways that different people look at things and the experiences that they have had.
The Committee include representatives of:
- employers
- providers of services for disabled people
- self-employed policy analysts and consultants
- organisations of and for disabled people
- trade unions
Ten members of DEAC have personal experience of disability.
Initially the full Committee met four times a year across Great Britain. More recently, DEAC has engaged in project work - working in small groups focusing on particular issues. Because of this, the Committee has now agreed to have three main meetings a year in England, Scotland and Wales. This helps us to be informed of what is happening locally as well as in Great Britain as a whole.
Chair of DEAC
Elaine Noad
Prior to the appointment of chair of DEAC, Elaine was a senior social work manager in local government and was seconded to the Scottish Government. She was also a commissioner with the Disablity Rights Commission until September 2007. She is a member of the Parole Board for Scotland and a volunteer committee member for Sanctuary Housing Association (Scotland) and a non executive director of the Health and Justice audit committees for the Scottish Government.
Members
Steve Alexander
Steve is Chief Executive of the Preschool Learning Alliance. Previously, Steve was Chief Executive of the British Dyslexia Association. Steve's background includes over 25 years experience in the disability field.
Tim Cooper
Tim is currently the Managing Director of the Work & Independence Division at Shaw Trust Ltd. Tim has been profoundly deaf since birth. He has worked in both a voluntary and paid capacity in a variety of roles within services for disabled people over the past 20 years.
Cheryl Cullen
Cheryl is Director of Employment, Training and Skills (ETSS) for the Royal National Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People (RNID) and has strategic responsibility for the service. As part of this, she works with a policy and research team that contributes to DWP consultations. Cheryl's experience includes leading a team of RNID senior managers, working within RNID as an Employment Adviser, Co-ordinator, Manager, and Deputy Director; and developing links with Jobcentre Plus and its programmes.
Mark Deal
Mark is the Head of Research and Development at Enham, an organisation that provides employment, vocational training, social housing and care and support services to disabled people. Mark's role includes researching and establishing new services to improve the social inclusion of disabled people. Mark was awarded a PhD in Disability in 2006.
Lorraine Gradwell
Lorraine is the Chief Executive of Breakthrough UK Ltd-an organisation run by disabled people providing them with training, independent living skills and employment support. She was also a member of the DTI Small Business Council taking on the role of “Disability Champion”. Recently she has been involved with the development of a national “policy think tank” on disability issues.
Catherine Graham
Catherine is a former Supported Employment Development Manager for Dumfries and Galloway Council, and past chair of the Scottish Union of Supported Employment. She is now self employed, dividing her time between Choose Life, Mental Health Awareness and Supported Employment.
Rosie Hallam
Rosie is a freelance consultant in the areas of health, social welfare, and community development. She has worked as an occupational therapist and in the voluntary sector as Director of Restore- a mental health work rehabilitation and training service. Rosie is currently a trustee of the Elisabeth Casson Trust and of Connection-a floating support service for disabled and vulnerable people. She has over 30 years of disability experience.
Diana Holland OBE
Diana is National Organiser for the Transport and General Workers Union, Women, Race and Equalities Sector. As well as co-ordinating the national and regional team of Women, Race and Equalities specialists, she has particular responsibility for union action involving women and disabled workers. Diana has extensive experience of work with the voluntary sector, including disability organisations.
Marilyn Howard
Marilyn has experience of policy and analytical work on employment, disability and social policy in a variety of settings. She has combined independent analysis with working for the Disability Rights Commission, from where she has been seconded to the Office for Disability issues.
Asif Iqbal
Asif is deaf and uses British Sign Language (BSL). He has a wide experience of deaf and disability issues and is Media/Project Manager for Deaf Parenting UK and a former Trustee for UK Council on Deafness. His recent work with Local Authorities and NHS included representing and consulting with a large number of deaf, disability and ethnic minority organisations on a senior level. He has contributed to youth, deaf, disabled and black minority ethnic communities and has been heavily involved in a range of local and community projects for BSL service provision.
Christine Jess
As one of the Glasgow's Equal Access to Employment Strategy Managers, Christine has extensive experience of working across the private and public sectors. During her career - which has focussed on issues relating to diversity and inclusion - Christine has worked as a Social Inclusion Manager, a Charter Mark Assessor and in a variety of roles within employment and education services. Currently Christine's work, linked to the Welfare to Work Agenda, is an ambitious strategy to join up all agencies in the city around the issue of employability - including key areas such as health, social care, housing, education, training and employers.
Eddie Lynch
Eddie is Chief Executive of Bromley Mencap, a voluntary organisation that provides a range of services for people with learning disabilities including a successful training and employment scheme. Previously Eddie was the Disability Employment Adviser at the BBC. Eddie's experience of disability issues is wide ranging through his previous work and voluntary roles.
Stephen Parr MBE
Following 20 years success at Sabre Employment Stephen is now the Director of Sabre & Associates- a small, focused consultancy of like minded people dedicated to increasing the employment opportunities available to people with learning disabilities, through the reinvention and recommitment to the Customised Job Coaching Model across the UK. Stephen, through Sabre & Associates, leads the challenge to put disabled people and employers at the heart of the employment equation.
Rachel Perkins
Rachel's background is in psychology. She is the Director of Quality Assurance and User/Carer experience at the South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust. Rachel has responsibility for the Trust's Race Equality Scheme and has, for the last 15 years, led her Organisation's vocational services. She has extensive knowledge of disability issues in relation to employment with particular reference to people who experience mental health problems. Rachel has also written and spoken widely on these issues and has established a number of successful programmes to help people with mental health problems to access employment.