Meet The Team

The Right Honourable Alan Milburn was a Member of the UK Parliament for Darlington between 1992 and 2010.  During his time in UK politics, he earned a reputation for being a radical reformer as part of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government.  He served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1998-99), where he had responsibility for all aspects of public expenditure and the development of public-private partnerships.  As Secretary of State for Health (1999-2003), he led a radical reform programme of health and social care services, including the creation of a managed market within the NHS, autonomous NHS Foundation Trusts, choice for patients and devolution of decision-making.  As Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (2004-05), he was responsible for coordinating and developing government policy across all departments working directly with the Prime Minister and running Labour’s successful 2005 general election campaign.

After retiring from politics at the general election in 2010, he was appointed by Prime Minister David Cameron to review and report on child poverty and social mobility, becoming Chair of the Commission on Social Mobility (2012-17).  

In his post-politics life, he has a successful business career.  His advisory business has corporate and government clients across the world.  He is senior advisor to PwC’s government and health industries practice, to the leading private equity business Bridge point and to Mars Incorporated.  He serves on a number of other corporate boards and chairs Huma the digital health business.  

He is Chancellor of Lancaster University, one of the UK’s leading higher education institutions and undertakes work for a number of charities including the Yorkshire Sculpture Park where he is vice-chair and the Social Mobility Foundation which he chairs.

 He is also a long-suffering Newcastle United fan.

Ann's financial services career spanned over 3 decades at JP Morgan in a variety of roles, focused on bringing world class product and services to institutional clients.  Ann also served and led diversity and philanthropy work across the UK and Europe, Middle East and Africa for the firm. Prior to joining JP Morgan in 1992, Ann worked for KPMG as an international tax manager.

Ann is now a non executive director, serving on the supervisory board for JP Morgan SE and as a director of JP Morgan (Suisse) s.a, as well as a trustee of the Social Mobility Foundation.

Ann holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University College, Dublin and is a Chartered Taxation Advisor.

Ben Rodham is a partner at Linklaters, a leading international law firm. Ben joined Linklaters from university and has worked for them in London, Dubai and Hong Kong. Ben’s practice focuses on advising private equity clients on mergers and acquisitions.

Fiona Dawson is an experienced NED and Chair. She currently sits on the Boards of LEGO A/S, Marks and Spencer PLC and Kerry Foods and a number of advisory Boards including Trinity Business School in Dublin, and the Social Mobility Foundation. Fiona is the President-elect of CMI.

Ms Dawson holds a BBS degree in Business from Trinity College, Dublin. In March 2021 she was awarded an Honorary CBE (Commander of the British Empire), for services to Women and the Economy.

Lee served as Downing Street’s Director of communications under Prime Minister Boris Johnson. A respected political strategist, Lee has been a key advisor in multiple campaign victories including the 2019 General Election, 2019 Conservative leadership election and the 2016 EU Referendum. He is also credited with creating the ‘Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’ strategy during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nami Patel is Senior Vice President of Strategy & Business Development for The Walt Disney Company, EMEA. Nami began her career at Deloitte, and her previous roles include Finance & Corporate Development Director at 21st Century FOX, and SVP Business Development and CFO UK at Fox Networks Group. Nami has a Masters degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, and she is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Nigel previously served as Chief Executive Officer at Camelot Group PLC. Prior to Camelot, he served as Senior Management Accountant of Daewoo Cars Ltd, beginning his career at British Rail.

Nigel is a NED and Chair of the Audit Committee for Argentex PLC. He is a qualified accountant.

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Ruth Owen joined Leonard Cheshire as CEO in February 2021 after 17 years as CEO of Whizz-Kidz, a national children’s disability charity providing mobility equipment and services to young disabled people. A wheelchair user from the age of seven, Ruth believes passionately in the importance of independent mobility in a young person’s life and in removing the barriers disabled people face. In 2012, she was awarded an OBE in recognition of her services to disabled children and young people.

Tom is Chief Commercial Officer at UK Technology firm disguise, focusing primarily on international strategy and growth. Prior to disguise, Tom has held management and commercial roles at a number of leading players in the Media and Entertainment space. In addition to mentoring and allyship at disguise, Tom supports a number of charities closer to home in London driving social mobility and gender equality in industry.