We are delighted to announce the appointment of John McElwee and Gerard Richards to our Board of Directors.

John McElwee is currently a lay member for Employment Tribunals and the Scotland Social Security Chamber. Previously he worked for Marks and Spencer in both Finance and HR and key roles included Head of Audit, Divisional Financial Controller, Head of Graduate Recruitment, Head of HR for Scotland and Head of Reward.

Throughout John’s career he has been involved in advisory roles for Edinburgh International Festival, The Association of Graduate Recruiters, Employability Leadership Group and the Government’s Employee Engagement Task Force. John also works as an HR consultant which includes support for arts venues in London and Glasgow. He is currently Vice Chair of the Board of The Citizens Theatre.

Gerald Richards is the Co-Founder and Director of B & G, with more than 30 years of experience in leadership and management of third sector organisations. Gerald most recently spent five and a half years as the Founding CEO of the Super Power Agency, a non-profit focused on youth writing and creative expression based in Edinburgh. Gerald was also the Chief Executive Officer of 826 National and his non-profit career includes executive and managerial positions. Gerald currently also serves on the board of the Academy of American Poets, the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust, The Fagus Anstruther Memorial Trust, and has served on the boards of several other US organisations.

John and Gerald will be joining the Board alongside the following Board members:

Jean Cameron, Sheelagh Duffield, Claire Evens, Catherine Holden, Mukesh Moorjani, Shereen Nanjiani MBE, Keiran O’Neill, Stephen Sweeney, Eileen Blackburn (co-opted member of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee) and Chair, Jane Spiers.

Full information on the Board of Directors can be found here.