Chair: Kate Guthrie

Kate Guthrie is an independent non-executive director with a portfolio of roles across organisations in the financial services, public and charity sectors. She is a member of the UK Defence Board and Chair of the Defence People Committee.  She is the senior independent director (SID) and Chair of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee at Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, an independent non-executive director of Finova, and trustee and Chair of the Remuneration Committee at Scottish Ballet. She was previously the Chair of Lloyds Banking Group Foundation, Scotland, a member of the Virgin Money Foundation Board, and a trustee of Action for Children (including Chair of Scotland and SID). 

Kate’s executive career spanned financial services, pharmaceuticals, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), and retail. She was formerly Chief People Officer for Virgin Money. Kate also held executive roles at Lloyds Banking Group, Novartis, Diageo and Marks and Spencer.

Hayley Burton
Senior Employment Manager, Carers Scotland

Hayley joined the Carers Scotland team in March 2025 and leads on our employer’s engagement projects whilst also managing the Carer Positive scheme supporting employers to raise awareness, recognise and put supports in place for working carers.

She brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise having previously worked directly with carers, employers, and partners in her roles with local carers centres, third sector interface and national public body.

Louise Guy

Technology Partner Manager, Student Loans Company

Technology Partner Manager at Student Loans Company (SLC) and Co-chair of the SLC Carers Network, CARE, which was established last year.

Louise has extensive experience of caring whist working and of developing carers networks and leading on many initiatives to support carers in previous employment.

She is passionate about growing the carers network within SLC, and having led the campaign to become a Carer Positive organisation, she continues to drive opportunities to improve the company's commitment to and support for carers across the organisation.

Jo Dixon

Senior Business Change Lead, Student Loans Company

Senior Business Change Lead at Student Loans Company (SLC) and member of the SLC Carers Network, CARE, which was established last year.

Jo is a carer for her 14 year old daughter who has profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) Autism and hypermobility. She is deeply passionate about creating and continuing to grow an inclusive environment for carers in the workplace. Jo is also committed advocate for policies and practices that recognize and accommodate the unique challenges faced by carers, ensuring they feel valued and supported.

Ashley McPartlin

Head of Inclusion, Diversity and Wellbeing, Brodies LLP Solicitors

Full biography coming soon.

Kathryn von Stegmann

Senior Content and Development Officer, Carers UK

Kathryn von Stegmann is the Senior Content and Development Officer at Carers UK, where she has spent nearly six years creating and curating content for the Employers for Carers membership platform. She manages the Carer Confident benchmarking scheme, working closely with organisations to help them become more inclusive of carers in the workplace. Kathryn also delivers research in collaboration with employers, exploring how best to support working carers.

Louise MacDonald

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager, The Edrington Group

For over ten years Louise has successfully lead diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) strategies and initiatives in global organisations. In April 2021 she joined international spirits company Edrington in a newly created DE&I Manager role and is now responsible for developing and implementing all aspects of their DE&I strategy. Working with colleagues every day to create a culture that fosters engagement, diversity of thought and a sense of belonging across Edrington.

Prior to Edrington, Louise worked in the oil and gas industry for Wood based in Aberdeen. In addition to her DE&I remit, Louise has held a number of generalist and specialist human resource roles. She is a Chartered Member of the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) and has a postgraduate diploma in Human Resource Management from Robert Gordon University.

Fiona Sinclair

Organisational Development Adviser, Renfrewshire Council

Fiona Sinclair (MCIPD) has dedicated over two decades to the public sector, with a significant portion of her career spent at Renfrewshire Council since 2006. In her capacity as an Organisational Development Adviser, Fiona has consistently prioritised the wellbeing of the council's employees.

Fiona is committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive workplace to raise awareness about unpaid caring responsibilities, helping employees identify as unpaid working carers and ensuring they receive the recognition and support they deserve.

Ian Whyte

People & Organisational Development Workforce Analyst, Renfrewshire Council

Ian Whyte (MCIPD) having spent 25 years in the private sector he joined Renfrewshire Council as a Job Analyst within the People and Organisational Development Team. Over the past five years, his role has evolved to include overseeing the employee benefits and wellbeing offerings.

One of the key areas Ian takes great pride in his involvement with the council's unpaid working carers program. He has been instrumental in increasing the number of employees who identify as unpaid working carers within the organization. Ian's dedication to this cause has helped create a supportive environment that recognizes and supports these employees, ensuring they have access to the necessary resources and assistance.

Tom Arthur MSP

Minister for Employment and Investment

Born in Paisley in 1985, he was first elected to the Scottish Parliament for the seat of Renfrewshire South at the 2016 election, holding the seat in 2021. Mr Arthur was raised in Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, where he was educated at Cross Arthurlie Primary and Barrhead High School. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music then later Master of Music from the University of Glasgow. Before entering politics, he worked as a company director, freelance piano teacher and keyboardist.

He joined the Scottish Government in May 2021, when he was appointed Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth in the Scottish Government. In March 2023, He was re-appointed to his ministerial role as Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance. Most recently, he was appointed Minister for Employment and Investment in February 2024.

Richard Meade

Director of Carers Scotland

Richard has worked on policy issues and research relating to unpaid carers throughout his career. He has extensive experience working in the third sector in senior leadership roles.  

He has worked for a range of organisations including Marie Curie, Barnardo’s Scotland, Fleishman-Hillard, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland and the Home Office. Richard has a degree in History and Politics, a MSc in Policy Studies, and a Master of Public Health from the University of Edinburgh. Richard is a member of the Institute of Leadership.

Jodi Codona
CEO and founder, Empowering People
Providing a carer’s experience

Jodi Codona is the CEO and founder of Empowering People, an organisation dedicated to supporting individuals with extra support needs and hidden disabilities into paid employment and more independent, fulfilling lives. With over 20 years’ experience building and running businesses in the leisure and entertainment sector, Jodi brings a wealth of entrepreneurial insight to her work. Following a significant career break, she made a purposeful shift into the inclusion and employability space—driven by her own experiences as a neurodivergent person and as a parent to a daughter with a disability. Her personal journey fuels her deep commitment to breaking down barriers and creating truly inclusive workplaces that recognise and value every individual’s potential.

Who Should Attend?

This event is for small to large Scottish employers from the public, private and third sectors, including from the following teams:

• Senior Leadership Teams
• Line Managers
• HR Teams
• Occupational Health/Wellbeing Teams
• EDI Teams
• Employability professionals
• Business and employment experts

Benefits of Attending

• Hear from leading employers on how they have developed Carers Leave Policies, and other practical support for carers, including Carers Peer Support Networks, Carers Champions, Flexible Working Models, Carer Identification and Awareness Raising.
  
  
• Learn about the business case for supporting working carers – improving absence management, recruitment and retention, and supporting staff health & wellbeing.
  
  
• Hear first-hand experiences from working carers on the difference that good support has made to them.
  
  
• Find out how becoming a Carer Positive Employer in Scotland can help your organisation build a supportive workplace culture and be in the best position to attract and retain staff.
  
  
• Learn from experts on how supporting carers aligns with wider national and UK aspirations to promote fairer and more inclusive working practices, including Supporting Healthy Aging at Work, the Fair Work Framework and Scottish Business Pledge, Employee Engagement, health and wellbeing.
  
  
• Attend this full-day event in person to network, build relationships and learn from peers.