Together, Leanne, Daniel, Richard and Rebecca form the leadership team of The Armitage Foundation. They are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the charity and also developing our long-term strategy to ensure we have a real impact on student outcomes and create lasting change in the NHS.
Our Leadership Team
Leanne’s ultimate mission in life is to inspire people to be their best. In addition to this, she has a passion for diversity and healthcare. Currently she works as a medical doctor and co-founder of The Armitage Foundation – a charity she co-founded to increase diversity across UK medical schools. In 2018 she was awarded the UK Queen’s Young Leaders award by Her Majesty the Queen, in recognition of her foundation. Leanne’s featured in multiple news outlets and in 2020 she was named a LinkedIn Top Voice for Healthcare. More recently, she was recognised by the Black Cultural Archives as one of 40 black leaders from across the UK who are positively impacting the future of British society.
In her spare time Leanne loves exercising, dancing and socialising with friends.
Daniel is a strategy consultant at Strategy&, part of the PwC network (formerly Booz & co), which he joined after graduating with 1st class honours from Cambridge University and a brief stint in Hamburg working for Colgate-Palmolive as a Management Trainee.
He was nominated by Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE (Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London) to be a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2019 in recognition of his work as co-founder of The Armitage Foundation to increase diversity in the NHS.
In addition to his role at The Armitage Foundation is also on the Board of Trustees (non-exec director) at the Brandon Trust; a charity focused on helping people with Learning Disabilities “live free”, with ~£55 million turnover a year and roughly 2400 staff. In his capacity as trustee he is a member of the audit committee, governance committee and systems development steering group.
Richard has over 30 years of experience in the private sector leading and delivering complex business and technology changes. He is an accomplished board level leader recognized for building high performing teams and transforming supplier relationships to deliver tangible business outcomes.
Having semi retired in 2022 Richard has a number of diverse interests including supporting Charities in both defining and implementing scaling strategies.
Rebecca is an experienced senior management with a focus on education and training and programme management. She has over 25 years of experience working across the NHS leading workforce, education and quality improvement programmes.
These programmes of work include implementation of the NHS national learning management system, introducing different types of technology enhanced learning within the NHS, leadership opportunities for junior doctor, and an education collaborative for a group of hospices.
Rebecca is a qualified and practicing coach and also offers coaching supervision. She is a qualified programme manager and has an MBA and CIPD qualification.
These programmes of work include implementation of the NHS national learning management system, introducing different types of technology enhanced learning within the NHS, leadership opportunities for junior doctor, and an education collaborative for a group of hospices.
Rebecca is a qualified and practicing coach and also offers coaching supervision. She is a qualified programme manager and has an MBA and CIPD qualification.
The Board of Trustees
The board of trustees is responsible for setting the direction of the charity, bringing expertise from many different fields to help steer The Armitage Foundation towards its mission for social mobility.
Adam is a physics teacher and head of Science at Chestnut Grove Academy in London. Adam taught Leanne physics at GCSE and was a strong influence in her life, helping to propel her on her current path. Adam helps on our Medical Advisory Panel as well as being our lead trustee for safeguarding.
Daniel is a strategy consultant at Strategy&, part of the PwC network (formerly Booz & co), which he joined after graduating with 1st class honours from Cambridge University and a brief stint in Hamburg working for Colgate-Palmolive as a Management Trainee.
He was nominated by Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE (Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London) to be a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2019 in recognition of his work as co-founder of The Armitage Foundation to increase diversity in the NHS.
In addition to his role at The Armitage Foundation is also on the Board of Trustees (non-exec director) at the Brandon Trust; a charity focused on helping people with Learning Disabilities “live free”, with ~£55 million turnover a year and roughly 2400 staff. In his capacity as trustee he is a member of the audit committee, governance committee and systems development steering group.
Georgina is CEO at Wellsaw Professional Services and Acting Head for Collective Leadership at the Cabinet Office. Georgina is an entrepreneur with more than 10 years’ experience in strategy and business development and stakeholder management in the public, private and third sectors. She has been a valuable mentor to Leanne and Daniel for the past two years and continues to support The Armitage Foundation through its next growth phase.
Leanne’s ultimate mission in life is to inspire people to be their best. In addition to this, she has a passion for diversity and healthcare. Currently she works as a medical doctor and co-founder of The Armitage Foundation – a charity she co-founded to increase diversity across UK medical schools. In 2018 she was awarded the UK Queen’s Young Leaders award by Her Majesty the Queen, in recognition of her foundation. Leanne’s featured in multiple news outlets and in 2020 she was named a LinkedIn Top Voice for Healthcare. More recently, she was recognised by the Black Cultural Archives as one of 40 black leaders from across the UK who are positively impacting the future of British society.
