About us

The Tessa Jowell Foundation was founded to honour the legacy of the late Baroness Tessa Jowell, whose life’s work was devoted to improving lives through more compassionate, inclusive and equitable systems in public health and early childhood development.  

Today, the foundation plays a leading role in shaping bold, strategic initiatives, delivered in collaboration with partners, in two distinct areas of Tessa’s legacy:

  • The Innovation of Brain Cancer Treatment and Care

  • Transforming Early Childhood Development

Through fundraising, advocacy and collaboration, the Foundation unites partners across the NHS, government, academia and civil society to drive systemic improvements in health and early years opportunity. 

Join us in continuing Tessa’s legacy – and shaping a fairer future. 

A note from our CEO

Honouring a legacy. Delivering change. Building hope.

Hello, and thank you for visiting the Tessa Jowell Foundation.

My beloved late mother, Tessa Jowell, lived her life in service of others - fighting for fairness, dignity, and the right of every individual to live fully and with access to equal opportunity. She had an extraordinary gift for bringing people together, to turn compassion into action, and ambition into lasting change.

We launched the Foundation following mum’s death from Brain Cancer in 2018, with the ambition to honour her legacy and deliver on her final campaign - transforming the treatment and care of brain cancer patients across the UK.

Together with partners, clinicians and families, we have seen this ambition begin to take root with improved standards of care, Centres of Excellence serving a catchment area of 40 million people established in her name, and a growing movement united by her conviction that, as she said in her final weeks, ‘we could all live well with cancer, not just be dying from it’.

But mum’s work tackling systemic drivers of inequality across the UK spanned 50 years of public service. She believed passionately that every person, through every stage of life, deserves the chance to thrive. This belief, and her lifelong work to tackle inequality at its roots, inspires the next chapter of our journey at the Foundation; expanding our work into early childhood development, which was ultimately her life's work. As we look to the future, we are more determined than ever to carry forward her force for good, whilst making impact which is entirely our own - unwaveringly hopeful, practical, and tireless in the pursuit of a better world.

We invite you to be a part of this next chapter. By sharing your story, partnering with us or making a donation, your support enables us to keep driving forward the work that Tessa began, and to ensure that her legacy is not only remembered, but lived.

With gratitude and hope,


Jess Mills

CEO, The Tessa Jowell Foundation

Our leadership

Jess Mills

Founder & CEO, Tessa Jowell Foundation

Jess Mills is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Tessa Jowell Foundation, established in memory of her mother, Baroness Tessa Jowell, to continue her mission of building a fairer and healthier society.

Under Jess’s leadership, the Foundation has become a driving force for systemic change — from transforming brain tumour treatment through the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission to expanding its work into early years development, ensuring that every child has the best possible start in life.

Jess is also on the guarantors boards of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission and a founding member of the Start Strong Campaign for early childhood development.

Guided by Tessa’s values of fairness, collaboration and compassion, Jess has built a national movement that brings together the NHS, research institutions, educators and communities to deliver lasting change. Her vision is rooted in her mother’s legacy: that everyone, regardless of where they live or who they are, should have access to world-class care, opportunity and hope.

Racheal Bird

Director of Development & Engagement

Racheal Bird leads the Development and Engagement side of the Tessa Jowell Foundation, bringing people together to make a real difference in the lives of those affected by brain tumours. Passionate about turning compassion into action, she has spent her career connecting communities, supporters, and partners to drive meaningful change.

Racheal joined the Foundation in 2023, bringing with her over 15 years of experience in the charity sector. Following the loss of her sister to cancer, she founded and ran her own charity, dedicating herself to supporting families affected by cancer - an experience that continues to shape her empathetic and driven approach today.

At the Foundation, Racheal plays a key role in expanding its impact She leads on the creation and management of the Foundation’s fundraising and development strategy, ensuring we fulfil our mission and deliver meaningful impact. Racheal also spearheads relationship management across partners, donors, and stakeholders, and is a champion for  advocacy across all areas of the Tessa Jowell Foundation’s work.

For Racheal, every campaign, every supporter, and every story matters. She is motivated by the families and children whose lives are directly touched by the Foundation’s work, and she is dedicated to creating hope, opportunity, and lasting change for them.

Joanne Caffrey

Director of Finance & Governance

Jo is our Director of Finance and Governance and has been with the organisation since 2022.  Jo is a chartered accountant with over a decade of experience in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. During her time in CPG, she worked as a Finance Director and also led sustainability initiatives—roles that sparked her passion for using business as a force for good and policy as a force for change.

