Engage 2025 - Speakers

Jay Kennedy is the Director of Policy and Research at the Directory of Social Change (DSC), where he has worked since 2003 in a variety of roles involving research, policy and public affairs, and senior management. In 2024 DSC published Jay’s Speed Read on Campaigning, which is an accessible, introductory guide for charities wanting to influence the UK political system.

Jay is responsible for DSC’s Research Team, which researches information for DSC’s fundraising publications and its funding website www.fundsonline.org.uk, and conducts bespoke research for a range of grant-makers and other charity clients.

Annette joined DSC in 2007 and has over 13 years’ experience of working in the charity sector.

Annette has held several positions including, Customer Service, Training, Events and Development, and has overall responsibility for Training and Events and Customer Service.

Annette also leads on DSC EDI work and is a member of the civil society working group on tackling racism in the sector.

Roberta joined ACEVO in October 2022 and has over 20 years of experience in public policy and communications roles gained in the public and social sector, including central, regional and local government, charities and charity infrastructure.

Roberta is a trustee of a national carers’ charity, chaired a local branch of a national autism charity for several years and has also been a school governor. She combines a caring role with work and is a champion of carers rights.

Anna joined SCVO as Chief Executive at the end of April 2018. SCVO is the national membership body for the voluntary sector in Scotland, providing services such as payroll and IT as well as lobbying and policy work on behalf of the sector and publishing Third Force News. Before that, she was Chief Executive of the Scottish Social Services Council for nearly 9 years. The SSSC is the professional regulator for social workers and people working in adult and children's social care.

Her career started with 18 years working in HR in local government, after which Anna joined COSLA as part of the employers' function working on, for example, national pay negotiations.

She then became lead for all policy relating to children and young people which led to her being seconded into Scottish Government to lead on corporate parenting for children and young people in the care system before moving to the SSSC in 2009.

Anna was on the board of Who Cares? Scotland for 8 years, and then joined the Oversight Board for The Promise. She is on the board of Dads Rock, and of Prosper (formerly SCDI). She has a degree in History of Art from Edinburgh University, a postgraduate qualification in HR and is a Chartered Member of the CIPD.

Former journalist and councillor. Managing consultant of The PR Store, near Edinburgh.

Adrian grew up in Bo'ness - attending the town's Deanburn Primary School and Bo'ness Academy. He went on to study journalism at Napier College, now University, in Edinburgh, graduating in 1987. He joined The Falkirk Herald the same year, rising to become its chief reporter at the age of 22. He left the paper - after 10 happy years - in 1997.
Adrian moved into public relations, firstly working for the Government's then housing agency, Scottish Homes, for two years, then for a private consultancy and latterly for himself.

He's run his own PR business since 1999, and also worked in-house.
He was elected to Falkirk Council in 2007, after a spell as a member of Bo'ness Community Council. He led on culture and tourism within Falkirk Council, stepping down at the 2017 May elections. He's also served as the vice-chairman of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in Scotland; was a director of Falkirk Community Trust; and is currently a supporter of another charity, The Friends of Kinneil - which promotes Kinneil Estate on the western edge of Bo'ness. Away from work he is a keen photographer and technology fan. He also loves the area's restored cinema, the Bo'ness Hippodrome.

Debra has worked in the charitable and voluntary sector for nearly 40 years with brief forays into the private sector.

Amongst numerous other roles, she is Co-Chair of the Soldiering on Awards. She is a Trustee of In Kind Direct, one of the Prince's Foundation Charities, a governor of the Berkshire NHS Community Foundation Trust, a Commissioner on the Local News Commission of the Public Interest News Foundation, and just recently stood down as trustee of the Berkshire Community Foundation.

She is also an Africa Advocacy Foundation Ambassador for women and girls at risk of or affected by Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Debra has served as a trustee of several charities including being the co-founder of the Small Charities Coalition and was its first Chair. She served on the Charity Commission's SORP committee for over 7 years and was the Vice-Chair of Governors of Whiteknights primary school for 6 years.

She is a renowned public speaker with many years' experience of training and coaching and is an internationally published author of several books on management and leadership including It's Tough at the Top; The Pleasure and the Pain; It's Murder in Management and It's a Battle on the Board. Debra has a regular monthly column in Third Sector magazine and has appeared on Radio 4's The Moral Maze.

Debra is an alumna of Windsor Leadership having participated on the Strategic Leaders Consultation.

Caroline Slocock is the Director of Civil Exchange, a think tank which aims to improve how government and civil society work together, and is the co-founder of A Better Way, a cross-sectoral network of local and national leaders who are improving services, building community and creating a fairer society. She worked with the Government to help create the Civil Society Covenant as a member of the Civil Society Covenant Advisory Group.

Andy has over 25 years of experience in, health, social care, local government and third sector from frontline provision to director level, building a sound and demonstrable track record. Andy has achieved high levels of success in co-production, influencing, campaigning, partnership, strategy, innovation and policy. Andy is politically astute and competent at developing a shared agenda and motivating others to forge a clear direction of travel and so secure progress and achievement. Andy works to remove stigma and openly discuss, his personal experience of growing up in poverty, mental ill-health and as a carer.

Sam is Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Locality - the national network supporting community organisations to be strong and successful. He manages Locality’s national, regional, and local influencing to help create a more supportive operating environment for community organisations. He has a particular focus on community power, asset-based community development, and the role of the state in enabling communities to bring about positive social change.

Paul leads the political advocacy of Bond, working with parliamentarians and ministers in support of ending global poverty. He is the main point of contact for the Lobbying Group and is happy to help with any questions to do with public affairs.

He has over ten years of experience working in public affairs and campaigns, and in his spare time he leads a life that includes an unhealthy obsession with Marvel superhero films and Liverpool Football Club.

Sanjiv is the founder and director of Reframing Race – an initiative changing the conversation on racism to grow demand for anti-racist futures. Sanjiv is also co-creator of the Home Truths and Home Truths 2 programme – with ACEVO and Voice4Change England – to address civil society’s racism problem.

Biog coming soon.