Gemma Cantelo

• Leading the BMA's professional policy function. Lead 30+ staff across 5 teams: Medical Ethics and Human Rights; Regulation, Education and Training; Equalities, Inclusion and Culture; International Affairs, and; Professional and Specialist Committees. Developed a new professional policy framework, implemented a team development programme and realigned parts of the team in order to deliver greater impact for BMA members.
• Member of the BMA's Senior Leadership Team. Represent BMA's professional association functions at executive level within the association. This role includes collegiate responsibility for: strategy development, governance, budget oversight and people strategy.
• Advocacy and influencing. Responsible for mapping and managing relationships with external stakeholders across 5 teams - including the government departments, regulators, professional bodies and international bodies. This has included oversight of successful parliamentary lobbying on access to abortion care and influencing the General Medical Council's approach to professional regulation.
• Engaging BMA members and patients. Accountable for ~20 expert committees, giving doctors and patients a voice in the BMA's work. I have been particularly proud to increase the BMA's voice on issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia in medicine - using surveys, workshops and partnerships to reach out to groups of doctors under-represented in BMA's membership and deliver a series of high-impact reports and recommendations.

• Leading the Ramblers' policy and advocacy function. Developed a policy and advocacy strategy, supported by a ‘message house’, action plan and impact measures. This successfully repositioned the Ramblers as one of the leading voices on access to nature, and enabled better integration between advocacy, membership and fundraising campaigns.
• Influencing and advocacy campaigns. Led on political insight and monitoring, public affairs strategy, parliamentary engagement, influencing local government, and stakeholder management. This included successful lobbying on the Agriculture Act and Environment Bill, and the launch of new advocacy campaigns on the importance of access to nature post-COVID19.
• Managing the advice, legal and casework function. Responsibility for organisation’s legal strategy and advice service, including a legal budget of £250,000 and support for volunteers to take local campaigning and legal action.
• Team management. Led high-performing team of 9. Received two staff awards and achieved consistently positive feedback from my team in staff surveys,
• Representing the Ramblers. Responsibility for reputation management. Represented the Ramblers in the media, in parliament and with ministers and civil servants.

Positions held: Interim Director of Strategy, Communications and Policy (Jun – Nov 2015); Head of Strategy and Policy (Sep 2014 - present); Head of Policy (Sep 2012 - Sep 2014); Policy Manager (Sep 2010 - Sep 2012).

• Managing the strategy, policy and campaigns function. Grew team from one permanent member of staff to a strategy, policy and campaigns function of 12. Established a new policy, public affairs and media function in Cardiff and led the development of the RCP’s 5-year strategy.
• Delivering high-impact policy projects and campaigns. Led major projects setting out solutions to healthcare challenges. This included running the Future Hospital Commission, which set out a ‘seminal' vision for the future of healthcare (King's Fund). This project involved over 100 healthcare professionals, patients and carers, won CIPR public sector campaign of the year award and influenced NHS England's Five Year Forward View.
• Providing expert advice and influencing decision-makers. Running advocacy campaigns that changed policy. I increased the RCP’s mentions in parliament, achieved changes to the Health and Social Care Act, and led RCP's workforce campaign: Underfunded, Underdoctored, Overstretched. The latter achieved extensive media coverage and led government to pledge to train more doctors.
• Building alliances and partnerships. Managed the Alcohol Health Alliance and oversaw the development of the Obesity Health Alliance and UK Health Alliance on Climate Change.
• High-performing member of RCP team. Received two staff awards, an ‘excellence in leadership' award (2017) and three promotions, including four months as interim director with responsibility for over 50 staff.

• Representing local government’s position to national government on food, farming and public health; influencing national legislation and policy; engaging council officers in policy development; producing advice and toolkits for councils; managing focus groups and online communities of practice; speaking at events.

• Researching homelessness services; engaging service providers; managing book publication, web content and commissioned research projects.

• Researching, writing and editing reports aimed at alcohol services.

• Enquiry and information management; researching and drafting reports; managing membership and subscriptions.

• Information management; research for journalists; editorial support.