She has been a trustee of the Edinburgh-based charity for the past three years
Business leader, educator and entrepreneur Judy Wagner has been appointed vice chair of neurodiversity charity Salvesen Mindroom Centre.
A strong advocate for diversity in the workplace for three decades, Judy has been a trustee of the Edinburgh-based charity for the past three years during which time her influential business network has helped to expand the charity’s reach and impact.
She has also enabled the charity to broaden its scope of service delivery and attracted new clients and opportunities to extend its services.
An Edinburgh University graduate and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, she has been heavily involved in championing diversity issues since co-founding international executive search business FWB Park Brown in 1993 and has also worked with Scottish Enterprise to establish the Balancing the Boardroom project, the first of its kind in Scotland for women on boards.
Last year she was part of an independent review on Women in Entrepreneurship commissioned by the Scottish Government. She focused on the education sector, liaising with key leaders across the whole sector, examining how enterprise and diversity, including neurodiversity, could be embedded in our education system.
She said: “There is no doubt that the best teams embrace diversity of all forms. And the benefits of embracing neurodiversity in the workplace are well proven in ensuring success, attracting and retaining key talent and creating a welcoming environment.”
Judy, who is also passionate about Salvesen Mindroom’s role as a key partner in the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre, part of the Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences at The University of Edinburgh, is committed to helping establish the charity as a centre of excellence for Neurodiversity, supporting children, young people and those in the workplace with leading research, advice and practical resources.
Sandy Manson, Salvesen Mindroom Centre’s chair, who has long arguedfor diversity to become a key business priority, said: “Judy’s ethos and enthusiasm are a perfect fit for us. She embraces everything we are trying to achieve and has already proved an impressive force for good on various fronts, including using her networks to publicise and attract delegates for the global It Takes All Kinds Of Minds conference we held in the city in March. We look forward to enhancing our offering further with her guidance as vice chair.”
Salvesen Mindroom Centre is a charity that champions all forms of neurodiversity and supports all kinds of minds. Its mission is to be a leading centre for change, in how we live, work and learn.
