New appointees bring extensive industry experience to the Board to further strengthen the charity’s support for the MS community, while longstanding Board member stands down
Overcoming MS, the world’s leading multiple sclerosis healthy lifestyle charity, is delighted to announce the appointment of two healthcare experts, Penny Harris and Katherine Carpenter, as trustees. These new appointments will further enhance the charity’s ability to make a meaningful difference for those with MS.
Penny has spent the majority of her career employed in the NHS in Executive Director and CEO roles and at Board level across all sectors of NHS and Social Care for more than 30 years. Over the past ten years, she has also run her own management consultancy business, offering project support and leadership across the health and care sectors. Learn more about Penny here.
As a neuropsychologist and clinical psychologist with extensive experience of neurological conditions, including MS, Katherine brings to the Board valuable clinical and governance expertise. Katherine was formerly clinical director for Neurosciences and Specialist Surgery at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where she worked for over 30 years; and was President and Chair of the Board of Trustees of The British Psychological Society 2021-22 and Past President 2022-23. Learn more about Katherine here.
Penny Harris
Katherine Carpenter
Meanwhile, Overcoming MS also announced that Tony Bloom has stepped down from the Board of Trustees after more than 11 years of outstanding service to the MS community. Said Tony: “We have an excellent team of talented trustees with a diverse range of skills, expertise and experience, and I believe they are best placed to help drive the onward development of Overcoming MS. The charity has made an incredible difference to tens of thousands of people worldwide for more than a decade now, and I am proud to have been involved from day one as a founding trustee. It has been an honour and a privilege for me to be able to work with my fellow trustees, as well as our amazing, dedicated Overcoming MS staff and volunteers over the years.
“I will watch with great interest as the charity continues to strengthen and expand, helping inform, support and empower people with MS, and broaden its partnerships with related organisations. Also, as a family, we will still be deeply involved with Overcoming MS. I wish everyone at Overcoming MS and within the MS community it serves the very best for the future.”
Dowshan Humzah, Chair of Overcoming MS, said: “I am excited to welcome Penny and Katherine to Overcoming MS. As trustees, they bring a rich variety of perspectives, lived experiences and skills that will challenge and support us in more effectively delivering our goals for the MS community and as we seek to grow and support stretched healthcare systems through our lifestyle-based approach.
“I also want to thank Tony Bloom for his long service to Overcoming MS and the global MS community, where he has demonstrated enormous passion and commitment as a trustee, funder and volunteer. I am delighted to confirm that Tony will become an Emeritus Director given his distinguished service. Tony embodies the principles of ‘succeed, serve and share’, and I know he will continue to support Overcoming MS and our community from the sidelines.
“The commitment and hard work of our team, volunteers and Board enables us to further deliver the charity’s vision of a world in which living a full and healthy life with MS is possible for all.”
Dowshan Humzah
Tony Bloom