Our Trustees

  • Professor Sir David Edward

    PATRON
    Sir David is a Scottish advocate and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1974. He served as Professor of European Institutions at the University of Edinburgh and then for fourteen years as a Judge in the European Court in Luxembourg. He was appointed a Knight of the Order of St Michael and St George in 2004 and sat as a temporary judge of the Court of Session until 2009. He is Professor Emeritus and Chairman of the Europa Institute at the University of Edinburgh, and has been Chairman of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland from 2003 until 2015. He is deeply committed to creating opportunities for young European citizens.

  • Lesley Brown

    CHAIR
    Lesley is Executive Director – Education and Children’s Services for East Lothian Council. She has a primary teaching background and was a Primary Head Teacher in East Ayrshire before becoming an HM Inspector with HMIE. Lesley moved to East Lothian in 2017. She is passionate about languages learning and about the impact it can have on children and young people. She believes strongly in supporting all learners to be global citizens and to continually develop their understanding of the world around them. Lesley is proud to be taking on the role of Chair in 2022 from the late John Mulgrew.

  • James Ivory C.A.

    TREASURER
    James was an investment manager for Ivory and Sime from 1968-1981, when he co-founded Ivory and Co (which became Stewart Ivory & Co). He retired in 2001 and now runs the family farm, concentrating on woodlands. He has and interest both in education and in Europe, and has been the Treasurer of the Trust since 1993.

  • Moira Frizzell

    COMPANY SECRETARY

    Moira recently retired as an Associate Principal from Stevenson College where she had responsibility for Early Education, Health and Social Care Training. She is committed to raising awareness, interest and understanding of European issues with both primary and secondary school pupils and the opportunity for pupils to have student exchange.

  • Dr. Christine Fitton

    VICE-CHAIR

    Before working as Scotland Director for Lifelong Learning UK until 2011, Christine managed Edinburgh’s Lifelong Learning Partnership, a charitable company promoting joint working by the lifelong learning sector to push forward the learning and social inclusion agendas. She now works as a freelance in lifelong learning.
    A qualified teacher, she worked in Scotland’s colleges for 17 years before moving to local government where she ran the education department International Unit. In this role she promoted international education in schools and community learning and development. The Euroquiz was one of the successful joint ventures which she began.

  • John Edward

    TRUSTEE

    John is Head of Operations of the Scottish Council on Global Affairs.
    John was previously Chief Executive of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, Head of the Office of the European Parliament in Edinburgh, and Chief Campaign Spokesman of Scotland Stronger in Europe. Prior to this, John worked in Brussels.
    John sits on the Commission on School Reform and is a board member of the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools.

  • Fhiona Mackay

    TRUSTEE
    Fhiona is Director of Scotland’s National Centre for Languages (SCILT) at the University of Strathclyde. A committed advocate for languages and international co-operation, Fhiona’s role is to lead a team that supports and promotes language learning in Scotland’s schools. As a former languages teacher, Fhiona recognises the importance of developing children and young people’s understanding of what it means to be a global citizen, thus equipping them with the skills to operate and communicate internationally.

  • Iain McTaggart

    TRUSTEE
    Iain is an international and business strategy adviser, having worked until 2016 with SCDI - one of Scotland's leading economic development organisations, as both International Director and General Manager & Company Secretary. He has wide-ranging international experience and has personally managed over 40 trade missions to markets across five continents, including the first Scottish business delegations to a number of EU accession markets in Central & Eastern Europe. His responsibilities have also ranged across corporate governance, HR and project management. Earlier career appointments were with the Department of Trade & Industry and the Design Council based in London. Iain is a French graduate from University of Glasgow, and maintains a keen interest in languages, international affairs and cultures.

