John is Chair of Skills Development Scotland and Chair of Hub South West Limited. He is former Chair of the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council and the Renfrewshire Enterprise Company. In 2006, John completed a review of public sector procurement in Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Executive. He is former Vice President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

In 1994 John was awarded a CBE for his services to industry and education.

Alongside a varied and distinguished career in the financial services sector, where she worked with top tier global financial institutions like Goldman Sachs International and UBS AG, Tracy has experience of working with a range of SMEs and entrepreneurial start-ups, particularly spin-outs from the higher education sector.

Tracy has also provided advisory services to a range of start-ups and financial services companies and is currently co-owner of Carter Vintners Limited, a company producing high quality Australian wines.

In addition to professional roles, Tracy has been actively involved in leadership and mentoring programmes, in particular working with school children, prisoners and ex-offenders.

*Appointed by SDS as a co-opted member of the Board for a term of one year.

Donald works with many large and medium sized Scottish businesses and has an extensive knowledge of owner managed businesses. He also advises international companies in respect of their Scottish operations.

Campbell Dallas was one of the first accounting firms in Scotland to create a Modern Apprenticeship scheme providing access for school leavers directly into the workplace offering them an opportunity to become a Chartered Accountant directly from school.

Donald has a particular interest in engineering businesses in Scotland as well as heading up the Brewing and Distilling Sector within Campbell Dallas.

Her previous roles have been with AstraZeneca, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Student Loans Company and recently The James Hutton Institute.  She has substantial experience of Strategic Planning, Finance, Governance, Risk and Change management. 

Beth also has experience as a Non-Executive Director. She is currently a Board Member of Glasgow Prestwick Airport where she chairs the Audit and Risk Committee and sits on the Capital Investment Committee.  Beth is also a Member of the Investigation Committee at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

She worked at a strategic level in AstraZeneca, Kellogg’s, PepsiCo, Reckitt Benckiser, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, a national start up and currently Bield Housing and Care. She has been a member of several boards and government advisory groups and supported the development of regulations, policies and procedures around education and workforce development nationally.

She has been involved in provision and management of learning and development and talent management throughout her career including being Global Clinical learning and Development Director at AZ where she had responsibility for the talent development of 6000 people worldwide. As a member of global executive teams she had  been responsible for audit and ensuring the highest standards of corporate governance.

A dedicated advocate of civic responsibility and volunteering, Nazim continues to volunteer with local community groups and agencies to promote equality, diversity, community empowerment and supports initiatives which seek to strengthen transparency in public service provisions.

In her professional capacity she brings to this role her knowledge on organisational development and information management legislation.

Nazim has been appointed by SDS as a member of the Board for 4 years.

From 2001 to 2012 Willie was responsible for Clydesdale Bank's Corporate, Agricultural and Private Banking business across Ayrshire and Arran.  In January 2013, he established Willie Mackie Consulting Limited providing business consultancy services to a wide range of clients predominantly based in Ayrshire. 

Willie holds a number of positions within the Ayrshire community including; Member of the Ayrshire Economic Partnership; Chair, Taste Ayrshire; Board member, East Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership.  In 2016 he was appointed to the Board of Scottish Enterprise where he is also Chair of the Audit Committee.

Willie has also been involved in the College sector for many years including roles as Member of the Board of Ayr College (Chair from 1 January 2013); Ayrshire Partnership Board Member; and Ayrshire College Regional Lead and then Regional Chair from 4 March 2014.  In March 2014 Willie was also appointed to the boards of Colleges Scotland and College Development Network where he is also Chair of the Audit Committee.

Margaret joined HSBC in 2015 to build and lead a Global Regulatory Compliance Monitoring & Testing Governance function with responsibility for supporting 7 Regions and c. 400 people globally.  Since joining, Margaret has been instrumental in designing and implementing completely new methodology to support the firm’s assurance programme over regulatory risk and led the training programme on that methodology, delivering training to c.300 people in regional hubs worldwide through a series of workshops supporting activity across 60+ countries.  Margaret is a member of the Scottish CEO’s Senior Leadership team and Risk Centre Head in Edinburgh.

Previously Margaret held senior positions in Barclays Compliance Monitoring, Lloyds Banking Group Commercial Banking, Lloyds Group Internal Audit and HBOS.   Margaret is a Chartered Member and active supporter of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (CIIA).  Margaret is an experienced Trainer and has delivered training and supported students studying for their Internal Audit professional qualifications for the CIIA for over a decade.  A mentor to internal colleagues and Women in Banking & Finance members as well as colleagues whom she had worked previously.  Margaret is passionate about helping others succeed in their career and reach their potential. 

