Author Biographies
Kim Barker, University of York
Kim Barker is Professor of Law at the University of York (UK). She is an internationally recognised expert on technology-facilitated violence against women (TFVAWG) and her work has informed parliamentary debates, international reports, policymaking and legal developments in the UK, Europe, and internationally. She has advised a range of organisations, including the Council of Europe, governments, tech companies and NGOs internationally, on issues relating to TFVAWG, online violence, and platform regulation. Her research has been funded by RAi, ESRC, EPSRC and UKRI. Kim is an award-winning academic (Zero Tolerance 2020, AI Impact Awards 2026).
Helen O'Shea, The Open University in Scotland
Dr Helen O’Shea is a Senior Lecturer in History with the Open University in Scotland. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Royal Historical Society, and her research has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
A translated author, her research spans modern Irish, British and imperial history, including twentieth-century colonial warfare and the history of women’s workplace struggles in Scotland. She has also served as academic lead for several BBC–Open University co-productions, including BBC Scotland’s Women Who Changed Modern Scotland with Kirsty Wark and BBC Two’s Union series with David Olusoga.
Her current research examines emergency law and order in the post-Second World War British Empire and its consequences for civil liberties. Alongside this, she has a strong interest in higher education policy, particularly student access, retention and progression, with a focus on under-represented adult learners and unpaid carers.
Talat Yaqoob
Talat Yaqoob FRSE is an award-winning campaigner, writer, and consultant who has worked on systems and policy change on a range of issues including women’s rights, migrant’s rights, anti-poverty, anti-racism and intersectionality.
She was previously the director of a national organisation focused on women’s equality in the workplace. She has a background in social research, training and development, campaign strategy and public participation in policy and democratic transformation. She is the founder of Pass the Mic, a national programme to tackle under-representation and misrepresentation of women of colour in media and influencing.
In 2014, she co-founded the cross-party campaign group Women 50:50, advocating for fair representation of women across politics. In 2019 she was presented with the “outstanding women of Scotland” award, and in 2021 she was appointed co-chair of the First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls. She is a media commentator on political and social issues, and has been a board member and chair for a number of charities focused on equality and international development.
Dr Diane Delaney
Dr Diane Delaney is a researcher and practitioner with over 25 years of experience across health, social work and education in Scotland. She completed her PhD at the University of Strathclyde, where she explored the role and value of parents and carers during their interactions with professionals about the health, wellbeing, and developmental progress of children aged 3-5 years. Her research addresses gaps in the Scottish evidence base and is grounded in policies that recognise the vital contribution families make to children's development and outcomes.
In 2018, Diane co-founded the Give Them Time Campaign and an associated support group for parents and professionals. The campaign achieved legislative changes in Scotland in August 2023, ensuring equitable access to funding for families choosing to defer their eligible four year olds' school start. Although this key aim has been realised, Diane continues to advocate for improved understanding of parental and child rights.
Adopting feminist perspectives, Diane champions equity, inclusion and the voices of families in the creation and delivery of services and policy. Committed to social justice, human rights, and participatory principles, she integrates lived experience with evidence-informed research to influence policy and practice. Her work is driven by a strong interest in how families' lived experiences intersect with professional practices and policy aims, promoting inclusive, democratic decision making, collaborative partnerships, and wellbeing for children, families and communities.
Ruth Lightbody
Dr Ruth Lightbody is a senior lecturer in politics at Glasgow Caledonian University and a research leader at the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit (SPIRU). Her research focuses on deliberative democracy and community engagement, particularly exploring how they can be used to implement policy changes which tackle social inequalities.
Her research highlights the undervalued contributions of women as knowledge producers and evidence providers in policymaking. Recently, she has explored parent and baby groups (playgroups) as vital spaces for knowledge exchange, social capital development and trauma support for perinatal women and families.
Ruth was awarded an Academic Fellowship at the Scottish Parliament in 2023 to develop an evaluation framework for measuring deliberative principles and practice within the Parliament. She has led projects funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme, the Scottish Government and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She is currently working on initiatives related to early years care provision in Glasgow.
Sara Sheridan
Sara Sheridan has a fascination for uncovering forgotten stories that link our past to the present. In 2018 she remapped Scotland according to women’s history to memorialise our forgotten foremothers in her imagined guidebook Where are the Women? She has written more than 20 novels. Her 1950s murder mystery series was longlisted this year for the CWA’s prestigious Dagger in the Library Award in 2022. In the same year, The Fair Botanists, is set in Edinburgh in 1822 was Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year. Her latest novel, The Jewel Keepers, is a treasure hunt through Scottish history seen through the lens of women's lives.
