Rachel Smalley

Rachel is the Head of Inclusive Design at Jacobs, a Chartered Building Engineer and a Chartered Town Planner. She was appointed as a special advisor to the House of Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee in 2016 and led the Access Association as their national president for seven years. She has sat on British standards committees for over 15 years and is the chair of the committee responsible for the BS8300 suite of documents relating to the creation of accessible and inclusive environments.

Whilst working for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Rachel developed and delivered ‘planning gateway one’ of the new building safety regime. She has worked for the current and previous Mayors of London as a principal advisor on access and inclusion, drafting the current London Plan policy on inclusive design, accessible housing and fire safety. Rachel has also worked in local authority building control and was appointed to the Building Regulations Advisory Committee from 2015 to 2020. 

Rachel and her talented, diverse team of global specialists are empowering Jacobs to build a better, safer and more inclusive world through inclusive design.