Emilie Yerby has just been appointed as the second Disability and Equalities Officer. She is taking over from Emma Jones, who has moved on to another post within the Civil Service, and will be responsible for writing the Disability Strategy.
Emilie is fairly new to the States. She spent a year working as a Graduate Officer at Social Security, where she was closely involved with the Review of Attendance and Invalid Care Allowances and was part of the project team for the Minimum Income Standards study.
Before that, she studied modern languages at Cambridge, where she was a member of the Disabled Students’ Liberation Campaign – a group which called for greater understanding of the social model of disability and the barriers people face to full inclusion in higher education – as well as various other groups and societies focusing on social justice and inclusion.
Emilie is based at the Health & Social Services Department, as the post has been transferred across from the Social Policy Group. However, the Policy Council is still responsible for ensuring that the Strategy is produced, so Emilie will be working closely with the Social Policy Coordinator, Carol Le Page, as well as staff at HSSD. A report on the progress of the Strategy is expected in late 2012.
Over the next couple of months, Emilie will be aiming to meet with individuals and organisations who have a key role to play in shaping the Disability Strategy – including those represented by the Guernsey Disability Alliance. She will be in touch directly, but anyone who wants to find out more about the Strategy or share their experiences is invited to contact her at any time – email eyerby@hssd.gov.gg or telephone 01481 725241.