Scotland’s leading funder for the third sector, Social Investment Scotland (SIS) has signalled its intent to expand the social investment sector with board and committee appointments.
Eleven outstanding individuals have been brought into the heart of the organisation.SIS has appointed leading banker Eric Gibson and former CEO of the School for Social Entrepreneurs in Australia, Celia Hodson to its board while senior business adviser Kenny Fraser has been appointed chair of the Social Growth Fund.
- With over 38 years’ business experience, Eric Gibson has held senior director roles with Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, before establishing his own consultancy in November 2014.
- Celia Hodson brings extensive experience of leading change, both strategic and operational, as COO and CEO in medium size to multinational enterprise in UK and Australia.
- Kenny Fraser is a Chartered Accountant and Management Consultant with over 20 years’ experience advising global companies in the mobile communications and technology sectors.
SIS has also made another nine appointments across a range of committees. Committee members new to the SIS Group are David Gillespie, David Robertson, Donald MacRae, John Watt, Kenny McDowell, Lynne Ross, Sam Bett and Susan Younger who represent a wealth of relevant experience from across Scotland’s third sector, business and finance communities.
The Social Growth Fund (SGF), a joint venture with Big Society Capital, operates alongside six committees currently operated by SIS including Audit and Risk, Capital and Finance, SIS Credit, SIS Credit Risk, Remuneration and Appointments and the SGF Credit Committee. The Credit Risk Committee and Capital and Finance Committee are newly established, reflecting the growth of SIS, its concern for proper corporate governance and its ambition to grow Scotland’s wider social investment sector.
SIS chairman, Professor Nick Kuenssberg said: “Since we launched our five year Framework for Growth back in 2013, Scotland’s social investment sector has gone through a significant period of expansion. By tapping into a broader range of skills, SIS is now well placed to continue playing an instrumental role in shaping this sector over the coming years. Each of our new appointees bring with them an additional level of knowledge, understanding and expertise that will help us deliver additional investment to communities and social enterprises, whilst identifying and attracting alternative sources of funding to increase our funds under management.
“I would at the same time wish to pay tribute to two SIS board members who are standing down, our first SGF chair Sarah Smart and Derek Marshall, both of whom have made significant contributions to SIS’s success.”
“The calibre of our new members is testament to the quality of candidates who applied for these positions. We are confident that this reflects the developing profile of SIS and, more importantly, an increased awareness of Scotland’s thriving social enterprise sector.”
Biographies of new non-executive members are available upon request.