OUR TEAM

STAFF TEAM

 

Sara Cowan, Director

Sara joined the Scottish Women’s Budget Group in September 2020.

Sara has spent her career working on social justice issues, with 11 years spent in

various campaigning roles at Oxfam working on inequality, climate change and

humanitarian issues. Prior to that, Sara worked in Glasgow as an individual

 advocate for people with physical and mental health difficulties.

 

Carmen Martinez, Policy and Engagement Lead

Carmen leads the group’s work on childcare and the Feminist Just Transition. She holds

an MSc in Public Policy from Strathclyde University and spent a year in Brussels supporting

Horizon Europe and the LIFE Programme in advancing the European Green Deal. Carmen

has also served as a trustee for two local women’s aid groups in Scotland and is

currently Chair of Inverclyde Women’s Aid.

 

Heather Williams, Training and Participation Lead

Heather joined the Scottish Women’s Budget Group in September 2020 as Training Lead.

Heather has worked in the violence against women sector for 20 years in a variety of roles,

 including delivering support to women, children and young people, delivering training and awareness raising.

 

 

 

Samar Jamal, Communications & Events Officer

Samar works on the communications and events side of SWBG, supporting our work to

reach a wider audience, ensuring that it is as accessible as possible, supporting participation

and supporting audiences to access and understand the work of SWBG. 

If you have any media enquiries, please send them to communications@swbg.org.uk. 

 

BOARD MEMBERS 

 

Clemmie Hill O’Connor

Clemmie joined the board of Scottish Women’s Budget Group in 2020 and recently took on the role of SWBG representative to the board of the UK Women’s Budget Group.

Clemmie brings both personal and professional experience to her role as a board member. As a woman and as a mother, Clemmie has direct experience of the structural issues that SWBG seeks to address. As a researcher and as an experienced board member Clemmie brings expertise to support the delivery of the ambitions of SWBG, recognising her many privileges and working hard to dismantle the structures and institutions that ignore the experiences of women.

Laura Tomson

With over 15 years’ experience in the Scottish women’s sector, Laura is a committed feminist with substantial experience of strategic planning, fundraising, organisational learning and development, people management, budgeting and financial management. Laura is familiar with the challenges of developing a small charity in a squeezed financial context, using resources effectively to have the biggest impact, and have been successful in diversifying funding, growing the ZT team, and continually increasing our reach. Laura brings knowledge of violence against women prevention to the role, supporting SWBG in its work to make the links between gender budgeting and ending VAWG.

Elisabeth Loose 

Elli is the current Leader and Data Manager for the Women’s Equality Party in Glasgow, where she leads on advocacy campaigns and explores the potential of a Feminist Foreign Policy for the party as well as the UK. Elli is also a member of the SWBG Policy & Advocacy Group. Her PhD research delved into women’s roles in male-dominated spaces, underscoring her dedication to addressing gendered socio-economic factors. In her day job, Elliis is the Research and External Engagement Officer for the John Smith Centre at the University of Glasgow. She continuously deepens her knowledge through extensive reading of feminist literature, focusing on socio-economic injustice and the social construction of womanhood.

Olivia (Liv) Hamilton 

Liv is a researcher specialising in health inequalities at the University of Glasgow. Her current work focuses on the relationship

between income and health, and explores potential options for reforming the social security system in order to reduce health inequalities. She brings expertise in quantitative research methods and experience deliberating with a wide range of stakeholders and public groups on policy priorities and preferences. Liv gained her PhD in Translational Neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh, and previously studied English Language and Linguistics at University College London and Cardiff University.

 

Susan (Susie) Anderson Stein 

For over sixteen years, Susie has worked in voluntary organisations in varied roles, providing trauma-informed support and managing services for people affected by violent crime. She is the Chief Executive Officer at Scottish Borders Rape Crisis Centre and has been in this role since 2014. She brings years of experience and proficiency in governance, feminist leadership and management, fundraising, HR, change management, participation, and training.