Lee Chambers
Founder, Business Psychologist and Keynote Speaker at Essentialise Workplace Wellbeing
Science and Engineering
Lee Chambers is a highly regarded Black, autistic psychologist and founder of Essentialise Workplace Wellbeing and Black STEM Futures.
He has had a diverse career, with time in corporate finance and elite sports, and founding a videogame business which he grew across Europe. In 2014, he lost the ability to walk due to an autoimmune illness, and after relearning, he decided to use the experience as a catalyst to launch Essentialise, an innovative wellbeing and inclusion agency with a range of clients, and that is a cornerstone employer for SEND schools in Lancashire. Through his work, he won the Great British Entrepreneur Award for Service Industries, the Services Startup of the Year at the UK Startup Awards and is on this year’s Startup 100 Index.
He recently became the first Black British scientist to receive a Kavli Fellowship from the National Academy of Sciences in the USA in its 33-year history and has been inducted into the UK’s Black Cultural Archives for service to business and health. He is a trustee for Age Concern and a board member of CMI Women. He is a leading voice in the disability entrepreneurship space, and recently featured in the Lloyds Bank And SBB Disability in Entrepreneurship report.
He has been interviewed by Vogue, Newsweek and the Guardian, is a regular media contributor on wellbeing and inclusion subjects, and is a leading male voice on intersectional disability in the workplace. He is the author of the Millennials Guide to Wellness, and has taken the stage at the Bloomberg Global Equality Summit and the Disability Expo. He was the host and resident psychologist for Ikea’s It’s Not Home if it’s Not You docuseries, and he was diagnosed autistic in 2021 at the age of 36.
“I am continually inspired by the individuals in the community who face significant challenges yet make such a wide-ranging impact. I feel in esteemed company being a part of this year’s Power 100. I’m passionate about disabled entrepreneurs getting the funding, tailored support and respect they deserve, as we are often the most innovative, adaptable and resilient people in the room. Ableism may still be rife, but underestimating us only fuels our desire. I hope to become a role model for the next generation, especially those from Black community, to see that disability is not a deficit, it’s a difference.”
Disability Power 100 2023 profile information has been self-submitted by the profile subject. Shaw Trust understands and respects that disability and impairment descriptors and language use varies from person to person. Shaw Trust assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or discrepancies in the content of this, or any other, profile page.
Image credits: David Easton “Mr Fotography”, Liz Hall
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