Our Board - Who Cares? Scotland

What does the Board do?

Meet our board members

Michael Stewart - Chair

I’m honoured to have been elected by the Who Cares? Scotland members and I am really looking forward to working with Who Cares? Scotland as a member of the Board and getting to know the organisation from the inside. Using my personal experience of the care system from my childhood, alongside my professional experience I hope to help Who Cares? Scotland to continue to grow and develop its ambition of ensuring a lifetime of love and care for people who have not been able to live with their families.

I have been a social worker in Scotland for about 30 years. Currently, I work for Children’s Hearings Scotland supporting the volunteer community as they prepare for the forthcoming redesign of the Children’s Hearing System. When I am not working, I enjoy reading, learning to cook properly and baking. I enjoy walking with my very reluctant cocker spaniel who would much prefer to be asleep on the sofa whilst I read or watch TV!

Angela Crawley - Vice Chair

A proud mummy of two, infrequent fitness enthusiast, novice runner and retired politician. I am now looking forward to spending more time with my wife & young family.

A former Member of Parliament, with almost a decade at Westminster, several years as a Councillor in Local Government and working in the Scottish Parliament. I have spent more than two decades campaigning, working in policy development and decision making environments.

I have always strived to challenge constructively, give a voice to my community, and ensure that they have their voices heard. I have always endeavoured to campaign for positive change to people’s lives.

I would like to use my professional skills and my own care lived experience, to support the care experienced community.

I have volunteered for several charities close to my heart, including the Young Carers Trust and MCR Pathways, working directly with young people in a youth-work or one-to-one mentoring capacity.

Jennifer Royston

I started my career as a commercial lawyer, however since then I have chosen roles which give paramountcy to protecting vulnerable members of our society whether in developing countries or in the United Kingdom. I have worked in Sierra Leone, Iraq, Nigeria and Uganda and I have seen the impact supporting an individual to voice breaches of their human rights can have and also the societal change that can result from enabling community members to work together to advocate for their rights. I currently work as a Children’s Reporter and I aim to ensure that children and young people are at the forefront of any decision I make. I am passionate about assisting Who Cares? Scotland to empower both the individual and the collective voice.

Douglas Adam

Having “fallen” into recruitment in 1997, I have spent the majority of my career supporting Public and Voluntary sector organisations. This has been a deliberate choice due to the positive impact such organisations have on civic society and I am driven by the desire to support both people and organisations to realise their potential, so that together we can impact lives and communities for the better. Having successfully supported Who Cares? Scotland with several key appointments, I have developed a strong appreciation of the positive reach and impact of the organisation and am delighted to have joined the board. As a board member as I committed to ensuring both meaningful and lasting change for all Care Experienced people in Scotland.

Carol Kirk

I grew up in Drumchapel, Glasgow. I trained as a teacher and had a career in education and children’s services, most recently as Director of Education and Skills in North Ayrshire. I have chaired national groups on education of looked after children and educational leadership. Throughout my career I always had a strong focus on promoting equality of opportunity and representation of all young people particularly those who face the greatest challenges. I’m now semi-retired but provide consultancy to the public sector and coaching and mentoring to CEOs in the public and third sector. I have recently retired as the Chair of the Board of the Donaldson’s Trust. The ethos of Who Cares? Scotland is a good fit with my long-term commitment to young people’s rights and ensuring their voices are heard. I live in Glasgow and love dancing, painting and going to the cinema.

Eireann McAuley

I am an innovative, creative and energetic young care experienced professional, committed to building a safer, equal and fairer place for all. I am a qualified Modern Studies and History teacher and now work for The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS). My activism and passion for tackling inequities and mitigating injustice is rooted in my own lived experience of being a care experienced person, experiencing estrangement and homelessness, and facing a multitude of barriers and inequalities. Having overcome adversity, I am devoted to ensuring that others can too and that all care experienced people, especially young people, are loved, supported, respected and that the world is a safer and more equitable place for them. Beyond my activism, I love climbing and playing football. I also like to dance and love an adventure and a challenge. I volunteer as a youth worker and am actively involved with Youth Work Scotland and a number of youth related organisations and campaigns.

Gemma Jones

I’m a proud mum of two, bookworm and eternal optimist for what could be rather than what is. Passionate about people and the right for all of us to have access to opportunity and an equal voice in setting agendas that impact communities.