Lynn Williams
Lynn is an unpaid carer and campaigner, and works in the charity sector. She cared for her amazing husband, Derek, until he died in 2022. She continues to provide support for family members, and to be passionate about (although increasingly frustrated by) politics and policy making.
Dr Kizanne James
Dr. Kizanne James is a multi-award-winning physician scholar, international development leader, and unapologetic advocate for health justice. With 20 years of experience spanning grassroots activism, clinical practice, and institutional transformation, she partners with NGOs, governments, and global health organisations to dismantle systemic inequities and co-create healthcare systems that honour the dignity of marginalised communities.
A radically empathetic leader, Dr. James merges her lived experience as an Afro-Trinidadian, Black intersectional feminist with her expertise in public health strategy, program evaluation, and conflict resolution to empower institutions, NGOs, and frontline leaders in health and social care globally.
Lucy Grieve
Lucy Grieve is an award-winning reproductive rights campaigner with a proven record of impact on health policy in Scotland.
As a student at the University of Edinburgh in 2020, Lucy co-founded the campaign group ‘Back Off Scotland’ to end anti-abortion protests taking place outside abortion care facilities.
Following a tumultuous four-year campaign, safe access zones were made law and were successfully implemented during 2024 - now protecting patients and staff from intimidation and harassment at the doors of clinics across Scotland. Lucy now focuses Back Off Scotland’s efforts on improving access to mid-trimester abortion care in Scotland and advocating for broader abortion law reform.
In her day job, Lucy is the Policy and Engagement Manager at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, where she works to strengthen and advance reproductive rights across the rest of the UK.
Her work has been widely recognised: in 2023, Lucy was featured in BBC Scotland’s ‘The Women Who Changed Modern Scotland’ documentary and was named as one of seven ‘Extraordinary Edinburgh Women Leading The Way’ by the Edinburgh Evening News. In 2022, Back Off Scotland won ‘Campaign of the Year’ at The Herald’s Politician of the Year awards, and in 2021 Lucy was recognised as one of The Young Women’s Movement’s ‘30 under 30’ most inspiring young women in Scotland.
When she’s not campaigning, Lucy can usually be found somewhere picturesque in her old, battered Land Rover Defender 90 heading out on a camping and hiking trip with her wonderful husband and their wee dog.
Toni Groundwater
Currently, Director of Policy & Influencing for Families Outside, Toni has worked in the Charity Sector for over 18 years, across a range of social justice areas, including criminal justice, alcohol and substance use and health, with a special interest in inequalities facing women.
Passionate about lived experience expertise, leadership and growing movements, Toni previously worked as Community and Priority Groups Lead and Social Movement Manager for See Me Scotland. She also previously chaired the Steering Group for the Scottish Government’s, National Suicide Prevention Leadership Group’s, Lived Experience Panel, and values authentic collaborations, working to create meaningful change.
Toni is passionate about justice reform and systems change. Working to tackle inequalities, Toni believes we need to address the root causes of offending behaviour and recognise and support the impacts of imprisonment, which can often perpetuate cycles of trauma, poverty and marginalisation.
Toni has recently been working on various projects and research to support improvements for children and families affected by imprisonment, especially the disproportionate impacts facing women. Key areas include, areas of prison reform, tackling poverty, addressing the costs of imprisonment to families, implementation of United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and addressing travel barriers to visiting prison.
Toni is also a Clore Social Leadership fellow and a faculty member of the William Glasser Institute UK practicing and teaching Choice Theory and Reality Therapy Ideas.
Muminah Koleoso
Muminah Koleoso is a Yoruba Nigerian-British Muslim, multi-award-winning writer, journalist, content creator, podcaster and advocate. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a Computer Science & Maths degree and since pivoted into media and the arts, where she uses
storytelling to amplify the voices of Black and Muslim women.
Muminah completed a creative nonfiction writing fellowship hosted by the Black British Book
Festival, with a short story published in their anthology. She's also written for publications including Black Ballad, The Scotsman, and Friday Magazine, was shortlisted for the 2024 New2theScene Poetry Competition and has performed her poetry across the UK. Reaching a global audience across 37+ countries, Muminah founded and hosts the podcast Sister Station, alongside a monthly Open Mic, for Muslim and BPOC women to share their creativity.
Furthermore, as a member of the Young Women’s Movement’s (YWM) 2024 Young Women Lead Programme, she co-designed a report focused on young women’s political participation. Since then, she’s represented YWM locally at the Scottish Parliament and internationally at the European YWCA 2025 Study Session in Hungary and the European Women Lobby’s 2025 AGORA Summer Camp in Brussels, furthering efforts toward gender equality and peacebuilding.
