Become

About

Around 84,000 children in England live in care. 7 in 10 children experience a change in where they live, where they go to school, or who their social worker is each year and 1 in 3 care-experienced young people become homeless within 2 years of leaving care.

Become is the national charity supporting every child and young person with experience of the care system. Together, Become fight to make change happen.

It was a hugely exciting time to join Become, following a period of growth with a new strategy, sustainable funding and the opportunity to increase impact and better care.

The Brief

This was an exciting opportunity to lead an ambitious organisation, looking to grow the scale, reach and impact of Become’s work. Following working with Prospectus six years earlier to recruit their outgoing CEO, Become returned to us to secure their next CEO, who would maximise Become’s impact , provide inspiring leadership and oversee operations, campaigning and fundraising.

Our Approach

Prospectus met with a range of Become’s stakeholders to agree on the candidate skill set and experience. We also advised on salary to ensure the experience we sought reflected the market. We then undertook a search that saw us utilise our strong database and a targeted headhunt, supported by a transparent advertising campaign. We approached candidates with experience of enhancing organisational reach and impact, and who also brought ambassadorial skills, with experience of influencing high-level external stakeholders. An alignment with Become’s values was also key, and we specifically targeted those with lived experience.

We presented the top ten highest-scoring candidates to the recruitment panel, from which seven were selected to progress to interviews with Prospectus. We then met with the panel to agree on the final three candidates who went on to meet with the senior team and a panel of young people, ahead of interviewing with the recruitment panel.

The Outcome

Anela Anwar was appointed CEO of Become. Anela joined from Z2K, a leading anti-poverty charity working.  A law graduate, Aneal has built her career taking a right-based approach to social justice, tackling diverse issues including poverty and inequality, violence against women and girls and youth and community development. This includes as Head of Programme Development and Partnerships at Oxfam and as Non-Executive Director of the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration. 

“We are delighted to welcome Anela to Become. Her extensive experience in rights-based approaches and proven track record across social justice issues, combined with her passion for putting care-experienced young people at the heart of decision-making, makes her the ideal leader for the next phase of Become.”

Leslie Morphy, Chair of Become’s Board of Trustees

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