Rita Araújo is a senior health and care leader with over 20 years' experience leading complex system transformation across the NHS, local government, academia and the voluntary sector. Currently Deputy Director of Primary Care Provider Development and Service Improvement at NHS Surrey Heartlands and Sussex ICB, she leads work to strengthen provider collaboration, neighbourhood health and system-wide improvement across Surrey and Sussex. A registered Nurse by background, Rita has held leadership roles spanning frontline clinical care, quality improvement, population health, commissioning and transformation. She is also an invited lecturer in improvement science and system transformation. Her work focuses on translating population health principles into practical delivery, bringing together partners across health, local government, education and the voluntary sector to tackle health inequalities, strengthen prevention and improve outcomes for communities. She has expertise in designing and leading large scale transformation programmes that use data, evidence and collaborative leadership to drive sustainable change. Rita has led several award-winning programmes that have delivered measurable improvements in outcomes, access and system performance, including large-scale work to improve outcomes for children and young people through prevention, early intervention and integrated care. Her work has been recognised nationally through Health Service Journal and Local Government Chronicle awards, and internationally through conference presentations and adoption of her approaches in other settings. Originally from Portugal, Rita brings an international perspective to healthcare transformation and has contributed to work with the World Health Organisation on child rights in healthcare. She is also a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Knowledge Mobilisation Fellow, focused on accelerating the use of evidence to improve population health and reduce inequalities.