Growing good leadership
17 July 2018
A new Disabled Leadership Group brought together by Life Unlimited will bring a valuable mix of expertise, lived
experience and fresh thinking to help inform the future direction of the organisation and the services it delivers.
Members of the eight-person group have experience covering a range of disabilities, geographic locations and cultural
backgrounds. Members include people either living with a disability themselves or supporting immediate whānau with
disabilities.
The group will have a hands-on role with wide-ranging responsibilities which include reviewing the delivery of
disability information to ensure ongoing quality. It will also provide continued input into the development of the
Online Information Hub including contributing new content and story ideas.
Another challenge for the Disabled Leadership Group will be the exploration of new ideas for service improvement, plus
they will be responsible for testing and providing ongoing feedback on the management of newly-implemented initiatives.
The group will also focus on advocacy, raising any issues or concerns for the disability community on the implementation
and management of services and improvement initiatives across the sector.
Life Unlimited chief executive Mark Brown said the new Disabled Leadership Group is a welcome addition to the
organisation and demonstrates Life Unlimited’s commitment to listening to disabled people’s voices.
“By establishing a Disabled Person’s Leadership Group we intend to underpin the support we deliver and the service
improvements we make with input and guidance from people who live with a disability or support a person living with a
disability.”
Life Unlimited welcomes Anne Wilkinson, Darya Small and John McIntosh from Hamilton; Freedom Nathan from Te Kuiti; Dan
Carswell, Genevieve McLachlan and Elizabeth Taefu from the Wellinton region and Sandra Wood from Gisborne to the
Disabled Leadership Group.
My name is Dan Carswell. I have lived both in the community and in residential care over the past twenty-five years.
I want to be involved in the leadership group as I believe I can add a lot of experience in terms of dealing with
caregivers in your own home.
I also believe that more organisations need to have people in leadership roles that use the service that is being
provided as it is only those persons that have first-hand experience on what is being offered.
ENDS