Jim began his career in the Youth and Community Service of Lanark County in 1972 and qualified from Jordanhill in

1976 where he worked as a Community Education Officer. He became a Principal CE Officer in Ayr and Lanark Division’s of Strathclyde transferring to North Lanarkshire 1996. In 2006 he became the Chief Executive of YouthLink Scotland the National Agency for Youth Work where he remained until his retiral at the end of 2018.

His achievements and involvement in national policy development and in creating an agency which was central to supporting both young people and the organisation’s who worked for them is well known and well documented. He was a key player in the development of a National Youth Work Strategy which is now in its third iteration and which enjoys cross party support.

In 2001 he completed a Master’s Degree at Strathclyde University. He is a graduate of the Pacific Institute’s Investors in Excellence Programme, a recipient of a Certificate of Merit from the IoD in 2015 and is a Life Fellow of YouthLink Scotland having received their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. He received an MBE for services to Youth Work in the Queen’s 90^th Birthday Honours List in 2016.

His other commitments include being Chair of Motherwell FC Community Trust, Vice Chair of Young Scot and Scotland’s Learning Partnership and fund raising for Mary’s Meals.

Cath is Managing Director of Integrated Corporate Services for departments in the UK government. Prior to that she had senior leadership roles with the Equality and Human Rights Commission and in public health in Scotland. She is also Interim Chair of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, an organisation which provides scientific advice on nature recovery and conservation to all four governments of the UK. Cath’s long term interests are fairness and human rights for all, good public service leadership and a strong future for our planet.

Colin is a degree-qualified Chartered Accountant with more than twenty years’ experience in UK and international contracting, ten of which have been as head of Finance for medium sized businesses.

Colin is skilled in strategic and tactical planning, operational management, corporate governance, contract review and management, system implementation, mergers and acquisitions, risk management, HR and IT. An effective, enthusiastic people manager, he uses collaborative style leadership to achieve tangible results and builds strong stakeholder relationships. This and his previous Trustee experience with HomeStart brings further senior level finance experience to the Impact Arts Board.

Gillian is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a BA(Hons) in Accounting from Strathclyde University. Gillian is currently a partner within the assurance practice at Ernst & Young, working with a variety of clients. Gillian’s skillsets lie within her technical accounting abilities and focus on audit quality. In addition to being a trustee, Gillian is also a member of the finance committee. This is Gillian’s first trustee appointment.

Joanne is a skilled HR practitioner, with over 20 years of HR experience across a variety of business & sectors. She is qualified to Masters’ level in Employment Law. She is a trained mediator, and her key skills include employee relations, performance management, managing change and design / delivery of training solutions.

Joanne runs a small HR consultancy business in Central Scotland. She has previously held the position of Trustee for two Company pension schemes; this is her first Board appointment.

Born and raised in Glasgow, Sofia Akram is a founding member of Impact Arts’ Sketchy Youths and has been a representative of Impact Arts since 2018, attending events at Scottish Parliament and Glasgow City Chambers. Previously a participant on Creative Pathways she then went on to volunteer with filmmaker John Macdougal on CashBack to the Future’s summer project. She’s now studying Film at Edinburgh Napier University following the completion of her HND in Film and TV. Prior to her joining the Glasgow Film Theatre Youth Board she volunteered as a Young Selector at the Glasgow Film Festival and spent time volunteering and reviewing books at Glasgow Women’s Library. Sofia firmly believes in the power of collaboration and practical positive change.

Joanne is Deputy Director for Improving Complex Care, within the Scottish Governments Mental Health Directorate. With over 15 years experience within Scottish Government Joanne brings experience of working to tackle inequalities, deliver economic growth and delivering public services.

Joanne has a career history covering private, third and public sector roles, and brings a range of experience, along with a strong commitment to equality and inclusion for Scotland’s people, putting users of services at the centre of their design and delivery.

Wendy joined See Me in 2017 with the goal of making a direct contribution to end the stigma and discrimination experienced by too many people in Scotland as a result of their mental health. See Me seek to change policy, practice and minds and create environments that ensure people with experience of mental health problems are treated equitably; with compassion, respect and fairness. Wendy believes, to achieve such significant social and behavioural change, strong partnership working is essential. A particular aspect of this is working alongside people with lived experience to be influencers and a core part of change and improvement processes.

With more than thirty years of public health experience Wendy has a long standing interest in improving (mental) health, addressing health inequality, and promoting and protecting human rights. Her other interests include; health and social care, education, children and young people, equalities, leadership, facilitation and organisational development. Wendy has a love of outdoors and spends most of her free time in the forests, hills or lochs.

Kieran is Head of Market Building at Social Investment Scotland. He oversees fundraising, programmes and events, and business consultancy for social entrepreneurs, to increase their revenue and reach. He is a Social Enterprise Scotland Board Director and has previously served on the board of the leading women’s empowerment enterprise, MsMissMrs, and LGBT+ education charity Time for Inclusive Education (TIE).

