Meet the judges
Meet the judges of the Disability Smart Awards 2024.
Disability Smart Awards Judges
Hamish Shah, Policy and Innovation Manager, Chartered Management Institute
Hamish is the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion lead within CMI’s policy team and co-authored CMI’s Everyone Economy report evidencing what managers and leaders can do to create truly inclusive workplaces.
Pepi Sappal, Founder & Director of Fair Play Talks & Head of PR & Communications at myGwork
Pepi has been championing workplace inclusion across all diversity spectrums, including disability, through her writing on diversity, equity, inclusion and wellbeing issues on publications including WSJ and HR/management for more than three decades, and on platforms like fairplaytalks.com and myGwork.
Becks Brindley, Digital Accessibility Lead, NatWest Group
With over 15 years in digital and banking, Rebecca has seen the positive impact that both technology and organisational culture can have, when we get it right for people with disabilities.
Ed Warner, Founder and CEO, Motionspot
Founded in 2012, Ed has built Motionspot into an award-winning inclusive design, built environment specialist. Motionspot helps clients to create inclusively designed environments which support diversity and work for everyone.
Sam Latif, Company Accessibility Leader, Procter & Gamble
Sam Latif is P&G’s first Company Accessibility Leader –responsible for driving forward innovation to make the company’s 65+ brands inclusive and accessible for both people with disabilities and the general population.
Peter Torres-Fremlin, Author of Disability Debrief
Peter has spent over ten years working to promote employment of disabled people internationally. He now writes Disability Debrief as a disability lens on world news.
Bela Gor, Head of Legal and Content, Business Disability Forum
Bela is responsible for the design and content of Business Disability Forum’s events and the resources in our Knowledge Hub. She is a lawyer with over 20 years’ experience of disability discrimination law.
Ian Streets, Director of Access, Freeney Williams Ltd
Ian has been involved with accessibility for over 20 years and has worked on many projects including buildings still being designed and buildings that have stood for hundreds of years. 
Jacob Spargo-Mabbs, Content Manager, Business Disability Forum
Jacob has worked in Business Disability Forum’s content team for four years. He has created multiple resources including the Recruitment Toolkit and the Procurement Toolkit.
Jean Tennant, Technical Writer, Business Disability Forum
Jean is a Technical Writer and is one of the team behind the resources in our Knowledge Hub. Her specialist interests are occupational health, safety, neurodiversity, and the built environment.’
Sasha Hailey, Disability Business Partner, Business Disability Forum
In her prior experience as a Senior Account Manager within the Research & Development funding sector, Sasha developed an eye for change and improvement that she now applies to disability inclusion and access.
Lucy Ruck, Taskforce Manager, Business Disability Forum
Lucy leads the Technology Taskforce and manages the Customer Taskforce, Procurement Network and the Northern England Network. She also co-hosts our podcast series, ‘If you don’t mind me asking.’
Daniel Cadey, Senior Disability Business Partner, Business Disability Forum
Daniel provides advice and support to several Business Disability Forum Partner organisations to enable them to become disability-smart. He also co-leads our Global Taskforce and co-hosts our podcast series, ‘If you don’t mind me asking’.
Anthony Allison-Burke, Creative Designer, Business Disability Forum
Anthony has over 15 years’ experience in digital and print design. Specialising in inclusive design and accessible documents, Anthony uses his expertise to help organisations make their communications accessible.
Sarah Bartlett, Press Consultant and Writer
Sarah has over 15 years’ experience of working in cause-led communications. She has led several campaigns around accessible communication and currently oversees our media and press work. Sarah has also authored several resources for Business Disability Forum, such as the Inclusive Communication Toolkit.
Hazel Leighfield, Lead Disability Business Partner, Business Disability Forum
Hazel combines her 25 years’ experience working with large complex organisations with her passion for disability inclusion as Lead Disability Business Partner.
Disability Confident Awards judges
Julie Ann Williams, Disability Confident Policy Manager, DWP
Julie supports employers of all sizes and sectors to effectively attract, recruit and retain disabled people in the workplace. Julie works closely with Ministers, MPs, and Government departments.
Amanda Wadsworth MBE DL, Disability Confident Policy Lead, DWP
Amanda supports the work of the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work in the development and implementation of the government’s Disability Confident scheme. Amanda also works strategically with other government departments and key stakeholders. She is proud to be a Mental Health First Aid England Instructor.
Christiana Olojo, Disability Confident Policy Advisor, DWP
Chris’s role is engaging with businesses to support them on their journey to becoming a Disability Confident employer. Chris is actively engaging with internal and external stakeholders in making sure that being a Disability Confident employer continues to be at the forefront for all businesses.
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