The youth charity has announced three new appointments.
Youth charity Young Scot has achieved its target of a gender-balanced board after appointing three new members.
The appointments include two young people, Toni Lamont and Emmanuella Damptey, as well as Angus Council chief executive Margo Williamson.
Toni, 21, from North Ayrshire, is an environmental activist who has volunteered with a wide range of organisations working to protect and promote Scotland’s natural environment. A Young Scot volunteer since 2018, Toni is currently a student of wildlife and conservation management at Scotland’s Rural College.
She said: “Volunteering for Young Scot has given me the skills I need to study and work in environmental conservation, which I'm incredibly passionate about. I am so pleased to be able to give back to the charity and encourage other young people to get involved and take advantage of the opportunities Young Scot provides.”
Emmanuella, an 18-year-old from Glasgow, is an enthusiastic volunteer who has worked with Young Scot since 2017, most recently as a member of #YSThree, working with Young Scot to co-design the strategic plan for 2019-2022.
Emmanuella has also supported the development of the Scotland 365 project with National Museums Scotland, Impact Arts and Project Scotland, and recently contributed to Young Scot’s content for Black History Month.
Emmanuella said: “I’m grateful to have been involved with the charity for a few years now and I’ve seen first-hand the impact that it makes for young people. Young Scot is all about giving young people opportunities to get their opinions heard and to influence change – so it’s very powerful that they have young trustees on their board.”
In 2019, Margo Williamson became the first woman to hold the position of chief executive at Angus Council. She has previously worked as a teacher and lecturer at the University of Dundee, and is currently chair of Dundee and Angus College’s Learning, Teaching and Quality Committee.
“Young Scot is a world-leading youth organisation making a difference every day to the lives of young people all over Scotland and I’m proud to be a part of that,” she said.
Welcoming the appointments, Young Scot chair Elma Murray OBE said: “I’m incredibly proud to welcome Toni, Emmanuella and Margo to Young Scot. Their expertise, knowledge and insight will be an invaluable addition to Young Scot and will help us to support young people all over Scotland. As well as being three superb appointments, this also means that Young Scot has met our ambition to have a gender balanced board by 2020, along with our commitment that young trustees will make up 25% of our board."
