Professor Stephen Sinclair – Chair
Stephen Sinclair is Professor of Social Policy and Co-director of the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit at Glasgow Caledonian University, and also a Visiting Professor at the University of Parma. He has authored and contributed to several books and numerous academic and other outputs on different aspects of social policy, with a particular focus on child poverty. He is a member of the Child Poverty Action Group’s UK Policy Committee and the Scottish Advisory Committee. He is Chair of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Poverty & Social Justice, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a member of the ESRC Peer Review College and consultant to the National Science Centre of Poland.
Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick
Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick is the director of the Institute for Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research (I-SPHERE) at Heriot Watt University. She is a leading international scholar on homelessness. She was principal investigator on the highly respected Crisis-funded “Homelessness Monitor” series for over a decade and leads a major programme of work on “Destitution in the UK” for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. She co-led the influential ‘Hard Edges Scotland” report on severe and multiple disadvantage for the Lankelly-Chase Foundation/Robertson Trust. She was homelessness theme lead in the Economic and Social Research Council (ESCR)/JRF-funded ‘UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence’, and previously led/co-led the housing and homelessness strands in five-year ESRC funded study of “Welfare Conditionality”, as well as an earlier ESRC-funded project on “Multiple Exclusion Homelessness”. Suzanne is currently managing a multi-year research and capacity-building programme to on “Homelessness and Black and Minoritised Communities in the UK” and played a significant role in the recent evaluation of the “Social Innovation Partnership” for the Scottish Government/Hunter Foundation. She was lead researcher on a recent international evaluation of an “A Place to Call Home’ initiative to end street homelessness in 13 cities ranged across all six continents for the Chicago-based Institute of Global Homelessness, and funded by the Oak Foundation.
Katie Schmuecker
Katie Schmuecker is Deputy Director of Policy and Partnerships at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), where she leads activity to develop solutions to poverty in the UK. She was one of the authors of JRF’s landmark ‘We Can Solve Poverty’ report, and is a regular commentator in the media through blogs, vlogs, articles and broadcast appearances. Prior to joining JRF Katie was Associate Director at the Institute for Public Policy Research North. Her areas of expertise include inclusive growth, economic development, devolution, universal credit and poverty. She was also a member of the non-statutory Poverty and Inequality Commission.
Doctor Peter Cawston
Doctor Peter Cawston worked as a GP in Drumchapel, Glasgow for 25 years. He has recently left his practice and is now supporting Deep End GP practices in Glasgow as well as taking on a new role supporting remote and rural GP practices. He works as a health inequalities adviser with the Scottish Government Health Inequalities in Primary Care group, and with the Healthcare Improvement Scotland primary care clinical faculty. Peter was the lead clinician on the Deep End Community Link Worker Programme pilot, and was one of the founder members of the Scottish GPs at the Deep End. Throughout his career Peter has been passionate about poverty and health inequalities and about individuals and communities having greater control over those issues which impact on their health.
Kim Dams
Kim Dams is CEO of a regional disability organisation in Dumfries and Galloway, called DG Voice, an organisation run by and for disabled people with long-term health conditions. She is also a Non-Executive board member of the local health board and the Integrated Joint Board in Dumfries and Galloway. Additionally, over the last few years she has been volunteering a lot in her free time in the third sector, holding a number of positions such as Co-Convenor of Inclusion Scotland, Board Member of Scottish Rural Action, Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway and the Poverty Alliance. Kim is passionate about intersectionality, equality and human rights and fighting poverty for all people. She has both lived experience of poverty and has worked with many people who are facing poverty and recognises how much of a barrier it is for people to be able to live their lives fully and contribute to society to the best of their abilities.
Taliah Drayak
Taliah Drayak lives in Orkney and is a children and families advocate. She is acutely aware of the challenges and inequalities experienced in rural and island communities. She has been a member of the Promise Oversight board for three years and is committed to keeping the Promise. She has a passion for human rights, children’s mental health, disability rights and the care experienced community. She is an author and has spent her career participating in charities focused on tackling poverty and children’s rights.
Louise Hunter
Louise Hunter has worked across the third and public sectors for over 20 years, working at a frontline and senior level, as well as having volunteer trustee experience on many charity boards. Louise is currently Chief Executive of Who Cares? Scotland and serves as a member of the National Suicide Prevention Advisory Group. Louise brings awareness of poverty and the resulting inequalities, and also a keen focus on social policy reform, to the role of Commissioner. Louise believes that every person in Scotland should be given the opportunities and conditions to thrive, and is committed to ensuring that the voices of people with lived experience of poverty and inequality are at the forefront of this important work.
Doctor Ross McQueenie
Doctor Ross McQueenie is a mixed-methods public health intelligence adviser leading on vaccine inequalities at Public Health Scotland. He authored a landmark paper on inequalities in healthcare access in primary care at the department of General Practice and Primary Care, winning the Royal College of General Practitioners paper of the year in 2019 and transforming the way missed healthcare appointments are viewed in Scotland. He has experience tackling poverty and inequality in public health across multiple groups including those experiencing severe and multiple disadvantage, adverse childhood experiences, multimorbidity, deprivation and victim/survivors of abuse.
Rami Okasha
Rami Okasha is the Chief Executive of CHAS, Children’s Hospices Across Scotland. He leads a team of 400 staff and 700 volunteers who deliver palliative care for children across all settings. In Scotland, children with a life shortening condition are 50% more likely to live in the most deprived areas than the least deprived. Previously, he was the Executive Director of Strategy and Improvement at the Care Inspectorate, the largest scrutiny body in Scotland. There, he was responsible for developing scrutiny, methodology and improvement support approaches across £4 billion of public spending on adult and children’s social care. He led the development of the new National Health and Social Care Standards. He is the Chair of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care and previously served on the Equalities and Human Rights Commission’s Scotland Committee.
Secretariat Staff
Katherine Hudson, Secretariat Manager
Katherine Hudson leads the work of the secretariat to ensure that the Commission has the appropriate support in order to undertake its work. She works with the Chair and Commissioners to agree the strategic direction of the Commission and its work plan, and ensure that the Commission’s work has impact with government and with stakeholders. Katherine will also lead for the secretariat on supporting particular pieces of work that the Commission identifies as part of its work plan.
Rory Morrison, Analytical Manager
Rory is a researcher who provides support and advice to the Commission on research and evidence. He leads on developing and delivering analytical work to support the Commission, through carrying out research in-house or commissioning research from external sources to fill evidence gaps. Rory is responsible for building and maintaining the Commission’s network with other people and organisations in the public sector, third sector and academia who are also researching poverty and inequality in Scotland.
Órlaith McAree, Participation Manager
Órlaith leads on the Commission’s priority to meaningfully involve people with lived experience of poverty throughout its work. She designs and delivers approaches to engage experts by experience in scrutiny, advice, and advocacy on tackling poverty and inequality. On behalf of the Commission, Órlaith works with other organisations in Scotland who collaborate with people with lived experience of poverty to share learning and best practice so we can collectively improve the way we engage experts by experience in policy making.
Michele Barr, Secretariat Administrator
Michele is the Commission’s administrator who ensures that the Commission’s meetings run smoothly and that Commissioners are kept up to date with the papers and information that they need. Michele organises travel and events and administers the Commission’s budget. She is also responsible for the Commission’s website. Michele is the first point of contact for any questions about travel, expenses or meeting arrangements.