Nikki is a Senior Adviser at the Local Government Association. She has always worked within Health and Social Care and promoted the rights of people with a learning disability and/or Autism and their families. During this time Nikki has developed a significant breadth of experience in setting up, managing and improving support organisations to establish people at the heart of decision making around their own lives.
Irrespective of the organisation she has been based in, Nikki's focus has always ensured the organisation recognises peoples voices and aspirations. Whilst holding strategic roles within local government or health bodies she has continued to uphold her strong principles and values about people and power. The type of organisation she is working with has never prevented her involving people and recognising whose voice is at the forefront of everything she does, working collaboratively and being wholly committed to the delivery of co-production at every level of her work.
Nikki is an ideas person and loves generating conversations for change regardless of who will go on to do the work, she has however also put those ideas into practice developing organisations to meet individual and community needs. Her core values can be recognised in her work as co-founder of an award winning Social Enterprise, by developing and running community support using braided funding models for a wide range of people in one area and winning DWP awards for innovation, by applying the core principles of person-centred planning and supporting people who were experiencing long term unemployment to find ways back to work.
In the past Nikki set up and ran a bespoke support organisation for a funder developing individual teams where people had control of their staff team and support: making best use of the funding they had access to, including Direct Payments and Individual Service Funds. Prior to this people had spent time in a secure hospital or were at risk of the system sending them outside of their local area and into more institutional settings.
