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Elizabeth was inspired to become a nurse at the young age of four because, whilst she was in care, a ‘wonderful nursing nun’ treated her childhood eczema in an expert and sensitive manner. Born in Birmingham in 1947, she identifies herself as of Irish/Nigerian heritage and started work for the NHS as a school nurse assistant in Wolverhampton at the age of 16.
From Sickle to Seacole
Elizabeth put a substantial amount of her life into her work as a nurse, health visitor and tutor working with black and minority ethnic communities in London. ‘People from diverse cultures are not always valued and still sometimes just seen as problems,’ she says. In 1979, she helped to establish in Brent the first nurse-led UK Sickle & Thalassaemia Screening and Counselling Centre. In 1988 she was awarded a PhD from the Institute of Education, University College London (UCL). From 1990-1997 she worked at the Institute of Child Health, UCL as a Lecturer then Senior Lecturer in Community Genetic Counselling. She has written extensively and is a co-author with Professor Karl Atkin of the book ‘The Politics of Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia’ published in 2001 by the Open University Press.
Honoured for services to nursing
Elizabeth was honoured with the Order of Merit in 2022 and a Damehood (DBE) in the 2017 Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for her services to nursing and the Mary Seacole Statue Appeal. The Queen’s Nursing Institute awarded her a Fellowship (FQNI) in October 2017. In 2001 she was awarded a CBE for services to nursing. In 2004 she was presented with the Royal College of Nursing Fellowship (FRCN) for her work in the development of nurse-led sickle cell and thalassaemia counselling services and education and leadership in transcultural nursing. In July 2018, as part of the celebrations for the 70th Anniversary of the National Health Service, Elizabeth was included in the list of the 70 most influential nurses and midwives in the history of the NHS.
Baroness Floella Benjamin, OM, DBE, DL is an actress, singer, presenter, author, businesswoman, philanthropist, and politician. She was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London in 2008 and was listed in the 2020 Powerlist as one of the Top 100 most influential people in the UK of African/African-Caribbean descent.
She celebrates 53 years in the entertainment industry, receiving numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Special Lifetime Achievement Award and an OBE in 2001 for services to broadcasting.
She was president of the Elizabeth R Commonwealth Broadcasting Fund and a governor of the National Film and Television School for 17 years, championing their diversity and inclusion policy.
She has written over 30 books including the best selling ‘Coming to England’ which is now part of the UK National Curriculum. Her autobiography ‘What Are You Doing Here?’ won the 2023 Parliamentary Book Award – Best autobiography by a Parliamentarian.
In 2006 she was the first Afro-Caribbean woman to be appointed as Chancellor of a UK university – the University of Exeter, where there is now a statue to celebrate her chancellorship.
She became a Lib-Dem peer in 2010 and has successfully got legislation through for the Children’s Performance Act and for the resurgence of children’s television production output by commercial broadcasters.
She chaired both the Windrush Commemoration Committee, overseeing the creation a National Windrush Monument at Waterloo Station and the Windrush Portraits Committee for His Majesty the King to celebrate Windrush 75. She is actively involved with numerous charities, including the Sickle Cell Society, Transplant Links and is Vice-President of Barnardo’s.
She was made a Dame in the 2020 for services to charity and was appointed into the Order of Merit in 2022, which was one of the late Queen’s last wishes.
She was chosen by King Charles to carry the Scepter with Dove at his coronation.
Lord Victor Adebowale became chair of the NHS Confederation in April 2020. Before this, he was CEO of Turning Point, a social enterprise providing health and social care interventions to approximately 100,000 people on an annual basis.
Victor is also chair of Social Enterprise UK, co-founder and chair of Visionable UK Ltd, and founding chair of Collaborative CIC. He is founder and director of Leadership in Mind and a non-executive director at the Co -Operative Group. Victor is the founding vice chair of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, and has been since 2021.
