Associates

We work with a number of highly experienced and knowledgeable Associates. They include lawyers, communications specialists, researchers and others specialising in HR issues and change management. Brief details can be found below:

Rajwant Bains

Rajwant has specialised in training and research on equality and diversity related issues over recent years. She has been involved in projects examining career opportunities for minority ethnic students in a number of education establishments; researching the impact of race equality work at local levels; reviewing progress on equality for a number of local authorities and health trusts. Recent work has included a research project into the use of positive action strategies to increase the representation of black and minority ethnic staff at senior management levels and another project which concerned the assessment of the effectiveness of different equality/diversity assessment methods. Rajwant specialises in qualitative research, and running discussion groups, forums and one-to-one interviewing.

Ebrahim Bassa

Ebrahim is a senior academic working nationally on models for community engagement and social regeneration. A central feature of Ebrahim's work has been to establish the links between ethnicity and regeneration with wider issues of social inclusion and community participation. In the North West for example he has led on a regional model of co-operation and joint action for community based regeneration and area-based renewal.

Ebrahim has acted as a consultant to a number of national organisations and government departments to identify and develop a range of innovative and imaginative community based regeneration services particularly for minority ethnic groups. Ebrahim has wide experience of working with businesses of all sizes, nationally and internationally, and is currently involved in a range of consultancy and research projects.

Elaine Bowes

Elaine was Race and Housing Advisor to the Housing Corporation between 1991-1996, where she co-ordinated delivery of the BME Housing Association Strategy. She has been a consultant specialising in diversity research, policy development and training ever since. Elaine is an experienced policy analyst and researcher in race and other aspects of diversity, and has published widely in this respect. She has also undertaken a number of investigations providing mediation where necessary. Elaine is an experienced trainer and has completed many commissions in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

Joe Charlesworth

Joe was employed until 2006 by the CRE where he was responsible for the Commission's work in local government housing. He led the CRE work to produce the new Statutory Code of Practice on Housing and Racial Equality in partnership with MDA. Joe has extensive experience in racial equality work, including formal investigations, equality impact assessments, a range of research projects in public services and development of guidance materials. He has a particular interest in how pubic bodies and others can use their procurement policies and programmes to protect and promote equality of opportunity.

Robert Good

Robert is a solicitor specialising in employment, mental health and social security law. He was, until recently, a partner at Hodge Jones and Allen. In the last two years he has been a consultant providing employment advice, training and representation, as well as playing a wider advisory role on human resources and also equality and diversity related matters. Robert holds a number of appointments including being a member of the Law Society Mental Health Panel, and the British Psychological Society Service User Liaison Committee. Robert has also published widely and is a regular contributor of articles on employment and personnel issues.

Sally Grubb

Sally is a lawyer specialising in equality and diversity issues and is an experienced trainer. Sally was Head of the Legal Strategy Unit at the Commission for Racial Equality before qualifying as a solicitor. She then worked at Bindmans Solicitors, a leading human rights law practice before moving to Yorkshire and setting up the MDA consultancy. As a consultant, Sally specialises in carrying out equality impact assessments, research, organisational reviews/audits and in-house staff training. Sally also leads on our mediation and investigative work. Sally combines her legal knowledge and experience with practical policy advice and training on how to manage diversity within your organisation. Sally has worked with clients in all sectors, and particularly in the 'not for profit' and private sectors. She has also written widely on equality law and managing diversity issues.

Colin Hann

Until 2002 Colin ran the Equality Group at top law firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary. He was, until 1998, the Director of Communications and Strategy at the Commission for Racial Equality, where part of his work included the responsibility for the research and policy sections as well as communications. At the CRE he was responsible for a number of award-winning campaigns, including advertising initiatives. In recent years he has specialised in research in carrying out extensive reviews and audits of organisations, including working with a number of clients such as the ODPM, the Home Office, ICI, the Housing Corporation, the CRE and Fords. He has been responsible for a number of publications including, for example, 'Diversity and Discrimination' (Thomson) and 'Employment and Diversity' (IRR).

