Mitchell grew up in Ellesmere Port.^[2] She was the first in her family to attend university, and studied economics at the University of Manchester, earning a bachelor's degree in 1994.^[2] She worked for Donald Dewar after graduating, completing a Master's degree at University College London in political administration in the evenings.^[2] In 1997 she joined Charter 88, a political campaigning group who worked on the House of Lords Reform Bill 2012.^[2] She earned an International Executive Diploma from INSEAD in 2005 and an Innovations in Governance qualification from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2006.^[2][3]

Mitchell was appointed the governmental affairs adviser to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in 2000.^[2] Mitchell worked at Age Concern as Head of Public Affairs from 2002 and Director of Communications from 2007.^[4] From 2005 to 2008 Mitchell was Chair of Trustees of the Fawcett Society.^[5]

She worked as Charity Director at Age UK from 2010.^[4] Here, Mitchell launched Let's Talk Money to get the charity to tackle several political issues, aiming to improve old people's incomes.^[4][6] She spoke about her work on Woman's Hour.^[7] When she left she appointed Hannah Pearce and Angela Kitching to job share as Head of External Relations.^[8]

Mitchell served as Chief Executive of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain from 2013 to 2018.^[9][10] She oversaw a 40% increase in access to treatments for MS and launched a £100 million fundraising campaign.^[11] During this time she wrote regularly for the Huffington Post.^[12] She has extensive non-executive experience, including as a non-executive director of NHS England and a Trustee of the King's Fund and Power to Change Trust.^[13][14]

Mitchell was appointed the Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK in 2018.^[15][16] She is responsible for the leadership and direction of the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research. She has helped put the charity on a strong footing to achieve its vision of bringing about a world where everybody can lead longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.^[17]

During her tenure at Cancer Research UK, Mitchell has overseen the publication of Longer, Better Lives: A manifesto for cancer research and care, which called on the next UK government to introduce measures that could help prevent 20,000 cancer deaths every year by 2040.^[18] She also led the development of More Research, Less Cancer, the largest ever philanthropic campaign by a UK charity.^[19]

Awards and honours edit

Mitchell was appointed Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to Older People and the Voluntary Sector.^[1][20] She was named by Cranfield University as one of the 100 Women to Watch in 2018, and was recognised as one of the 100 Influential Women in Oncology by OncoDaily.^[21][22] She joined the University of Cambridge's Homerton College as an Honorary Fellow in 2023.^[23]