Anna van der Gaag lands role as Public Appointments Ambassador

19 January 2010

Anna van der Gaag has landed a role as a Public Appointments Ambassador in a new Government programme led by the Government Equalities Office and Cabinet Office to encourage more people to apply for public appointments. The Public Appointments Ambassadors programme was launched at a high profile event in Whitehall on 14th January by Government Equalities Office Minister of State Maria Eagle MP.

Anna is a speech and language therapist by background. She was the first of only two women to be appointed Chair of a health regulator under the new reforms to regulation brought in by the government in 2008/9. She is proud of the fact that the new Council at the Health Professions Council has a 50 50 split of women and men and has a strong equality and diversity culture throughout the organisation.

Public Bodies make decisions that affect our day to day lives, but too few women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people sit on boards like the Arts Council, the governing bodies of local hospitals and the Competition Commission.

Anna van der Gaag said: "it's an honour to be selected as an ambassador for this campaign. I have found being a public appointee a hugely rewarding experience. I hope my experience will inspire others from different backgrounds with skills to bring to public boards to come forward."

Anna joins over 180 ambassadors, who are current public appointees from across the UK, including playwright and Deputy Chair of the British Museum, Bonnie Greer, and Peter Cooke, Vice-Chair of the Independent Living Fund. As an ambassador Anna will show why it's vital to have people with a wide range of skills and experience involved in the important decisions public boards make, playing a key role in highlighting the benefits of serving on a board and encouraging more people from under - represented groups to apply.

Two new public appointment mentoring schemes were also launched at the event.

To find out more about public appointments, current vacancies and how to apply for new mentoring programmes, visit http://www.direct.gov.uk/publicappointments

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