Annual Conference 2025

Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP

Scottish Liberal Democrats

Alex Cole-Hamilton has been leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats since August 2021, and is the party’s spokesperson for External Affairs and the Constitution. He was first elected at the 2016 Scottish Parliament Elections for the constituency of Edinburgh Western.     

Alex Plant

Chief Executive, Scottish Water

Alex took up the role of Chief Executive at Scottish Water in June 2023. He was previously Director of Strategy and Regulation at Anglian Water, where he worked from 2014. Prior to working in the water sector, he held roles at Cambridgeshire County Council, the Civil Aviation Authority and HM Treasury. He has also held several non-executive director roles including with NHS Cambridgeshire and Centre for Cities. Alex is a graduate of Nottingham University. 

Ayesha Farah

Shifting the Power Communications and Advocacy Manager, Comic Relief

Ayesha Farah is the Shifting the Power Communications and Advocacy Manager at Comic Relief. She is a specialist in authentic community storytelling and in driving systemic change to make funding practices more equitable and rooted in local partnership. With an MSc in Public Policy and extensive experience in non-profit leadership, Ayesha has spearheaded campaigns and initiatives on global education, malaria eradication, climate justice, food security, and maternal health. Her work consistently champions the voices of local actors, ensuring they are at the centre of decision-making and narrative change in development. 

Dr. Bassam Abu Hamad

Public Health Specialist, Al- Quds University (Gaza)

Public Health Specialist, Human Resources Management Specialist-in health sector “focus on education management” (Doctorate from Sheffield/UK and former Dean of the Palestine  School of Nursing), Coordinator of Public Health Programs at Al-Quds University (in Gaza) with  over 38 years  of  work in the Academic and social services including with Ministry  of  Health,  Ministry of Social Affairs, universities,  NGOs  (notably as  Deputy  Chief  of  Party) focusing on teaching, training and developing systems related to public health, management systems, health economics, health information system,  mother child health and nutrition strategies, human resource management in health, quality improvement in health sector, staff motivation, research, programs monitoring and evaluation and humanitarian interventions. 

Bee Roy

Head of Tearfund Scotland

Beatrice “Bee” Roy is the Head of Tearfund Scotland and has been part of Tearfund for seven years. She holds a degree in Divinity from the University of Edinburgh and brings over 15 years of experience across national roles and the charity youth sector in Scotland. She is passionate about justice, faith and our response to poverty, with a particular focus on inspiring and equipping the emerging generation. 

Cathy Ratcliff

CEO, EMMS International

Cathy Ratcliff has worked in international development continuously since 1992, in a career which has included forays into academia, most recently PhD in Russian at Edinburgh University (2017) on attitudes towards Africa, aid and development. Cathy has studied in Leningrad, taught English in Inner Mongolia, run Scottish European Aid’s Romania desk, led Edinburgh’s One World Shop, lived and worked in Ethiopia, and led programmes departments in Mercy Corps, SCIAF and EMMS International. CEO of EMMS International since 2019, Cathy leads this NGO to improve health and healthcare in India, Malawi, Nepal, Rwanda, Scotland and Zambia. Cathy is Chair of Scotland’s International Development Alliance. 

Chris Law MP

Scottish National Party

Chris Law MP has been the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Dundee Central since 2015. Chris is the SNP’s Westminster Spokesperson for Business, Trade and International Development Spokesperson. He previously sat on the International Development Committee from 2017-2024. He chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Guantanamo Bay and the APPG for Tibet. 

David Cunningham

Chief Executive, Kids Operating Room

David Cunningham has served as Chief Executive of Kids Operating Room – a global health charity focused on the provision of safe surgery for children in low-resource setting – since its formation 2018, having previously been the CEO of Scottish children’s healthcare charity, The ARCHIE Foundation, which supports children’s health services across the North of Scotland and Islands. David holds a Psychology degree from the University of Dundee, where he specialised in early years development. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University in 2017 and in 2024 he was the joint winner of the University’s ‘Transforming Lives Globally’ award. 

Dorcas Pratt

Deputy CEO / Director of Global Operations and Impact, Water Witness

Dorcas is deputy CEO of Water Witness, bringing a broad range of experience across international development, programme management and organisational leadership to the team. With a background in natural resource management, she has worked for many years leading teams and successful development programmes around the world. Dorcas leads programme and operational delivery across Water Witness, working with our teams across Scotland, Ethiopia, Malawi and Tanzania. 

