Neil Macleod
chair
Neil is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and spent the majority of his career in manufacturing/Supply Chain spending the early part in large FMCG multi-national organisations, latterly working in SME’s in the light industrial sector including the last 17 years with a Malaysian Based Private Equity company.
Neil has been lucky enough to have lived and worked outside Scotland, having spent 10 years in Australia, 2 years in France , 5 years in Malaysia , 3 years in Luxembourg and finally Chicago.
He returned to Scotland in 2017 and is currently a Trustee of Scouts Scotland and Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee’s School of Business.
Sam Macrae
member of the board
Sam currently works at Renfrewshire Council as a Promise Ambassador, where she is responsible for supporting staff across the local authority to recognise the changes they need to make to #KeepThePromise. Sam is particularly interested in supporting the workforce to fulfil these ambitious changes and improve experiences for children and young people.
She is interested in creating a more inclusive care community which moves away from strict definitions.
Sam graduated from the University of Glasgow in Social and Public Policy in 2021. As a student, Sam was a keen activist for the rights and awareness of students studying without family support and those on the edges of care. Sam has written and appeared across Scotland to highlight these issues.
Alex Christopoulos
member of the board
Alex has over 15 years experience in international development, child rights and protection, working across philanthropic, public, private and charity sectors.
He is experienced in designing and leading a range of complex programmes aimed at preventing, recognising and responding to challenges that families and communities face. He is a strong advocate of locally led development, ensuring that communities play a meaningful role in influencing decisions that affect them.
Alex currently responsible for the Aviva Foundation in the UK. Recently, he was Deputy Chief Executive at Lumos Foundation, responsible for overseeing global advocacy, research, training, and programmes.
Rosie Beattie
member of the board
Rosie is a Project Officer within the third sector. She has been involved in widening participation initiatives since beginning university, and her dissertation was based on experiences that the care community have with widening participation initiatives.
She also mentors a young person through MCR Pathways and is studying for a Diploma in Coaching and Mentoring to be able to effectively enable individuals to discover their potential.
Rosie also previously participated in The National Conversation as part of the Inclusive Economy Partnership to provide insights on how we can build a more inclusive economy and society, emphasising the crucial responsibility to invest time, resources and belief in young people.
Laura Conachan
member of the board
Laura has been involved in the Children’s Hearings System for over 15 years as a volunteer, staff member, and adoptive parent.
Laura is currently the Practice and Policy Lead at Children’s Hearings Scotland and recently had the privilege of leading part of the Collaborative Redesign of the hearings system. Previously Laura worked at the Safeguarders Panel Team and ran the Aberdeen City Children‘s Panel.
Despite her understanding of the ‘care system’, experiencing it ‘from the other side’ as a foster parent and then adoptive parent shone a new light on the complexities of the systems which children and families face.
Sally Coyne
member of the board
Sally has worked for more than 20 years in the public sector in a variety of communication and engagement roles. All have focussed on helping communities to be a part of a decision-making process.
Currently working as Head of Outreach at the Scottish Parliament, Sally’s teams focus on public information, education and visitor services and include supporting other languages people want to use.
Outside of work, Sally also volunteers with WhoCares? Scotland. Her passion for supporting children and young people in the care system grew after adopting her son. She is committed to helping Keep the Promise and using her skills and energy to support change.
Adam Bennett
founder / chief executive
Adam is the founder of ProjectChange. Prior to founding ProjectChange he was co-chair of the health and wellbeing workgroup at the Independent Care Review, helping lead the groups and overall reviews work and ultimately final recommendations.
While also working at the Independent Care Review he worked part-time at Edinburgh Council to help establish their Champions Board, also in this role he also took a leading role as co-convenor of the Edinburgh City Corporate Parenting Board.
The Melting Pot
co-working space
The Melting Pot first opened its doors in October 2007, after several years’ development by a grassroots group of like-minded folk in Edinburgh, led by Founder and CEO, Claire Carpenter.
The Melting Pot harnesses the power to ignite and effect social change by connecting people and supporting their ideas, passions and expertise. In turn, it helps Scotland fulfil its economic, social, cultural and environmental potential.
Stripe Accountants
accountants
Scott Robinson
HR/Admin Support
Since graduating from Edinburgh Business School (HWU) in 2021, Scott has become a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPD) and has worked across the sectors of Public, Private and Voluntary. Currently working in Human Resources within the Food Manufacturing Industry, Scott is an advocate for HR functions promoting fairness and best practice in policy, procedures and values; whilst promoting the importance maximising diversity, equality and inclusion within the workplace.
Outside of the workplace, Scott is the Volunteer Lead for People and Perception within Belfast Scouts, DofE Advocate, Trustee of Scouts NI and acts as a HR and Finance Consultant to ProjectChange. In his free time, Scott enjoys taking the opportunity to go hill-walking or playing competitive badminton.
Laura Beveridge
Jimmy Paul
Sue Mckellar
Adam Bennett
Copyright – 2022
