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New Head of Department for Health Practice

11 June, 2020

Ara Institute of Canterbury Ltd is pleased to announce that John Grant started at Ara in the role of Head of Department Health Practice on June the 8th 2020.

John, a Masters (Sociology) graduate of the University of Canterbury, comes to Ara with 18 years’ experience in senior management and leadership roles across the health and disability sector. John is also no stranger to Ara, having taught at Ara part-time as part of the Bachelor of Applied Science programme, with a focus on disability theory, policy and support practices. He was also Chair of the Human Services Advisory Committee at Ara until 2016.

His most recent previous role, starting in 2005, was General Manager of Skillwise, an Christchurch-based NGO delivering a wide range of support services for people with learning disabilities and mental health issues. John has held several other governance roles in the sector including Chair of Inclusive NZ, an umbrella organisation of health and disability support providers, and sitting on several government advisory groups including The Ministry of Social Development’s Health and Disability Reference Group.

John has also been working as Director of the Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability, an Australian-based research organisation which supports the transformation of research into practice. He has authored several academic papers looking at health and disability theory, policy and support practices, with a particular focus on quality of life and collaboration.