Good Governance: Future proofing for trustees conference

Alice Tucker

Alice is the Senior Development Officer for THRE (Third Sector Human Rights and Equalities). THRE develops free resources and training to support third sector organisations towards taking a Human Rights and Equalities First Approach to their organisational development and delivery. As part of her work with THRE, Alice has produced a guide on applying human rights and equalities to board governance and co-developed an online training course on the same topic.

She currently serves on the board of Health in Mind and was involved in the development of their current strategy, which embeds human rights approaches throughout the organisation. Last year, Alice co-led the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Stakeholder Group as part of the review of the Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector.

Anna Fowlie

Anna joined SCVO as Chief Executive in April 2018. Before that, she was Chief Executive of the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) for nearly 9 years. The SSSC is the professional regulator for social workers and people working in adult and children's social care.

Her career started with 18 years working in HR in local government, after which Anna joined COSLA as part of the employers' function working on, for example, national pay negotiations. She then became lead for all policy relating to children and young people followed by a secondment to Scottish Government to lead on corporate parenting for children and young people in the care system.

Anna was on the board of Who Cares? Scotland for 8 years, and joined the Oversight Board for The Promise. She is on the board of Dads Rock, and of Prosper (formerly Scottish Council for Development and Industry). She has a degree in History of Art from Edinburgh University, a postgraduate qualification in Human Resources and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Beth Mukushi

Beth Mukushi leads Support Services at SCVO. This includes oversight of a range of services to help charities and community groups run effectively, including support with climate action, digital, governance and funding.

Beth has worked in the voluntary sector for more than 20 years, with experience running UK-wide information and advice services, digital inclusion programmes, online mental health support services and international development. She is currently a trustee with Paths for All, and on the board of Locohome Retrofit CIC.

Celia Waring

Celia is a Client Investment Director at CCLA who exist to harness the power of investment markets to help our clients maximise their impact on society. A previous career in charity fundraising and experience as a state school governor has given Celia helpful insight into the pressures and challenges facing the third sector. She has regular strategic discussions with trustees about the role investments can play in building financial resilience and how charities can optimise returns.

Charles Willis

Charles is a senior manager at OSCR, responsible for engagement with the voluntary sector and key stakeholders on the implementation of the Charities Act. Previously, he has worked with the European Commission and individual European nations, ministers and their teams, government departments, politicians, and key stakeholder organisations to create public policy across a range of policy areas.

Starting his career in the Cabinet Office and then the House of Commons, Charles has worked in every aspect of policymaking across the public, private, and third sectors.

Dr Clare Mills

Clare is Deputy CEO of the Charity Finance Group, leading their Policy and Communications Team and HR Team. Her career spans a range of policy, political and communications roles, focused on charity and not-for-profit roles since 2015. Prior to moving into the charity sector, she developed her keen interest in public policy, working for an MP for over a decade.

She is a Chartered PR Practitioner and Member of the CIPR and has a long track record of board level volunteering with several charities, schools and the NHS. When she’s not working, she can usually be found outside in beautiful Northumberland, where she’s lucky to live, and often on her lovely bike.

Gail Burden

Gail Burden is a highly accomplished charity CEO with extensive experience serving in chair and vice-chair roles, where she has overseen governance and strategic direction at both board and operational levels. Her deep knowledge of charity finance allows her to navigate complex financial landscapes, ensuring sustainability and growth while maintaining transparency and accountability. Gail is also skilled in long-term planning that aligns strategy with purpose and values to drive lasting impact. Her approach is built on strong personal resilience, which she has developed over years of leading organisations through change and challenges. Gail’s leadership is characterised by a focus on sustainability, mission alignment, and a commitment to creating resilient, values-driven cultures.

Kenneth Pinkerton

Kenneth Pinkerton, Partner and Head of Brodies Charities & Third Sector Team, specialises in charity law and governance, providing advice and guidance to charities and third sector organisations. Kenneth's clients have included philanthropists, Royal Charter bodies, large umbrella membership bodies, family foundations, culture bodies and sports organisations. He has also worked on several high-profile governance cases involving the Scottish Charity Regulator. He is a member of the Charity Law Association.

Lucinda Godfrey

Lucinda joined ACOSVO in October 2022 following 16 years as CEO at Dundee Carers Centre and started her career as a youth worker. Lucinda has significant experience of leadership, service design and community engagement and has previously served as a Trustee. She has undertaken several other leadership roles on advisory groups and panels. Lucinda works closely with the Trustees and leads the ACOSVO team to deliver our vision of excellent Voluntary Sector Leadership.

Lynne Lamont

Lynne is Head of Charity & Institutional Clients at RBC Brewin, leading the eight specialist Charity Investment Management teams up and down the country. In her role, she is responsible for strategic planning, the investment offering and the development of the client base and team. She is keen to ensure that all RBC Brewin Dolphin charity clients receive the same level of tailored investment advice and service and has a particular interest and expertise in Responsible investment, ESG and Trustee training on investment matters.

Lynne regularly attends Board and Executive meetings as both a trustee and trusted professional advisor. She is very much aware of challenging discussions that are taking place, and difficult decisions that are having to be made, particularly in terms of reserves management and sustainability. She takes a practical and reasoned approach to providing advice, ensuring that the reserves and investment policies remain relevant and can be communicated with all stakeholders to enhance understanding and future resilience.

Mercedes Jones

Mercedes Jones is a Fund Adviser with Foundation Scotland and leads the Climate Action Working group within the Foundation. Through a governance lens, she will explore the critical role of trustees in advancing meaningful climate action and share learning on how building trustee buy-in can empower your organisation to adopt effective environmental strategies and create lasting impact

Zoe Greenfield

Zoe has worked with charities and social enterprises for fifteen years. She brings international perspective having worked with organisations in more than 40 countries, and across varied sectors and causes including publishing and media development, homelessness, health, international development and the arts.

She was previously CEO of the Ethical Journalism Network, and prior to this held senior roles at the International Network of Street Papers. Now, as a freelance consultant, she provides strategic and operational guidance as well as hands-on support to a range of third sector organisations. Recent work includes governance support for the Public Interest News Foundation and Demos.

She is an Associate with Community Enterprise, supporting organisations across Scotland. She also works as a grant assessor, is a member of the Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel and a trustee of Glasgow Film Theatre. Zoe is part of The Decelerator's network of practitioners supporting and enabling better endings in civil society organisations.