Engwase Mwale

Chief Executive Officer, Zambian Governance Foundation for Civil Society

Engwase B. Mwale is a gender activist and development practitioner promoting good governance and transformational leadership. A dynamic leader with over 20 years’ experience in both the private sector and development landscape, Engwase is Chief Executive Officer at the Zambian Governance Foundation for Civil Society (ZGF). ZGF is a local grant maker and a capacity building support service organisation, commited to fostering the transformative shift in power dynamics that empower institutions and communities to shape their own development trajectory. Engwase believes that true progress can only be achieved when institutions and communities are at the forefront of contributing from their lived experiences and own community assets. 

Eoghan Mackie

Chief Executive, Challenges

Eoghan Mackie is the chief executive of Challenges, a family of social businesses he founded in 1999. With 20 years’ experience of working in the social enterprise and international development arenas, he is a highly respected leader and agent of best practice. His social business Challenges has worked with more than 3000 businesses in 66 countries, and has given management and leadership training to thousands of young people. It has six offices globally, specialising in social enterprise and SME development in emerging economies.  
A commercial lawyer by training (University of Edinburgh), Eoghan brings considerable legal, business and entrepreneurial experience, and he has founded a variety of vehicles to support social enterprise investment, fund management and business development. 

Dr Francesco Sindico

Professor of International Environmental Law, University of Strathclyde

Francesco is a Professor of International Environmental Law at the University of Strathclyde Law School. He is the Director of the Climate Change Legal Initiative (C2LI), the Co-Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law Climate Change Specialist Group (where he leads the Islands, Nature and Renewable Energy Project (INREP) and the Co-Chair of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) Islands Water Congress. From September 2021 to April 2024 he was seconded to the Scottish Government where he led the Carbon Neutral Islands project. Francesco thrives in multidisciplinary projects and environments, and believes universities must work with non-academic partners and share results from their research in ways that will deliver real impact on the ground.   

Frances Guy

CEO, Scotland's International Development Alliance

Frances has been the CEO of Scotland’s International Development Alliance since 2021. 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 between 2012 and 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). 

Gunjan Veda

Global Secretary, The Movement for Community-Led Development

Gunjan Veda is Global Secretary for the Movement for Community-Led Development, a Majority World-led network of over 3,000 local organizations and their INGO allies committed to putting communities front and centre in development. Her work includes creating collaborative and mutual partnerships, interrogating structural violence in existing systems, forms of knowledge production and publication, and consistently challenging existing spaces for partnership, capacity strengthening and knowledge sharing to become more inclusive and equitable. Routledge has just published her third book: Community-led Development in Practice: We power our own change. Gunjan has previously worked within the non-profit and government sectors in India, and was a policy-maker in the Indian Government’s Planning Commission.

Dr. Isioma Okolo

Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist

Dr. Isioma Okolo is a UK-trained Nigerian Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, a Harvard graduate, and a passionate global health advocate committed to addressing healthcare inequalities both within and between countries. With over 13 years of comprehensive expertise spanning clinical care, research, medical education, public health, and global health policy, she has a proven record of leadership and strategic planning aimed at improving global health systems. Having worked across four continents—Africa, the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East—Dr. Okolo has successfully led initiatives to improve health outcomes in resource-limited environments, building more equitable healthcare systems worldwide. As a trustee of Global Health Partnerships (formerly THET), Dr. Okolo continues her mission to champion global health equity, leveraging her unique insights and expertise to develop impactful solutions that address healthcare access, delivery, and quality for underserved populations.

Jamie Halcro Johnston MSP

Scottish Conservatives

Jamie Halcro Johnston has been an MSP for Highlands and Islands Region since 2017. Jamie is the  Scottish Conservatives’ Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs and the Rural Economy.  He is a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee. 

Jean Saldanha

Director, Eurodad

Jean Saldanha is director of Eurodad, the European Network on Debt and Development which advocates for democratically-controlled, gender-just and human rights-based financial and economic systems. Jean was previously a Senior Advisor at CIDSE, the international alliance of catholic development organizations based in Brussels. She led the work of European and international civil society coalitions on the UN’s Financing for Development and Post-2015/SDG processes. Jean comes from Mumbai and was active in the human rights movement in India as a law student. She has a Master’s degree in International Law from the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands. 

Line Kikkenborg Christensen

Advocacy and Communications Manager, SCIAF

 Line Christensen is Advocacy and Communications Manager at the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF). In her role, she works to amplify the voices of SCIAF’s partners in the Global South, ensuring their perspectives shape debates and decisions that affect their lives. She engages with policymakers in Scotland on issues such as debt justice, the circular economy, and global solidarity. 

