Liz Sayce OBE

Liz Sayce is Chief Executive of Disability Rights UK, the UK’s leading pan-disability organisation. She is a Commissioner at the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and has recently led an Independent Review into disability employment programmes.

From 2000-2007 she was Director, Policy and Communications, for the Disability Rights Commission, where she led on creating a new Disability Agenda for policy for the next 2 decades, covering skills, employment, housing, health, social care and more. She also directed a Formal Investigation into physical health inequalities experienced by people with mental health problems and/or learning disabilities. Previously she was Director of Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Health Action Zone. She spent 8 years as Policy Director of Mind, and one year as a Harkness Fellow in the USA, studying the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act and related policy initiatives. She was a member of the UK Government’s Disability Rights Task Force (1997-99). With personal experience and knowledge of mental health issues, she has published widely on mental health, disability and social inclusion, including From Psychiatric Patient to Citizen (Macmillan-Palgrave 2000).

Liz was awarded an OBE in 2008 in recognition of services to disabled people.