Her contributions to the creative and civic community have earned Muminah recognition through multiple national awards including the Young Scot Award for Culture & Entertainment, the Black Scottish Awards’ Creative of the Year, and a place on the Young Women’s Movement’s 30 Under 30 list.
Carole Erskine
Carole Erskine is the Head of Policy and Campaigns for Pregnant Then Screwed (Scotland). In this capacity, she leads work on developing and advocating for policy changes that address the “motherhood penalty” — the disadvantages that pregnant people and mothers can face in employment, pay, and career progression. Before joining Pregnant Then Screwed, Carole spent over 15 years as a TV reporter and broadcast journalist working in Scotland and London. She later moved into roles in research, events, and communications — most recently with the John Smith Centre at the University of Glasgow.
Carole is a mother of two young children. Through personal experience of discrimination and the barriers faced by working mothers, she is deeply motivated to campaign for systemic change to support working parents. She is publicly visible in media and policy debates — for instance commenting on how childcare costs affect women’s decisions around work and family in Scotland.
Angela O’Hagan
Gender equality and gender budgeting advocate for 25 years. Founder member of Scottish Women’s Budget Group and other organisations with a focus on women’s economic justice. Engaged in international feminist and academic networks to promote gender equality and gender budgeting, including European Gender Budgeting Network. Former researcher and Depute Director of the WISE Centre for Economic Justice at Glasgow Caledonia University.
Sandy Brindley
Sandy Brindley has worked in the rape crisis movement in Scotland for 30 years, starting as a volunteer and now acting as the organisation's Chief Executive. Her work and activism through this time has been heavily influential in driving progress for survivors of rape, sexual assault and abuse in Scotland both in terms of legislative change and improved individual and institutional responses and seeking to address the attitudes and culture that permits this violence. Sandy sits on multiple strategic forums and taskforces – including those of the Scottish Government – contributing her own expertise and working consistently to ensure that survivors voices are heard by those with the power to effect change.
Miss M
The woman known pseudonymously as "Miss M" became a powerful advocate for justice reform in Scotland after her own experience with the legal system.
In 2013, she was raped by Stephen Coxen. In a 2015 criminal trial, the jury acquitted Coxen using the controversial "not proven" verdict, leaving Miss M feeling that justice was denied.
Determined to fight for justice and closure of the crime, she pursued a landmark civil case against Coxen.
In 2018, the court found in her favour, ruling that Coxen had raped her and awarding her £80,000 in damages.
Miss M then partnered with Rape Crisis Scotland to launch the influential #EndNotProven campaign. The goal was to eliminate the contentious third verdict, which was frequently used in sexual assault cases and was seen as a barrier to closure for survivors.
Her advocacy culminated in a major legislative change. In September 2025, the Scottish Parliament passed the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, which officially abolished the "not proven" verdict. The change will take effect for new trials starting in January 2026. Miss M’s brave campaign transformed a personal trauma into a significant reform of Scots law, offering hope and validation to future survivors.
Catherine Murphy
Catherine is the Executive Director of Engender Scotland. She has spent over 20 years as an activist and leader working with NGOs in the UK and internationally, on addressing the systemic injustices experienced by women and marginalised communities. Her efforts have spanned the feminist, human rights and HIV movements where she has worked on intersecting issues across health, access to justice and socio- economic exclusion. Many of the projects she has led have involved close collaboration with groups facing high levels of stigmatisation, marginalisation and human rights abuses. She was previously named one of Foreign Policy magazine’s 100 Global Thinkers for her work at Amnesty International.
As Executive Director of Engender, she leads a small but determined team working to address gender inequality in Scotland. In her role she works with government, public bodies and civil society to try to improve the way that decisions are made, policies are designed and spending is distributed to improve the lives of all women in Scotland, particularly those from marginalised groups.
Katie Swan-Nelson
Katie Swan-Nelson works on climate and development policy at United Nations Trade and Development. She was appointed as a Commissioner on the Scottish Government's Just Transition Commission in 2022. Prior to joining the UN, she worked in academia and civil society, including at Oxfam, ActionAid and Boston University’s Global Development Policy Centre and was previously Convenor of the Scottish Women's Budget Group. Katie holds degrees from Harvard University and SOAS University of London. Katie comes from Coatbridge, Scotland.
Steph Wright
Steph has a diverse background ranging from astrophysics to genomics in academia, film & TV, dance and the third sector. A leader in, and advocate for, ethical, inclusive and responsible AI, she works to ensure that technology benefits the many and not the few.