In her spare time Leanne loves exercising, dancing and socialising with friends.
Mo is a consultant in Ambulatory Paediatrics at King’s College Hospital in London and Clinical Director for Children and Young People with the Healthy London Partnership. Mo graduated from the University of Newcastly upon Tyne and has played a significant role in redesigning paediatric services to meet local needs. Mo is a keen advocate for equity in the medical profession and helps to champion the least privileged to reach their potential.
Veronica has more than 25 years experience in advertising and fundraising.
As COO of the Aleto Foundation, with the support of the team, mentors and Trustees, Veronica co-ordinates and directs the highly acclaimed annual leadership development programme. Her role also includes fundraising, financial management and charity governance.
She has advised and worked for numerous charities including Elizabeth Finn Care, the Brain and Spine Foundation, Camden Music Trust, Brathay Trust, Motor Neurone Disease Association, Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (now known as the Schools Network), Drake Music, Dimbleby Cancer Care, Clubs for Young People and was founding Chair and Trustee of Generating Genius with Dr Tony Sewell, CBE.
Her significant achievements include coordinating and managing the £¼ million Appeal for the Michael Watson Marathon Challenge in aid of the Brain and Spine Foundation and at the Motor Neurone Disease Association she was part of the team that was instrumental in raising £1m from an individual.
Veronica was appointed trustee of Reedham Children’s Trust in 2016.
She is a full certificated member of the Institute of Fundraising. She has a Degree in Marketing and Advertising and a Masters in Charity Marketing and Fundraising.
She has twin sons who both work in the creative industries.
Maureen currently works as interim finance executive/consultant in the charity sector, after enjoying a long career in both strategic and senior operational roles.
She was previously a Trustee of Just for Kids Law, chairing their Finance and Risk, and EDI subcommittees. She is currently a Council Member of the Institute For Fiscal Studies.
Maureen has two children, the elder of which is a General Practitioner, and alumni of St Georges Medical School.
Sophie is a Chartered Accountant who has 25 years’ experience in a range of senior finance roles in FTSE100 companies, SMEs and charities.
She has always had a keen interest in the education sector, having volunteered previously as a Young Enterprise Advisor, a French language assistant as part of a Business in the Community initiative and Chair and Treasurer of her sons’ school PTA.
She has two sons, the eldest of which is currently undertaking a medicine degree, so she has first-hand knowledge of the challenges involved in navigating the medical school application process.
Team
Our broader team is made up of wonderful contractors, employees and volunteers, each of whom plays a vital role in our operational and strategic activities.
Hi I’m Becs! I’m a student at the University of Reading studying BSc Ecology and Wildlife Conservation. I am a fundraising and social media intern for The Armitage Foundation. This role is very exciting as it means mixing my love of creativity with my passion for helping young people. In the future I want to go into secondary science education. Having gone through taking sciences at school, college and now University I’ve seen some of the challenges and difficulties there, including often gaps in accessibility. Having worked as a youth worker and now a student ambassador at University, I feel passionate about supporting and empowering young people to reach their goals and have equal opportunities as others!
Paddy has nearly 20 years experience working with a range of civil society organisations, from social enterprises, to nationally recognised charities and public bodies, as Chair, CEO and advisor. Areas of expertise and experience include: leadership and governance (inc. board development); strategy and planning; organisational transformation and change; systems thinking; and social innovation. He is passionate about ‘the art of the possible’ and committed to inspiring, influencing and delivering sustainable, inter-generational social impact. The early part of his career was in marketing, in London and South Africa, developing campaigns for both global and local brands. He has an entrepreneurial streak, including a (successful!) appearance on ‘Dragons’ Den’!
Ambassadors
Our Ambassadors help us to provide our programmes and are great role models to students, helping them on their journeys into medicine! Alongside this, our interns contribute towards many aspects of our operations and assist in the everyday running of The Armitage Foundation.
Hi everyone! My name is Bhavika and I am currently a 2nd year medical student at SGUL, on the undergraduate course. I first heard about The Armitage Foundation during my 2nd year and was blown away by what this foundation was trying to achieve. When I was younger, I didn’t have much support from the 6th form I attended, especially in terms of what my options were when applying for Medicine. I realised I could have done with some help and guidance seeing as I was unsuccessful on my first 4 attempts to get a place in Medical school! Over the last decade, and through achieving multiple degrees (BSc, MSc and PhD), I’ve realised that the younger generation still need the support and advice to help them achieve their dream of becoming a doctor. That’s where The Armitage Foundation comes in – it is the perfect platform which reaches out to aspiring medical students and equips them with all the necessary stuff required to have a strong application. The foundation really does inspire, equip and increase the confidence of young individuals who want to study Medicine. For any student who is a part of this programme – you are the NHS of tomorrow and we are all so privileged to have been on this journey with you!