Victor served for 6 years as a Non-Executive Director on the board of NHS England. He has chaired a number of commission reports into: policing; employment; mental health; housing and fairness for The London Fairness Commission; the Metropolitan Police; and for central and local government, and more recently (in 2023 and 2024) has been a joint chair of the BMJ Health Commission. He was awarded a CBE for services to the unemployed and homeless people, and became a crossbench peer in 2001.
Victor is a visitor at St Catherine’s College Oxford and Visiting Professor at the University of Lincoln.
He is an honorary fellow at the Royal College of Psychiatry and the Royal College of GPs. In Sept 2023, Victor was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Public Health Award and become an honorary fellow at the Royal Society of Public Health.
Victor has an MA in Advanced Organisational Consulting from Tavistock Institute and City University.
Wol is Managing Partner of Livingbridge, one of the UK’s leading mid-market private equity firms.
His extensive private equity experience is fuelled by his passion for entrepreneurialism and its benefits to the wider economy. He has a deep interest in healthcare, education and improving diversity in the private equity industry.
In 2021 he received a CBE for services to Financial Services in the Queen’s 2021 Birthday Honours and became the 25th inductee into the “Private Equity Hall of Fame” at the Real Deals Private Equity Awards.
Through numerous high-profile board roles, Wol nurtures bold strategies that drive innovation and impact. He was previously a Chairman of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association in 2007/2008, a Council Member from 2002 – 2009 and Chairman of the Responsible Investment Advisory Board from 2009 – 2010. He was formerly the Chairman of the Guys and St Thomas’ Foundation, which has assets in of £1bn, making it one of the largest medical charities in the UK. In 2018 he was appointed as a non-executive director to the joint NHS England & Improvement Board and more recently as Trustee of Somerset House Trust. He is also a co-founder of the 10,000 Black Interns Initiative.
Wol initially trained as an engineer, having studied civil and structural engineering at Kings College, London. After obtaining an MBA from Exeter University, he spent three years with Barclays before joining Livingbridge. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Exeter in 2014.
Yvonne Coghill CBE, FRCN Yvonne commenced nurse training at Central Middlesex Hospital in 1977, qualified as a general nurse in 1980 and then went on to qualify in mental health nursing and health visiting. In 1986 she secured her first NHS management job and has since held a number of operational and strategic leadership posts. Yvonne has recently retired after 43 years in the NHS. The last role she held was as Director, Workforce Race Equality, NHS London, prior to which she was the Director for the Workforce Race Equality Implementation Team in NHS England/Improvement. She is a member of the board at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in the United States where she helped develop their inclusion strategy. Yvonne has delivered lectures on inclusion and diversity at Harvard University in Cambridge Massachusetts and the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. She continues to work closely with world expert on health and race Professor D. Williams, of Harvard University School of Public Health. In 2012 Yvonne was appointed a Magistrate to the North London bench. She has been voted by colleagues in the NHS as one of the top 50 most inspirational women, one of the top 50 most inspirational nurse leaders and one of the top 50 BME pioneers and in December 2017 she was included in the HSJ top 100 influential leaders list. Yvonne was awarded an OBE for services to healthcare in 2010 and was appointed to the position of Director for WRES implementation in June 2015. In 2018 Yvonne was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing, a CBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list, an honorary fellowship from Kings College University, honorary doctorates from The Middlesex and Buckinghamshire Universities, voted one of the top 70 most inspirational nurses in the NHS over the last 70 years and became Deputy President of the RCN in January 2019. Summer 2020 Yvonne led on the development of a race equality strategy for London and was invited to be a senior fellow at the Institute of Health Improvement and again was voted one of the top 50 most influential black people in the NHS. Yvonne is on the board of the NHS Race and Health Observatory and co-chairs its international experts’ group. Since retiring Yvonne has set up her own company, Excellence in Action and continues to work across the NHS, with the police and with colleagues in higher education.
Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent is the first Chief Midwife for the International Confederation of Midwives. She has a passion for supporting midwives and health systems to ensure that all women and gender diverse people have the same maternity experiences and outcomes as those who have the best. She served for four years as the first Chief Midwifery Officer for the NHS in England and was one of two National Maternity Safety Champions appointed by the Department for Health and Social Care. Jacqueline is a registered nurse and midwife and a visiting Professor of Midwifery at Kings College London and London South Bank University. She has held senior positions in clinical practice, education, leadership and management including: Consultant Midwife, Director of Midwifery, Head of Nursing, Senior Lecturer, Curriculum Leader, Lead Midwife for Education, Professor of Midwifery. She has supported the education of Midwives Internationally through conference contributions and publications.
She is the chair of the maternity advisory group for the Health and Race Observatory in England, a member of the Women of the Year management committee, Midwifery Ambassador for the ‘Saying Goodbye’ charity and until recently, a trustee for the RCN Foundation.
Noted as one of the Health Service Journal’s (HSJ) most influential people in health, in 2020,2021 and 2022 she was also selected from over 100 nominations for inclusion in the Nursing Times’ Leaders 2015 list, that celebrates nurses and midwives who are pioneers, entrepreneurs, and inspirational role models in their profession. In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the NHS in England in 2023, she has just been recognised by the Nursing Times as one of 75 nurses and midwives who have contributed in a significant way to the NHS.
“My determination to improve health equity, is influenced by the vast and unacceptable inequality in health outcomes and experiences of Black, brown and socio-economically disadvantage people. In my role as Patron for CAHN, I pledge to utilize my experience of health promotion, ill health prevention, equity policy and strategy and maternity care to support CAHN in meeting its equity ambition” .
During a career that has spanned 40+ years, Cedi has held a number of senior management and chief executive positions across the public, Not-for-Profit and private sectors. In addition, with over 30 years’ experience as a member of the boards of housing, social care and sporting national governing bodies, several housing associations and voluntary organisations, Cedi has held Non-Executive Director and Chair roles within the NHS and a university Governor role. Cedi is currently Chair of NHS Kent and Medway, Chair of the Health and Europe Centre, and is a Non-Executive Director of Sage Homes.
Cedi is owner and Managing Director of Article Consulting Ltd, a company that works with the ‘Leaders of Today and Tomorrow’, the CEO of Consiliaris Digital Systems, a health tech start-up, and runs a successful executive coaching and mentoring practice On four separate occasions, Cedi was named as one of Britain’s ‘100 Most Influential Black People’; described as ‘…unsung hero of the Third Sector, who has changed as many lives in his life outside of work as he has in his job’. In 2015, Cedi was recognised as one of the ‘1,000 Black & Asian Heroes 1950-2010’ by Our Heritage TV.
At present he also co-chairs the ground-breaking London inspire Programme, focused on improving the health of Black Londoners.
Patricia is the Chief Executive Officer for Dorset’s Integrated Care Board. Responsible
for overseeing complex health services and health improvement programmes for local
communities.
Patricia has over 30 years’ experience of working in the NHS and holds a Masters
degree in Health Care Management. She is a graduate of the East of England Aspiring
Directors Programme, the ‘Breaking Through’ Leadership Programme, the Athena
Leadership Programme for Executive Women, and the Collaborative Leadership
Programme at the Kings Fund.
Whilst working in the NHS Patricia has remained passionate about improving the lives
of patients and staff in ways that matter to them. Patricia has a strong focus on
equality, diversity, inclusion, and health inequalities. She is currently co-chair of the
provider Chairs and CEOs network, and member of the NHS England’s Health
Inequalities Oversight Group. Patricia is a member by distinction of the Faculty of
Public Health.
Patricia was named as one of 25 Rising Stars of the NHS in 2013, one of the top 50
CEOs in 2019, was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to the NHS and was named
amongst the top 50 BAME figures who will exercise the most power and/or influence
in the NHS and health policy in 2020.