*Appointed by SDS as a co-opted member of the Board for a term of one year.

She was a Member of Sir Ian Wood’s Commission for Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) and is currently a Member of the Programme Board for DYW and a Member of the Scottish Advisory Board for Outward Board.

In 2012 Christine was awarded a CBE for services to education and in 2013 was awarded a Fellowship to SQA.

Christine was a member of the Early Years Commission established by Children in Scotland which reported to the Scottish Government and made recommendations on the further expansion of provision.

She was previously a Co-Opted Board Member for Skills Development Scotland.

Helen is an External Relations professional with over 15 years’ experience at C suite level and in that time held the position of Partnership Policy and External Relations with Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

Previous to Edinburgh Chamber, Helen also worked with the independent Think Tank Reform Scotland where she supported the organisation with their External Relations, prior to Reform Scotland she headed the Public Relations and Public Affairs for Dunfermline Building Society.

Helen was also Chief Executive at Fife Chamber of Commerce.

Helen Robertson is an energetic, positive communicator and networker who approaches life and work with passion and commitment.

*Appointed by SDS as a co-opted member of the Board for a term of 3 years

He is a graduate of Strathclyde University where he obtained an Honours Degree in Economics and Industrial Relations. 

He serves on a number of skills and economic development boards at Scottish and UK level and has contributed extensively to the development of skills and employment policy, including as a member of the Commission on Developing Scotland's Young Workforce. 

He also led the creation of Scottish Union Learning and serves as a member of its Board.

Since joining the Scott Group business in 2000, Tracy has been involved in over 35 strategic acquisitions helping to take annual Group sales turnover from £7m to now £160m+. As the Scott Group business has grown and developed Tracy has played a key role in providing leadership in finance and IT departments whilst contributing to and supporting the Groups' on-going growth strategy.

Tracy has a particular interest in work-based learning having herself started her career on a Youth Training Placement. Combining full-time work with various training and study programs led to her graduating from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in 2015.

Tracy is also a volunteer with Career Ready, a charity preparing young people for the world of work.

*Appointed by SDS as a co-opted member of the Board for a term of 2 years.

Agnes Valentine has worked in Executive and C-level roles within the IT sector in Scotland for more than 35 years. During this time, her work has been primarily focussed on Financial Services and the Public Sector, including the Health sector and a range of Government agencies.

A key focus throughout her career has been to drive business transformation and innovation through IT enablement. Being passionate about young people’s career aspirations has led Agnes to be actively involved in the Scottish Financial Services IT forum and with the promotion of Modern Apprenticeships in the IT sector.

In August 2017, Agnes was appointed Director, WBL Scotland and in November 2017 also became Chair.

*Appointed by SDS as a co-opted member of the Board for a term of one year and re-appointed until the end of September 2018.

With a turnover of £220 million and over 1200 staff operating in 110 locations throughout Scotland; central to SDS’s role and purpose is the contribution it makes to the creation of a strong, vibrant and diverse economy. With SDS leading on skills planning and development, Damien is committed to forging strong relationships between providers of education and training, and businesses and industry ensuring support for both employers to get the skills they need and individuals to get jobs and progress in the workplace.

Damien has overseen an extensive modernisation programme spanning a network of 400 school careers staff and 47 local branches to enhance the scope and reach of Careers Information, Advice and Guidance services in Scotland. Passionate about supporting young people and recognising the relevance of high quality digital support for young people in career decision making, he was instrumental in driving forward development of a now award winning digital service, My World of Work. Achieving on average over 235,000 unique users a month, My World of Work is now recognised by Education Scotland for its valuable contribution to careers services.  

Damien has also strengthened and developed the crucial links between employer demand for, and the supply of, skilled individuals into employment through strategic initiatives. This includes working in partnership locally and regionally to develop Skills Investment Plans for each of Scotland’s key growth and economic sectors and regional skills assessments throughout the length and breadth of Scotland.  Currently delivering 25,000 new Modern Apprenticeships annually, recognising the value to employers, individuals and the economy he is committed to increasing this to 30,000 by 2020.

Damien’s extensive international knowledge of, and advocacy for, work based learning has driven the creation of new opportunities for young people to sustain and achieve success in the labour market; such as the introduction of foundation apprenticeships for senior school pupils. Passionate about skills development and its contribution to a prospering Scottish economy; Damien’s future ambitions for SDS include improving industry engagement in workforce development through foundation and graduate level apprenticeships, supporting inclusion and diversity in fair and productive workplaces and providing greater support to school pupils earlier to help them on the path to sustainable and rewarding careers.