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David Brown

Deputy Vice Principal Enterprise and Director of Strategic Partnerships, The University of Edinburgh

David is responsible for our engagement with industry and a number of our strategic relationships with the Government. Before joining the University he was the Government and Public Sector Lead Partner for PwC Scotland. He specialises in innovation and transformation.

David holds a number of external roles:

  • Trustee Board Member for the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB)
  • CBI Scotland Council Member
  • Board Member, Converge Challenge

David has had a long interest in social care and ageing. He sat on the Dilnot implementation group, and was lead adviser on state pension reform and extended working lives. He also advised on NEST and auto-enrolment.

Robbie Cameron

Senior Policy Officer, Scottish Government

Robbie started his career in the banking sector in Sydney, Australia where he worked in corporate insurance. Following a three-year stint overseas, Robbie returned to the UK and started his civil service career with the Department for Transport, working on high-profile areas such as airport expansion in the south of England.

Robbie joined the Scottish Government in 2018 initially working in College Policy. Lately, Robbie has been working in the Fair Work Unit of the Economic Directorate focusing on over 50s workforce policy and leading on the Scottish Government's Workplace Equality Fund.

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Eileen Cawley

Administrator/Development Officer, Scottish Pensioners' Forum

Eileen has worked at the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) for the past 12 years working with retired trade unionists and older people's organisations on the welfare rights of older people. She has a background in the social sciences with particular interest in gender and work, gender and crime, and children's/women's social geography.

Eileen has worked for several women's charities, in a voluntary capacity, and worked with local support groups and charities championing breastfeeding friendly workplaces and the implementation of the Breastfeeding etc. (Scotland) Act 2005. Eileen also worked as a support worker for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde working with young mothers with addiction issues and special support needs.

As part of her work for the Scottish Pensioners' Forum, Eileen has recently cowritten reports on bullying and harassment in an ageing workforce, and Covid-19 and the safety of older workers. Eileen currently serves on the Scottish Government's Human Rights Bill Governance and Engagement Advisory Board and the Social Renewal Advisory Board.

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Professor Andrew Curran

Chief Scientific Adviser, Director of Research and Head of Science and Engineering Profession, Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

During his 30-year career with HSE, Andrew has been a bench scientist, led a number of teams and has a significant publication record in the field of occupational health and safety. He has responsibility for ensuring that HSE has access to the evidence it needs to underpin policy and regulatory decision making.

As a Government Chief Scientific Adviser he is part of the Government Chief Scientific Adviser's CSA network. During the current pandemic he has been an active participant in SAGE, and is now leading one of six large (~£23m) national Covid-19 projects.

Andrew has oversight of HSE's Scientific Advisory Committee on Workplace Health (WHEC), is the Chair of the Sheffield Group (global network of national health and safety research organisations), and a member of the Steering Group of PEROSH (Partnership for European Research in Occupational Safety and Health). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and the Chartered Management Institute, and an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (UK). Andrew is an Honorary Professor at two leading UK universities, Sheffield and the University of Manchester, where he co-directs the Centre for Workplace Health and the Thomas Ashton Institute for Risk and Regulatory Research.

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Dr Laura Galloway

Professor of Business and Enterprise and Director of EBS Incubator, Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University

Laura is joint Editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She has a research background in entrepreneurship and self-employment as work contexts, much of which focuses on peripherality, including among older workers, and those experiencing poor health or disability, and other intersecting issues such as gender and poverty. She also pursues research on leadership, particularly in terms of value generation in organisations.

Mubin Haq

Chief Executive, Standard Life Foundation

The Standard Life Foundation is an independent funder which aims to improve living standards and address financial problems faced by those living on low-to-middle incomes in the UK.

Mubin has worked for a number of independent funders, including Trust for London and the South East London Community Foundation. He has been on the boards of a range of organisations including as Chair of London Funders, and on the boards of Community Foundation Network, the London Strategic Migration Partnership, and the Homelessness Transition Fund. He is currently a member of the Scottish Government's Minimum Income Guarantee expert group.

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Nick Pahl

CEO, Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM)

SOM is the largest and oldest nationally recognised professional organisation of individuals with an interest in health and work. Through its collective voice, SOM advances knowledge, and increases awareness to influence the future of occupational health and the health of people in or returning to work. SOM's Patrons are Lord Blunkett, Dame Carol Black, and Sir Norman Lamb.