Kevin Fenton is the President of the Faculty of Public Health. He is a senior public health expert and infectious disease epidemiologist who has worked in a variety of public health executive leadership roles across government and academia in the United Kingdom and internationally. His specialist interests are in tackling health inequalities, infectious disease prevention and control, climate justice and urban health. Professor Fenton is the Regional Director for London in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) within the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Within this role, he is also the statutory public health advisor to the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority and the Regional Director of Public Health for NHS London. He is also the government’s Chief Advisor on HIV and Chair of the HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group for England. As President, Kevin works closely with the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges, UK Local Government Association and a wide range of partners who have interests in Public Health. Kevin is committed to working with all 4 Nations of the UK and FPH members across the world.
Professor Bola Owolabi, Director of the Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme at NHS England Professor Bola Owolabi (MRCGP, MFPH Hon, FRSPH) is Director of the National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme at NHS England (NHSE). She also works as a GP in the Midlands. Bola has particular interest in reducing healthcare inequalities through integrated care models, service transformation, and using data insights for quality improvement. She has spearheaded NHSE’s Core20PLUS5 approach to narrowing healthcare inequalities. Internationally, Bola was a member of the Danish Ambassador’s Tour De Health – a ten nation healthcare policy leaders’ summit. Additionally, she was the UK representative on the Commonwealth Fund / Academy Health Tour 2023,exploring equity in national health policy across the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. She was previously National Speciality Advisor for Older People and Integrated Person-Centred Care at NHSE, where she led the Anticipatory Care workstream of the National Ageing Well Programme. She collaborated with teams across NHSE and the Department of Health and Social Care as part of the Covid-19pandemic response. Bola is an alumna of Ashridge Executive Education / Hult International Business School and holds a Master’s degree with distinction in Leadership (Quality Improvement). She also received an NHS Leadership Academy Award in Executive Healthcare Leadership for Clinicians. Bola is an Honorary Professor at the Institute of Applied Health Research, College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Birmingham. She is also a Vice President of the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH).
With over 20 years of NHS Board experience, Marie is currently the Chair of the NHS North East London Integrated Care System, Chair of the NHS Race and Health Observatory and an Associate NED for the UK Health Security Agency. She is also a Commissioner on the IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity. Regionally, Marie is Co-Chair of the London People Board and is a member of the Greater London Authority’s London Health Board, where she is also the London Mayor’s Champion for Tackling Structural Racism. Marie contributes to her local community as a Trustee on two charities, West Ham United Foundation and East London Business Alliance.
Her previous Chair role was at East London NHS Foundation Trust, which is internationally acknowledged for its systematic approach to quality improvement and service user participation. Through this and her current role she has participated in IHI events, including delivering workshops on the Board’s role in quality improvement. Prior to this, Marie chaired commissioning organisations with budgets up to £3bn and with her first non-executive role, she became Vice Chair of an acute trust. Marie’s employment background is in local government and the not-for-profit sector, with senior executive experience in social justice, regeneration and equity.
Marie’s contribution to the NHS was recognised through the award of her CBE, her contribution to her local community by the award of Freedom of the London Borough of Newham and her contribution to football by inclusion on the Premier League’s Black Power List. More recently in 2023, Marie received the award of Honorary Doctor of Health Sciences from the Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and she has been included in the Health Service Journal’s 100 list of the most influential people in health.
Donna is the Chair of Runnymede Trust, Trustee of the Burdett Trust for Nursing. She is a Non-Executive Director at East London Foundation Trust and The Royal Free Hospitals London. She was the Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) until June 2021.She has had an extensive career in health care with roles as a clinical director responsible for delivering strategy and policy. She has worked in education and clinical practice in a variety of roles in the UK and internationally. She is a renowned clinical leader responsible for leading several transformations in care. Donna served as nurse/child health assessor to the Victoria Climbié Inquiry and advised the PM’s Commission on the future of Nursing and Midwifery in 2010. She was made a DBE in 2008 for services to nursing.