He lived in London for the best part of a decade working in leadership roles including theatre and arts venue, Hoxton Hall as Head of Fundraising and Participation, as Programmes and Fundraising Director at Tower Hamlets Summer University, and as Chief Operating Officer of the national social enterprise, FoodCycle.

Kieran has a BA in Fine Art – Painting from Glasgow School of Art, and still does some life drawing and painting in his spare time. Kieran spent four years as an arts workshop facilitator on leaving art school, travelling around Scotland engaging communities through visual arts.  He is a keen cyclist and can often be seen riding his olive-green Tokyo Bike around the Southside of Glasgow, where he now lives.

Angela graduated from Birmingham University, Westhill Campus in 1993 after firstly studying Social Sciences then Youth and Community Studies, she worked with Turning Point at a Drug rehabilitation unit. After returning to her home town of Irvine, she worked for Aberlour childcare Trust working with women in their recovery journey. Then in 1997 she moved to North Ayrshire Council as the project Leader in a youth project and has remained at North Ayrshire Council since then, with various youth work management posts Angela now is the Senior Manager within Education and Communities Directorate with responsibility of 9 teams delivering a range of services with a focus on community Empowerment. Angela was on the board of Directors for YouthLink for 6 years and always has had a passion for creative ways in which community and learning  can be delivered.

Martyn Dempsey is a Lecturer at Performing Arts Studio Scotland (PASS) at Edinburgh College, and has been lecturing full time at FE/HE level since 2017 across Scotland.

Prior to his career in as an educator, Martyn previously worked as an actor with companies across the UK including Les Enfants Terribles, Hull Truck, Derby Theatre,  SCAMP Theatre, Tall Stories, nabokov, Finborough Theatre, Scottish Opera, Young Vic and many more. Over the years Martyn was involved in devising a range of productions which have toured both nationally and internationally to critical acclaim.  Martyn regularly specialised in actor-musician work, new writing, devised performance, comedy and children’s theatre as well as also performing within the Stand Up Comedy, Sketch Comedy and Cabaret circuit.

As an outreach practitioner and facilitator, Martyn has a wealth of previous experience, regularly delivering workshops and specialist courses for a wide range of organisations including Royal Conservatoire Scotland, Old Vic New Voices, Almeida Theatre, Impact Arts, National Youth Theatre, Shakespeare Schools Festival, Scottish Youth Theatre, and East 15 Acting School.

Martyn trained at East 15 Acting School (BA Acting) and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (MEd Learning and Teaching in the Performing Arts).

Craig is passionate about creating systems and spaces where people can fulfil their potential and designing collaborative opportunities for people to work together to explore complex problems.

A Community Learning and Development practitioner, with a background in Sociology, Theology, and Media Studies, Craig has experience of working in complex systems through community work, international development, and in social care contexts, including throughcare, advocacy, participation.

In his role as an Improvement Consultant with CELCIS, based at the University of Strathclyde, Craig supports practice improvement and works with organisations to navigate complex change.  This includes a range of areas of work across residential child care in Scotland.

A self-identified ‘slow thinking introvert’, Craig values curiosity and the importance of relationships as the key active ingredients in achieving sustainable change.  He is currently undertaking the ScIL programme to become a Quality Improvement Advisor.

Fiona Doring is Chief Executive Officer of Impact Arts, whose mission is to tackle inequalities in Scotland through creative engagement. Winning The Scottish Women’s Award for contribution to Arts & Culture in 2019, Fiona has led Impact Arts through a significant period of growth, to the point where the organisation engages with over 5000 people and employs up to 100 creatives each year.

Impact Arts’ work impacts upon many sectors including health & wellbeing, employability, education, housing and the environment. Fiona is passionate about the transformative impact of creativity across society and about bringing a parity of esteem between creativity and the arts and social change across all of Impact Arts’ work.

Holding an MA and MFA in Fine Art from Edinburgh University and Edinburgh College of Art, Fiona began her career as a practising artist and worked in arts education before moving to Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen as Project Curator. It was here that she realised the power of art to engage with people and communities in a meaningful and life changing way.

Fiona is also Chair of Scottish Contemporary Art Network and a Board Member of Edinburgh College.

Mairi joined Impact Arts in 1997 and heads the Finance, HR and Compliance functions for the organisation. She has seen the company grow from a turnover of £110,000 to £1.8 million during her career at Impact Arts.

Degree qualified from Strathclyde University Business School, Mairi is an instrumental part of the Leadership Team and works closely with Programme Managers and the team, ensuring that funding and compliance obligations are incorporated into the design and delivery of our flagship projects. Mairi leads our relationships with our professional suppliers and has been instrumental in the development of social enterprise activity.

Neil supports Impact Arts to secure new funding opportunities, generate income and develop new partnerships in order to sustain and grow our services. He likes the fast-paced nature of the role and enjoys working with such a diverse team of creative people. Neil is currently completing a Master’s in Public Policy whilst working.

