Short biographies for all of the commissioners
Darra
Singh
(Chair)
Professor Michael Keith
Nargis
Khan
Dr Ebrahim
Adia
Hamza
Vayani
Leonie McCarthy
Frank Hont
Harriet Crabtree
Ed Cox
Sam
Tedcastle
Steve
Jordan (Retired)
Decima
Francis
Steve
Douglas
Ramesh
Kallidai
Darra Singh (Chair)
Darra Singh became chief executive of Ealing Council in April
2005 after four years as chief executive at Luton. He has led Ealing
Council's work to improve its services to tackle race hate crime and is
a member of the awards panel on the Let's Kick Racism Out of Football
campaign.
Professor Michael Keith
Michael Keith is an academic and director of the Centre for Urban and
Community Research (CUCR). He was also council leader for the London
Borough of Tower Hamlets where he helped transform the borough marked by
social polarisation and to a position where it was awarded Beacon status
for Community Cohesion in 2003-2004.
Nargis Khan
Nargis Khan is a Councillor in the London Borough of Hackney
leading on community services including community engagement. In 2002
Nargis fed into the Cantle review of Community Cohesion, in particular
practical solutions in the role of political and community leadership. She
has also advised the Home Office-led task force 'Preventing Extremism
Together', with a focus on engaging women in Politics and Public Life.
Dr Ebrahim Adia
Dr Ebrahim Adia is a senior lecturer in education at the University of
Central Lancashire. He has a degree in Public Administration and a
doctorate in the field of policy analysis. Since 2002, Ebrahim Aida has
served as a local councillor in Bolton representing an ethnically diverse
ward with high levels of poverty and multiple deprivation.
Hamza Vayani
Hamza is the founder of the Leicester-based voluntary youth
organisation, Youth Voice, which was created following the riots in the
Northern cities and encourages young people to empower themselves. He has
worked with the Independent Police Commission on community cohesion
and led a BBC Radio 5 Live documentary following the 7/7 terrorist
attacks in London which won the Race In the Media Awards 2006 category for
Radio News.
Leonie McCarthy
Leonie McCarthy set up the British Red Cross Refugee Project in
Peterborough - the first project of its kind, delivering a one-stop service
to assist Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Migrant Workers to access services
and information within the city. Since July 2004 she has managed
Peterborough’s ‘New Link New Arrivals Partnership’ - which supports and
co-ordinates the integration of new arrivals to the city. This won the 2005
UK National Housing Award for ‘Excellence in Promoting Community Cohesion’.
Frank Hont
Frank Hont is the North West Regional Secretary of UNISON and has been an
active trade unionist for more than 30 years. He is a leading
advocate of UNISON’s current campaigning work aimed at combating racism. He
has also been actively involved in a number of community cohesion
initiatives since the disturbances in the North West of England in 2001 and
is a member of the Board of the Migrant Workers North West organisation.
Harriet Crabtree
Harriet Crabtree is Deputy Director of the Interfaith Network for the UK.
Her interfaith work has included being a member of the advisory group set
up to assist on the faith aspects of a range of Golden Jubilee events, and
she also helped organise the Golden Jubilee Young People's Faith Forum.
Ed Cox
Ed Cox works for the Local Government Information Unit on cohesion,
engagement and leadership issues. He is chair of Urban Forum, an umbrella
body for voluntary and community groups involved in urban regeneration
across the UK and also works as a Neighbourhood Renewal Advisor with local
authorities including Derby and Wolverhampton.
Sam Tedcastle
Sam Tedcastle is Managing Director of The Participation - a
Burnley company which evolved after the disturbances in 2001 and focuses
its work on building meaningful dialogue between different groups in order
to improve services and community life.
Steve Jordan (retired)
Now in the private sector after thirty years' public service,
Steve chairs a management support company and is a director of another. He
led a peace mission in the Bosnian war, and more recently has been police
commander of a multicultural area of inner-city Birmingham: in both cases,
community cohesion was at the forefront of activities. On the commission,
he leads on community safety and environment. He lives in South
Worcestershire, in the shadow of the Cotswolds..
Decima Francis
Decima Francis is founder and director of SASS, The From Boyhood
to Manhood Foundation (FBMF), Peace on the Streets, and the ‘Calling the
Shots’ anti gun crime initiative. FBMF, SASS’s most successful project was
set up in 1997 and provides a service to young black men who are failing in
education, involved in high risk behaviour and are in danger of educational
or social exclusion. She was the first and youngest black woman
Director at the Royal National Theatre. In June 2005, she was awarded an
MBE for her work for the black community in Southwark.
Steve Douglas
Steve Douglas is one of the most senior black people in the
public sector. As Deputy Chief Executive of the Housing Corporation he
leads on the Corporation's £3.95 billion investment programme for
affordable housing across England. His proudest achievement is the
completion of a mixed development in Brick Lane, London's East End,
which he completed while at Spitalfields housing association. This not only
provided 40 homes for one of London's most deprived areas, it also
pulled together a number of agencies, including English Partnerships, the
Housing Corporation, and Tower Hamlets council, on a scale that had not
happened before.
Ramesh Kallidai
Ramesh Kallidai is a community worker, journalist, IT consultant
and Public Relations specialist. He holds a post-graduate degree in
Business Computing, besides having board-level experience in corporate
communications, bid management, business development, corporate finance,
and Information Technology. He works as a consultant with Fujitsu Services,
and is also Secretary General of the Hindu Forum of Britain.
