Equality 2025

Members of Equality 2025

• Rowen Jade
• Zara Todd
• Haji Saghir Alam OBE
• Simone Aspis
• Prabhat Barot
• Michelle Daley
• Nick Danagher
• Clenton Farquharson
• Miro Griffiths
• Kirsten Hearn
• Eleanor Thoe Lisney
• Dave McCormick
• Dr Gary McGladdery
• Sarah Newman
• Andy Rickell
• Richard Rieser
• Steve Scott
• Katherine Thomas
• Fiona Wallace

Rowen Jade

Rowen is the Chair of Equality 2025.

Rowen is a survivor of mainstream education. After graduating with a Law degree Rowen has worked for the Alliance for Inclusive Education, several Centres for Inclusive Living and has been a freelance consultant in disability equality for almost 20 years.

Rowen specialises in working with young disabled people and pioneered the setting up of a Personal Assistance Support Scheme for disabled teenagers in Bristol.

Rowen is a parent, artist, counsellor, partner and writer and her publications include 'Bigger than the Sky' (an anthology of writing by disabled women on parenting issues), 'Whose Voice is it Anyway' and 'Creating Independence and Inclusion'

Email: rowen@equality2025.org

Zara Todd

Zara is the Deputy Chair of Equality 2025.

Zara is currently studying for a Masters degree at university. At her previous university she became interested in disability rights and became the Student Union's Disabled Students' Officer, where her work earned her a Times Higher Education Award nomination.

Zara has worked with a number of public authorities and agencies, including Transport for London and the Greater London Authority, and has advised disability and children's organisations and charities on policies and practices concerning equality, diversity and participation.

In 2001, Zara set up a website giving information to disabled young people about their rights, a subject which she feels passionately about. She has also championed engaging with young disabled people both in the UK and internationally.

Email: zara@equality2025.org

Haji Saghir Alam OBE

Saghir is a leading expert in Human Rights and Diversity Issues especially in the area of Multiple Discrimination and Disadvantage in Disability, Race and Faith and advises number of central government departments. He was appointed to the Statutory Committee of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

He has a legal and business background. He is Patron of Include Me Too, a national Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) families and children organisation, and the Ethnic Disabled Children Society. He is also a Trustee of Action Disability and Development, an International Development Charity working in Africa and Asia and is a member of the Advisory Panel of the National Police Improvement Agency. 

In the past he has served three terms as a Disability Rights Commissioner and led on partnership and capacity building in the regions and BME and Faith Communities. He also served as a Non–Executive Director of the NHS Hospital Trust and National Probation Board. He believes in a society built on fairness and respect and all people have the opportunity to fulfil their full potential.

Email: Saghir@equality2025.org

Simone Aspis

Simone is the UK Disabled Peoples Council's Campaigns Worker. She is currently working with the Coalition Against the Welfare Reform Bill and Mental Health System Survivors against the Welfare Reform and Mental Health Bills.

Simone is a member of the Not Dead Yet (campaigning for disabled peoples equal rights to life) and Alliance for Inclusive Education's Secretary (campaigning for inclusive education for all Disabled Learners).

While working with Independent Panel for Special Education Needs Advice Simone assisted disabled children and parents to win court cases for supported mainstream school placements.

Simone is the Green Party's Disability spokesperson.

Email: simone@equality2025.org

Prabhat Barot

Prabhat is a 52 year-old British Asian. He was born in Kenya and has lived in the UK for 36 years - the last 16 years in the Scottish Highlands.

Prabhat has bipolar depression. This has led to his early retirement from a career in dentistry; however, Prabhat has since retrained and now has part-time jobs in administration and IT.

Prabhat has family members with various disabilities and has had many personal experiences of discrimination. He is married with two grown up children.

Email: prabhat@equality2025.org or scotland@equality2025.org

Michelle Daley

Michelle is an independent disability equality trainer, consultant and a campaigner. She has worked for a number of organisations both at local, national and international level to develop, promote and implement policies on equality and diversity. She is also a founder member of the 2020 Campaign.

For a number of years Michelle has actively worked at the grass root level addressing issues such as access, education, independent living and cultural diversity. She sits as the chair to her local disability organisation where she plays an important role ensuring that disability equality and diversity is at the forefront of practice and service delivery.

