Speakers

Simon Blake, Chair of Compact Voice and Chief Executive of Brook

Simon Blake is Chief Executive of Brook, the leading voluntary sector provider of integrated sexual health services for young people across the UK. He was previously the Assistant Director of Children’s Development at the National Children’s Bureau, and is a former director of the Sex Education Forum.
 

Phil Hope MP, Minister for the Third Sector

Phil Hope was elected Member of Parliament for Corby and East Northamptonshire in 1997 and was appointed Minister for the Third Sector in June 2007 and Minister for the East Midlands in January 2008. Prior to this, he served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Skills, Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, and to Nick Raynsford as Minister of State for Housing and Planning.

Sir Bert Massie CBE, Commissioner for the Compact

Sir Bert Massie CBE has worked in the voluntary sector for 40 years and has served on a number of government advisory committees. He is a former Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission, now part of the recently created Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), and Chief Executive of RADAR, the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation. He is currently a Commissioner for the EHRC in conjunction with his new role at the Commission for the Compact. Sir Bert was created a Knight in 2007 in recognition of his services to disabled people

Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)

Matthew Taylor is Chief Executive of the RSA and a former Chief Adviser on Political Strategy to the Prime Minister. He was appointed to work for the Labour Party in 1994. Before this, he was a county councillor, a parliamentary candidate, a university research fellow and the director of a unit monitoring policy in the health service. Until December 1998, Matthew was Assistant General Secretary for the Labour Party and during the 1997 General Election he was Labour’s Director of Policy and a member of the Party’s central election strategy team. Matthew is a frequent media commentator on policy and political issues, and has written for publications including The Guardian, The Observer and New Statesman.