Caroline started her career as a nurse, specialising in Cardiology. After several years, and after becoming increasingly interested in the Welfare to Work sector, she had a career change and began working for a training provider in Lanarkshire, contributing to the successful delivery of several employment and training initiatives. Following a rewarding period of front line delivery, she carried out various senior management positions within several organisations, implementing and delivering notable projects such as the Youth Employment Initiative and Fair Start Scotland.

Passionate about tackling inequalities and creating opportunities for all, Caroline joined Impact Arts in August 2019 and in early 2020 took on the newly created role of Head of Operations. Caroline supports the development and delivery of Impact Arts portfolio of programmes, using her experience of delivering large scale, multi-funded projects to support the team in achieving the best possible outcomes for our participants and funders.

Blair manages the control processes, maintenance, and operational procedures for all of Impact Arts’ facilities and central services, actively supporting the delivery teams with events and overseeing effective management of equipment and materials.
Blair enjoys that no two days are the same at Impact Arts. He finds it a joy, and often very humbling, being part of a company that changes people’s lives for the better.

Susan currently looks after Impact Arts’ tenancy sustainment projects; Make it Your Own for care experienced young people and Make It Your Own and Make It Home for adults.

She also manages our employability projects in Edinburgh.

Susan enjoys supporting her team to enable them to deliver creative projects to younger and older people within their local community and witnessing the growth in each participant’s confidence. Giving them the opportunity to feel that they have a voice & can succeed in whatever they put their mind to, whether that be a creative activity, learning a new skill or progression into further education, training or employment.

Fiona has worked in community development in various communities across Scotland for over 20 years. Her work has included reducing carbon emissions, advancing education, improving health and developing communities. More recently she has worked solely on fundraising for a number of housing associations and small charities. Fiona is responsible for sourcing the required income from large donors, trusts and foundations. She joined Impact Arts in July 2023 and is excited to be part of a large team tackling various social issues through creativity and connection.

Amanda looks after our youth and education focussed programmes. She loves that our programmes provide young people with a space to be themselves; get creative, get a taste of independence and make some friends along the way. She is passionate about introducing young people to the idea of a future in the creative industries, and the diverse jobs available across the arts and culture sector. Her favourite thing is seeing young people sharing creative ideas and collaborating, often learning stuff from them along the way!

Angela is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly known as the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) and has worked in a community arts context for over 20 years. She has a background in drama and visual art. Angela is one of our Programme Managers and is responsible for  Creative Pathways, Craft Café Govan and Impactful Parents.

Maeve is an Associate at the architecture practice New Practice where she works on various urban design and strategy projects across the UK. Prior to this Maeve worked for Architecture & Design Scotland, as well as in private architecture practice in London. Maeve’s interests include designing for community development and resilience, inclusive growth, public space and multi-disciplinary approaches.

Marion is Head of the Community Learning and Development (CLD) Standards Council for Scotland, the professional body for people working and volunteering in youth work, adult learning and community development. She leads the organisation in all business area, working with a wide range of professionals from the public, voluntary and private sectors with partnership programmes across the UK and beyond.

Marion brings to Impact Arts over 20 years’ experience of working within CLD and Education, is a member of the Institute of Directors and a Trustee at Glasgow Kelvin College. She was worked all over Glasgow in various youth work roles before moving to South Lanarkshire Council where she managed two large youth centres. Most recently Marion completed her doctoral study into young people, enterprise and social capital at the University of Stirling.

Marion’s professional experience and expertise is invaluable to Impact Arts as we seek the reach the highest possible standards when harnessing the power of art and creativity for community education and development.

Charlotte is a visual artist. She likes having a sense of playfulness in what she makes, and often works in drawing and photography. At Craft Café, Charlotte loves being in an environment where she can support others to be creative and seeing the positivity it brings to the lives of older people.

Craft Café for Sarah is all about facilitating enjoyment, self-expression, and therapeutic approaches through creativity. She loves to use the experiences and techniques she has learned over the years to find new ways to connect with our older members and encourage their own creative vision and endeavours. Sarah has a background in fine arts, and her own practice focuses on the exploration of existential and autobiographic themes through illustration and painting.

Lee-Anne enjoys sharing her art and design ideas and craft skills with our Make It Your Own and Craft Café members. In her own time she likes upcycling textiles into clothing and soft furnishings.

Linda is a qualified interior designer and has worked for Impacts Arts for 16 years. Currently working on our Make it Your Own tenancy sustainment programme for Renfrewshire Council and Make it Your Own for Care Experienced Young People in Irvine where her extensive soft furnishing and upholstery skills are an asset to the projects. In her spare time she undertakes commissions for textile projects and has even renovated a van which she loves to travel around Scotland in.

Katie is a designer and facilitator with industry experience in furniture, product and environmental design. She focuses on people and the positive impact good design and creative process can have on us and our environment.

Danielle has worked and supported many children and families in Scotland through one to one art therapy and as a trained Dyadic Art Therapist practitioner. She has extensive experience in supporting children, young people and adults who have been affected by adverse experiences such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse etc.