IDA Vol 40 Issue 4 - ASID (Dec 2019)

BOARD MEMBER PROFILE
Meet John Grant
I am very pleased to have been recently appointed as a Director
on the ASID Board. I have worked in the disability sector for
17 years and have held the role of General Manager at SkillWise
for 14 years. SkillWise in an NGO providing a range of support
and education options for adults with an intellectual disability to
enable people to develop new skills, have new experiences and to
be active community members. Other roles in the disability sector
include former President of Inclusive New Zealand, an umbrella
organisation of disability providers.
I also sit on several government advisory groups including the
Enabling Good Lives Christchurch Leadership Group, which is
part of the disability sector transformation trialling new ways of
supporting disabled people, including individualised funding. I
held a part-time lecturing position at the Christchurch Polytechnic
Institute of Technology, teaching disability theory, policy and
support practices from 2008 until 2012 and was Chair the Human
Services Advisory Committee at the polytechnic for five years.
John Grant
BA (Hons) MA (Dist)
john.grant@skillwise.org.nz
I have authored several academic papers looking at disability
theory, policy and support practices, with a focus on quality of life,
social inclusion and collaboration. I graduated from the University
of Canterbury in 2002 with a Master of Arts in Sociology, having
completed a thesis looking at quality of life issues for adults with an
intellectual disability who had been through a deinstitutionalisation
process. Outside of work I enjoy keeping fit, including playing club
cricket, football and tramping in the great New Zealand outdoors!
John Grant
BA (Hons) MA (Dist)
• john.grant@skillwise.org.nz
16 www.asid.asn.au