Jo is passionate about equity and equality and is interested in creating systemic change to create fairer systems, particularly within the NHS and Education. As well as her role at TJF, Jo volunteers as the finance manager at her local Baby Bank
and on the committee at grassroots sports clubs.

Frances Whittaker

Fundraising and Engagement Co-Ordinator

Frances is our Fundraising and Engagement Co-Ordinator and has been with the Foundation since 2024. A sociology graduate who has previously worked in media sales and library services, Frances is driven by her determination to make the world a brighter place for others - but most importantly by the memory of her uncle, Paul, who died of glioblastoma in 2006, and the extra time that the innovative treatment he received gave her family. 

As the junior member of the team her role is to support the rest of the team in delivering fundraising projects, events, and communications, although she also pitches in with any other tasks that require an extra helping hand.

Our Advisory Board

  • Sir Will Lewis - Co- Chair

    Will is a journalist and media executive who currently serves as the publisher and CEO of the Washington Post. He was previously CEO of Dow Jones & Company, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, the youngest ever editor of the Daily Telegraph, and general manager of News International. Founder

  • Brent Hoberman - Co-Chair

    Brent is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Founders Factory (global venture studios, seed programmes and accelerator programmes), Founders Forum (global community of founders, corporates and tech leaders), and firstminute capital ($300m seed fund with global remit, backed by over 100+ unicorn founders). Previously, Brent co-founded Made.com in 2010 which went public in 2021 with a valuation of $1.1bn. Alongside Martha Lane Fox founded lastminute.com in 1998 where he was CEO from its inception and sold it in 2005 to Sabre for $1.1bn. 

    Technology businesses Brent has co-founded have raised over $1bn and include Karakuri. He has also been an advisor to four UK prime ministers and in 2015 was awarded a CBE for his services to entrepreneurship.

  • Dr Mahamed Hashi

    Mahamad has been a youth and community worker in his home of Stockwell for over 20 years, and a Labour councillor for Stockwell East since 2018. He set up numerous community projects including co-founding the Brixton Soup Kitchen and the New Beginnings youth gang intervention programme. He is the community lead for Lambeth’s Black Mental Health Commission, and sits on the Lambeth Stop and Search Monitoring Group as Co-Chair. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Philosophy by Birkbeck University in 2016, in recognition of the scale of his community work. 

  • Dr Miranda Brawn

    Dr Miranda K. Brawn is a highly sought-after board advisor and non-executive director for various CEOs and senior executives in the boardrooms of corporations and some of the fastest growing start-ups. With experience and insights spanning across different sectors including law, financial services, technology, engineering, arts, charity, media, education, government and public policy. Alongside her consultancy, coaching and international public speaking work, she provides advice on strategy, growth and innovation regarding diversity, equity and inclusion; sustainability; ESG; corporate governance; and risk issues in her areas of expertise, while sharing her career journey and success tips to inspire and empower others from students to the boardroom. She is also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford.

  • Mete Coban MBE

    As founder and now a Trustee of My Life My Say, Mete is best known for contributing to the increase of turnout for young people at the 2017 and 2019 UK General Elections. Previously the youngest ever Councillor elected in the London borough of Hackney, he is currently serving the administration as the Deputy Mayor for Environment and Transport. From the net-zero energy strategy to sustainable transport, he leads Hackney Council’s response to addressing the climate crisis.

    Mete holds a bachelor’s degree in Politics and a master’s degree in Public Policy and Practice, both from the University of Greenwich.In the New Years' 2020 honours list, Mete received an MBE for services to young people recognising his efforts to make politics more accessible. He received the UK Government’s National Democracy Change-Maker of the Year Award in 2018, and is also a Trustee at the London Marathon Foundation.

  • Lord O’Shaugnessy

    Lord O’Shaugnessy is a Conservative politician who has served in a wide variety of health-related roles, including as a Minister in the Department of Health and Social Care, and as Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit. He is also a senior partner at the medical consultancy he co-founded, Newmarket Strategy, and the current Chair of Cambridge University Health Partners. 

    He is a board member of Health Data Research UK, a Visiting Professor at Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation, a Senior Research Fellow in Education at the University of Birmingham, and a member of the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy Advisory Council. 

