Rebecca Kenny is a nurse, leader and changemaker who has spent her career championing compassionate care and empowering others to thrive in healthcare. With over fifteen years’ experience across nursing, workforce leadership, and service transformation, she has led teams through challenge and change while always holding onto the values of kindness, humanity, and respect that first drew her into nursing.

Now, as Head of the RCN Foundation Centre for Compassionate Leadership in Nursing and Midwifery, Rebecca is committed to creating a space where leaders at every level can grow, share, and reimagine what leadership looks like in modern health and care. She believes that compassion is not a “soft skill,” but the essential force that drives trust, resilience, and innovation – especially in a system under immense pressure.

Rebecca has been recognised for her ability to bring people together, nurture talent, and turn ideas into action, whether through large-scale recruitment programmes, digital transformation projects, or quality improvement initiatives. Rebecca also holds and Executive MBA with Distinction from Nottingham Trent University Business School, where her research explored how digital change and compassionate leadership can co-exist to strengthen the NHS for the future.