Debbie Weekes-Bernard is London’s Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice. She works to promote social justice and equality for all groups, leading the Mayor’s work to support Londoners with the rising cost of living, working closely with all sectors to provide support to those arriving from outside the UK seeking safety and sanctuary in the city and championing London’s diverse voluntary, community and faith sector. She chairs the Mayor’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory group, as well as London’s Strategic Migration Panel, is co-chair of the Mayor’s Office for Police and Crime’s Disproportionality Board and is a member of the London Policing Board. Debbie chairs a variety of expert groups to ensure the Mayor’s work is informed by lived experience and subject expertise. These groups include the Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations quarterly roundtable, the Race Equality roundtable and Interfaith fora among others. She is also Chair of Praxis, a charity supporting migrants and refugees and is a Distinguished Friend of the Migration Museum. She formerly led the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s work on poverty and ethnicity, was Head of Research at the Runnymede Trust leading work on inclusive curriculum development, education attainment gaps and school exclusion, community cohesion, race and criminal justice and youth transitions.