The Equality and Diversity Forum (EDF) is a network of national organisations committed to equal opportunities, social justice, good community relations, respect for human rights and an end to discrimination based on age, disability, gender and gender identity, race, religion or belief, and sexual orientation

The EDF Annual Report for 2008-2009 gives information about EDF’s activities, achievements, people and organisation. Click here for pdf or here for word format of the report.

EDF people

Sarah Spencer CBE (Chair) was a founder member of the Equality and Diversity Forum in 2002 and was subsequently elected as its chair. She is Deputy Director at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford and a Visiting Professor at the Human Rights Centre, University of Essex. Sarah was Deputy Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality (2003-2005) and a Commissioner at the CRE and chair of its Public Policy and Public Sector Committee for four years (2002-2006), overseeing its inquiry into site provision for Gypsies and Travellers. Sarah was General Secretary of the National Council for Civil Liberties (Liberty) in the 1980s and subsequently Director of the Citizenship and Governance Programme at the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr).

Sarah has twice been seconded into the Cabinet Office to contribute to policy research on migration; was a member of the Home Office Taskforce on the Human Rights Act and later a member of the Government Taskforce on the Commission for Equality and Human Rights. She represented the Equality and Diversity Forum on the Reference Group for the Equalities and Discrimination Law Reviews, currently represents EDF on the advisory committee to the Government Equality Office, and is on the advisory board of the British Institute of Human Rights. She has published widely on equality, human rights and migration issues.

Sarah Spencer CBE

Amanda Ariss (Chief Executive) became Chief Executive of the Equality and Diversity Forum in September 2008.  As EDF’s Chief Executive, Amanda is a member of the Government Equality Office Senior Stakeholder Group on the Equality Bill, the National Institute for Health Programme Advisory Board, and of Advisory Group for the Public Services Trust’s Equality and Cohesion project.  She also contributed to one of the working committees that supported Professor Sir Michael Marmot’s Review of Health Inequalities.

Until October 2007, Amanda was Head of Policy and Research at the Equal Opportunities Commission where she was closely involved in the creation of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and led the launch of the gender equality duty.  During her time with the EOC she also led their work on the gender pay gap, work life balance, pensions and women’s participation in public life.  After leaving the EOC, Amanda took nine months off to travel.  Before joining the EOC Amanda was an Associate Director of the Audit Commission and worked in local government for 11 years.

In a private capacity she is a Trustee of the YWCA and of Brook London.  She holds degrees in English and Politics.

Amanda Ariss

Patrick Grattan (Secretary) set up the Equality and Diversity Forum in 2002. He also founded The Age and Employment Network (TAEN) in 1997 and was Chief Executive for 10 years to 2007. Patrick built up TAEN as a leading centre of expertise and policy body and as a network of organisations committed to better opportunities to learn, work and earn. He was appointed MBE in 2001 for this work. He was a member of advisory boards and groups for Government departments, the Learning and Skills Council, Jobcentre Plus and a number of voluntary organisations. He continues to work in a supporting role for TAEN.

Patrick has had a varied career in the Diplomatic Service and Civil Service and in the oil industry, working in the UK, the USA and France. He ran the operations of the Prince’s Youth Business Trust. He was a member of the Parole Board from 1997- 2003 and a former board member of Notting Hill Housing Trust. He is an active performing musician.

Patrick Grattan

Jean Scott (Treasurer) currently work at the TUC as Finance Manager with responsibilities for the management and preparation of the accounts of the TUC, the charities TUC Education Trust, Tolpuddle Memorial Trust and TUC Aid. Jean has worked at the TUC since October 2007. Before that, she qualified as an accountant at Barnet College.

As the wife of a diplomat, Jean spent fifteen years accompanying her husband on a variety of overseas posts, spending time in Pakistan, Nigeria and Malaysia. On returning to the UK in the 1980s with three young children, Jean eventually started working in the accounts department of a private contract company, at first on a part-time basis before progressing to fully managing the company accounts. Jean has taught accounts up to professional level at a local college and been involved with the careers advice network of one of the accounting bodies.

