Jess Alexander is Head of Workforce Policy and Planning at the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).  The SSSC is the regulator for the social services workforce in Scotland and protects the public by registering social workers, social care and early years workers, setting standards for their practice, conduct, training and education and supporting their professional development. Where people fall below the standards of practice and conduct the SSSC can investigate and take action.  The teams Jess supports work with social services employers, workers and partners to support leadership development, quality improvement learning, workforce wellbeing, policy implementation, workforce planning, and the collation and use of workforce data and intelligence.  Jess started her social services career in the voluntary sector as training manager for a large social care provider and has held several roles at the SSSC.

Mandy, a registered nurse, is a senior manager specialising in change management and organisational development, with vast experience leading transformational change in both local and complex national organisations.

She works across public, private and voluntary health and social care sectors.
Mandy is currently an Associate Director with the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (The Alliance) focusing on developing improvement capacity and capability across the voluntary sector.

She previously worked as a leadership consultant with NHS Education for Scotland and established the national Leading Quality Network and national mentoring initiative. Her experience of QI collaboratives and leading a national cross sector improvement network developed skills to lead, manage and support transformational change.

Mandy is passionate about workforce development through networks, co-production, and collaborative learning and involving people, carers and service users to ensure their lived experience shapes new ways of working. She is a founding member of the UK-wide Q Initiative, led by the Health Foundation; hosts the IFIC Integrated Care Matters Webinar Series and is an executive coach.

Gandhi is reported to have said, The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems; It’s a lofty mantra, but when I’ve taken the risk and really applied it, it has guided most of the interesting decisions I’ve been involved in. I began my career working in residential care, before going on to spend over a decade at Capability Scotland, where ultimately I led a staff team of over 1000 and ran registered care services throughout Scotland. From there I moved on to develop more understanding of public policy and corporate philanthropy in posts which have included Scotland Director for Amnesty International and MD of HRH The Prince of Wales’ responsible network in Scotland, before becoming CEO of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry.

I most enjoy working in organisations in which I have been able to understand an issue from a named, individual’s perspective, be that a client or team member and make wider changes which impact the many with that client and team. Whatever our role in healthcare delivery or policy, if we can’t understand the impact of our actions at a personal level, then we shouldn’t be making decisions. If it’s not personalised, then in this sector it just isn’t going to work.

After a few years away from the care sector, I knew I wanted to return. Leuchie was the ideal environment – it makes things a LOT better for a LOT of people – so I was delighted to take up the post of CEO in November 2018.

Karen’s career in social care began as a paid carer and whilst hugely rewarding, she quickly became motivated by the pressures of the sector. A champion for participation and co-production, she believes in evidencing impact through outcomes for people.

Integration has been a theme of her career, having implemented the single shared assessment in an inner London Borough, and been one of the first people in the UK to have a joint funded NHS and Local Authority post, commissioning in Wiltshire. As Director of Finance, Governance and Compliance at the Prince of Wales Foundation in Washington DC, she held stewardship for a fundraising and grant-making non-profit, reporting directly to Clarence House.

As Deputy CEO of Scottish Care, she continues to shape the future of social care. Her portfolio includes reform, integration, commissioning and procurement and nursing in care. She particularly values the Scottish Care Awards where she learns of the successes of the sector and from those who effect change.

When she is not working, the ‘Ayrshire lass’ can be found on the beach with her family, letting the good sea breeze blow away the cobwebs. Her previous voluntary roles include Trustee for Milestones Trust, and Chair of the NCT Bath branch. She is currently on the committee of the Unfunded List, an international not-for-profit which supports unsuccessful fundraisers to meet their next bid, and is a Board member of Learning Network West, supporting social work education.