Email: michelle@equality2025.org

Nick Danagher

Nick Danagher is a freelance consultant in Disability Equality issues. He has a background in developing and managing local independent living schemes and national organisations.

He has also acted as a consultant to Government on a/7 wide range of social care policy initiatives and is a former Co-Chair and Executive Director of the National Centre for Independent Living.

Email: nick@equality2025.org

Clenton Farquharson

Clenton had the unfortunate experience of being attacked and stabbed numerous times, which led to Clenton's disability. Since then, Clenton has undergone a steep learning curve academically as well as experientially. This unique set of circumstances has led to Clenton becoming a founding Director of Gallant 2000 Ltd - a successful Midlands-based social enterprise specialising in Equality and Human Rights issues.

Clenton has extensive experience of working with a wide range of people and organisations with Equality and Human Rights issues.  For example, recently Clenton has worked with public bodies like Advantage West Midlands, the Qualification Curriculum Authority and Commission for Social Care Inspectorate. 

Clenton is driven to make the changes in society so that the aspirations of achieving equality can be met. He is currently engaged in researching the range and effects of cultural competencies and how these impact on prejudice and discrimination.

Email: clenton@equality2025.org

Miro Griffiths

From an early age Miro has been keen to work for disability equality starting with a Millennium Award Scheme at the age of fourteen.

Miro has created a concept to promote disability awareness using a computer game - with the project aimed at young people.

Miro went on to work with the national charity Whizz Kidz as a North-West representative with the main objective to find solutions to barriers that affect disabled teenagers. Within a year of working on the board, Miro was elected to become the chairperson of the user group and has worked on various projects such as working with the BBC on disability television representation, flight travel, and accessibility to leisure facilities. Miro works on the Qualification and Curriculum Authority Advisory panel.

Miro is a power-wheelchair user and an A-level student.

Email: miro@equality2025.org

Kirsten Hearn

Kirsten is an Independent member of the Metropolitan Police Authority and formerly the chair of its Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board. She is a trustee of the consortium of LGBT Community and Voluntary Organisations and the chair of its Human Resources sub-committee.

For eight years, Kirsten was a member of the Transport for London Board where she championed social inclusion. For sixteen years, she was an Equality specialist and senior manager in local government before escaping the day job to create and run Whole World Design, a successful empowerment coaching and training consultancy, specialising in evolutionary change with a smile.

When not doing all that, Kirsten is a stand-up comic, singer, musician, writer, sculptor, broadcaster, tree-lover and bird-fancier. Kirsten is a blind lesbian and infamous campaigner for peace, human rights and justice and is a supporter of non-violent direct action. Her mission in life is to celebrate the lives of and promote the rights of disadvantaged people at every opportunity.

Email: kirsten@equality2025.org

Eleanor Thoe Lisney

Malaysian-born Eleanor has a multicultural and multilingual background. Eleanor has contributed as a disabled professional on web usability and accessibility in international conferences and websites.

Eleanor was part of the Long-Term Care Policy Unit at University of Massachusetts Center for Health Policy and Research. She was also coordinating with Centers for Independent Living before her return to Europe in 2004.

Eleanor participated in the Strasbourg Freedom Drive to the European Parliament 2007. Eleanor is actively involved in inclusive tourism and so is in conversation with disabled people throughout the world. She is also on the Disability Advisory Panel in the British Council.

She has two grown up children and lives in Coventry.

Email: eleanor@equality2025.org

Dave McCormick

Dave works as the Education Officer (SEN & Transport) for the City of York Council's SEN Service as well as leading on projects promoting independent living and travel skills, and the involvement of disabled pupils and their parents/carers.

Dave has worked as a campaigner with grassroots disability organisations for many years in promoting disability equality and now works as a disability equality trainer supporting a range of educational providers.

Dave has used his personal experiences (as a visually impaired person) to improve education and employment opportunities for all disabled people through resource design and trainer support for the Disability Rights Commission.

Email: david@equality2025.org

Dr Gary McGladdery

Gary is a Disability Officer at Queen's University in Belfast. Over the past six years he has also been employed by a number of organisations in the community and voluntary sector, including Disability Action Northern Ireland.

Gary has extensive experience in disability research, policy development, human rights and equality legislation and has been involved in a number of high-profile campaigns highlighting rights for minority communities.

