POVERTY ALLIANCE - Key Persons
Alyson joined the Poverty Alliance in August 2022 as Campaigns Officer. She leads on the coordination of Challenge Poverty Week as well as being involved in the development and engagement across other campaigns. She previously worked in the Scottish Parliament and had a key role in campaigning on and delivering the Period Products (Free Provision) Scotland Act as well as being involved in other high-profile campaigns.
Alyson has a BA(Hons) in Business Management, and a MSc in Research Methods, both achieved at Glasgow Caledonian University. Her academic work largely focussed on equality, women and work, and occupational segregation.
When not working, Alyson is kept busy looking after her two young daughters and also enjoys walks with her springer spaniel.
Andrew joined the Poverty Alliance in August 2021 as Finance & Business Manager and is responsible for overseeing the operations of the Finance and Administration functions. Andrew has worked in the third sector for over 20 years for various charitable organisations and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team.
Job Titles:
- Living Wage Accreditation Officer
Anna provides guidance and advice to employers on Living Wage accreditation criteria and processes and works closely with employers in the Hospitality, Technology and Construction sectors.
Anna moved from Finland to Scotland in 2014 to study Sociology and Social and Economic History at the University of Edinburgh. She then went on to complete a master's degree in Gender History at the University of Glasgow, whilst working as an intern with the university's external relations. Alongside studying, Anna has worked part-time in a variety of roles from hospitality to administration. As a teenager, Anna spent two years living in New Zealand where she developed her love for travel. On a weekend you are likely to find her exploring the Scottish Highlands or Glasgow, her new home town. With dreams of travelling to South America, she is also trying (not so successfully) to grasp the basics of Spanish.
Anna joined the Poverty Alliance in August 2022 as an Administrative Assistant to support the Rights in Action Project. Anna has several years of experience of working in both the public and third sectors.
Outside of work, Anna is kept busy with her two young children. When she gets the chance, she likes to catch up with friends or unwind with a good film and a glass of wine.
Annie works as development officer on the Tackling Rural Poverty project focusing on Aberdeenshire.
Annie has been a community activist since 2014, as a founding member of charity Broke Not Broken, of which she is chair. Over that time she has been involved in ending the need for food banks at a local and national level, and tackling the effects and causes of poverty in Perth and Kinross. This has included engagement work at a community level, raising awareness of the different challenges people experiencing poverty face, and making connections with partners to push for effective change. Annie has a BA (hons) in Visual Communication from Edinburgh College of Art
Annie has four children and enjoys winding down by playing Dungeons and Dragons.
Becky joined the Poverty Alliance in October 2023 as the Development Officer for Argyll and Bute on the Taking Action on Rural Poverty project.
Becky also works for the Improvement Service as Community Link Lead for Dunoon in the Shaping Places for Wellbeing programme, which aims to reduce Scotland's health inequalities by combining data driven knowledge on inequality with citizen involvement. Before that she worked in the Community Development team at Argyll and Bute Council and on public and community engagement with health research at the University of Glasgow.
In various freelance and voluntary roles, Becky has supported local third sector organisations with income generation, membership consultation, evaluation and reporting. In her spare time she sits on far too many committees including a local after school care charity and the Parent Council. Becky is a sea kayak coach at Toward Seasports Club and to relax, she enjoys going out and playing in the waves, walking in Argyll's beautiful scenery, and growing veg.
Job Titles:
- Policy and Parliamentary Officer
Chloe joined the Poverty Alliance in March 2024. She works to ensure that the Poverty Alliance's policy positions are well-known amongst policymakers and politicians and are translated into policy action. She previously worked at Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH), supporting the organisation's Public Affairs team in making sure that mental health was on the Scottish political agenda.
David was a journalist for many years, in newspapers, television and radio. He then became a media and communications specialist, working for Oxfam Scotland, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, the Existing Homes Alliance, Unite Scotland and others, before joining the Poverty Alliance team in 2022. Journalists looking for comment from The Poverty Alliance can contact him on 07776 527839.
