Steph Edusei

Steph Edusei has been Chief Executive of St. Oswald’s Hospice since May 2020 and previously served as a Non-Executive Director at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She is also a board member of the North East England Chamber of Commerce, actively contributing to their Race, Equality and Discrimination Commission and a member of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) women’s committee.

Her career in healthcare started at the Freeman Hospital, later advancing through the NHS graduate management training scheme. Her ascent continued as she secured multiple management roles within local NHS organisations, encompassing commissioning bodies, Newcastle Hospitals, and the North East Ambulance Service and was instrumental in founding the Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group. Steph then shifted her focus to lead Healthwatch Newcastle and Healthwatch Gateshead.

As an integral part of her local community, Steph has been a leader with Girlguiding UK for over 30 years and holds the position of Chair at Eliot Smith Dance Company. Previously, she served as the co-Chair of The Angelou Centre, a black-led women’s charity based in Newcastle which offers training, counselling, and refuge support.
Steph has a passion for involving the public and patients in healthcare and is a strong advocate for equality, diversity, and inclusion. She champions good mental health — especially in the workplace — and speaks publicly on compassionate leadership, racism, and gender discrimination. Steph also offers leadership coaching and mentoring to support others in their professional growth.

As the founder of ‘Black All Year’ events and podcast, Steph uses her platform to amplify black voices to highlight the challenges and issues faced by Black people as well as celebrate their successes and achievements.

In 2022, Steph was named Transformational Leader at the Northern Power Women awards.