Gary has also undertaken disability policy reviews for a number of public sector bodies including the Housing Executive and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Policy.  Most recently he was present on an advisory group for the General Medical Council, producing guidelines, advising medical schools on encouraging students with disabilities to study for medicine. The guidelines were published in March 2008.

Following the completion of a PhD in Irish History and Politics at the University of Ulster, in 2006 Gary published his thesis through Irish Academic Press. Gary lives in Banbridge, County Down with his wife Alison and daughter Emma.

Email: gary@equality2025.org or NI@equality2025.org

Sarah Newman

Sarah began her career working in television, but at the onset of her visual disability transferred to radio. Sarah was predominantly reporting on BBC Radio 4's "In Touch" programme to which she still contributes.

As a consequence of Sarah's own experience in accessing public services, she trained as an independent advocate supporting disabled people to access "needs led" services and formally represented their interests to statutory and government agencies and tribunals.

Sarah currently works for Brent Council leading at a strategic level to enable disabled people to access improved life chances and employment opportunities within the council and in the wider community.

Email: sarah@equality2025.org

Andy Rickell

Andy, who has cerebral palsy, has had an influential career campaigning for disabled people's rights.

Andy's most recent post was as an Executive Director of one of the UK's largest disability organisations, Scope, where he led on cultural change in order to make it committed to the equality and human rights of disabled people, through working in alliance with disabled people and their organisations to coproduce its strategy and services.  This included significantly increasing the employment of disabled people at the organisation, which rose from 3.7% to over 20% in under three years.

He was Chief Executive of the British Council of Disabled People, the national voice of the disabled people's movement, and was one of the original authors of the Disabled People's Rights and Freedoms Charter. He has been an activist for human and civil rights issues for disabled people for over ten years and is frequently called upon by the media as an expert.

Andy was educated at Selwyn College, Cambridge, with a first class degree in engineering and management studies. He is a Methodist local preacher.

Email: andy@equality2025.org

Richard Rieser

As a disabled teacher, Richard taught for 25 years in primary, secondary and further education and as an Advisory Teacher for Inclusion.

Richard was Chair of the Alliance for Inclusive Education, the founder of the 1 in 8 Group and Raspberry Ripple Awards, and a member of the National Advisory Group on Special Educational Needs. Richard is now full-time Director of Disability Equality in Education, and the Vice Chair of the Council for Disabled Children, of NUT Disability Working Party and of the NUT Special Needs Committee.

Richard is also the author of numerous articles on disability equality in education, and has collaborated on several TV programmes.

Email: richard@equality2025.org

Steve Scott

Steve is the External Relations Manager for Remploy Ltd, with extensive experience in HR and Training, where he developed a graduate recruitment programme to increase the number of disabled people in Management posts.

Steve has worked with many organisations on developing equality and diversity policies, as well as disability rights groups, such as RADAR and the DRC. In addition, Steve has represented people at a local level, in particular Dwarf Athletics Association and Restricted Growth Association.

Steve has experience in campaigning with media groups to promote a more positive image in order to improve individuals' perceptions of disabled people.

Email: steve@equality2025.org

Katherine Thomas

Katherine is a professionally qualified archivist with a track record of work in the equalities field.  Her work has included cataloguing archives of the women's suffrage movement, advising museums, archives and libraries on issues of equality and diversity and project-managing unique research in this field.

Katherine has had ME since 1999 and, following a number of years unable to work whilst more severely affected, juggles employment with the challenges of living with an energy impairment.

Originally from Derbyshire, Katherine now lives and works in Wales.

Email: katherine@equality2025.org, wales@equality2025.org or cymru@cydraddoldeb2025.org

Fiona Wallace

Fiona, 42, and was born in Scotland and now lives in Dalkeith south of Edinburgh. Fiona is the chair of Midlothian-wide People First and serves as a director on the board of People First Scotland.

For the past three years she has sat on the Same as You National Implementation Group. In the summer of 2006 she worked as an inspector on the first Joint Inspection of services for people with learning disabilities, which was led by the Social Work Inspection agency.

Fiona is a very keen skier, a passionate Rangers fan and she loves Italian food.

Email: fiona@equality2025.org

Page last reviewed: 10 March 2009