I have over 20 years’ experience in FTSE100 Financial Services companies in a number of roles and functions working to drive and embed people centred change in the UK and globally. In my current role as a Director of Financial Services in PWC (based in Edinburgh) I work with clients across the Investment and Insurance industries with a specific focus on ESG factors, including social. I was previously the Group Head of Sustainability at Aberdeen where I led the corporate social responsibility strategy to drive funding requests that support communities and evidence their impact. As well as ensuring we understood, and fulfilled, the relevant regulatory and reporting requirements and designing effective internal strategies to mitigate risk and align accountabilities and processes across the organisation. Something I continue to do with a number of clients today. I also have a background in reputational risk and managing communication strategies.

With a passion for connecting the need to support person-led growth with economic benefits for society as a whole I am committed to supporting the aims and objectives of Who Cares Scotland to ensure the voice of care experienced people is both heard, and understood.

Ellen Starkey

I grew up in East Yorkshire and, after moving up to Edinburgh for university, started my career in the third sector working in grant fundraising for a charity supporting disabled children, young people and their families. In this role, I gained extensive knowledge of charity fundraising and governance, financial reporting and income diversification. I now work as a Senior Policy Officer at the Scottish Government, currently in the Economic Development policy area, but previously in the Neurodivergence and Learning Disabilities complex care team, a role which further highlighted to me the importance of putting people with lived experience at the heart of policy making.

Having worked and volunteered with a range of organisations and communities since the age of 14, I am deeply passionate about advocating for the rights and wellbeing of minoritised communities and promoting inclusion in all settings. I am inspired by the mission of Who Cares? Scotland to make a lifetime of equality, respect and love a reality for care experience people, and am delighted to be a small part of making this happen by being a Board member.

Outside of work, I enjoy travelling and seeing new places, pub-quizzing with friends and learning languages!

Rebecca Munro

Since becoming a member of Who Cares? Scotland in 2016, I have studied for both my undergraduate and master’s degrees and now find myself working in higher education. How time flies!

I seek to widen access to all – in any aspiration they have. I try and do this every day in my current role in widening access within higher education, and I know my passion and tenacity in this area will stick with me forever. I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to get to where they want to be, regardless of their background.

From this, I have always sought opportunities that campaign and advocate for people under-resourced in society. My journey through charity work, university work in widening access and being a member of Who Cares? Scotland has brought me a new unmatchable opportunity of being a member of the Board. I’m excited to get stuck in and to bring my own experience of being in and leaving the care system and my professional skills to ensure Who Cares? Scotland continues their amazing and tireless work.

Away from the outside world, I am a cat mom to the most precious Ragdoll, Mowgli. He keeps me company whilst I try everything to avoid my phone and TV! I have recently started journalling and painting by numbers – they are, for sure, another way to make time fly.

Alison Ruddy

I believe every Care Experienced person deserves to feel heard, valued, and supported throughout their life.

After nearly 20 years in senior finance and leadership roles, I chose to reshape my career so I could use my skills to make a real difference. As well as being an ICAS chartered Accountant (former big four) I am also a qualified coach. Today I run my own business where I work with business leaders to deliver business strategy, executive coaching, and leadership consulting. I help organisations to build strong foundations for growth and empower their people to and to grow in confidence and resilience and achieve their potential without compromising on wellbeing.

My work as a coach has shown me how powerful it is when someone feels listened to and is understood and the impact of unlocking positive outcomes for their future.

Most importantly, I will always come back to one question: How does this decision improve the lives of Care Experienced people?

Scott Ross

After studying for an MPhil in Classics and Numismatics I spent the majority of my career in the public sector between Local Authorities, Non-Governmental Bodies and Policing. I joined the Scottish Police Authority in February 2021 as the Head of Change and Operational Scrutiny.

I develop the Authority’s strategic oversight of transformational change and advise the board on policing practice and policy. Prior to this I worked for Stirling Council where I managed a service covering a vast array of areas: Data; Research; Innovation; Transformation; Portfolio, Programme and Project Management; Performance Management and Policy. I went on to write Stirling Council’s long term Strategy on behalf of the Chief Executive.

It is a privilege to be appointed as a Who Cares? Scotland Board Member I am deeply passionate about the care experienced community and the role of corporate parents and I believe the voice of care experienced people needs to be amplified