Board members

Keir is the former Director of Education and Chief Executive of Clackmannanshire Council, a post from which he retired in May 2007. He is Chair of the Tapestry Partnership, a leading organisation in the field of teachers' professional development. He is convener of the Education Committee of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and is the Chair of the Commission on School reform, being largely responsible for the writing of its influential report, By Diverse Means

As a member of the review group which wrote "A Curriculum for Excellence" (Scotland's national curriculum), he has been closely involved with curriculum reform and recently chaired the Higher Order Skills Excellence Group. He now undertakes curriculum and professional development work with the Scottish Government, local authorities, national agencies and schools.

Hilde brings a range of digital experience from local and global business success stories to the Scottish Book Trust. After getting a Master's Degree in Comparative Literature in her native Norway, Hilde started her marketing career in Google's EMEA headquarters in Dublin, developing digital advertising strategies for large businesses. She came to Edinburgh to join Scotland's first unicorn business, travel search engine Skyscanner and lead their paid search marketing. Hilde has since founded her own digital marketing consultancy, as well as worked with marketing and strategy at organisations like Macs Adventure, Edinburgh International Festival and Float. She currently leads the product and app development teams at fast-growing retail start-up Mallzee Insights, and volunteers on the Creative Edinburgh mentoring programme.

Andy works with financial services companies, management consultants and charities on their business plans and marketing strategies. He previously held Managing Director and Marketing Director roles at Aegon, Direct Line and Royal Bank of Scotland during a 25-year career in retail financial services. His experience in strategy and innovation, customer experience management and product, channel and brand development includes launching the UK's first internet banking service as well as the first online savings and loan accounts.

Passionate about social justice, Laura has worked closely with the UK and Scottish Governments for over a decade to tackle poverty and exclusion. Before joining Families Outside, she worked for voluntary sector organisations in England, including Citizens Advice and Prison Advice Care Trust. Since moving to Edinburgh in 2015, she has worked with Families Outside to expand the provision of Prison Visitors Centres at Scottish prisons and worked for the Scottish Government's Prison Policy Team, where she led work on mental health and suicide prevention. She loves a good book, good food and social justice, especially when they can be combined.

Morag is a senior finance professional with experience across a broad range of sectors. Following a finance degree at Strathclyde University she qualified as a Chartered Accountant whilst with Ernst & Young. Most recently she has worked with the international healthcare insurer Cigna where she was European Finance Director responsible for developing a strong finance team of over 100 professionals across Europe. She has a passion for supporting education and developing people to help reach their potential. She has also held board positions with the former James Watt College and supported some smaller local charities.

Udita is focused on driving Innovation at the Royal Bank of Scotland. She leads an engineering team who build solutions using emerging tech. She organises and runs innovation events internationally to drive new ways of working and also oversees the RBS BankOfAPI social media handle. Udita is an Indian expat and she holds dual Masters degrees in Electronics Engineering and English Literature. Outside of work, she reviews theatre and books for The Wee Review and has also been published in the Book Week Scotland Treasures anthology. She is passionate about increasing diversity in STEM and getting more people to read. When not at work, she can be found in one of the many second-hand bookshops in Edinburgh.

Sandy has worked in fundraising for educational and cultural organisations. In particular, he was responsible for raising multi-million pound sums to re-develop the National Museum of Scotland and to establish V&A Dundee. He is currently working for IMPACT Scotland on a fundraising campaign to realise plans for a new concert hall for Edinburgh. With a degree in English Literature and Language and an early career in book publishing, he relishes the opportunity to contribute to the further success of Scottish Book Trust. Sandy serves on the Board of educational and conservation charities and has also undertaken fundraising consultancy for a number of charities. He is an enthusiastic cyclist, walker and swimmer in rivers and lochs.

Pippa brings a strong background in fundraising and marketing to the Scottish Book Trust. She has forged a 20-year career as an energetic and resilient fundraiser. Her focus continues to be around organisations that tackle inequalities and the health of women, children and families, for example having worked for the Children Hospice Association Scotland, Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Edinburgh Children Hospital Charity and Women Onto Work. She is also very committed to conservation and the environment.

Having led successful strategic fundraising and marketing campaigns, she has also advised charity boards, and chaired one, to support this area.

Pippa loves to read, of course. She is also a keen, and marginally successful, gardener. She can mostly be found outdoors either on a bike or in a wetsuit in and around East Lothian where she lives with her family. She is a fanatical lover of sausage dogs and owns one, on which she dotes.