Niccolò Caderni, the chairman of RAFT, wrote a letter this month to communicate some important news to supporters and friends of the charity. This letter can be read below.
“I am writing to you to let you know that, after 10 very successful years as Chief Executive of RAFT, Leonor Stjepic is leaving our charity to become the CEO of Montessori St Nicholas.
As a valued supporter and friend of RAFT you may have had the pleasure of meeting Leonor over the years in her role as CEO. During this time, Leonor has led the charity in forging its name as a world leader in tissue regeneration, helping restore people’s quality of life after injury and disease. Her dedication to RAFT has been unwavering over the years, as we have developed life-changing treatments for people most in need of them. It is this commitment and drive which has led a fantastic team, each of whom play an integral role in the everyday running of our small but impactful charity. I know I speak for them all when I say RAFT will miss her contribution and leadership.
Leonor leaves RAFT as our research programmes have gained the momentum needed to reach the next stage of development. Already, we saw our first commercial spin-off, Smart Matrix limited; in the future, we plan further to commercialise some of our scientific research work, so that our charitable mission can eventually rely on a truly sustainable basis, receiving not only the much-needed donations for which we will always be immensely grateful, but also obtaining royalties from our spin-off companies.
Dr Elena Garcia, our Director of Research, has kindly agreed to take upon herself the day to day running of our organization as we seek a new CEO to lead us through the next stage of our development.
The Trustees and I all wish Leonor the very best for the future, and every success as she embarks on the next stage of her career. Please do not hesitate to contact any of us to talk about RAFT or if we can be of any help whatsoever.
Yours sincerely,
Niccolò Caderni
Chairman”