She was instrumental in the development and delivery of Scotlands national AI strategy. She was also Co-Founder of Diverse AI, working to support and grow diversity in the world of AI but she has now stepped back from that role to focus on Our AI Collective, which she has co-founded and is Director of to provide a civic voice in the AI discourse. Our AI Collective is a community interest company strengthening civic power in the age of AI through education, research, and public participation
She was recognised as one of the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics in 2023, one of the Top 10 Women in Tech in Scotland in 2023 and recently named in the 2025 Digital Leaders AI 100 UK list. She was also awarded the 2024 DataIQ Award for Data & AI For Good Champion.
Thea Chambers
Thea Chambers is director of Mind the Gap inclusive design consultancy.
She has been teaching architectural design at ESALA since 2003. She was Design
Director for inclusive design focused architectural practice: Chambers McMillan
Architects, which included their multi award winning wheelchair accessible family home,
the Ramp House.
Her research looks at making space for children and young people to explore their
understanding and experience of spaces creatively and developing processes that enable
this to feed into the architectural design process. Her work is also focussed on inclusive
processes and design, as her 21 year old is a wheelchair user, so she has acquired
knowledge of the lived everyday experience, having worked with her daughter creatively
to develop structures for her inclusion in creative practices.
Jenni Snell
Jenni Snell is Chief Executive Officer of The Young Women’s Movement, Scotland’s national organisation for young women’s leadership and rights. She took up the role in August 2022, having previously participated in the organisation’s Young Women Lead programme and served on its advisory panel. Before becoming CEO, she was a Senior Development Officer at YouthLink Scotland. Jenni leads major initiatives, including the annual ‘30 Under 30’ list celebrating young women across Scotland. She is a prominent advocate on issues such as online misogyny, the cost of living and feminist leadership.
Sigi Joseph
Sigi Joseph is a GP partner in Edinburgh with over 20 years’ experience in Scottish general practice. Alongside her clinical work, she has worked with NHS Education for Scotland for over 17 years, developing and delivering educational programmes and training more than 1,000 future GPs. She is Clinical Lead for Leadership for Integration at RCGP Scotland and has contributed to national workforce and leadership initiatives. Dr Joseph was Primary Care Lead for the Scottish Government’s Women’s Health Plan and serves on the UK Government’s Menopause Taskforce. She co-founded The Doctor Explains, promoting accessible, evidence-based health education.
Gwenetta Curry
Gwenetta D. Curry is a Reader in the Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on racial and ethnic health disparities, critical race theory and Black family studies. Her work has examined racial inequalities in Covid-19 treatment and infection rates, and she has co-authored evidence reviews and publications in The Lancet. She is a member of the Royal Society’s DELVE Initiative and the UK Inclusive Data Taskforce, and a senior research associate in the Global Health Governance Programme at the University of Edinburgh Medical School.
Isioma Okolo
Isioma Okolo is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, Harvard-trained global health researcher, writer and speaker. Her work sits at the intersection of women’s health, medical careers, leadership and health equity, with a focus on addressing inequalities within healthcare systems. With over 15 years’ experience across clinical care, research, education and public health, she works with individuals, communities and organisations to improve health outcomes and support clinicians. She has worked internationally across Africa, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East, and is committed to advancing equitable, evidence-based and patient-centred care.
Zarina Ahmad
Zarina Ahmad is a climate justice advocate specialising in race equality and environmental policy. She has worked with the Council for Ethnic Minority Voluntary Organisations (CEMVO Scotland) as Climate Change and Environment Officer, supporting minority ethnic communities to engage with climate action and policy. Her work focuses on increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in environmental movements and policymaking. She has contributed to Scottish Parliament inquiries and helped expand access to climate funding for minority ethnic organisations. Zarina is also a researcher and educator working at the intersection of climate justice, social justice and community-led change.
Jen Ang
Jen Ang is Founding Director of Lawmanity, a project that aims to tackle inequalities in the law by working with people-led movements to secure positive change. Jen is an experienced human rights lawyer qualified to practise in Scotland, England and Wales, and New York State. She is a legal expert on asylum, human rights and children’s rights, and on the rights of survivors of torture. She is also a Professor in Practice at the GO Justice Centre, School of Law, University of Glasgow, and believes in making legal education open and accessible to all.
Fatma Elaraby
Fatma Elaraby is an Administrative Officer at Maryhill Integration Network, where she is responsible for day-to-day administration and welcoming people to the organisation. She joined the staff team in 2023. Fatma is also a human rights activist, advocating for the rights of asylum seekers and refugees, particularly the right to work. She is a member of Glasgow West Amnesty Group and volunteers with MIN Voices Group and JustRight Scotland. She also serves as a trustee of Asylum Matters, contributing to work supporting people seeking asylum across the UK.
