Evelyn Asante-Mensah

Evelyn Asante-Mensah OBE has worked with a wide spectrum of organisations and partnerships for over 20 years, tackling inequalities and promoting equality, most recently as Commissioner of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

Evelyn was appointed as Chair of the Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust on 1 November 2017. Previously, she was Head of Equalities and Economic Inclusion for the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), and Chief Executive of the Black Health Agency, where she grew the organisation from a community group to a well-respected regional organisation with a national profile. She was Strategic Adviser for Community Cohesion and Diversity for the Government Office for the North West and has held several non-executive roles, including Commissioner for the Equal Opportunities Commission, Chair of Race for Health and Chair of NHS Manchester. She was also a member of the board of Partners of Prisoners.

A graduate of Manchester Metropolitan University’s Women’s Studies MA, Evelyn is tremendously involved in the Manchester community while maintaining her own consultancy business. She serves as Community Governor at St Mary’s Primary School, is Chair of the Arawak Walton Housing Association, a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Lankelly Chase Foundation, sits on the board of Vital Xposure disability arts theatre company and is a life coach through Coaching In and Out with women involved in the criminal justice system.

Her passion “is for making change that is sustainable and driven by the communities and individuals themselves,” a passion which has seen her awarded an OBE in 2006 for services to communities, and recently an Honorary Doctor of Letters in Health from Manchester Metropolitan for significant contribution to Health Services for BME communities.

Evelyn joined the Board of Governors on 1 April 2017 and is the Board's Equality and Diversity Champion. She is also a member of the Nominations and Governance Committee and the Honorary Awards Committee.