Louise believes that cross sector collaboration is key to creating the thriving, just and equal society we are all striving to build. Her commitment has been shaped by experiences and relationships made in community settings and national programmes in the public and third sectors across Scotland over the past 25 years. It is this commitment that underpins Louise’s work as the new National Director of the Institute of Directors in Scotland, where she took up the reins in June 2021. The Institute of Directors (IoD) was founded in 1903 and has a Royal Charter to support, represent and set standards for business leaders nationwide. It is a membership organisation for cross-sector leaders – Directors, CEOs, Non-Executive Directors, Board Trustees, Chairs etc – and is the awarding body for the prestigious Chartered Director qualification. Louise was formerly Chief Executive of Young Scot, the multi award-winning youth information and citizenship charity with over 700k members aged 11-26 and she is also the Independent Co-Chair of the First Minister’s Advisory Council on Women and Girls; a Board member of the Scottish Parliament think tank Scotland’s Futures Forum, a Trustee of the 5Rights Foundation and immediate past President of the European Youth Card Association (representing 41 countries and 6m+ young cardholders). In summer 2021 she was announced as the first ever Ambassador for the Scottish Seabird Centre.