Community Spotlight: Five Questions with Gary Allen
Since 1997 Gary has worked in the Human Research Ethics and Research Integrity spheres. He has worked with research ethics committees in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and Vietnam. He has served on committees and reference groups of the NHMRC. In 2009, he co-founded Australasian Human Research Ethics Consultancy Services (AHRECS), which is now one of the main HRE/RI consultancy firms in Australia. In recent years he’s started conducting consultancies in New Zealand and in the UK. at the same time we are busy with Australian clients and publishing the Research Ethics Monthly (www.ahrecs.com/blog).
In 2019, Gary co-founded and become CEO of Enabled.vip. Enabled.vip is a virtual incubator for Australians who live with a disability to monetise a hobby/craft, establish a gig-based micro business; or establish a hobby.
We asked Gary to share a little bit about himself and the causes that drive him forward every day.
What are you curious about?
Exploring whether my assumptions about the needs of our potential participants, the platform and B2B were correct. I can see a nice data collection for Mindhive would be to do a longitudinal about the needs of our members and whether these change over the course of their membership.
What makes you get up on a Monday morning?
The possibility of making a positive contribution in the disability entrepreneurship space in Australia, with the personal impacts and economic impacts that I believe could accrue.
Have you ever had a wildcard moment, where you’ve learnt something new from an unusual source?
I have a daily ritual of watching at least three TED Talks per day (more if it’s a topic I am particularly curious about – bioethics, disability, UBI, entrepreneurship). I have found them a great source of inspiration, even if it was tangential to the topic the speaker was supposedly talking about.
What needs changing in the world right now?
A recognition that disability doesn’t determine the potential or value of your ideas. BUT prejudice, isolation or ignorance can.
What is the best advice that you have received and passed on?
There is literally no one in the world that doesn’t have an insight, or experience that you can’t learn from. The trick is to learn to listen with an open heart, rather than talk with a closed heart and ears.