I'm a huge advocate for increased exposure to medicine within ethnic minority groups. Volunteering with The Armitage Foundation is a great opportunity to inspire future generations of medical professionals, meet new people and work as part of a great team! I've really enjoyed my time volunteering as a Medic Ambassador and serving as part of the foundation's Medical Advisory Panel, so I'm honoured to be able to continue this work as the foundation expands to new heights.
Hi, I’m Eliana Oworu and I’m a Medic Ambassador at the Armitage Foundation. I am working with the Armitage Foundation because I know what it's like to want to do medicine but be confused with where to begin and what you need to do to get there. I really benefitted from a programme I did when I was applying to Medicine, which informed me, got me excited for medicine and helped me take steps towards it - just as they do here! I have really enjoyed offering my advice and sharing my experiences with young people who aspire to get into medicine, whilst working as an Ambassador at King’s College London these past two years, and so I wanted to be part of The Armitage Foundation, in the hope that I can help even more students achieve this, like I have been able to!
Graham is a first year medical student at King’s College London working as an ambassador for The Armitage Foundation Juniors programme . His interest in widening participation is rooted by personal experience as someone who benefited from many widening participation programmes himself. Having developed a profound appreciation for the role of social mobility in securing his place at medical school, he feels a strong duty to help other young people from disadvantaged backgrounds access higher education. In addition to his work as an ambassador, Graham’s previous work includes a campaign against the unjust algorithm used to determine A-level grades in 2020: writing for TES and being referenced in The Sunday Times.
My name is Imelda Vitenu and I am a 4th Year Medical student at the University of Manchester and I aspire to be a Paediatrician or Neurologist in the future. I am extremely passionate about making medicine as accessible as possible to any prospective student, irrespective of whatever background they come from. Applying to medicine is undoubtedly challenging and I do believe the hardest step is actually deciding to embark on the medicine application journey itself. Coming from a disadvantaged background myself, I am aware of the extra challenges and obstacles throughout this journey. I am willing to provide support, advice, and mentoring to make the process that extra bit smoother for any aspiring medics out there.
My name is Kalah, a graduate student in my first year of medical school at St George University. Prior to this, I did an undergraduate degree in Cardiac Physiology and graduated in 2016. I then went on to work as a Cardiac Physiologist at the Brompton Hospital, a specialist heart and lung hospital in London where I gained an enormous amount of experience and knowledge. Despite absolutely loving my job, it has always been my dream to become a doctor (hopefully one day a cardiologist) and so I took the plunge and returned to University. I became an ambassador for the Armitage foundation as I truly believe in the values and mission of the company. My journey into medicine has not been the easiest or the most straightforward. I moved to the UK, from Botswana, aged 13 and joined a secondary school halfway through year 8. I really struggled with not only adjusting to a new country and culture but a new school and sadly did not get support or encouragement from my teachers to do Medicine. I was always told I was not a top achiever and was not the ‘traditional medicine applicant’ and so it is very unlikely I would get in. It was very difficult as I had to do this process alone with minimal support. Unfortunately, I did not get in first time however did end up getting into Swansea University where I did my first degree. I applied several times to Medicine after that and kept getting rejected. 7 years after finishing school, I decided to apply one last time (my 5th time!) and finally I got accepted!! Having had my own difficulties and struggles, I am so keen to encourage and guide young students who want to pursue a career in medicine, but to most importantly motivate them to never give up on the dream! Irrespective of their background, I believe every child should be given the same opportunities and support and this is why I decided to become an Armitage foundation ambassador.
I am a second year medical student and have been an Armitage Ambassador for a year. I am an ambassador because I take great pride in helping young people. I want to continue the cycle and return the support that I once received as a young person. I understand the importance that reaching out and finding a role-model can have on the journey to tertiary education.
I am in my second year of studying Extended Medical Degree Programme. I love being an Ambassador with The Armitage Foundation as it gives me the opportunity to share my experience of medical school and the application process to empower talented young students to achieve any goal they set for themselves.