Gay Moon (Special Legal Adviser) is a solicitor and an independent adviser on equality law policy. She is a Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust Fellow, a Director and former Chair of the Discrimination Law Association (DLA), a member of the European Social Platform Virtual Legal Expert Group on the Article 13 Directives, and Vice Chair of the UK Race and Europe Network (UKREN).

Gay was previously Head of the Equality Project at JUSTICE, and prior to that she worked for 20 years at Camden Community Law Centre, where she took the leading European equality case R v Secretary of State for Employment ex parte Seymour Smith to the European Court of Justice.

Gay has organized many conferences, written numerous articles and chapters on equality law. She is a co-author of the ‘Discrimination Law Handbook’ published by Legal Action and the European Commission’s Ius Commune European Common Law Casebook ‘Cases, Materials and Texts on National, Supranational and International Non- Discrimination Law’, published by Hart Publications. She was previously Editor of the DLA Briefings for eight years.

Gay Moon

Jonathan Finney (Chair of Communications Sub-group) is Senior Parliamentary Officer at Stonewall, the national lesbian, gay and bisexual equality organisation. Jonathan played a leading role in Stonewall’s parliamentary campaigns to secure new legal protections against goods and services discrimination, implemented in 2007, and a new criminal offence of incitement to hatred on grounds of sexual orientation, passed in May 2008. Before joining Stonewall in 2005, Jonathan worked in a number of central Government departments, including helping to deliver the Civil Partnership Bill in the Women and Equality Unit. Stonewall’s major current campaigns include Education for All, tackling homophobia and homophobic bullying in schools. Stonewall currently works with almost 500 organisations across the private, public and voluntary sectors through its Diversity Champions programme for employers. Visit www.stonewall.org.uk for info.

Electra Babouri (Administrative and Information Officer) works part-time at the Equality and Diversity Forum. Prior to joining EDF she worked as a Conference Co-ordinator at NCH the Children’s Charity. She has an MA from University College London in Public Archaeology focusing on Human Rights and Indigenous Cultural Rights. She is currently researching the effectiveness of International Law with regards to safeguarding Indigenous Rights. She has carried out fieldwork in New Zealand and Australia.

Electra Babouri

Moira Dustin (Director of Communications and Research) works part-time at the Equality and Diversity Forum. She is a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE) and has a PhD in Gender Studies from the LSE Gender Institute. Before joining EDF, Moira worked at the Refugee Council, providing advice and information and developing national services for refugees and asylum-seekers. She has worked as a freelance subeditor on the Guardian and Independent and was the Information Worker for the Carnegie Inquiry into the Third Age. She is a member of the Women’s National Commission Violence Against Women Working Group, the Advisory Committee for the Refugee Women’s Resource Project at Asylum Aid, and the Steering Group of HEAR, London’s pan-equalities and human rights network.

Moira Dustin

Equality and Diversity Forum representation
EDF is represented on the Government’s Equality Bill Senior Stakeholder Group, the  advisory group for the 2020 Public Services Trust equality and cohesion project, the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s reference group on Equality Bill guidance, the English Regions Equality and Human Rights Network (EREN) and HEAR (the London pan equality network).  EDF provides the secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Equalities.

How we are funded
EDF would like to thank the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity – PROGRESS (2007-2013), the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the Barrow Cadbury Trust, Trust for London, the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and the Department for Communities and Local Government for funding our current work.  In addition, EDF is supported in cash and kind by its members.  We particularly appreciate the support offered by our host organisation, Age UK.

The ‘For Diversity. Against Discrimination.’ information campaign is run by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities and is funded through PROGRESS, the EU’s employment and social solidarity programme. Click here for more information about the campaign.

The Equality and Diversity Forum was established in 2002. It is a registered charity (no. 1135357) and company (no. 6464749). Click here for the Equality and Diversity Forum’s Memorandum and Articles.