  • Ann Robertson

    TRUSTEE
    Ann is a freelance languages education consultant working with local authorities, schools, and universities across Scotland and beyond. Her roles in education have gone from secondary languages teacher and head of department to a Quality Improvement Officer in City of Edinburgh where she led on the development of 1+2 Languages, Gaelic and Mandarin. As a freelancer, Ann has worked on a range of projects including as a lead education researcher in Namibia, developing Japanese learning and teaching resources for the University of Edinburgh and leading on the development of 1+2 Languages in East Lothian Council, Midlothian Council and Scottish Borders. She is passionate about developing learning resources in languages and has developed her own website and YouTube channel, Lingobox Learning where she shares activities, songs and games in different languages. Ann is the former Chair of the Languages Network Group Scotland and is the lead author on the Toolkit for Improvement in Languages Education South-East (TILES) project in partnership with Moray House School of Education. She is hugely passionate about language learning in Scotland and about the impact languages can have on children and young people’s lives and opportunities.

  • Peter Sellar

    TRUSTEE
    Peter is an EU lawyer (Belgian and Scots qualified) and currently works as a partner with a Brussels-based law firm. Before that, Peter led a varied legal career including working in the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, as an advocate at the Scots bar and as Head of Competition and Regulatory in the Insurance division of Lloyds Banking Group. Peter studied Law and German Law at Aberdeen and Regensburg Universities and took a masters in European Law at the College of Europe in Bruges.
    An advocate of all things European, Peter is particularly enthusiastic about our young people keeping their geographic and linguistic horizons as open as possible.

  • David Leng

    TRUSTEE

    David works in the Scottish Government learning directorate and leads the policy unit for the Scottish Attainment Challenge, a programme for all schools and local authorities to promote equity and tackle the poverty related attainment gap.
    David has worked across many levels of the education system starting as a secondary school teacher, a secondary school leader, a local authority officer and head of schools in Aberdeen before moving to be the Director of Education, Children and Young People for Stirling and Clackmannanshire (2013). He joined the learning directorate in 2016.
    He is passionate about helping children and young people develop to be global citizens who will contribute to make our world a fairer, safer, smarter and sustainable place.

  • Lydia Haldane

    TRUSTEE
    Lydia is an Associate Consultant at Odgers Berndtson, a leading global executive search firm. She works within the Schools and Education Practice, appointing senior leaders to a wide range of educational organisations including state-maintained, independent and international schools, as well as educational charities and membership bodies. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a first-class degree in Chinese and spent a year at Peking University as part of her degree. She is a passionate advocate of the life skills and opportunities language and cultural studies afford young people and is delighted to support this at SEET in the capacity of Trustee.

  • Louise Brinkworth

    TRUSTEE
    Louise is the founder and director of the SQA-accredited language teaching network, Speech Bubble Languages. Fascinated by languages from a young age, Louise dedicated her educational career to the study of languages, graduating with a First Class Honours in International Business and Languages from the University of Strathclyde in 2005. Louise lived, studied and worked in both France and Spain before returning to Scotland to gain a Postgraduate Diploma in Secondary Education. Following over a decade of successful teaching in Scottish secondary schools, primaries, nurseries and the private sector, Louise set up her own independent language school franchise. Louise is a passionate advocate for language teaching and learning, and is thrilled to be bringing this experience and enthusiasm to the board at SEET.

  • In memory of John Mulgrew OBE

    SEET CHAIR 2012-2021
    John was highly respected in Education, having started his career as Head Teacher of a Glasgow secondary school and subsequently holding a number of Senior Education directorate roles before being appointed as Director of Education and Social Services in East Ayrshire Council. John became President of the Association of Directors of Education (ADES) in Scotland and participated in many national reviews including Determined to Succeed, Teacher Education in Scotland and Modern Languages Provision in Scottish schools. He chaired the Board of Learning and Teaching Scotland and was a member of the Board of Scottish Opera, Scottish Arts Council, and numerous Scottish Trusts. John was also awarded the OBE for services to education in East Ayrshire.
    During his many years of dedicated service as Chairman of SEET, John worked passionately for and with young people across Scotland participating in projects to encourage international education, skills development, and language learning. SEET staff and Trustees are privileged to have had the pleasure of knowing and working alongside John and will always remember his hard work, wit, and charm. John’s popularity and recognition between colleagues and partners of our charity and beyond are testament to his integrity, fine character, and myriad achievements.