Erik Matthies is Policy Lead for Inclusive Journeys at the Royal National Institute for Blind People (RNIB), the UK’s leading sight loss charity. Erik has been registered blind since birth and grew up in Minnesota, USA, before moving to the UK as a young adult.
During his time with RNIB, Erik has campaigned tirelessly for improved access and inclusivity on our streets and transport systems, securing a U-turn in the proposed closure of train ticket offices and the implementation of tactile paving on almost all platform edges in Great Britain. He has decades of experience in advocacy and campaigning for causes that are personal to him: immigrants, disabled people, and LGBT+ people, within and outside of party politics, in both the UK and the U.S.