Jude Lancaster

Jude is an experienced and effective HR strategist and equality and diversity adviser with many years' experience and expertise in change and project management, policy formulation and implementation. Core skills include team building, coaching, negotiating, conflict management and mediation. Jude has supported Liverpool University, Calderdale Council and Kirklees Council to develop their recruitment and retention strategies and more recently trained and supported the staff at West Yorkshire Police Authority to carry out impact assessments on all their policies, procedures and duties across 6 equality and diversity dimensions. Other recent projects include the development of strategies on attendance improvement, work-life balance, flexible working and contract management for peripheral workers for public sector organisations.

Roger Landells

Roger works as an associate with MDA and was formerly Sales and Service Director of ACNielsen Marketing Research and headed a management buyout of ACN's Consumer Research Division in 1993 to create Market Research Solutions Ltd (MRSL). Roger sold the business in 2002 and now works at MDA heading up data collection and research and research design project management. His most recent work has been for Vodaphone (Project Utility and Customer Satisfaction Surveys), and for Westminster City Council where he organised and conducted interviews for the City Council's project to restructure its equality services. Roger is expert in the field of business process engineering.

Joseph Ogbonna

Joseph has extensive experience of business development and housing and development/regeneration. He has worked with the Family Housing Association, Octavia Hill Housing Trust, and London and Quadrant Housing Trust amongst others. His work has included strategic planning and development, detailed project management, change introduction and management, advice on governance, reviewing and advising on services for change and improvement. In recent months he has worked on a number of customer focused research projects, as well as undertaking extensive training and development programmes with clients.

Greville Percival

Greville, until joining MDA, was the Research and Customer Services Director at the Commission for Racial Equality. Greville had a major role in driving forward the CRE's research programme over a period of years, including managing investigative processes for the CRE's formal and general investigations as well as drawing up survey and investigative specifications, questionnaire designs, data and systems analysis and preparation of detailed reports. Currently Greville is advisor to the new ESRC Centre for Research on Social Cultural Change at the University of Manchester and is a member of the CABE Research Advisory Group and is advisor to the Electoral Commission on research projects relating to diversity and equality. Prior to working at the CRE, Greville was Head of Research Statistics at AC Nielsen Market Research.

Donna Rodney

Donna is an experienced trainer and diversity consultant and has also been involved in work on a number of research projects in recent years. She has primarily worked for public sector organisations, in particular a number of health organisations located in London. She has worked on a number of publications, including 'Racial Harassment at Work', a racial harassment training manual 'Living in Fear', published by the BBC, and she also lectured at the University of Westminster. She has been involved in research projects, primarily carrying out qualitative work related to running focus groups and carrying out interviews.

Colin Salisman

Colin is a Development Consultant and has worked with a range of public and private sector clients. In recent years a substantial amount of Colin's work has been concerned with advising on regeneration projects and housing in related projects more generally. His work has included the preparation of bids for the Housing Corporation, on-site project management of several housing schemes; the negotiated shared ownership rent market, rent and key worker accommodation with developers, negotiation with S106 Agreements with developers. He has developed a range of work with regeneration partnerships and has been responsible for setting up and implementing a range of community consultation exercise with relevant agencies. Colin has also specialised in carrying out capacity building work with a range of organisations including BME and youth groups. Colin has undertaken training consultancy work with a range of housing associations, statutory and voluntary agencies at both the board and staff level around regeneration and housing issues as well as on diversity and equality related issues.

Sukhdev Sharma CBE

Sukhdev works with MDA specialising in equality and diversity issues within the public and 'not for profit' sectors, and in particular in areas of mental health and disability. As a member of the European Economic and Social Committee he has considerable expertise in European social issues and leads the Committee's work on equality discrimination and human rights issues. Sukhdev was the Chief Executive for the Commission for Racial Equality until 2002. He is currently chair of the South West Yorkshire Mental Health Trust, a lay member of the Employment Tribunal, and a Board member of the Shaw Trust.