At Look Ahead we’re committed to ensuring our staff can take advantage of opportunities for leadership development if they wish to do so, as part of this, we offer our annual Women in Leadership and Rising Star Awards.
The awards offer staff who show clear talent, dedication and passion for the work Look Ahead does a career development bursary of up to £5,000.
For 2022 Camille Lapaix, Forensic Service Manager, has been awarded the Women in Leadership Award and Rebecca Swaine, Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) Service Manager, has been awarded the Rising Star Award.
Our Women in Leadership Award was first launched in 2016, and aims to support aspiring female talent in the organisation to fulfil their potential as future sector leaders in care, support, and housing.
Camille joined Look Ahead as a Mental Health Support Worker over five years ago. She specialised in forensic support, later becoming a team leader before taking on her current service management role in Tower Hamlets. She applied for the Women in Leadership Award because she believes it is a powerful opportunity that celebrates women’s unique leadership attributes that have been shaped by the challenges and achievements on their journey.
Camille is putting the funding towards two courses. The first one is the Women’s Leadership Development Programme delivered by the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, and in 2023, she will also start the London School of Economics’ MBA foundation course. Her intention through both programmes is to optimise her own and her service’s performance, and using the tools it gives her, she hopes to make a greater impact within our sector.
The Rising Star Award was first launched back in 2019 to create development opportunities for all Look Ahead staff who show passion, commitment, and ambition to progress their careers within our sector.
Rebecca first joined Look Ahead around three years ago, starting as Look Ahead’s sole Kent IDVA (Independent Domestic Violence Advocate) before becoming the manager of the service as the team grew. She has actively engaged the public and local services around domestic abuse particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. She has delivered training for Kent schoolteachers on how to support pupils affected by domestic abuse, alongside preventative sessions for students. Rebecca has also trained medical professionals and police officers and raised awareness around the role played in abuse by cybercrime, apps and mobile devices in the local press.
As a domestic abuse survivor and expert by experience herself, Rebecca is passionate about delivering the best support possible. After raising her five children, she has decided that now is the time to focus on her career and stepping up efforts to deliver improvements and better outcomes for both Look Ahead’s services and customers.
As our rising star, she is planning to use the funding for a Master’s Degree in Women and Child Abuse at London Metropolitan University. Rebecca is most keenly interested in using her learning from the course to allow Look Ahead to better work in partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service and justice system at large to ensure there is better understanding of domestic abuse in these areas.
Look Ahead’s Chief Executive Chris Hampson said, ‘Camille and Rebecca are excellent and valued colleagues and we’re delighted to see them both taking exciting new steps in their careers with us. We are pleased that that Look Ahead is able to support them to develop and prosper, even during these difficult economic times. Both of our winners have chosen fantastic new learning opportunities and we look forward to seeing them move forward and putting their learning to great use – congratulations to them both.’
