boardmembers

Angus Whyte

Brought up in Glasgow, Angus's first jobs were in Singers Clydebank and Arrels Bridge builders in Bridgeton. University study earned him Masters degrees in History, Education and Psychology and a career in History and Economics tuition in Scotland and Canada. In the 1980s, he developed education opportunities for long term prisoners in HM Prison Edinburgh. In the 1990s, he worked at Stevenson College as Assistant Principal and Depute Principal, and was seconded to the government to design the funding methodology for Scotland's 43 FE Colleges as they left the control of their local authorities.

From 2003 to 2010, Angus coordinated CLAN Edinburgh, a partnership developing adult literacy and numeracy provision for the city of Edinburgh. He has also managed Edinburgh's Lifelong Learning Partnership and is Chair of Edinburgh's Community Learning and Development Partnership. In terms of volunteering, Angus was a Panel member and Chair of Central Scotland's Children's Hearing System and Chair of SACRO Lothian. He is currently working in a self employed capacity as an education consultant. He is a keen road and hill runner and has completed the Ben Nevis hill race twice in 2004 and 2005 respectively.

Bruce Penman

Veronica Ferguson

Veronica Ferguson has been a Board member of Access to Industry since 2002, but she has been developing employability programmes since 1999.  Her presence on the Boards of Rightrack and Women onto Work has enriched her understanding of the needs of a diverse range of client groups. Veronica joined Scottish Business in the Community in April 2007 to take up the role of Programmes Manager, supporting the engagement of businesses with SBC's programmes. She has been involved with the development and delivery of funded programmes for a number of years, working with the Scottish Adult Learning Partnership, Stevenson College Edinburgh, West Edinburgh Pathfinder and Fife Council. Experience of programme development includes learning programmes as well as employability, and Veronica has worked with the public, voluntary, further education and private sectors to deliver the best possible outcomes. Social inclusion and supporting individuals to fulfil their potential have been the key emphases throughout her career.

Councillor Ian Perry

Ian Perry is presently a Labour councillor for the Southside Newington ward in Edinburgh. He is Secretary of the Labour Group and opposition spokesperson for Transport. In the previous council, he was deputy leader for eight years and was spokesperson for Social Inclusion. He has previously been Chair of the Council's Environment Committee and Vice Chair of the Economic Development Committee. He is presently Chair of the Changeworks, an organisation responsible for increasing environmental activity in Edinburgh and Scotland. He has been retired for two years but was previously a lecturer in Management and Labour studies at Stevenson College and was coordinator of the Wester Hailes Education and Training Managers Group.  Ian is a long standing member of the Access to Industry project.

Jackie Doody

As a Psychology graduate, Jackie has worked in Further Education for 33 years in a number of colleges. She is currently Head of the Faculty of Creative Industries and Arts at Jewel and Esk College in Edinburgh, delivering courses to 1600 students every year. She has led initiatives in widening access, community based education, e-learning and the development of learning and teaching strategies across the College. She is currently involved in several projects looking at articulation routes from FE to university across South East Scotland. She has a particular interest in widening access to FE for non traditional entrants and is on the executive of SWAP East. Having been involved from the beginning, Jackie has a personal commitment to Access to Industry, working in partnership to design, develop and deliver the first full-time access courses on outreach.

Ruth Howard

From the start of a long career in education, the focus of Ruth's interest has been adult learners and non-traditional students. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, her first post was as a language tutor to women from ethnic minority groups who had recently settled in Scotland. From this early experience came an appreciation of the needs of adults who face barriers to accessing mainstream education. She has experience of teaching in school and university and, as a senior lecturer in Dundee College, she developed and managed a suite of access programmes providing routes into higher education for more than sixty students each year. She was appointed Director of SWAP-East in 2003 and has continued to work with partner colleges and HEIs to maintain and develop progression agreements for adults who do not have the traditional entry requirements. She is a staunch supporter of Access to Industry's work and a member of the board since 2006.

Alison Hume

Alison has spent over 30 years in Financial Services in both Edinburgh and London. Born in Elgin, Alison moved to Edinburgh to complete an SHND in Business Studies at Napier College. She commenced her career with Wood Mackenzie and Co, then the largest stockbroker in Scotland, and had held various managerial positions before moving to London. She joined Datastream International as Sales Manager before returning to Edinburgh to run their Scottish Office. As Managing Director at BNYMellon, Alison was introduced to Access to Industry and assisted with providing mock interviews and sponsorship before being invited to join the board. Alison is keen to increase sponsorship and opportunities for work placement with the private sector.