Meet the Board

Former Head of Equality, Human Rights and Third Sector at Scottish Government

Social justice and equality have been powerful drivers in my life – motivating my personal ambitions and informing the choices I have made in my professional life. I graduated with a teaching qualification acquiring skills which have served me well throughout my career. However, I didn’t go into teaching but chose to work in positions actively seeking change – a different path to make a difference to people’s lives. I learnt much during this time, had tremendous opportunities to be involved in major national developments and acquired skills and experience which made possible a major career change to the civil service relatively late in life.

I was excited to become a trustee of the Academy in early 2020 and to have the chance to work with an organisation that is supporting social enterprise and providing excellent learning and development opportunities in Scotland and internationally. The Academy’s work is a fundamental part of Scotland’s strong ecosystem of support for social enterprise and we need it to continue to flourish. I believe social enterprise has the potential to change lives and transform communities and it can contribute to a fairer society.  I have been a director of a social enterprise and in my role as Deputy Director in the Scottish Government I had overall responsibility for social enterprise. I really enjoyed that work and being a trustee of the Academy enables me to continue to contribute in a meaningful way – applying the skills and experience I have in pursuit of something of real worth and interest.

Non-Executive Director, Cuvva and Seratio

I am the co-founder of Augmentors Partners, an advisory firm devoted to supporting entrepreneurs and their early stage companies. I am also a Director of several technology startups and an active angel investor.

My interest in social enterprise stems from an observation that many private sector companies lack a strong social purpose and many third sector organisations lack the commercial capability.

I believe the growth of the social enterprise sector can play a key role in achieving a fairer society in which economic growth and welfare of citizens are not seen as incompatible goals. I served for over ten years as a member of the Executive Team at Wood Mackenzie, where I led large teams, acquisitions and integrations.

I hold an MBA from the Open University and I am currently pursuing the Chartered Director qualification with the Institute of Directors.

Founder of Bike for Good

I am a really proud founder and Cycling Enthusiast Officer (CEO) of Bike for Good, a charity that has helped thousands of individuals to get into cycling over the last 10 years.  I became a social entrepreneur but my new desire is to support the community into cycling. Social entrepreneurship is my passion and I am pleased to work with a passionate team that changes lives through cycling, improving well-being and the environment.  It is only after five years running my social enterprise that I have realised the impact of this kind of organisation on changing the world. Since then my personal mission has been to support as many social enterprises as possible. I believe that even the most unethical business in the world has the potential to become a social enterprise.

Busy, married, with two weans. Not to worry, regular exercise such as yoga and cycling, as well a bit of mediation keeps me sane.

Head of Ecommerce at AG Barr

I am very proud to have been accepted as a Trustee for the Academy in 2020.  I hope that my unique experience in the corporate sector enables me to contribute to an already impressive organisation making a social impact through learning and development.  Last year I became a mum for the first time, which has only served to elevate my passion and drive to play my part in making our society a better, fairer place.

My background is in Strategy Consulting for Private Equity, large corporates and government departments.  I also took on several strategic and commercial roles at Virgin Media, latterly moving into the Digital Department to manage insight and strategic investment projects.  In 2017, I joined AG Barr – the drinks manufacturer best known for their iconic Scottish Irn Bru brand – and relocated to Edinburgh from London.  My remit as the Head of Ecommerce is to develop and implement the strategic plan for online growth, influence and educate internal teams on best practice, and identify areas where digital technology can support and grow our brands.

Director of The Franchise Company

Having been brought up as part of a small business family it was natural for me to start my career working in the business sector and as a result of joining one of the UK’s leading franchise organisations I developed an expertise in franchising and scaling businesses.

A friend then introduced me to the Social Enterprise sector and that led me to working with a number of social enterprises within the UK and internationally to support them to scale through social franchising.

As a result of working with a number of social enterprises based in Edinburgh, I became aware of the vibrant social enterprise culture within Scotland and specifically the work of the Social Enterprise Academy. After applying for a trustee role, I was invited to join the board at the end of 2019.

My experience with working with the Social Enterprise Academy so far has been challenging and rewarding. Weeks after attending the first board meeting the country went into lockdown with Covid 19 The Academy team stepped forward to transform what has largely been an organisation delivering face to face programmes to developing a virtual delivery system within a matter of weeks.

My initial reflections are that I’m working with a vibrant and innovative organisation with the strongest values that’s focused on developing and supporting the leaders of the Social Enterprise sector within the UK and internationally. I’m running fast to keep up and to understand the role of trustee within the charity sector and to date the whole experience has been an amazing learning curve working with a fabulous group of people who are gifted, a joy to work with, and gracefully supportive to their rookie trustees.

In the early 1990s, I was a member of the investment banking division of Swiss Bank Corporation in London. In 1995, I joined global strategy consultants Bain & Company in London, where I worked on a wide range of strategy and private equity projects.

In 2002 I swapped London for Edinburgh and joined SL Capital, the private equity business of Standard Life Investments. There I was a partner and a member of the investment committee with a focus on co-investments and manager selection. Since 2015, I have worked independently on private equity projects and as a business mentor and non-executive.

I speak fluent Dutch and proficient German. Outside work, I am a motorcycle enthusiast and an occasional silversmith. I am also a runner and I have an interest in architecture and digital leadership.