WorkWell Leaders announces new Advisory Council

26 July, 2024

As the WorkWell Leaders membership community grows and it moves beyond the fundamentals of workplace mental health and leadership to actuating organisation-wide transformation of employee wellbeing, WWL is pleased to announce the appointment of Prof Carol Black and Professor Niki Ellis as members of the new WWL Advisory Council.  Both globally renowned experts on organisational design and wellbeing and having advised governments in their home countries and abroad, on the Advisory Council, Carol and Niki will provide expert advice and guidance to the Board, Committees and Management of WWL.

These esteemed individuals are no strangers to WWL, having served as special guest judges for the past two WorkWell Leaders Awards to select the winners of the Wellbeing Organisation Award of the Year.  Carol and Niki are also part of the WorkWell Leaders Working Group for the Singapore workplace mental health benchmark that we announced during the awards three months ago.

Professor Dame Carol Black is a UK-based clinician, scientist, and advocate known for her extensive contributions to medicine and public health. Dame Carol also served as President of the Royal College of Physicians of London and Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, carrying the torch as a leader and pioneering woman in a male-dominated field.

Dame Carol’s focus on the health effects of employment and worklessness led her to the role of National Director for Health and Work. During her tenure, she authored pivotal reviews on workers’ health and wellbeing, influencing government policy and industry practices.

Dame Carol’s recent work includes a 2021 review on illicit drugs that has informed the UK government’s drug strategy. She currently chairs the board of the British Library, the government’s What Works Centre for Ageing Better, as well as the board of Think Ahead, a mental health social worker training programme, continuing her legacy of impactful leadership and advocacy.

“I’m delighted to be a part of the WorkWell Leaders community and applaud your mission to demonstrate  workplace health and wellbeing is a powerful driver for business growth,” said Dame Carol.

Professor Niki Ellis, Australia-based, is a leading occupational and public health physician with an illustrious career spanning policy development, consultancy, and academia. In her early career, she wrote policies for the Tasmanian Department of Health and WorkSafe Australia and established her own consultancy. During the 2000s, she established academic centres at the University of Queensland and Monash University, with a focus on bridging research and practice.

Niki has contributed significantly to our collective understanding of the unintended impacts of insurance and benefit schemes. In the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in 2001, she played an integral role in the publication of “Compensable Injuries and Health Outcomes”. As a consultant to SuperFriend, an Australia-focused mental health foundation, she developed the Best Practice Framework for the Management of Psychological Claims in the group life insurance industry.

At present, Niki holds non-executive director roles at SuperFriend, the Centre for Evidence and Implementation and DrinkWise, is an Adjunct Professor at Monash’s Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, and is working on the health of migrant Indian workers.

“I’m a great admirer of WorkWell Leaders as I believe the emphasis on leadership to champion and be role models for change is critical for both private sector and public sector organisations to thrive,” said Niki.

WorkWell Leaders is deeply honoured to have such venerable figures on its Advisory Council to act as a sounding board for strategic goal-setting and enhanced understand of the workplace mental health landscape

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