Job Titles:
- Communities and Networks Manager
David loves working with people and communities. He joined the Poverty Alliance from the Scottish Government's Community Empowerment team where he led on participatory budgeting and community development. Before that David was at the Scottish Community Development Centre working on ways power can be shared with citizens more equitably. Working with public bodies and government David most enjoyed facilitating work with people furthest from power and seeing them build confidence and taking action. He was a facilitator at the Citizen's Assembly for Scotland and as part of the Change Team, working to End Homelessness Together. Previously David worked in the Equality and Human Rights Commission legal team.
David has volunteered in his community with Whiteinch Housing Association, Govan Community Project and Thornliebank Together. He is currently a practitioner board member of People Powered, an NGO building power and impact of organizations and leaders around the world who are creating a more participatory democracy.
David loves football, coaches the school team and is a school parent council member.
Laura joined the Poverty Alliance in 2019 as a Research Officer.
Her areas of interest include participatory and peer-led research and she has worked on a range of projects including an evaluation of Universal Credit in Glasgow, research on lived experience of poverty in Edinburgh and supporting community organisations to develop their own evidence to make change through the Knowledge is Power project.
She has a PhD in criminology from the University of Glasgow.
Outside of work, she enjoys planning day trips and adventures and visiting new places.
Paul joined the Poverty Alliance in January 2022 as a Research Officer. His research background prior has mainly focused on disability and the use of human rights to tackle inequality. Having been involved with a number of organisations in the voluntary and third sector working in research and evaluation.
Paul has a MA in Sociology and an MRes in Sociology and Research Methods and completed PhD research looking at how people experience acquired brain injury.
At the weekend he loves to get out into nature for a hike and a cycle. Once back in from the usual drenching enjoys listening to music, watching football and hanging out with friends and family.
Job Titles:
- Scotland Director for Christian 's Against Poverty
Emma is Scotland Director for Christian's Against Poverty (CAP) a UK wide debt help and anti-poverty charity. Emma has worked for CAP for over 7 years leading teams, projects and service and policy development. Previously she worked in senior leadership in disability and Higher Education and also worked for the Equality Commission in Northern Ireland. Emma is deeply passionate about tackling the injustices of poverty and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Emma speaks widely on the subject of debt, money management and how we bring about change to see local communities flourish. Emma's a contributor for BBC Radio Scotland's Thought for the Day and a board member for Serve Scotland. Emma is married to Niall; they have three children and all live in the rural Scottish Borders, enjoying outdoor life.
Job Titles:
- Research and Information Manager
Fiona McHardy is Research and Information manager and is responsible for the overall management and delivery of all research programmes. Fiona has been involved in poverty and social exclusion research, working at grassroots, Scottish, UK and European level for a range of funders including the European Commission, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Wellcome Trust and the Big Lottery Fund. She has an extensive background of research management and is experienced in applied social research and qualitative and quantitative methods. She is an expert in inclusive research methods and conducting research on sensitive aspects of poverty. She was part of the editorial team for the Poverty in Scotland 2016 book. Presently she is part of the editorial team for a forthcoming publication as part of the Academy of Government Reference Group on Inequalities at University of Edinburgh. Her research studies have been utilised in a range of policy settings including: local authorities, the Scottish Parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Outside of work, she enjoys going to the gym particularly kettlebell classes, and is fan of trying different types of gin.
Job Titles:
- Co - Chair of the Poverty Leadership Panel
Innocent has 15 years Community Development practitioner experience and has held various positions in the National Health Service (NHS) and the voluntary sector working with refugees, disabled people and patients' communities in Glasgow. For example working with the Golden National Hospital as the Equalities Officer he spearheaded the transformation of the Quality Patient Public Group into a ‘voice' of patients able to use patient, carers and public feedback as evidence to influence provision of the quality healthcare services at the Golden Jubilee.
Innocent has training in Community development, Race Equality and Human rights. Innocent's experience prior to coming to UK included campaigning for disabled people rights to access services, promoting their visibility and a right to be heard by government, service providers and the private sector.
Innocent is currently Co-Chair of the Poverty Leadership Panel. He is also Chairperson of Afro Scottish Social Heritage (An African local community group). The chairperson of the Community Activists Panel (Sottish Homelessness community) and an active member of TPA's Alliance's Community Activists Action Group.
After graduating from Glasgow University with a Mathematics degree, Isla has worked in finance roles in the private sector for a variety of industries, including Property and Events.
A self-confessed data nerd, Isla's first love is an excel spreadsheet, closely followed by her family; if numbers are the question, Isla has the answer. She is a firm purveyor of the belief that mathematics can be applied to any situation to make it better, more efficient, and somehow more fun.
Outside of work, her two young children keep her on her toes most of time. If given the chance she can knit a mean jumper, and loves a good puzzle book.
Job Titles:
- Senior Communities and Networks Officer
Isla joined the Poverty Alliance team in 2023 as Senior Communities and Networks Officer. Having worked for many years in grassroots-led human rights organisations, including Glasgow Disability Alliance, Isla is passionate about tackling inequality, by supporting communities to build their power and voices, and influence change on the issues that affect them.
Isla has a background in social research and policy work with communities, and previously worked on issues around access to justice, in roles at the Scottish Human Rights Commission and Citizens Advice Scotland.
Job Titles:
- Treasurer
- CEO at FARE Scotland
Jimmy is the CEO at FARE Scotland where he has worked since 2003. He is passionate to reduce poverty and the symptoms, such as, unemployment, poor health and lack of community engagement which cause and effect poverty. Therefore Jimmy has worked for many years to encourage, support, enable and empower people to be connected to their communities, to act on their ideas, issues and interests.
Job Titles:
- Living Wage Administrative Assistant
Judit is responsible for supporting the Living Wage Scotland team with on-going and day to day admin tasks.
Outside of work you will find Judit either in front of the computer, playing video games enjoying the company of her friends from around the world or doing something crafty while watching a movie.
Kirsty McKechnie works for Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland as project manager for the Early Warning System. She is responsible for gathering and analysing evidence about the impact of changes in the benefit system on children and their families.
Kirsty has 20 years' experience in the benefits and housing advice sector, having previously worked for Shelter and Link Housing Association. She is passionate about tackling inequality and ensuring that everyone has an adequate income and a home. She is also a proud single parent.
Lydia joined the Poverty Alliance in January 2022 and primarily works on our Rights in Action Project. Her work involves developing and delivering training and support to ensure that Poverty Alliance members, community organisations and people with experience of poverty can take advantage of the changing human rights context in Scotland.
Lydia has BSc in Government from the London School of Economics and a MRes in Human Rights and International Politics from the University of Glasgow. She has experience in the third sector internationally and domestically and has worked for the Animal Health Trust, Debate Mate, Street Child Sri Lanka and Action Against Hunger. Prior to joining the Poverty Alliance Lydia lead a Young Person's Guarantee Project for Volunteering Matters in Glasgow.
When she's not working Lydia can be found listening to current affairs podcasts, riding her bike (slowly) and hanging out with her cats.
Job Titles:
- Living Wage Scotland Manager
Lynn is responsible for day-to-day management of Living Wage Scotland, working with funders, key stakeholders and employers to ensure the project achieves its strategic aims.
Lynn joined the Poverty Alliance as Living Wage Accreditation Officer in June 2016, then led on the development and launch of the Living Wage Places scheme, which saw the first UK city and the first UK town to achieve the Living Wage Place recognition.
Prior to joining the Poverty Alliance, Lynn worked in a number of Third Sector roles with the Wisegroup, Energy Saving Trust and in a management position at Citizens Advice Direct. Lynn holds a degree in Public Policy from the University of Glasgow.
Lynn has a young son named Jack. When time allows, Lynn is a keen reader, enjoys watching movies and loves a good debate on social policy issues. She is partial to a good French Martini from time-to-time.
Maëlle joined Poverty Alliance in June 2023 as the Administrator, providing support to the team during Sinead's maternity leave.
Prior to Joining Poverty Alliance, Maëlle worked in Higher Education, teaching Economic and Social History, and completing a PhD in the history of medicine. Maëlle is from Lyon in France and can be found sampling the croissants across Glasgow.
Job Titles:
- Living Wage Project Assistant
Muireann joined the Living Wage Scotland team in July 2021 as a Project Assistant.
Muireann moved to Scotland recently from Belfast. They hold a MA degree in Conflict Transformation and Social Justice from Queen's University, Belfast and a BA (Hons) from NUI Galway. They have six years of experience mainly in Feminist and LGBTQ+ activism, and across the student movement on the island of Ireland. They have also worked in call centres, retail, and the hospitality industry.
In their free time, Muireann tries to work through their long to-read list and browses charity shops for the best second-hand finds.
Nicky joined the Poverty Alliance in September 2023 as Research Officer on the Taking Action on Rural Poverty project. Prior to this Nicky spent six years working as a researcher and program coordinator in the gender-based violence sector in BC, Canada. Nicky has also conducted research in various roles within the health and third sectors since completing her MSc in Research Methods in Psychology. In her free time, Nicky enjoys yoga, getting outdoors, and rummaging through a good charity shop!
Job Titles:
- Living Wage Project Assistant
Peter joined the Poverty Alliance as Policy Manager in 2002, becoming Director in 2004. He is responsible for the overall day-to-day management of the organisation, ensuring that the Alliance is delivering the objectives set by the board and members. Peter also represents the Alliance in a variety of forums and networks, including Scottish Drugs Forum and the Living Wage Foundation's Advisory Council. He was Vice President of the European Anti-Poverty Network from 2012 to 2018. Peter is also Company Secretary on the Board of the Alliance.
Before joining the Alliance he worked at the Scottish Low Pay Unit, helping to campaign for the introduction of the National Minimum Wage.
Polly has over 20 years' experience of policy, research and campaigns on poverty and inequality in the global south and in Scotland. She brings particular knowledge and skills on food insecurity and how we reduce the need for chartable food aid in Scotland from her management of the A Menu for Change project and in her current role as head of Scotland for the Trussell Trust.
Job Titles:
- Living Wage Projects Coordinator
Rachel gained her honours degree in International Studies from The Open University in 2017. She has spent the last 8 years working in luxury retail for Goldsmiths the Jewellers, progressing into management 4 years ago working in the flagship Scottish store and smaller stores. This allowed her to develop strong people skills working with a variety of people in the private sector.
Rachel is an avid reader and loves nothing more than curling up with a good book. But can be tempted away from this by the offer of a cocktail.
Ralph joined the Poverty Alliance in September 2023 and is the Policy Officer on our Taking Action on Rural Poverty project. He will play a leading role in the project's aim to strengthen evidenced based advocacy work on rural poverty by civil society organisations in two rural local authority areas, as well as amplifying the findings of the project across Scotland, ensuring that the findings translate into action.
Ralph previously worked in a range of roles in the voluntary sector, including policy roles with a focus on children and young people, with a particular focus on disability and additional support needs. He also worked at BBC Children in Need where he designed and delivered major grant-making programmes and built strategic partnerships with other funders and delivery organisations.
In his spare time Ralph likes to cook, eat and is starting (again) to try and learn Italian.
Job Titles:
- Policy and Campaigns Manager
Ruth Boyle is policy and campaigns manager with the Poverty Alliance.
Prior to this, Ruth was policy and parliamentary manager at Close the Gap where she worked on women's labour market inequality. Ruth led on Close the Gap's work on poverty and women's low pay.
Sharon has worked in the third sector for around 20 years in both voluntary appointments as a trustee or director and in paid roles which have included Youth Employability, Youth Engagement, Social Enterprise Advisory role, Community Development and Business Development. Sharon's passion for the sector, led her to leave the private sector to do something that felt more fulfilling.
Sharon works at Fuse Youth Café in the capacity of Business Development Manager where she leads on the income generation activities, ensuring they also fit with the aims and mission of the organisation. Day to day sees Sharon directly supporting the staff, leading on the strategic development of Fuse, including the continual review of processes and improvements.
Sharon thrives on working for a small but vibrant organisation and leading a team of hardworking staff and volunteers who are passionately committed to making lasting change in the community of Shettleston.
Job Titles:
- Community Participation Officer