STAMMA Trustee becomes govt access ambassador

Monday 4th August 2025 - 14:13

Deborah

We're proud to announce that STAMMA Trustee Deborah Johnston has been appointed Disability and Access Ambassador for universities, by the Office for Equality & Opportunity.

Disability and Access Ambassadors, or DAAs, are senior business leaders who work with government to boost accessibility for disabled people across their industries.

They cover a list of 20 such industries including arts & culture, energy, housing and more, with each DAA serving for three-years. The ambassadors meet quarterly and use their experiences to help improve the quality of evidence and data about inequality and the types of barriers different people face.

We're thrilled that Deborah has been included in the list to represent people with speech differences in universities. Deborah is a professor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at London South Bank University, where she advocates for accessibility and equality for disabled students and staff, inspired by her personal experience of studying and working with a stammer. She has also been a STAMMA Trustee since 2022, and served as interim Vice Chair in 2023-24.

The Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms MP, Minister for Social Security and Disability, said:

"I am very pleased to be working with this impressive group of senior leaders, whose expertise and enthusiasm engenders positive changes in accessibility for disabled people. They are really supporting the government in this important work. They are generous with their time and support. The Disability and Access Ambassadors help us to improve all disabled people's lives, by using their experience and insight throughout their sectors, and supporting the changes in accessibility we want to see across a wide range of private sector industries."

Hopefully, Deborah's presence will also raise stammering awareness among the other ambassadors, so that they can meet the needs of people who stammer within their respective sectors.

Check out our full list of Trustees.