Anne chaired the organising committee for ICIC15 in Edinburgh and in 2016 took up a new role as IFICs Senior Associate in Scotland. In 2017 she established an International Centre for Integrated Care, hosted by the University of the West of Scotland, as the home of IFICs collaborating centre in Scotland. Anne chairs an enthusiastic Advisory Board that brings together partners from policy, academia, health, social care, Third sector and independent sectors to oversee four workstreams:

Leadership and Education – undergraduate; Masters and accreditable CPD
Knowledge Exchange and Translation – international webinars and special interest groups
Action Research and Evaluation – with a focus on frailty, dementia and personal outcomes
System Coaching – within and beyond Scotland
In her Senior Associate role, Anne supports a wide range of IFIC Academy activities, in particular strategic leadership, system coaching, and international knowledge exchange initiatives. These include support for IFIC summer school and conferences, and coordinating the Integrated Care Matters webinar series and special interest groups on Intermediate Care, Palliative Care, Polypharmacy, and Frailty. IFIC Scotland activities champion coproduction, empowerment and the use of lived experience and personal outcomes to transform the relational aspects of integrated care.

Anne is a geriatrician, stroke physician and clinical lead for Integrated Care with over 30 years’ experience of transforming health and social care in Scotland. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (UK), honorary professor at the University of the West of Scotland and holds honorary appointments with the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh’s Global Health Academy. As a graduate of the founding cohort of Delivering the Future, Scotland’s national strategic clinical leadership programme 2005- 2006, she has extensive experience coaching and mentoring leaders from all sectors.

Previous national clinical leadership roles span stroke, Long Term Conditions, Healthcare Quality, Joint Improvement Team, Reshaping Care for Older People, Active and Healthy Ageing, and Multimorbidity. Anne leads a Work Package in the European Joint Action on Frailty, participates in Advisory Boards for a number of European programmes, and provides technical advice for WHO initiatives on integrated care and transformation.

Laura is Director of Actus Consultants.

Laura previously led Nuwe Consulting as its Managing Director. The purpose of Nuwe is to support the public sector in reducing reliance on outsourced solutions, becoming agile organisations and ultimately releasing cost efficiencies that help to ensure a higher quality of front-line service delivery in all services and for all communities.

Laura is a leader and innovator in the recruitment field with a wealth of experience during her 30 year career in the public and private sectors. This has spanned the NHS, utilities and transport and in both small and large businesses, but with a specific focus on recruitment in the public sector for the last 15 years.

Her early career was spent in generalist recruitment, managing branch operations and business development for market leading companies. She has extensive experience in Neutral Vend, Managed Services and Staff Bank/Talent Pool provision. She has implemented and managed innovative, cost-efficient workforce solutions from start-up through to operational delivery. This includes leading through the initial dialogue process, relationship development in the MV/ MSP and in Staff Bank/Talent Pool workforce solutions arena.

Laura was educated in Scotland and lives in Fife with her family where she supports community and rural projects. During lockdown she returned to her running and cycling roots, finding a passion for Duathlon and with the aim of representing Scotland at the Duathlon AG World Championships in 2024!

Laura Wilson is the Policy and Practice Lead at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland. Laura comes from a community background where she spent 14 years as the manager of a busy pharmacy. With a special interest in addiction and mental health, Laura gained her independent prescribing qualification in psychiatry in 2008. Since then, she has prescribed in various roles, most recently in addiction services, prescribing for patients with opiate addiction. Laura has spent the last 7 years of her career as an Advanced Pharmacist in Addictions. Recently, Laura has been a member of HM inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland and gained experience in education as a teacher practitioner at Strathclyde University. Laura joined the RPS in March 2021 and leads on policy development and professional support for pharmacists in Scotland.

Nicole Kane is the Policy and Public Affairs Lead for The Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT). Nicole also represents occupational therapy within the Allied Health Profession Federation Scotland (AHPFS). Nicole is a qualified occupational therapist who has experience working across acute and community rehabilitation services. Nicole has an interest in health and social care policy and how it shapes services and the workforce. As well as policy, Nicole has an interest in occupational therapy practice within community rehabilitation and primary care teams. Nicole is currently undertaking an MSc in Advancing Practice in Occupational Therapy at Queen Margaret University.