Elyzabeth Hawkes

I am the Deputy Chief Executive at POhWER and I am passionately committed to POhWER’S mission to empower people to have a voice and make a real difference to their lives.

POhWER was established in 1996 by a group of inspirational individuals who wanted to be able to choose how to live their own lives and make their own choices.

It is this passion and strength that our founder members showed that runs through POhWER today and motivates me to continue to grow and strengthen POhWER’s services to reach out to more people who are in need of support. It is essential to empower people and protect their fundamental human rights and ensure that we reach the most excluded members of society, so they are listened to when decisions are being made about them or the services that they need.

I have a BA Hons level in Health, Psychology, Health Politics and Social Care Policy alongside 23 years’ experience in acute and complex multi-site and national services management across the health, social care and the charitable sector.

Initially achieving registration as a State Registered Nurse (SRN), I worked in the NHS and progressed to becoming a Ward Sister before moving into a senior management role within a surgical directorate focusing on the quality of clinical care to patients

I have worked with POhWER for 13 years joining as an Operational Manager/ Director before becoming the Deputy Chief Executive in 2020.

I am responsible for the effective delivery of POhWER’s front line services nationally to empower our beneficiaries’ people to have a voice and make a real difference in their lives, leading on the development and delivery of empowerment and advocacy services to enable all who need it to have a voice and be heard.