    Lord O’Shaughnessy is also a Patron and Strategic Advisor to the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission.

  • Sir Keith Mills GBE DL

    Sir Keith Mills GBE DL is a British business entrepreneur who founded the Air Miles and Nectar customer loyalty programmes and has established numerous businesses, both in the UK and internationally.  In September 2003, Sir Keith was appointed International President and CEO of London 2012 established to bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.  Having won the bid, he established LOCOG to organise the Games, where he was Deputy Chairman alongside Lord Sebastian Coe.

    In 2007 Sir Keith established an Olympic related charity, International Inspiration, which he chaired, and in 2008 he established a UK charity, Sported, which he funded and chaired for 10 years.  In 2014 Sir Keith established, and was Chairman of, the Invictus Games, working with Prince Harry to deliver a new major international sport event for wounded servicemen and women.  Sir Keith has chaired the Invictus Games Foundation and the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.  

    Sir Keith has received numerous awards including Master Entrepreneur of the Year, Chief Executive of the Year, and the Sports Industry Businessman of the Year, and was knighted by The Queen in 2006 and again in 2013 when he received the Grand Knight Cross for his services to sport.

  • Elisabeth Murdoch CBE

    Elisabeth Murdoch is an entrepreneur and philanthropist in the creative industries. In October 2019, Elisabeth joined forces with Stacey Snider and Jane Featherstone to found SISTER, a global content company which develops, produces and invests in visionary storytellers. In 2001, Elisabeth founded Shine, which she managed and grew, first as Chief Executive and latterly as Chairman, into one of the world’s leading production companies over her 14-year tenure.

    Elisabeth set up the Freelands Foundation in 2015 with the ambition to give everyone in the UK, regardless of background or location, access to art education, to raise their aspirations and empower them to transform their life opportunities.

    Elisabeth is a National Council member of Arts Council England and a non-Executive Director of Tribeca Enterprise.Description goes here

  • Lord Allen CBE

    Lord Allen’s business career ranges from media to hospitality. He is especially known for his contribution to the television industry, having played a key role in the creation of ITV. Currently he is Chairman of Global Media & Entertainment Group, Balfour Beatty, the Invictus Games Foundation, THG plc, and the British Horseracing Authority.  He is also Advisory Chairman at Moelis & Company.  

    He was a former Chairman of Granada Media plc, Chief Executive of Granada Group plc and ITV plc and Chairman of EMI Music, Endemol and The British Red Cross. He has also served on the board of Tesco plc, Virgin Media and GET AS, and been Chief Adviser to the Home Office and a Senior Advisor to Goldman Sachs.

    Charles was Vice Chairman of the London 2012 bid company, non-executive director of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and Chairman of the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002.  

    In 2002 he was awarded a CBE for his services to Sport and Community and in 2012 he was appointed a Knight Bachelor for his services to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He was given the Freedom of the City of London in 2006, and in 2013 Charles was given a peerage and sits on the Labour benches.

  • Alastair Campbell

    Alastair Campbell is a writer, communicator and strategist best known for his role as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman, press secretary and director of communications and strategy. Still active in politics and campaigns in Britain and overseas, he now splits his time between writing, speaking, broadcasting, charities and consultancy.

    He was for many years chairman of fund-raising of Bloodwise, Britain’s main blood cancer charity, but in recent years has become increasingly involved with mental health charities and causes, speaking about his own experience of depression, psychosis and addiction, and of his brother Donald’s lifelong struggle with schizophrenia. A former ‘Mind Champion of the Year’, he is an ambassador for several other charities, including Mind, Rethink and  Alcohol Concern. He is a patron of Maytree, the country’s only charity for the suicidal, and of Kidstime, which supports the children of mentally ill parents. He is a Global Ambassador for Australians for Mental Health.

    He co-founded the all-party campaign, Equality4MentalHealth, which was credited in Parliament by then Chancellor George Osborne with securing an extra £600 million for mental health services. In November 2017 Campbell was awarded an honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in recognition of his leadership role in breaking down the stigma surrounding mental illness, and in fighting for better services.

Our Board of Trustees

The Rt Hon. Lord Falconer of Thoroton

Chair of Trustees

Charlie Falconer is a Kings Counsel and partner at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, as well as a former Lord Chancellor and first Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs in the Blair government, where he worked on the creation of the UK Supreme Court and an elected Speaker for the House of Lords. In 2007 he was also made the first Secretary of State for Justice. He has been recognised as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the UK. 

