Disability consultancy founder 'humbled' by CBE
BBCThe chief executive of a consultancy that helps disabled people find work has spoken of her pride after she was appointed CBE.
Helen Cooke, from Windsor, set up MyPlus in 2006, which works with firms to ensure they are inclusive and provides students with specialist careers advice.
She said she was "incredibly proud [and] very humbled".
Cooke, who uses a wheelchair following a childhood spinal cord injury, said the award was a recognition of how "important this work is to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to have the career that they want to have".
She was first informed about her recognition in November, ahead of it being publicly revealed last month.
Cooke started her career at Marks & Spencer on a graduate commercial programme in the early 1990s when it was "really unusual" to have a wheelchair user working in its stores.
Following three-and-a-half years there, she spent a decade working for Mars, where she moved into HR and recruitment.
"In both cases we have to remember when I joined we didn't have the Disability Discrimination Act," she said.
"I had no rights, employers had no duties. There was no such thing as reasonable adjustments. I got lucky because two people who saw past my disability and saw me as someone who had the abilities to do the job I had applied for.
"Things have progressed but I still think 20 years ago there were a lot of barriers and there still are to people having the career they want to have. There are lots of barriers – unintended but still there."
Cooke said that it is estimated a third of the student population is expected to be classed as disabled by 2030, making it even more important that their skills are fully realised.
"We need to ensure that if we're going to leverage on that talent, employers are in a position to do that because, if they're not, they've got a lot of catching up to do.
"We want to make sure that those talented individuals can contribute to society, to the UK, to our growth and to our success."
