Series 3, Episode 5: Ruth Owen, CEO of Leonard Cheshire

Quite simply, Ruth is a tour-de-force. A true pioneer as well as an inspiring leader. A wheelchair user from the age of seven, Ruth is a passionate advocate of disabled people’s rights, and acknowledged for her delivery of innovation in the disability sector. She was awarded an OBE in 2012, in recognition of her services to disabled children and young people. Ruth joined Leonard Cheshire from Whizz-Kidz, where she was CEO. Under her leadership, Whizz-Kidz has become the biggest provider of powered and light weight manual wheelchairs for disabled children outside of the NHS, and a leading campaigning organisation in the sector. Prior to Whizz-Kidz, Ruth had a successful career in the private sector, in technologies, eventually setting up and running her own IT company for ten years. For several years, Ruth was a Trustee of children’s charity Barnardo’s. In 2018 she was appointed as a non-Executive Director of Motability Operations Group Plc, and in 2019 was selected as a member of The Mayor of London’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group. We will run out of space to list all of what Ruth has achieved and, as you will hear, she isn't done yet!