Our Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall governance and strategic direction of the charity, developing the organisation’s aims, objectives and goals in accordance with the governing documents, legal and regulatory guidelines.
In order to stand for election as a trustee, an individual must be nominated by at least two members of Scotland’s International Development Alliance. Trustee Nomination forms are made available through our website in advance of each AGM. The most recent AGM took place on 29th November 2023.
Cathy Ratcliff
CEO, EMMS International, and Director, Thrive
Cathy has supported the Alliance since before its founding in the first term of the Scottish Parliament. Her current trusteeship began in 2019. She has lived in Leningrad and Grenoble as part of an MA in French and Russian, taught in China, run Scottish European Aid’s Romania desk, managed Edinburgh’s One World Shop, lived and worked in Ethiopia, and since 1997 has led programmes departments in Mercy Corps, SCIAF and EMMS International. She founded small NGO Thrive in 2016 and runs it with 4 other women. Cathy completed a PhD in 2017 on attitudes and language on Africa, aid and development, and is now CEO of EMMS International, which improves health and healthcare in Scotland, Malawi, India and Nepal. Her interest in advocacy goes back to the 1990s, when she held several voluntary positions in World Development Movement (now Global Justice Now).
Keeley Hazelhurst
Director, Financial Pathways
Keeley is accountant with over 20 years experience working with charities based in the UK and internationally, and a trustee for two other charities. Keeley is a keen advocate for charities and organisations which make a real impact at grass-roots level, and she is delighted she can support the teams doing the real work.
Yankho Mataya
Country Director, WaterAid Zambia
The Country Director for WaterAid, Zambia, Yankho is an international development expert based in Lusaka, Zambia, with diverse experience in monitoring and evaluation, project management, partnerships as well as programme and business development. She believes that joint efforts are critical in responding to the climate crisis facing our world today and is proud to be part of Scotland’s International Development Alliance building on the strong relationship that exists with Scotland, Partner Countries and Partner Organisations.
Phillip Chidawati
Country Manager, Challenges Malawi
Phillip Chidawati is a seasoned development practitioner with knowledge in global development policies including global goals, African continent development priorities and Malawi Nation Development Priorities. He has successfully led the implementation of the CROPS Project in Malawi, funded by the Scottish Government from October 2018 to March 2023, which seeks to commercialise rural agriculture through increased crop productivity, aggregation, value addition and market building. He currently works as a Country Manager for Challenges Malawi and possesses a Master’s Degree in Entrepreneurship and a Bachelor’s in Agriculture.
Samantha Ross
International Programme Director, Link Education International
Sam joined the Alliance Board in 2019 and sits on the HR and Safeguarding Committee. Her day job is with Link Education International, where she is the International Programme Director and leads on strategy development, oversees quality programming and is Link’s safeguarding foal point. She is also progressing Link’s work on effective partnerships and shifting the power. Link supports governments and partners in Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda to deliver quality education to all children. Sam studied International development at the University of East Anglia where she gained her Masters and Doctorate qualifications. She has over 15 years working in the international education and development sector with experience across Africa and Asia.
Ben Wilson
Advocacy Manager, SCIAF
Ben Wilson is Advocacy Manager at the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF). He oversees SCIAF’s campaigning and influencing work on issues such as climate justice, food justice and international development, in Scotland, the UK and internationally. Ben has particular experience in campaigning on climate issues at the UN level, especially in recent years on the issue of Loss & Damage. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Glasgow, which took a post-development approach to critically reflect on Scotland’s relationship with Malawi.
Cicely Clarke
Africa Senior Programme Officer, Mercy Corps Europe
Cicely joined the Alliance Board of Trustees in mid-2022. Cicely works for Mercy Corps and leads the Regional Programmes Team (RPT) for Africa in award management and new business development for all European funding in Africa. This includes Scottish Government, FCDO, Dutch Government, SIDA, AFD, EC, ECHO and so on. Cicely began working in humanitarian programmes in 2006 in Malawi, followed by roles in South Sudan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Cicely began working for Mercy Corps Europe in 2014, and her work has focussed on Syria, European refugee crisis, Middle East, and now Africa. Cicely has a MA in Poverty, Conflict and Reconstruction from IDPM at Manchester University.
Yulia Nesterova
Lecturer in International and Comparative Education in the School of Education, University of Glasgow
Yulia Nesterova, Ph.D., is Lecturer in International and Comparative Education in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow. She also acts as Academic Lead for Low and Middle-Income Countries Research Network at Glasgow and Associate Editor of Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education journal. Yulia’s research focuses on inequalities and injustices in education, partnerships and community engagement for quality education, youth-led peace, and education for peace, justice, and reconciliation. Prior to joining Glasgow, Yulia was with UNESCO MGIEP and Asia-Pacific offices working on peacebuilding, sustainable development, and youth engagement, and worked closely with a range of other international actors. She was educated in Sweden, Finland, and Hong Kong and has conducted extensive research in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Pacific.
Benjamin Carey FTS
Managing director, Carey Tourism
With broad experience of international development and a focus on heritage and tourism as drivers of sustainable development and climate resilience, Benjamin has worked in 60+ countries with organisations that include International Co-operative Alliance, UNESCO and World Bank. He specialises in countries emerging from crisis and has produced recovery strategies for Iraq (war), Scotland (Foot & Mouth), Sierra Leone (Ebola) and Yemen (conflict). Having founded Edinburgh Global Partnerships in 1990, he has been involved with many NGOs, including the BEARR Trust, Janapada Seva Trust, Mercy Corps, Rwanda Scotland Alliance, Scotland Malawi Partnership, Tourism Concern, The Travel Foundation and WWF. He wants to promote inclusion and partnerships.
Chris Hegarty
Consultant
Chris spent 16 years leading the teams responsible for media, comms, campaigns, education, policy & advocacy at SCIAF and Christian Aid Scotland. He is now a consultant, supporting both private sector and NGO clients in pushing for positive change. He has many years of experience as board member of a small SIDA member, and spent many years on the boards of large networks: the Trade Justice Movement and Stop Climate Chaos Scotland. Before moving to the development sector, Chris was an Investment Manager, managing pension funds and investment trusts – and he often combines his investment and NGO backgrounds. He is Chair of the Ethical Oversight Committee for a large asset management company.