Dianne Sealy-Skerritt

Author, Speaker, Trainer,
Social Justice Champion

Dianne Sealy-Skerritt is a retired Church of England officer and a contributing author to the Archbishop of York’s bestselling book, Hope Stories: 20 True Stories Changing Lives Today (Sentamu, John; 2014; Darton Longham Todd Ltd). She was Equality and Diversity Officer for the Church of England (Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham) from 2007 until early 2017. As part of this role, she led the Rainbow Project for racial diversity and social justice for asylum-seekers, refugees and other socially marginalised groups. Dianne also has a professional background in management development consultancy, staff development and training, social work, adoption and fostering. She was Nottinghamshire County Council’s first African-Caribbean senior social worker. She progressed to Principal Officer Staff Development and Training, followed by Team Leader with the Employee Development Team. In her freelance management consultancy role, her customers included Nottinghamshire Constabulary with whom she worked on issues arising from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. She has served on the board of a number of local and national organisations to promote equality and social justice. Dianne pioneered the Church of England’s relationship with the Gypsy Roma Traveller Communities and was instrumental in promoting its collaboration with Pentecostal Majority Black-led Churches. She also represented the Diocese on the Changing Attitudes Group to promote the rights of Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Intersexual people.

One of the world’s real champions
of social justice and inclusion