Leanne Armitage

Leanne Armitage is a leading figure in diversity and inclusion in the medical field. The qualified Doctor set up the Armitage Foundation in 2018 in a bid to help more people from under-represented backgrounds into medical school. As a speaker, she uses her own experience to empower and inspire audiences, showing them that socioeconomic background, gender, and ethnicity does not have to be a restriction and they can achieve anything in life. 

Growing up in South London in a single-parent household, Leanne was witness to street violence. Her experiences pushed her to become a Doctor, but with no Doctors in her family or social circle, she took action on her own researching the steps she needed to follow to achieve this dream. Leanne went on to achieve 10 A*’s at GCSE and was awarded the ‘A Better Chance’ Bursary from Mill Hill School. She was rejected for medical school at her first time applying and took a gap year. In that time, she worked as Head of Administration for Revive Congo, a position she had taken two years before her gap year. She also worked as a Support Worker for Doctors of the World, Chair of the Youth Committee at Free the Children and as a Public Speaker for Asthma UK. 

In 2014 she accepted an offer to study at St George's University of London and received the Southwark Scholarship. While completing her studies she volunteered with Integritas Healthcare and completed a placement delivering health care in Filipino prisons and was the Founding Chair of the Aleto Medical Mastermind Group. Following her second year of studies, Leanne grew frustrated at the lack of diversity in medical schools across the UK and this saw her become co-founding CEO of The Armitage Foundation, an organisation that offers programmes to students from under-represented backgrounds with the aim of increasing diversity in medical schools. Her work saw her awarded the UK Queen’s Young Leaders Award, the Aleto Foundation Tomorrow’s Leader Award and WeAreTheCity Rising Stars Award for health care, and the Akindolie Medical Scholarship all in 2018. In 2019 she received the Wintrade Women Trailblazers Highly Commended Award and the NEON student of the Year Commendation. A year later she graduated with an MBBS and became an FY1 Doctor at Medway NHS Foundation Trust. She then became an FY2 Doctor at Royal Sussex County Hospital and was also named as a Member of the BMA BAME Forum Steering Group. 

Available to hire as a speaker, Leanne Armitage is all about breaking down barriers. Her inspiring and passionate speeches encourage people to look beyond barriers such as race and gender to chase their dreams as well as showing businesses the benefits of diversity.