Page 81 - 2018 Powerlist

Fiona Bartels-Ellis
Global Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion,
British Council Public Sector & Third Sector

Fiona sets and leads the strategic direction of diversity
across the British Council’s 100 countries and territories.
The organisation is responsible for the UK’s international
cultural relations and educational opportunities.
In February she was awarded a Global Diversity
Leadership Award by the World HRD Congress, in honour of
her efforts as a role model, a pioneer and a thought leader.
She collected the prize in India, where she also spent time
helping to develop and train colleagues in diversity. In
the past year, she has written and is launching a British
Council-wide Race Equality Guide, with senior level support,
as well as a Diversity Campaign to increase awareness
of and participation in EDI across the organisation. As a
consequence of her efforts, this year the British Council
exceeded the senior UK contracted gender target. Meanwhile
the 2017 Global Staff Survey results showed a 30 per cent
increase since 2015 results, achieving a high of 83 per cent in
the perception that the organisation takes equality, diversity
and inclusion seriously. Beverley De-Gale
Fiona is also a Trustee of Tom Ilube’s Africa Gifted
Foundation, supporting young women in Africa with a and Orin Lewis
passion for maths and science to develop and realise their Founders, African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust
potential. She supports disability inclusion within Ghana in
various ways including virtual mentoring.
Fiona’s many qualifations include certificates in Beverley and Orin are the inspirational founders of the
mediation and a post-graduate Certificate in Higher ACLT, one of Britain’s leading blood cancer charities.
Education, diplomas in advanced social work and They set up the organisation in 1996, following the
counselling, an M.Phil in Social Policy and a Doctorate in devastating news that their son Daniel, then aged eight,
Professional Studies. needed a life-saving stem cell transplant to successfully
Last year she was appointed to the Premier League as an treat his acute leukaemia. At the time there were only 550
Independent Assessor for its Equality Standards. black or mixed-race people registered as potential bone
marrow donors out of a register of 285,000.
Daniel’s race meant his odds of finding a match were
only one in 250,000. Rather than leave the life of their son
to chance, the couple decided to launch a campaign – and
as a result in 1999 Daniel became the first black person in
Britain to receive a stem cell transplant from an unrelated
donor. The treatment was a success and he lived a cancer-
free life for several years. Tragically, in October 2008, he
died, aged 21, of multiple organ failure. Too many years of
toxicity from receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy
as he waited for a matching donor had led to other health
complications.
The couple continue to keep Daniel’s legacy alive by
trying to save many more lives. They have raised the number
of black and mixed-race donors to almost 60,000 and have
incredibly saved more than 60 lives through finding donor
matches. Their tireless work has seen them win many
awards, including OBEs in 2011. Over the past 20 years they
have raised thousands of pounds as they continue to raise
awareness of stem cell, blood and organ donation.
Orin’s main purpose is to develop and set the strategy
and principles of the ACLT. Moreover, he delivers operative
programmes and service within budget and to quality
standards.
Beverley manages the staff/volunteers ensuring effective
use of limited resources and organises registration drives.
Beverley also supports patients and their families who are
confronted with a diagnosis of any blood cancers/disorders.

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