Kelly Shearer is Head of Participation at YDance, the national dance organisation for children and young people in Scotland.  She has worked in the Scottish dance sector for over 17 years and has a focus on the Community and Third sectors.

Kelly develops and delivers multi-layer dance projects in partnership with a range of organisations and agencies, including those from Government, Social Care, Communities, and the Scottish Prison Service.

Peter Barry is Chief Officer Housing and Employability with West Dunbartonshire Council. The Council is landlord to nearly 11,000 properties and has led an ambitious building programme of 1000 new high quality energy efficient homes for social rent, completed in 2022. A new programme of net zero homes has begun, with a target to build or enable 2500 homes in the next 10 years.

The housing service implemented an innovative approach to tackling domestic abuse called No Home for Domestic Abuse which focused on moving the perpetrator and allowing victims and children to remain in the family home.  This approach is now reflected in legislation. Our ASB service sits within the Housing Department working in collaboration with Police Scotland and our CCTV service.

He has overall responsibility for the Working4U service which has integrated Employability, Youth services including the Modern Apprenticeship programme, Community Learning and Development, Welfare Rights and Debt Advice into a single streamlined service. In 2016 Working4U won the prestigious COSLA Gold Award for Public Service Innovation and Improvement.

Peter also leads the Communities Team with a focus on community empowerment, community budgeting and involvement. The Council and its partners have agreed an ambitious community empowerment strategy which is currently being implemented.

Lorraine Gillies is the Chief Executive Officer of the Scottish Community Safety Network – a national charity which supports community safety activity across Scotland.

Dave is the Head of National Development with SCSN. He brings experience from eight years as a police officer, several years as manager of a community-centred volunteering service, and time as the coordinator of an innovative criminal justice research project. Dave has a strong interest in the human aspects of justice, rehabilitation and community engagement, and enjoys opportunities for creative collaboration and shared learning.

John Blackwood has worked in the private rented sector for over 25 years and is widely recognised as one of the foremost experts on all aspects of the Scottish private rented sector. He represents SAL on a number of Scottish Government committees working to inform and influence housing policy. John is chief executive of the Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL), managing director of Gladstones Property Investment Managers and chairman of Scotland’s national accreditation scheme for private landlords and letting agents, Landlord Accreditation Scotland (LAS). John also holds a judicial appointment as a member of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing & Property Chamber) and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Kate has thirteen years’ experience of high-profile leadership roles in the public and voluntary sectors in both executive and non-executive roles. Prior to VSS, Kate lead Visualise Scotland, a service delivery charity that provides services to people living with disabilities and complex needs from across Scotland. She has previously held the position of UK Programme Director for Barnardo’s and was based between London and Glasgow.