A very warm welcome to our next chair – Samantha Shann MSc, PGCert, Dip COT (UK), FRCOT

Following a recent recruitment campaign, the Board of Trustees are delighted to announce that Samantha Shann will be the next Chair of the Elizabeth Casson Trust when our current Chair, Dee Christie, steps down in the Spring of 2026.

Samantha will already be known to many of you as the President of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT). She will be joining the Trust when she completes her term of office with WFOT after the World Congress in February 2026. She is also a Board Member for the International Society of Wheelchair Professionals (ISWP) and a member of the Steering Committee for the World Health Organisation’s World Rehabilitation Alliance (Co-Chair for the Workforce workstream).

Samantha graduated as an occupational therapist in 1992 and has worked internationally in a wide range of practice and education settings in low, middle and high-resourced settings.

Presently based in the UK, Samantha practices as an occupational therapist and is a Director of The Occupational Therapy Service, a private occupational therapy service providing rehabilitation and consultancy services. Her clinical background covers mental health, rehabilitation with older adults and developing community-based rehabilitation programmes. For 18 years Samantha worked in higher education specialising in interprofessional learning, fieldwork placements, and curricula design.

She has spent over 20 years’ working to effect change at government, institutional and service level with expertise in organisational management including service delivery and design within the rehabilitation field. Samantha is frequently invited to speak internationally and regularly provides expertise and mentorship on leadership, advocacy and service development.

Samantha is highly respected by her peers and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (UK).

Samantha told us:

“I’m delighted to be the next chair of the Elizabeth Casson Trust. I am a great admirer of Elizabeth Casson, especially her commitment to social change, whilst her tenacity, clear vision, focus, and dedication are skills and qualities I see and value in many occupational therapists. The Trust embraces Elizabeth’s pioneering mindset and works in a solution-focused way to support occupational therapists in their professional development. I look forward to working with the Board and many others to continue to build a connected future that recognises and celebrates our diversity as a profession and supports future occupational therapy leaders.”

While Samantha will not officially be joining us until Spring 2026, we wanted to share the fantastic news of her appointment with you at the earliest opportunity.

The Elizabeth Casson Trust strives to further the profession of occupational therapy, regularly punches above its weight as a small independent Charity and, to say that it has grown considerably under Dee’s six-year tenure, is something of an understatement! As part of the recruitment process, the Trust has planned a handover period to accommodate a smooth transition from Dee to the next chair. Dee said:

“I’m delighted to be handing over to Sam as she will bring much experience and skill to our work. The Trust is a wonderful charity to work with, ambitious and go ahead in all that it does. I know that Sam will embrace our work but also seek new opportunities for the Trust to continue furthering the profession. I’m pleased to extend my term by a few months to accommodate Sam’s start next spring and excited to work alongside her to achieve that smooth transition”.

By continuing our history of having a series of incredible Chairs at the helm, we look forward to Samantha taking the Trust to even greater heights in the future.

If you would like to contact us about this appointment or if you have a congratulatory message for Sam, please email [email protected], and we will pass on any messages.