Gael Surgenor is a lawyer, community worker and resource producer.  She currently works for the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand and co-ordinates the Government Policy Project for the Like Minds, Like Mine Anti-discrimination Campaign.  In 2000 and 2001 she worked for Mental Health Media in the UK as Head of Production.

Gael has been an ally of the consumer movement in New Zealand since the late 1980s and has been particularly active in initiating and supporting advocacy and legal services.

Funded by the Ministry of Health, the Like Minds project aims to change public attitudes to mental distress.  It has identified strategic objectives to achieve this: consumer empowerment, mass media and PR, working with mental health services, government policy and community action.

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