Two of Scotland’s emerging policy leaders are joining 50 of their peers from around the world to meet with prominent UK leaders, parliamentarians and academics as part of the British Council’s Future Leaders Connect programme.
Eloise Nutbrown, a Policy Manager at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and Lucy Carmichael, a team leader in social security policy at the Scottish Government will take part in the nine-day programme which includes advanced policy and leadership training with the Møller Institute at the University of Cambridge, and visits to the UK Houses of Parliament and No.10 Downing Street.
Now into its second year, Future Leaders Connect is an annual event, taking place in October, which enables some of the world’s brightest 18- to 35-year-olds to sharpen their leadership and policy making skills. This year’s winners were selected from 16,000 applications worldwide on the basis of their vision for improving their country through policy, and their potential to be senior leaders in the future. The delegates from Scotland will be joined by peers from Canada, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tunisia, the USA and the UK.
The Elders
While in London they will take part in an evening of debate and conversation with The Elders, an independent group of world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, working together for peace, justice and human rights. Members include Ricardo Lagos, President of Chile (2000-2006); Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway; and Mary Robinson, President of Ireland (1990-1997) and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The event will be live-streamed on the British Council's Facebook page on Monday 29 October 2018 from 18:00hrs. Audiences are invited to take part by joining a global conversation on how far Human Rights have progressed in the 70 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Scottish delegate biographies
Lucy Carmichael leads a team in social security policy in the Scottish Government. She has extensive experience of developing and influencing public policy in a range of areas, including crofting (small scale farms) policy and working in cabinet secretariat during the 2014 Scottish referendum. She is passionate about co-designing policies and services with the people who will be affected by them and whose voices are often unheard. Lucy was recently awarded an MBA with distinction from Edinburgh Business School, which has developed her skills in business, finance and strategic planning. Lucy’s vision for global change is improved support for rural communities, embedding consideration of rural issues into decision-making in order to build more sustainable rural communities.
Eloise Nutbrown is a Policy Manager at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) where she leads work to reduce migrant destitution and to improve the lives of Scotland’s Gypsy/Traveller communities. Prior to joining COSLA she worked at Save the Children for seven years on policy, advocacy and campaigns initiatives to tackle child poverty. Her work has enabled children and families to participate in national decision-making and has helped to secure lasting changes in Scottish policy. Beyond her role, she also supports a national charity to strengthen its impact for disadvantaged children and young people, by increasing access to out of school learning. Eloise studied at the University of Edinburgh and holds an MA in English Literature and an MSc in Childhood Studies, focusing on children’s rights within law, policy and practice.
Future Leaders Connect 2019
Applications for the next Future Leaders Connect programme will open in March 2019.