Advisory board
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The project will transform current understanding of diversity-related issues. It is committed to helping improve social well-being and, to maximise its impact, it will convene an advisory group comprising influential stakeholders.
Kate Pickett - Professor of Epidemiology at the University of York, U.K.
Pickett’s research focuses on the social determinants of health and inequalities in health, with particular expertise in the impact and intersections between income, inequality, deprivation, ethnicity, and well-being.
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James Nazroo - Professor of Sociology, Director of the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity, University of Manchester, U.K.
Nazroo is and an expert on ethnic inequalities in health. He has successfully worked to translate his research outputs into practice. His presence will contribute to the academic excellence of the project, whilst providing guidance on policy options and recommendations in relation to segregation, culture, and citizenship, together with the specificities of the ethnic groups and contexts involved.
Ted Cantle - Chair of the Institute of Community Cohesion (iCoCo), U.K.
Cantle is a leading authority on community cohesion and intercultural relations. He authored the highly-cited and respected “Cantle Report”, in which he proposed a wide range of new policies that were subsequently adopted by the government and other agencies. He will be critical in interpreting the project’s findings in light of local and governmental policies and in suggesting the most effective channels for impact and policy change.
Alun Francis - Principal and Chief Executive of Oldham College, Manchester, U.K.
He has collaborated with Miles Hewstone on a Leverhulme project examining the effects of intergroup contact in schools in Oldham. He will represent a successful case study and will be crucial in providing guidance about the practicalities and challenges of applying our research to local communities. His expertise will be vital for the planning of evidence-based local policy and for fostering policy change.
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Maria O’Beirne - Senior Principal Research Officer at the Department of Communities and Local Government, UK.
O'Beirne leads the Neighbourhoods and Community Cohesion analytical team and provides support for policy areas on integration, equalities, as well as community rights and devolution of services to neighbourhoods.
Penny Withers - Principal Research Analyst at the Department of Health, U.K.
Withers is responsible for the area of health equalities and inequalities. Together with O'Beirne, she will be the connecting point between academic research and practice. Both will have the significant role of communicating our findings and policy change recommendations to their government offices.
