Speakers
Councillor Mohammed Iqbal, Lord Mayor of Leeds
"Councillor Iqbal comes from a small village called Govand in Kashmir, administered by Pakistan. He came to England in February 1970 to join his father who was working in Hunslet. Councillor Iqbal was educated at Woodhouse Primary School; Harehills Middle School; Primrose Hill High School and Park Lane and Airedale and Wharfedale Colleges."
Khizar Hayat, Senior Project Officer, The Equality Team, Leeds City Council
Khizar started his career with local government in 1989 and worked for Bradford Metropolitan Council in the Housing and Environmental Protection Directorate. He worked in various sections across the directorate. Prior to his current employment, he was working in the directorate's Equal Opportunities Unit.
Khizar now works for Leeds City Council in the Corporate Equality Team as Senior Project Officer, he commenced employment with Leeds City Council in October 1999.
Khizar's specialist area is around race and has specific responsibitliy around consultation, both with service users and staff groups. Khizar has developed various staff groups within the council and is currently working on reviewing the councils corporate consultation forums.
Khizar is married with two children aged 10 and 4 and is keen to raise awareness of the needs of the Asian community particularly around visual impairment and accessing services. Khizar has a son who is also registered blind.
Greg Mulholland, Liberal Democrat MP
"Greg Mulholland, 34, lives in Otley with his wife, Raegan, and daughter, Isobel, and, before his election in May 2005, was one of the 18 Lib Dem councillors in Leeds North West. A well known local campaigner, he has a reputation as a champion of local issues and concerns."
Dr. Mark Priestley, Reader in the Centre for Disability Studies, University of Leeds
"Mark Priestley is a Reader in the Centre for Disability Studies (and currently Pro-Dean for Research in the Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law). From 1999-2002 he held a personal ESRC Research Fellowship for a three-year programme of research under the title Disability, Social Policy and the Life Course. He is also administrator of the international discussion group http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html, which he founded in December 1994 as a focus for global debate on disability research issues. His current research interests include comparative and European disability policies, and the implementation of direct payments policies in the UK."
Martin McKibbin, Consultant Ophthalmologist
Mr. McKibbin is a consultant at St James's University Hospital. His interests include medical retina, particularly vascular and inherited disease of the retina. Before his appointment at Leeds, he did clinical research at Moorfield's Hospital, London and at the University of California, San Francisco.
Frank Ward, Henshaws Regional Director
Frank Ward has worked for Henshaws - a leading edge charity for blind people of all ages across the North of England for 13 years. Originally an Occupational Therapist he has many years experience of working in the voluntary and statutory sector and in a variety of communities. Frank has a passion for promoting access to ordinary services and inclusion of all people as valued members of the community. Henshaws recent developments have been aimed at enabling the provision of care and support to all visually impaired people wherever it is needed the most.
