Sara Llewellin is awarded a DBE (damehood) in Queen’s Birthday Honours List

We are delighted to announce that our Chief Executive Sara Llewellin has been awarded a DBE (damehood) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to social justice.  Sara has been our Chief Executive since 2009 and has worked with our board and staff team to deepen our structural change approach to all our work.  She has been instrumental in developing a social investment portfolio, shareholder activism advocacy and infrastructure support for the sector as well as developing further our pre-existing work in economic, racial and criminal justice.

The citation from the Cabinet Office reads as follows:

Sara Llewellin is a campaigner and activist for social justice, enabling and leading change in multiple capacities. As Chief Executive of the Barrow Cadbury Trust (2009 – present), she has led the organisation to begin impact investing and shareholder activism, and was key to establishing the Connect Fund and Fair By Design partnerships, working with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors. She has been a longstanding steward of civil society, and previously chaired an independent commission ‘Change for Good’, addressing challenges and opportunities for the voluntary and community sectors. She was until recently a non-executive director of Charity Bank and on the Governing Council of the European Foundation Centre. She was previously Deputy Director of City Bridge Trust, Chair of London Funders, Director of St Giles Trust and prior to that spent 10 years in the movement against gender violence.

Sara said:

“I am as shocked as I am honoured to receive this recognition.  As all social justice activists know, we can achieve very little on our own and would be foolish to try.  I have worked with many hundreds of people on creating social change over the decades and all should take their share of credit for this award.  Very many of them changed and shaped me along the way and still do.  Special thanks and appreciation though go to my own board and our staff team, most especially for working their socks off during the pandemic and managing to stay optimistic.”