Kate Nevens has joined Amnesty International in Scotland as interim programme director. She has a particular interest in the Middle East (especially Yemen and Egypt), women's and youth activism, arms trade, security sector issues and refugees. Kate previously worked for Engender, Scotland's feminist policy organisation, as head of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Programme for the conflict prevention INGO Saferworld; and as MENA Programme manager for Chatham House. She studied at the University of Edinburgh and SOAS.

Cornerstone, one of Scotland's largest charities and a leading provider of services for people with disabilities and other support needs, has appointed Malcolm Laing as its new chairman. He stepped up as chair at the charity's AGM, accepting the role as Peter Nicholson stood down after five years as chair. Malcolm, a corporate lawyer, is a former partner and now a consultant at Ledingham Chalmers LLP. He joined the board of Cornerstone in October 2001 when Cornerstone had a turnover of just under £10 million compared with just under £38m today.

Former Green MSP Mark Ballard has been named as head of Save The Children Scotland. He is a former policy manager at Barnardo's Scotland and communications manager at The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations.