SIDA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Knowledge Exchange Officer
Ashley joined SIDA after an academic career as a social and political theorist. She has lectured, organised, and supervised research for undergraduate and postgraduates in Scotland, England, and Canada. She most recently ran an MSc in International Political Theory for the University of Sheffield. Ashley completed her Phd in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. She moved to the UK for the first time after serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Kazakhstan under the aegis of the US Department of State where she organised education and nutrition programs. Before that she completed her undergraduate degree in International Relations and Philosophy across the US, Thailand, and Russia.
As Knowledge Exchange Officer, Ashley coordinates SIDA's programme of learning and training activities, including peer knowledge exchange events, and SIDA's mentoring program.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Advocacy Manager, SCIAF
Ben Wilson is Advocacy Manager at the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF). He oversees SCIAF's campaigning and influencing work on issues such as climate justice, food justice and international development, in Scotland, the UK and internationally. Ben has particular experience in campaigning on climate issues at the UN level, especially in recent years on the issue of Loss & Damage. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Glasgow, which took a post-development approach to critically reflect on Scotland's relationship with Malawi.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, Carey Tourism
With broad experience of international development and a focus on heritage and tourism as drivers of sustainable development and climate resilience, Benjamin has worked in 60+ countries with organisations that include International Co-operative Alliance, UNESCO and World Bank. He specialises in countries emerging from crisis and has produced recovery strategies for Iraq (war), Scotland (Foot & Mouth), Sierra Leone (Ebola) and Yemen (conflict). Having founded Edinburgh Global Partnerships in 1990, he has been involved with many NGOs, including the BEARR Trust, Janapada Seva Trust, Mercy Corps, Rwanda Scotland Alliance, Scotland Malawi Partnership, Tourism Concern, The Travel Foundation and WWF. He wants to promote inclusion and partnerships.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- CEO, EMMS International, and Director, Thrive
Cathy has supported the Alliance since before its founding in the first term of the Scottish Parliament. Her current trusteeship began in 2019. She has lived in Leningrad and Grenoble as part of an MA in French and Russian, taught in China, run Scottish European Aid's Romania desk, managed Edinburgh's One World Shop, lived and worked in Ethiopia, and since 1997 has led programmes departments in Mercy Corps, SCIAF and EMMS International. She founded small NGO Thrive in 2016 and runs it with 4 other women. Cathy completed a PhD in 2017 on attitudes and language on Africa, aid and development, and is now CEO of EMMS International, which improves health and healthcare in Scotland, Malawi, India and Nepal. Her interest in advocacy goes back to the 1990s, when she held several voluntary positions in World Development Movement (now Global Justice Now).
Chris spent 16 years leading the teams responsible for media, comms, campaigns, education, policy & advocacy at SCIAF and Christian Aid Scotland. He is now a consultant, supporting both private sector and NGO clients in pushing for positive change. He has many years of experience as board member of a small SIDA member, and spent many years on the boards of large networks: the Trade Justice Movement and Stop Climate Chaos Scotland. Before moving to the development sector, Chris was an Investment Manager, managing pension funds and investment trusts - and he often combines his investment and NGO backgrounds. He is Chair of the Ethical Oversight Committee for a large asset management company.
Job Titles:
- Africa Senior Programme Officer, Mercy Corps Europe
Cicely joined the Alliance Board of Trustees in mid-2022. Cicely works for Mercy Corps and leads the Regional Programmes Team (RPT) for Africa in award management and new business development for all European funding in Africa. This includes Scottish Government, FCDO, Dutch Government, SIDA, AFD, EC, ECHO and so on. Cicely began working in humanitarian programmes in 2006 in Malawi, followed by roles in South Sudan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Cicely began working for Mercy Corps Europe in 2014, and her work has focussed on Syria, European refugee crisis, Middle East, and now Africa. Cicely has a MA in Poverty, Conflict and Reconstruction from IDPM at Manchester University.
Job Titles:
- Digital Communications and Events Coordinator ( Maternity Cover )
David joined Scotland's International Development Alliance, having previously worked for Forth Valley Chamber of Commerce, where he managed communications with Members and organised the delivery of their events program.
In his role as the Digital Communications & Events Coordinator, David focuses on fostering collaboration within Scotland's global sustainable development sector. His main responsibilities include leading the Alliance's digital communications efforts, encompassing social media management, email newsletters, and press release coordination. Additionally, David upkeeps our website and digital platforms, that enable our members to connect, collaborate, and foster a sense of community online.
In addition to his role at SIDA, David is currently studying Msc International Conflict and Cooperation, having previously studied Marketing at Stirling, graduating in 2019.
Job Titles:
- Finance
- Operations Manager
Deirdre joined SIDA as Finance and Administrative Officer from a local community development trust working to support local economic, environmental and social development. Prior to this, Deirdre worked for the Scottish Fair Trade Forum, an organisation established to support awareness and commitment to sustainable development in Scotland through Fair Trade.
Deirdre studied Fine Art in Ireland, then travelled and worked abroad before returning to complete a Master's Degree in Anthropology and Development, focusing on the long term impact of international food aid, primarily in Ethiopia.
As Finance and Operations Manager, Deirdre is responsible for the internal management of financial, governance, administrative and HR functions.
Job Titles:
- Evaluation and Impact Officer
Fatima joined Scotland's International Development Alliance in 2023. She has over a decade's worth of experience developing and managing programmes in Pakistan, particularly in the areas of democratic governance, human rights, and access to justice. Before relocating to Scotland, Fatima led the Local State-building programme portfolio in Pakistan for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Prior to this, she worked on programme development and grant management with the USAID Citizens' Voice Project.
Fatima is responsible for monitoring and evaluation at SIDA, helping design and put in practice a results-based system to track and demonstrate our progress, and to learn how we can maximize our impact. Her responsibilities also include ensuring effective and responsible data management at SIDA.
Frances Guy joined SIDA in 2021, after a long career in diplomacy and international development. She was born and educated in Scotland, Italy, and Canada before embarking on an international career that has taken her principally to the Horn of Africa and the Arabic speaking world, including Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen. Frances worked for Christian Aid between 2014 - 2017 as head of their Middle East team based in London. Most recently she was gender team leader for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regional office in the Arab states. She was Representative for UNWomen in Iraq from May 2012 to December 2014 and before that she had a long career in the British Diplomatic Service during which she served as British Ambassador to Lebanon (2006 -2011) and to Yemen (2001 -2004).
Frances holds overall responsibility for the operational management of the organisation. This includes leading the development of SIDA's strategy and business plan, and overseeing the delivery of both.
Francis joined Scotland's International Development Alliance in July 2021 having spent the previous six years at the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) where he was Head of Membership. Working to a mission of delivering sustainable, inclusive economic growth, he has a wide network across the private, public and third sectors, and extensive experience in stakeholder engagement and business development.
Francis studied philosophy and politics at the University of Glasgow and after spending much of his early career in the private sector, and is firmly focussed on delivering the SIDA vision of ‘Scotland for a fairer world', maximising value for our members and expanding the profile and influence of SIDA to a wider audience. Francis leads on member and stakeholder engagement, growing the membership and developing partnership and collaboration opportunities for SIDA.
Job Titles:
- Humanitarian Action and Global Citizenship Officer
Hannah joined Scotland's International Development Alliance in 2022 after 12 years working in community led development and gender equality programmes in East Africa, Central America, and Scotland. Previous to this, she studied Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh, with a focus on rural education systems in central Tanzania.
Hannah is passionate about amplifying the voices, ideas and power of activists and change makers in the Global South and creating spaces for collaboration and understanding across borders, cultures, and viewpoints.
Hannah's responsibilities include promoting global citizenship amongst the Scottish public and developing a coordination mechanism for organisations in Scotland who are responding to humanitarian crises abroad.
Job Titles:
- Digital Communications and Events Coordinator
Kat joined Scotland's International Development Alliance from a small charity providing support for people and families living with HIV. Kat is passionate about radically decolonising global sustainable development, ensuring an actively anti-racist approach, and prioritising global climate justice for all.
Kat studied Philosophy at the University of St Andrews, before completing her postgraduate studies in Social Justice and Community Action with Akwugo Emejulu at the University of Edinburgh.
As Digital Communications & Events Coordinator, her priorities are to enable, encourage, and facilitate collaboration within the global sustainable development sector in Scotland. She leads digital communications for SIDA, from social media to press releases, as well as improves & maintains our extensive & comprehensive website, creating digital spaces for our membership to gather for collaboration, connection & community, through the SIDA Community network.
Kat is currently on maternity leave, please contact her cover David Cunningham in her absence!
Job Titles:
- Accountant
- Trustee
- Director, Financial Pathways
Keeley is accountant with over 20 years experience working with charities based in the UK and internationally, and a trustee for two other charities. Keeley is a keen advocate for charities and organisations which make a real impact at grass-roots level, and she is delighted she can support the teams doing the real work.
Job Titles:
- Head of Policy, Communications & Digital Engagement
Louise joined SIDA in 2022 having previously worked across environmental and social justice issues in a variety of roles. Most recently Louise led the campaigns, policy, and research function at The Vegan Society. Prior to that she co-ordinated the Green Party in Wales and ran an award-winning sustainable event management agency.
Louise has a long-standing interest in global sustainable development, having been a trustee for Hay2Timbuktu for several years, linking the towns of Hay-on-Wye in Wales with Timbuktu in Mali. She also co-founded a thriving fair trade retail business.
Louise leads our policy and influencing work and holds overall responsibility for our communications output.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Country Manager, Challenges Malawi
Phillip Chidawati is a seasoned development practitioner with knowledge in global development policies including global goals, African continent development priorities and Malawi Nation Development Priorities. He has successfully led the implementation of the CROPS Project in Malawi, funded by the Scottish Government from October 2018 to March 2023, which seeks to commercialise rural agriculture through increased crop productivity, aggregation, value addition and market building. He currently works as a Country Manager for Challenges Malawi and possesses a Master's Degree in Entrepreneurship and a Bachelor's in Agriculture.
Job Titles:
- International Programme Director, Link Education International
Sam joined the Alliance Board in 2019 and sits on the HR and Safeguarding Committee. Her day job is with Link Education International, where she is the International Programme Director and leads on strategy development, oversees quality programming and is Link's safeguarding foal point. She is also progressing Link's work on effective partnerships and shifting the power. Link supports governments and partners in Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda to deliver quality education to all children. Sam studied International development at the University of East Anglia where she gained her Masters and Doctorate qualifications. She has over 15 years working in the international education and development sector with experience across Africa and Asia.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Country Director, WaterAid Zambia
The Country Director for WaterAid, Zambia, Yankho is an international development expert based in Lusaka, Zambia, with diverse experience in monitoring and evaluation, project management, partnerships as well as programme and business development. She believes that joint efforts are critical in responding to the climate crisis facing our world today and is proud to be part of Scotland's International Development Alliance building on the strong relationship that exists with Scotland, Partner Countries and Partner Organisations.
Job Titles:
- Lecturer
- Lecturer in International and Comparative Education in the School of Education, University of Glasgow
Yulia Nesterova, Ph.D., is Lecturer in International and Comparative Education in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow. She also acts as Academic Lead for Low and Middle-Income Countries Research Network at Glasgow and Associate Editor of Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education journal. Yulia's research focuses on inequalities and injustices in education, partnerships and community engagement for quality education, youth-led peace, and education for peace, justice, and reconciliation. Prior to joining Glasgow, Yulia was with UNESCO MGIEP and Asia-Pacific offices working on peacebuilding, sustainable development, and youth engagement, and worked closely with a range of other international actors. She was educated in Sweden, Finland, and Hong Kong and has conducted extensive research in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Pacific.