Young trustees will bring fresh insight
Young Enterprise (YE) Scotland, which provides education in schools and colleges, has appointed two young entrepreneurs at the start of their careers as trustees.
Lyle Hamilton (19) and Lara McGowan (20), who are also alumni of the charity’s enterprise-led programmes, take up their new roles in December.
It is the first time that YE Scotland has purposefully sought and recruited trustees who directly represent the young people it serves. Both Lyle and Lara will now work with fellow board members, YE Scotland CEO and management team to deliver the organisation’s strategy #EnterpriseForAll.
Lara is the co-founder of Advancing Eve, a membership community for females seeking support from other women to achieve their aspirations. In 2019, Lara was a Young Enterprise award-winner for the Scottish Borders and in 2018 was an intern with Entrepreneurial Scotland.
Lyle, from Dumfries, set up Idiom Marketing as part of the YE Scotland Company Programme in 2018, before spearheading its success across the education and tourism sectors. He is currently the UK commercial specialist for a Nasdaq-listed technology services company, and he holds several board and advisory positions, including commercial director for the Dumfries Tattoo.
Bill McDonald, chairman of YE Scotland, said: “The role of enterprise education in schools and colleges has never been more important. Recruiting Lara and Lyle to the board will bring a fresh insight into how access to enterprise-learning and the expansion of our programmes can offer a greater range of career options for young people.
“Lara and Lyle are both highly motivated, resourceful and hardworking individuals with a strong social conscience and they both have immediate experience of setting up businesses as school leavers. Having taken part in the YE Scotland Company Programme, they also bring that essential ‘on the ground’ understanding of both the delivery and impact of enterprise skills teaching. Having their perspective on the Board is crucial to us if we are to continue to lead in the delivery of these services.”