Hello! I am Simran, a third-year medical student at the University of Leeds. I decided to work for The Armitage Foundation because I came from a 'widening access' background through programmes like Reach for Excellence and Access to Leeds, alongside being the first to going to university in my family! I am passionate about what The Armitage Foundation stands for, which is increasing opportunities for those who may be disadvantaged. I would love to encourage and motivate students to aim high in high education!'
Hi, my name is Wajiha and I am a second-year medic. Coming from a socio-economically disadvantaged area, I struggled in trying to find the right help and guidance in deciding what career is best suited to me. Especially when applying to a highly competitive course like medicine, it’s easy to feel lost when exploring if a course is right for you when you haven’t been given much prior information on it. I want to be able to help school pupils have an early introduction to the career and some exposure to different aspects of the course, and just be there as someone that can inspire them to aim high and achieve their goals.
Hello! My name is Sarah, and I am a final year medical student! Working with an organisation like The Armitage Foundation is a true privilege as I am able to connect with children of all ages in schools in an incredibly rewarding environment. having gone through the medical school admissions process through the widening access scheme, I understand how important the delivery of sessions which aim to promote courses such as medicine are for those children who cannot easily access this.
I grew up in a deprived area, went to a school with incredibly poor structural and educational facilities, experienced ethnic discrimination, and went through having to experience an inadequate educational system. I could never imagine that I would be studying Medicine in one of the best universities in the world, just a few years later, no matter how high aspirations were. But I am just one of the many who went through the same struggle. That is why I want you to reconsider the limits to what you think is possible and work for what you desire, because the desire will, in conjunction with the help of passionate teams such as The Armitage Foundation, together we can maximise your chances of success. You can do it. You can be a doctor. And the only limit is how hard you are ready to fight for it.
Hello!
My name is Electra and I am a 4th year medical student at the University of Leeds. I previously intercalated in an MSc in Precision Medicine (genetics). I am passionate about making Medicine accessible to college students of all backgrounds, as medicine is all about representation! I have worked extensively with the outreach programs provided at my university and through that I discovered the Armitage foundation. The foundation's core values reflect these of my own, which is supporting and motivating bright students from underserved backgrounds to achieve their aspirations in higher education! Five years in the medical course, I believe we are in an extremely privileged position to give back to students wishing to apply and teach them through our own experiences and struggles. Sky is the limit!
About me: Hi, my name is Zara and I'm a first year medical student at the University of Leeds. I decided to work with the Armitage Foundation because I felt that the NHS needs doctors from a wider range of backgrounds who will really be able to empathise with their patients - I can't wait to help achieve that!
Medic Advisory Panel
Our Medic Advisory Panel is made up of volunteer medical professionals and medical students who work together to ensure that session content is compelling and relevant.
Mo is a consultant in Ambulatory Paediatrics at King’s College Hospital in London and Clinical Director for Children and Young People with the Healthy London Partnership. Mo graduated from the University of Newcastly upon Tyne and has played a significant role in redesigning paediatric services to meet local needs. Mo is a keen advocate for equity in the medical profession and helps to champion the least privileged to reach their potential.
Leanne Armitage recently graduated as a doctor from St George’s University of London after overcoming significant societal barriers to achieving her dream of entering into emergency medicine or trauma surgery after witnessing street violence near her home at a young age.
In addition to her role as a doctor Leanne is a multi-award winning leader, inspirational speaker, and Co-Founder at The Armitage Foundation.
Leanne’s passion for increasing diversity within the medical field, especially through the work she does with The Armitage Foundation, lead to her being selected to receive the prestigious Queen’s Young Leaders Award from Her Majesty the Queen in June 2018.
Hi I’m Becs! I’m a student at the University of Reading studying BSc Ecology and Wildlife Conservation. I am a fundraising and social media intern for The Armitage Foundation. This role is very exciting as it means mixing my love of creativity with my passion for helping young people. In the future I want to go into secondary science education. Having gone through taking sciences at school, college and now University I’ve seen some of the challenges and difficulties there, including often gaps in accessibility. Having worked as a youth worker and now a student ambassador at University, I feel passionate about supporting and empowering young people to reach their goals and have equal opportunities as others!
My name is Imelda Vitenu and I am a 4th Year Medical student at the University of Manchester and I aspire to be a Paediatrician or Neurologist in the future. I am extremely passionate about making medicine as accessible as possible to any prospective student, irrespective of whatever background they come from. Applying to medicine is undoubtedly challenging and I do believe the hardest step is actually deciding to embark on the medicine application journey itself. Coming from a disadvantaged background myself, I am aware of the extra challenges and obstacles throughout this journey. I am willing to provide support, advice, and mentoring to make the process that extra bit smoother for any aspiring medics out there.