Alison’s work straddles the university, the church and civil society. Formerly a lecturer in psychology, she is an Honorary Fellow at New College, University of Edinburgh, and Associate Director of its Centre for Theology and Public Issues. In 2004 she was the first woman to be appointed Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. As Convenor of the Kirk’s Church and Nation Committee from 1996-2000 she was involved in political advocacy and campaigning for a Scottish Parliament. She chairs the Lay Advisory Group for the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and has taken part in working groups on health, criminal justice, asylum policy, constitutional matters and land reform. She is a Trustee of Community Service Volunteers and the Scottish Malawi Foundation and chairs Scottish Churches World Exchange.

Professor Osborne holds the chair of International Public Management in Edinburgh University. He is a qualified social worker and has experience of working with voluntary organisations. More significantly, his research area is the third sector and he is particularly interested in risk analysis.

Patricia has been working in the voluntary sector since 1985 and is currently the Director of Finance for The Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH). Outside SAMH Patricia is chair of the Scottish Charity Finance Directors’ Group (SCFDG) lobbying group, a membership organisation which aims to promote best practice in financial management throughout the voluntary sector in Scotland. She has been Honorary Treasurer of the West Lothian Drug & Alcohol Service (WLDAS) since 1998 and represents Community Care Providers Scotland (CCPS) on the Scottish Executive’s Supporting People Forum. For the past 4 years she has been a member of the ESF, Objective 3 PME Management Committee.

Alex Cole-Hamilton is Head of Policy at Aberlour Child Care Trust. He currently sits on the management board of the Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights and is on the Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People’s Advisory Committee and the policy forum of Youthlink Scotland. Before entering the voluntary sector, Alex was employed by the Liberal Democrat group in the Scottish Parliament where he was responsible for researching and articulating policy, particularly pertaining to education and young people.

Carole is the Deputy Manager at CVS Fife where she has responsibility for leading on Information/Communications and is very involved in representing the interests of the voluntary sector within Fife’s Community Planning Partnership. Carole also carries out one-to-one development work with local organisations, particularly with Boards, and has a good understanding of the range of issues facing Third Sector organisations regardless of the size and nature of their activities.

Currently Business Development Manager Scotland, for Marie Curie Cancer Care, Diane works in close partnership with the NHS to develop new and existing services, delivered by trained clinical staff and volunteers, to improve end of life care for patients and carers. Marie Curie Cancer Care also work closely with the Scottish Government to promote patient choice. Diane previouslt held roles that included Capital Appeal Manager for the new Marie Curie Hospice, Red Cross Community Fundraising Manager Scotland, and international development for VSO in Nigeria. Diane is Founder and Trustee of Chukwu Trust, supporting education and micro credit in Africa.

Keith was appointed SYHA’s Chief Executive Officer in 2004, and has been the driving force behind the charity’s most radical period of modernisation in its 80 year history. After retiring from 20 years of service with The Gordon Highlanders in 1994, Keith studied Business Management and took a new role as Bursar at Strathallan School, where he introduced a range of successful development initiatives. He is passionate about advancing the values of charitable organisations.

Neville has been the Chief Executive of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, which is based near Galashiels, since July 2004. Before that, he headed the Scottish Government’s Voluntary Issues Unit and was instrumental in helping to foster an improved understanding between Government and the voluntary sector. Neville has 25 years experience of working within the public sector both in Scotland and England. His experience as both a senior policy adviser and service provider has been obtained across a number of Government Departments, Agencies and other public bodies. During his career he has worked on the Boards of a number of diverse organisations including the Association for Geographic Information, the Football Trust and Project Scotland

Richard has almost 20 years experience in the Scottish voluntary sector, in fields including foreign aid, regeneration, health and housing. Disability has been a strong theme throughout these roles, and his experience in this area resulted in him joining Capability in 2008. He has been instrumental in several changes in Scottish and Westminster legislation covering equalities, housing and, most recently, licensing.