Leander brings over 17 years' experience of working as a management consultant and trainer and more than 25 years of experience of working with public sector and voluntary and community sector community organisations. Leander formed Necko Consultancy in November 1992 to provide a broad range of inter-linked services promoting organisational development and capacity building. Leander provides a range of development, support and training services covering business and strategic planning, service effectiveness, monitoring and evaluation and equalities. Consultancy and research areas include developing new projects, effective equalities strategies, equality reviews and addressing public sector statutory equalities duties.

Leander commitment to tackling discrimination and promoting equality is longstanding and dates back over 25 years '1. Leander:

  • brings over twenty years' experience of advising on equalities issues – as a trade union equalities officer in the early 1980s, as a national equalities adviser in the mid 1980's and as a consultant, manager of the community division for LVSC (1988 – 91) and an equalities focused management consultant and trainer since 1992;
  • has delivered major equalities programmes for a range of local authorities across the country (e.g. Bath and North East Somerset Council, Cornwall County Council, Haringey Council, Lewisham Council, Southwark Council and Waltham Forest Council);
  • has led major equalities focused consultancy, research and training programmes for major public sector organisations (e.g. the CRE, GLA and DEFRA);
  • has supported public sector organisations to comply with equality requirements (e.g. the Judicial Appointments Commission, Southwark College, Waltham Forest Council);
  • has worked extensively with voluntary and community organisations particularly those seeking to challenge and tackle discrimination and promote equality (e.g. BME or BAME, carers, disability, elders, migrant and refugee and other organisations working with cultural or religious communities).

Leander has been an approved NCVO consultant for over 7 years and currently is also an associate of a number of leading regional and organisations including the Centre for Local Policy Studies '2, the Centre for Strategy and Communication, London Voluntary Service Council, ROTA and the 1990 Trust. Leander is in the process of undertaking a PhD focusing on the public sector equality duties and has also been working closely with a number of organisations lobbying around the Equality Bill. Leander brings a detailed understanding, developed over 25 years, of previous, current and planned anti-discrimination, equality, human rights and civil rights legislation and associated debates.

 

1 Key equality focused personal and professional roles include: a) being the Co-ordinator for a Croydon Race and Community Unit's Single Parents Project (1982-83); b) being a NUPE Ethnic Minority Liaison Officer and Secretary of Hackney Council's Joint Shop Stewards Committee (1983 – 87); c) being the Local Government Information Unit's Equalities Adviser ( 1987 – 88); d) serving on the Housing Corporation's Race Advisory Working Party (1988 – 1989); e) being the chairperson of Kente, a London wide BME co-ordinating body (1996 – 1997); f) acting as an advisor to Hackney Caribbean Elderly Project (1986 – the current time).

2 A university research centre focusing on equality and diversity and the authors of the Equality Standard for Local Government.