At the BDA’s AGM in September, we were excited to announce Susan Price as the BDA’s Chair Designate, a critical role that will lead, develop and challenge the association in the coming years. Susan will step into Caroline Bovey’s shoes and assume the role of Chair at the AGM in 2024.
Following a rigorous application and interview process Susan, who already Co-Chairs our EDI Committee was deemed the right person for the role, bringing a huge amount of leadership experience with her, both within her dietetic roles but also in her role as Deputy Director of Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion at University Hospitals Birmingham.
Liz Stockley CEO said, “Susan really impressed the Selection Committee at every stage of the process. Her passion for the profession and ability to connect with people shone through. Susan has already demonstrated her commitment to the BDA through her support for the establishment of the BDA EDI Committee and will be recognisable to members as a result of her social media presence and her delivery of the Elsie Widdowson Memorial Lecture in 2021.”
Susan Price said, “I am delighted to have been appointed as the BDA’s Chair Designate. I am very much looking forward to working with Liz, the Board the BDA team and all of our wonderful members.
“Our Strategic Plan, which is currently in the consultation stages sets out our three and ten-year ambitions and I am committed to helping us achieve 20,000 satisfied members by 2034. As Co-Chair of the EDI Committee I also want to ensure that as well as satisfied members, we also have true diversity within the membership and that the cornerstone of a diverse and inclusive profession is integral to all parts of the strategy.”
Susan was born and brought up in North Wales, before getting her first graduate role in Birmingham, where she continues to live today. Her 28-year career has covered every possible area of dietetics including clinical areas like burns, cardiac, diabetes, ENT, gastro, gynaecology, head and neck as well as ICU, liver, oncology, oral and maxillofacial neurology, renal, sexual health, surgery, trauma and orthopaedic. She has previously also worked as an accredited sports dietitian and has had a secondment in research, where she completed a Masters in Health Care Science!
Susan will spend the next year shadowing Caroline, as she completes her final year of a six-year tenure as Chair. Susan added, “I have such huge thanks and admiration for our Chair Caroline. She has made so many positive changes that have helped us get to the point that we are at now. She is a fantastic role model for all dietitians, dietetic support workers and dietetic students. I have learnt so much from her and I am very much looking forward to learning even more as we embark on the next 12 months of my designate role.”
Susan’s mother is from Barbados and her father is English. Susan noted, “When I was 16-years-old and deciding what I wanted to be, there was nobody that looked like me in dietetics. Thanks to great guidance from my parents and others throughout my career I have had the confidence and strength to go for it anyway.
“I have suffered with major imposter syndrome at different stages. And, only on reflection can I see that I spent too long trying to change myself to fit roles, before eventually realising that I am good enough, and that the voice I bring is just as valued and as important as someone else’s.
“I want our members and future members to know that there are so many opportunities within dietetics. I truly believe that the more diverse our teams are, the better all of our outcomes will be – be that in the NHS and all other areas that dietitians work in. I feel very proud to work in dietetics and I’ll be a dietitian until the day I retire.”
In the coming months we’ll be taking a look at the brilliant work of our Chair Caroline and finding out more about Susan ahead of our 2024 AGM. Watch this space!