He also sits on the board of the Centre for Justice Innovation and Pentonville Prison social enterprise Liberty Kitchen. He is a Patron of the legal charity Appeal.

Lord Darzi of Denham 

Professor Sir Ara Darzi is one of the most respected surgeons in the UK, and holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery between Imperial College London, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, and the Institute of Cancer Research; and is the Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London. He specialises in minimally invasive surgeries and best surgical practice. In recognition of his achievements, he has been elected: 

  • An Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering;

  • A Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences;

  • And a Fellow of the Royal Society.

In 2024, he produced The Darzi Review, a major independent performance review into the National Health Service in England. This review also included a review of cancer care services in England, where he found we lag behind other European Countries and included the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission’s research into the lack of availability of genomic testing for patients. 

Alongside his outstanding professional achievements and his Trusteeship of the Tessa Jowell Foundation, he is also a Trustee of the Helen Hamlyn Foundation and the Rangoon General Hospital Reinvigoration Charitable Trust, as well as a Patron of Chordoma UK, Meningitis Now, Mildmay Hospital Charity, and the Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation. He is also a Special Advisor to Health Data Research UK.

Dame Yve Buckland

Dame Yve is the Chair of University Hospitals Birmingham. Having started her professional life as an archivist, she has:

  • Been the first female Deputy Chief Executive for Nottingham City Council;

  • Set up and chaired the UK Health Development Agency;

  • Chaired the NHS agency for Innovation and Improvement (2005-2010);

  • Been Chair of the Consumer Council for Water for England and Wales (2005-2015);

  • Chaired the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (until January 2020);

  • Been appointed the first female Pro-Chancellor of Aston University (2017-2024); 

  • Been appointed Chair of the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (2022) and is now Chair of University Hospitals Birmingham.

In 2005 she was awarded a DBE for her work in public health. She is also an advisor to the DEFRA Commission on the Future of Water.

David Mills

David Mills is a former barrister and corporate lawyer.

David is Tessa Jowell’s widower and is Tessa Jowell Foundation CEO Jess Mills’ father. He sits on the Board of Trustees to represent the interests of the Jowell and Mills families and ensure the charity retains its commitment to Tessa’s legacy.

Our Ambassadors

Louise Fox, Mum of George #Forever13

I’m a proud mum of three – Jamie, George, and Issy, and wife to Matt. Our lives changed forever in 2021, when George, then aged 12, developed a sudden headache and was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma. We fought hard for him – crowdfunding and travelling to Germany and America for pioneering treatment – but devastatingly, we lost him 11 months later, in April 2022.

Since losing George, I’ve dedicated myself to campaigning, raising awareness, and fundraising to drive change for children with brain cancer. In 2023, I co-founded Angel Mums – a group of mothers who have each lost a child to brain cancer. Together, we’ve been raising funds to support the Tessa Jowell Foundation’s Centres of Excellence programme. We believe that together, we cannot be ignored and our motto is ‘from pain comes hope’. 

I’m passionate about working with the Tessa Jowell Foundation because I saw first-hand the differences in care – not only through George’s experience, but also through the journeys of other Angel Mums’ children. Every child deserves the same best level of care, no matter where they live. My mission now is to help to change not just the outcomes, but also the journey, for every child facing brain cancer today – in George’s honour and for all the families still fighting.

Sam Suriakumar

Sam Suriakumar is a speaker, advocate and father from London whose life changed unexpectedly in 2020 when he suffered multiple seizures and was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Guided by his Christian faith and the support of his family, Sam has turned a devastating diagnosis into a mission to raise awareness, build community and offer hope to others on similar journeys.

Since his diagnosis, Sam has helped raise over £60,000 for brain tumour charities through awareness-building challenges including the London Marathon, the Cancer Research Winter Run, a 24-hour football Kickathon and Hyrox - some of which he completed during his radio and chemotherapy treatment. His story has been featured on BBC, ITV and Sky News, and he now uses his platform to champion progress in brain cancer care and support.

Sam joins the Tessa Jowell Foundation because improving treatment options and compassionate support for patients and families is deeply personal to him—not only as a patient, but as someone who has seen the impact of brain cancer across generations in his own family.

“My hope is that nobody feels alone in this. If sharing my journey can help improve treatment and care whilst bringing real hope to families, then something good can come from something incredibly hard.”