Our staff

Sharon joined the CELCIS redress team as a Research Associate to work on the consultation with victims and survivors of historic child abuse in Scotland. Previously, she worked on various university and NHS funded research projects, and on research connected with the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry to help chart the development of care services in Scotland between 1900 and 2014. Sharon is also a graduate member of the British Psychological Society with an interest in the psychology of coaching. In her spare time, Sharon can often be found on the side-lines watching her son and husband playing rugby or supporting her national side at Murrayfield or on TV!

Emma uses the analytical skills she developed as a criminology student in the wide range of large exploratory research projects, and specific service and programme evaluations CELCIS is involved in. She enjoys working alongside all kinds of professionals to evidence and showcase good practice for looked after children and young people. She loves to travel and escapes to foreign lands as much as she can.

Lorraine's been a registered social worker for 25 years, and still is. She's always worked with children and families, either in social work or learning and development settings. She remains a huge fan of the potential power of group work to bring out individual and collective strengths, and for solving problems. A dedicated gig-goer and music lover, Lorraine prefers small, sweaty and sticky-floored venues over gigantic arenas, but she'll go to see her all-time favourite band Admiral Fallow any time, any place.

Throughout Steven's career he has worked in organisations that support children and young people to improve their experiences and life opportunities. At CELCIS, he leads business development, financial planning and HR to ensure effective and efficient delivery of all of our services. As a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, and former graphic designer, Steven combines practical and creative approaches to problem solving. Steven also delivers inputs as a guest speaker on Leading Change, including partnerships with HR, at other UK Universities.

Emma has worked as a speech and language therapist for many years, specialising in autism. She has worked as a Speechie in a range of contexts, from the big blue skies of remote and regional Australia to a vibrant inner city Manchester. More recently, she was involved in the implementation of the Scottish Strategy for Autism, sitting on the National Governance Group. She currently works as part of the Protecting Children Programme team and is enjoying applying Active Implementation methodology to support whole systems change, in order to address neglect and enhance wellbeing. Emma enjoys going for a good stomp and discovering new bands at local venues.

Lynsey is admin for Professional Development Services and works to assist with international projects and provide support for the many learning and development opportunities available at CELCIS. She brings her experience from her various administration roles in the education sector which has developed an appreciation of lifelong learning. Away from work, Lynsey is happiest when spending time with her family and friends.

After completing a PhD in Statistics, Joanna spent several years working with children and young people in a community outreach setting. She is now marrying these two interests through her role as a Data Analyst at CELCIS, where she is primarily focused on researching outcomes for children and young people growing up in kinship care. Outside of work, Joanna is happiest when riding her bike, climbing a hill or splashing in puddles with her little ones.

Mairi is the Administrative Support for the Protecting Children Team at CELCIS having been with the Permanence and Care Team (PACT) since 2012. Mairi is also the Secretariat Support for Child Protection Committees Scotland so with her sensible, down-to-earth approach, Mairi keeps the busy team organised and working efficiently.

Katie has a great head for numbers. She keeps CELCIS right on the money with important financial, HR and contractual stuff. One of her most critical roles is to keep the staff up to speed with the dreaded Financial Management System. After bringing up five children, Katie has finally found some time for herself and uses it mainly for yoga and running. She's already completed the Berlin Half Marathon and is hatching plans to add swimming to her impressive activity repertoire.

Elaine is CHIP Learning and Development Lead at CELCIS.

Kirsty is CELCIS' resident legal eagle. She comes from a local authority and government background where she specialised in looked after children, child protection, and permanence, both in practice and in policy. She helped to deliver, and latterly led on, the PACE Programme which supported Councils and their partners to make improvements to the processes they use to secure permanent homes for looked after children. She was also part of the CELCIS team that produced the 'Staying Together and Connected' guidance to support the rights of brothers and sisters for the Scottish Government. A big am dram fan, Kirsty's appeared on stage in the Edinburgh Festival and in musicals. She can act and sing a wee bit, but says please don't ask her to dance.

Emma is one of the Communications Managers here at CELCIS. She supports colleagues across different areas of work to share what we do through marketing campaigns and a variety of publications, as well as keeping up-to-date with the sector more generally. Outside of work, Emma enjoys keeping active, particularly through martial arts, practicing her German, and spending time with her friends, family, and rescue dog, Winston.

With a PhD in applied anthropology and a Masters in Social Work, along with a background in child protection social work and youth justice, Melissa brings her passion for the science and practice of implementation and systems improvement from the USA to Scotland in 2015. She continues to be inspired by Scotland's progressive vision for addressing the unmet needs of children and families and is excited to be building a team of implementation specialists at CELCIS to support local areas to address neglect and enhance wellbeing and to fully and effectively implement GIRFEC.

Working closely with members of the Strategic Management Team, Laura provides the all-important PA and administrative support required to keep the team running smoothly. Laura first joined the Strathclyde family at the age of 16 as a Modern Apprentice and since then has completed an SVQ level 4 in Business and Administration and ILM level 3 in Leadership and Management. As a new mum Laura spends her free time with her family and friends.

Georgina provides admin support across the CELCIS Hubs including CPC Scotland, Virtual School Head Teachers, and the internationally renowned Scottish Journal for Residential Child Care. A qualified site safety officer with executive assistant and governance experience, Georgina has a background in business support with the Ministry of Defence and in a Hospice. Outside of work Georgina is a bibliotherapist, using a love of reading to coach people to understand themselves better and improve mental health.