Lungi Biyela

Utility Partnerships Senior Advisor, WaterAid UK

Lungi is a Utility Partnerships Senior Advisor in the Programme Support and Knowledge Team at WaterAid UK based in South Africa. In this role she provides in-depth strategic and advisory support on the development and effective management of sanitation and water operators partnerships (SWOPs) for strengthening capacity of utilities to deliver improved water and sanitation services across Africa. Prior to joining WaterAid, Lungi worked for 10 years at a water and sanitation utility in South Africa. Lungi holds a MSc Chemical Engineering and is a registered Professional Engineer. 

 Nadeem Baqir

Scotland Regional Fundraising Manager, Islamic Relief UK

Nadeem Baqir is Scotland Regional Fundraising Manager for Islamic Relief UK, with almost a decade of experience at the organisation.

Nadia Cunden

Programme Development and Funding Manager – Global, Christian Aid

Driven by a deep commitment to climate justice, Nadia is an international development professional with over 14 years of experience building transformative partnerships that deliver real-world impact across Latin America, the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe. She has led initiatives on climate adaptation, resilience building, and equitable transitions in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, working closely with governments, donors, civil society, and local communities to co-create solutions that tackle root causes of vulnerability and foster long-term resilience. Known for her systems thinking, cross-cultural fluency, and results-driven leadership, Nadia she connects global strategy with local action to create meaningful, sustainable impact. 

Neil Bibby MSP

Scottish Labour

Neil Bibby is a Member of the Scottish Parliament for West Scotland Region. Neil serves as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, and is a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee. He also serves on the Committee of the Regions UK Contact Group. 

Q Manivannan

Scottish Greens candidate

Q Manivannan is a Holyrood target candidate for the Scottish Greens in Edinburgh and East Lothian in 2026. They are an anthropologist documenting stories of care and grief in antiauthoritarian resistance, they co-convene the Greens’ Palestine Solidarity Group, and have worked on disability, global justice, and gender-based violence with CSOs and multinational organisations in India, Ireland, and Scotland.   

Dr Sherine El Taraboulsi-McCarthy

Director of Impact and Change, START Network

Egyptian-British social scientist and senior non-profit executive with over two decades of experience spanning academia, policy, and practice, Sherine is currently the Director of Impact and Change at Start Network, a global alliance of more than 130 aid agencies working to transform the humanitarian sector. She leads a directorate of 30+ specialists across Systems Innovation and Change, Evidence and Learning, Communications and Digital, and Policy, Advocacy and External Affairs. Previously, Sherine was the founding Director of NatCen International, the global social policy arm of the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), the UK’s largest independent social research organisation.

Widely recognised as an expert in social impact, humanitarian and development policy, conflict, security, and evidence uptake, Sherine holds a DPhil in International Development from the University of Oxford (St. Cross College), and serves on the Board of Trustees of Protection Approaches, a charity dedicated to tackling identity-based violence and mass atrocities within the United Kingdom and globally.

Stella Opoku-Owusu

Executive Director, AFFORD (African Foundation for Development)

Stella Opoku-Owusu has over 20 years’ experience in the development sector with extensive experience working with diaspora communities, migration and development in policy and practice. As executive director of AFFORD, she oversees work on diaspora investment, enterprise and employment, engagement with diaspora & migrants, network building and training, learning and policy advocacy. Stella was nominated co-chair for the Global Forum on Migration and Development’s Civil Society Day in 2019; and has provided expertise to governments on diaspora engagement policy. In 2022, she was selected as a steering committee member of the UN’s Migration Multi-Partnership Trust Fund (MMPTF). Stella is a board director of the UK Network for organisations in International Development (Bond UK). 

Talat Yaqoob

Campaigner, researcher and writer 

Consultant, campaigner & leader on anti-racist, feminist policy, research & politics, Talat Yaqoob is a third-sector leader, writer and campaigner, focused on equality issues across politics, public life and the labour market championing women, communities of colour and migrants. As an independent consultant she provides policy, public affairs and research expertise to the third and public sectors. Talat was the Director of Equate Scotland, the national expert on women in science, engineering, technology and the built environment. She is co-founder and chair of the campaign group Women 50:50, advocating for fair representation of women in politics, which won a Herald Diversity Award in 2017. She is a member of the First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls. 

Yankho Mataya

Country Director, WaterAid Zambia

Yankho has been Country Director of WaterAid in Zambia since 2023, overseeing all aspects of country program planning, delivery and operations contributing to the regional, Pan Africa and global leadership of WaterAid.  She previously served as Regional Funding Manager for Southern Africa with WaterAid, and with Plan International.  She has degrees from Maastricht University and Solusi University.