Nick was previously CEO of the British Acupuncture Council, and held senior posts in the NHS, a national hospice charity, and Marie Stopes International.

He has completed a Windsor Leadership Trust and ACEVO next generation CEO training, has a diploma in management, a degree in Economics, and an MSc in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is a Board member of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

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Lee Ann Panglea

Head of CIPD in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Lee is responsible for ensuring that the CIPD is the voice of people and development, and that the CIPD's strategy reflects the diversity in policy, economic landscape, and members' agendas across both devolved nations.

Through strengthening relationships with local policy makers, employers, CIPD members, HR leaders, business communities and CIPD's network of engaged volunteers, Lee and her team encourage influencers in the world of work to value people and development as key to better work and working lives. Lee develops relevant insight and propositions to amplify CIPD's voice to continually enhance our support to members in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

With over 20 years' commercial experience across the consumer, retail, and professional services sectors throughout the UK, Lee brings significant personal experience of the world of work to her current role. Lee speaks on a wide range of people and development related topics affecting the profession.

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Dr Rebecca Stirzaker

Associate Professor in Technology Management, University of South Eastern Norway

Rebecca's research interests include entrepreneurship in peripheral contexts and social entrepreneurship. She has published on drivers and outcomes of older self-employment.

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Johnny Timpson

Principal, Johnny Timpson Consulting

Johnny has worked in the insurance industry for over 40 years in various distribution, marketing, technical, and corporate affairs roles, specialising in protection and health insurance, financial wellbeing, and resilience to income shocks.

He is a former Cabinet Office Disability and Access Ambassador for both the UK Insurance and Banking sectors, and founded and chaired the Access to Insurance Working Group. Johnny is currently a Commissioner for the Financial Inclusion Commission and member of both the Financial Services Consumer Panel and Prime Minister's Champion Group for Dementia Communities. In addition, he is an Ambassador for Grief Chat Bereavement Counselling. He also has expert advisory roles with Chartered Insurance Institute Insuring Futures Programme, International Longevity Centre, Vocational Rehabilitation Association, Absolute Military Insurance Brokerage, Settld fintech, and BlueZone healthtech.

Johnny is also a founding member of:

  • GAIN (the Group for Autism, Insurance, and Neurodiversity)
  • the Protection Distributors Group
  • the Building Resilient Households Group
  • the Income Protection Taskforce
  • Insurance Institute of London Diversity and Inclusion Committee
  • the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Mental Health Working Group
  • the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) Access to Insurance Committee
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Professor Sarah Vickerstaff

Professor of Work and Employment, University of Kent

Sarah is an internationally recognised researcher into work and employment with a strong commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. In recent years her focus has been on work in later life and retirement trajectories.

Her research on older workers and retirement has been funded by research councils, charities, and the UK Government. She has published widely in this field. In 2017–2018 she was appointed as a Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee Investigation into Older People and Employment. She is an elected Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (FGSA) and an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS).

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Ruth Wilkinson

Head of Health and Safety (Policy and Operations), Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH)

Ruth's unique position—holding responsibility for health and safety at the world's chartered occupational safety and health professional body—spans the Institution's policymaking as well as the safety, health, and wellbeing of its employees, volunteers, and contractors.

Ruth provides occupational health and safety professional leadership at every level across all IOSH work activities. She delivers IOSH training internally, and is responsible for the Occupational Health and Safety Management System, working towards ISO 45001:2018. More recently Ruth has been working on IOSH's approach to corporate sustainability. She also leads on the Institution's policies, regulatory engagement, advocacy, and support for campaigns and communications about occupational safety and health. In this capacity, Ruth represents IOSH on external strategic committees, and is a member of ISO TC 283.

Ruth is an occupational health and safety practitioner, and her previous role was Corporate Health, Safety, and Wellbeing Manager for a local authority. This included line management of the health and safety team, staff counsellor, and management of employee assistance programme and occupational health contracts.

First Class BSc (Hons) degree in health and safety and environmental science and technology (completed in 2004) followed by an MSc in occupational health and industrial hygiene (2009).