London, England—Joan Saddler, who serves on the board for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in the United Kingdom, received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) from Queen Elizabeth II on December 6 during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. The award recognized Saddler's promotion of equality and diversity in healthcare, volunteer service, and for her work with ADRA.

The award was created by King George V in 1917 and is the order of chivalry of British democracy. "Valuable service is the only criterion for the award," states the Buckingham Palace Web site. Only 240 people a year receive the award out of a population of 61 million.

Saddler is the second person with connections to ADRA to receive the order in the last two years. In 2006, John Arthur, former director of ADRA in Trans-Europe, received the OBE for his nearly four decades of outstanding humanitarian service, including his efforts in Albania, Sarajevo, and Kosovo.

Saddler has served for years in the voluntary sector mentoring ethnic minorities and publicizing healthcare information for citizens.

In 2003 she became chair of Waltham Forest PCT, which subsequently became the first organization to publish performance evaluations for every general practitioner in the local newspaper.

Saddler has served on committees for a range of local and regional agencies and is a member of the ADRA UK board. In 1998 she developed a mentoring program for black women managers in Islington.

Saddler founded Direct Consultancy, which provides research and capacity building programs for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, and is a founding member of the Haringey Women's Forum, an advice and information service.

She jointly proposed and is co-chair of the National Health Service BME Leadership Forum, which mentors 75 BME leaders in influencing the NHS health and social care policy.

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