Arthur Ivatts is a senior educational consultant with Open Society Foundations. He worked initially as a teacher and youth leader. Following a higher degree in anthropology, which focused on the Gypsies/Roma in England, he became involved with the early efforts to secure education for Roma/Gypsy and Traveller children. After some years working within the voluntary NGO sector concerned with Gypsies/Roma and Travellers, he joined Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools (HMI) in England in 1975 and soon became the HMI with national responsible for the education of Gypsy/Roma and Traveller children. He held this post until 2003 when he decided to do consultancy work for government departments and intergovernmental organisations. In 2004 Arthur was awarded the 'Order of the British Empire' (OBE) by the Queen for his services to education. He has been involved in Roma/Gypsy related projects in Bulgaria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Sweden and Romania. In 2003/4 he worked with a small research team on a report for the European Commission in relation to Roma and EU enlargement "The Situation of Roma in an Enlarged European Union" - EU November 2004). He has also worked for the Council of Europe, UNICEF and UNESCO.