Announcing our 2025 Women in Leadership and Rising Star awards winners

These annual awards are a key part of our commitment to invest in and develop our talent. The awards offer career development funding to individuals who show passion, commitment, and ambition to progress their careers within our sector.

Our winners have shown real commitment to the work of Look Ahead, striving to achieve success and living by our values. This year we are proud to offer the funding to three recipients this year, and we are excited to see each winner continue to develop using this funding.

You can hear from our recipients on how they plan to use this funding below.

Rebecca Buraimoh, Senior Compliance Officer – Women in Leadership winner

“I plan to do a level 4 Vocational Related Qualification (VRQ) Certificate in– Electrical Safety Management in Social Housing. VRQs are designed to provide learners with the practical skills and knowledge needed for a specific job or industry.

Look Ahead are great when it comes to diversity and opportunity within the organisation in general, which is something I’m always proud to share when asked about where I work, but the fact that there is this extra awareness and pro-activeness around encouraging and supporting women to progress in their career and to aim for high positions, I think It is fantastic and something the organisation should be extremely proud of.

When discussing my application and plans during the interview process, I mentioned that I am no longer just working but I’m in the position of building my career and what that looks like, which is why this qualification is important to me.

It’s amazing knowing I was heard, the organisation really cares and that I have the backing and support to reach my career goals.

It is an honour to win and be a recipient of this award and be a part of something really special”

“It has been communicated to Look Ahead by East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) that there is a significant shortage of step-down or supported living services across London for patients with a learning disability/autism and forensic history. There is an appetite in our Business Development and operational teams to model, implement and deliver these services in the future, in line with the North London Forensic Collaborative (NLFC) Learning Disability & Autism Strategy.

Such services will require a management team, including a Head of Service, to have specialist knowledge and understanding of the complexities of delivering safe and effective services to adults with learning disabilities/autism and a forensic history.

I intend to use the bursary to study towards a Postgraduate MSc in Intellectual Disabilities and Autism (Forensic) at the Tizard Centre, which is part of the University of Kent.

I enjoy being busy and being stretched within my career, and further study will enhance my confidence and self-esteem; not only allowing me to test my current knowledge and skills, but by developing new knowledge to enhance my practice in an area in which we do not currently offer service provision within the organisation. This will help us to deliver services in an untapped area, as well as promote advocacy and the challenging of poor practice”.

“I will be using this funding to enrol on the NCFE CACHE Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care at Zurbel Training University. This qualification is an important step towards my career goal of taking up a position as a Senior Support Worker or Team Leader at Look Ahead.

It will strengthen my knowledge in areas such as safeguarding, leadership and providing high quality support to people with complex needs. The Diploma will not only enhance my skills and knowledge, but will also enable me to make a more meaningful contribution to my team, our clients and the wider organisation.

I am truly grateful for this opportunity”

With access to our Learning & Development programme, you can excel at Look Ahead, whatever your role or ambitions.

Explore careers with us here.