Scotland’s International Development Alliance has a team of dedicated, experienced staff members who work alongside the board of trustees to ensure that SIDA operates effectively and continues to grow.
Our staff
Frances Guy
Chief Executive
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.
Email: frances@intdevalliance.scot
Fatima Shakeel Blair
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.
Email: fatima@intdevalliance.scot
Hannah Clyne
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.
Email: hannah@intdevalliance.scot
Kat Court
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 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.
Email: kat@intdevalliance.scot
Patrick Grady
Head of Policy and Communications
Patrick joined Scotland’s International Development Alliance in December 2024. His career in international development began as SCIAF’s Campaigns Officer in 2002, later returning to the organisation as Advocacy Manager between 2011-2015. Patrick lived and worked in Malawi as a World Exchange volunteer in 2004-2005, and has maintained close links with the country and its people ever since. Between 2015-2024, Patrick served as the Member of Parliament for Glasgow North, and was active on a wide range of global justice issues throughout that time, chairing the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Malawi and working with other groups focussed on Africa, WASH, NTDs and the Global Goals.
As Head of Policy and Communications, Patrick works with members and external stakeholders, acting on opportunities for influence, and leading influencing and communications with key audiences. He is also responsible for SIDA’s communications strategy with a focus on encouraging greater interaction with members and raising awareness of global citizenship with the wider public.
Email: patrick@intdevalliance.scot
Deirdre Muldowney
Finance and 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.
Email: deirdre@intdevalliance.scot
Kelly Phillips
Knowledge Exchange Officer
Kelly joined Scotland’s International Development Alliance in January 2025. Kelly has spent the last ten years working in the charity and social impact sector, with a focus on global sustainable development. She is passionate about decolonisation, sustainability and community led approaches in the sector.
Most recently, Kelly worked for an inclusion and diversity consultancy facilitating training events on a variety of inclusion subjects and leading on the organisation impact and evaluation strategy. Kelly had formerly spent three years working for Challenges Catalyst as their Learning and Development Associate delivering on international and local projects looking to upskill women, youth and social entrepreneurs. Kelly studied economics at the University of Edinburgh with a focus on global sustainable development, and a masters in international relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands. Outside of the workplace, she is a trustee of an organisation supporting education programmes in northern Tanzania.
As the Knowledge Exchange Officer, Kelly will be focused on creating and facilitating communities of practice and creating spaces for knowledge exchange and exploration. These exchanges will centre on themes important and necessary to the progress of global sustainable development and a move towards a more equitable and just sector.
Email: kelly@intdevalliance.scot
Francis Rodgers
Membership Engagement and Development Manager
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.
Email: francis.rodgers@intdevalliance.scot