The Diana Award has appointed Nana Owusu, a Northolt resident and head of clinical services at the Anna Freud Centre, as one of four new trustees, adding additional clinical and safeguarding expertise to the charity’s board.
The youth-focused charity was established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, and promotes her belief that young people have the power to change the world. It is named after Diana and is supported by her sons, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex.
Ms Owusu, who lives in London, joins three other newly appointed trustees with experience spanning mental health, anti-racism and gender equality, as well as the creative industries of contemporary art and music.
Ms Owusu has spent more than 20 years working in children and young people’s mental health in the NHS, the voluntary sector and overseas. Colleagues have credited her with pushing for different ways to respond when young people are in distress, including setting up the UK’s first crisis prevention cafe for under-18s in South Ealing. The Circle Cafe was developed with input from young people and designed to bring charities and local services together under one roof.
Ms Owusu said she was “honoured” to be joining the board “at a point where the time feels right”.
She told EALING.NEWS: “The organisation is rooted in the belief of the late Diana, Princess of Wales that young people have the power to change the world, a belief I strongly share.”
Reflecting on her work, Ms Owusu said she had seen “both personally and professionally the impact that not being heard, believed in, or supported can have on young people’s mental health and wellbeing”.
She added: “Having experienced this myself as a young person, I know how powerful it can be when someone is helped to find their voice.”
Ms Owusu said she looked forward to working with fellow trustees over the coming year, bringing her experience in children and young people’s mental health and safeguarding to provide “strategic leadership, governance, and oversight” and to help the organisation continue to grow as it supports young people to “thrive and lead in an increasingly complex and fast-changing world.”
