At first look, the automobile industry and a disability organisation don’t have many things in common, but for Ray Grigg – who has spent an extensive period involved in both – there are definite parallels.
Named as a Bedford Honorary Life Member in late 2023 following 14 years of service from 2004-2019, Ray said the aspects of his 47-year career with General Motors which he enjoyed the most, were the same reasons he was passionate about working with Bedford.
“In both settings, you’re working with people, you’re making things happen, you’re seeing the end result of whatever you started to do, and all of that is very rewarding,” Ray says.
Ray’s first association with Bedford dates back to well before he became a Board Member, back to when he was still wearing his General Motors hat representing the company as a guest speaker at Bedford Awards Days from 1987-1993.
Ray kept in contact with Bedford, and was asked to join the Bedford Board. He gladly took up the offer upon retiring from General Motors in 2004.
Ray became Deputy Chair in 2005, and Chair in 2013, a position he then held until 2019.
One of Ray’s highlights while working with Bedford, was helping to refine the organisation’s motto of ‘changing lives,’ and the mission ‘to support people with a disability to live the life they choose.’
Ray said the strategic thinking about how to carry out this mission was excellent preparation for the strategic planning required when the NDIS was rolled out in the mid-2010s.
“In the early days of NDIS, it took a lot of effort to cover all our employees and all our people, and get them in line with the NDIS requirements,” Ray says. “We successfully completed an audit of the NDIS quality and safeguarding framework guidelines, which was a real key to moving forward. There was a lot of time spent on that, and lot of discussion.”
Ray admits it wasn’t all sunshine and daisies while he was at Bedford – largely due to complications to do with the NDIS rollout – yet when the company was going through tough times, he never doubted the power and ability of the dedicated team.
“My philosophy is to push the decision-making down the chain, and have faith in those people. If you give people responsibility, they’ll act responsibly and achieve for you,” Ray says.
But no matter how challenging the situation, Ray’s passion for helping Bedford employees was all the fuel he needed.
“Whether it was workers cleaning and preparing cutlery for catering jobs, or maintaining parks and gardens, the diversity of Bedford is amazing. You have people with disability working and contributing to society, and they have such a sense of pride doing that.”
Originally from Victoria, Ray moved back to Melbourne in 2020, and while his official commitment to Bedford had concluded, his interest in the organisation remained strong – and still does.
“I enjoyed being a part of Bedford, and will always be interested in its progress,” Ray says.