Nicola Sturgeon, served as First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party (2014-2023). She also represented the Member of Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Southside. Formerly a graduate of Law from the University of Glasgow, she originally worked as a solicitor. Having already become a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, she was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and served as the SNP’s shadow minister for education, health and justice. Since then, she has held multiple positions within the party serving as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, deputy leader of the party and Deputy First Minister of Scotland before becoming First Minister. She has won several awards including both the title of Scottish Politician of the Year and the Donald Dewar Debater of the Year Award.

Rajesh Rai was introduced into the many different faiths of India including Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, Sufism and Buddhism from a very early age. These faiths have formed a large part of his upbringing. His formal meditation training started in 1997, when he was taught a systematic practice by the Himalayan Institute. In 2001 he was initiated into the tradition of the Himalayan Masters on the banks of the Ganges at the Maha Kumbh Mela and has been a student of the Tradition since this time. He has been practicing Meditation on almost a daily basis since 1997.

He has travelled extensively to deepen his practice and has worked with various traditions including Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism, Sufism and Sikhism. He is a Barrister by profession specialising in Human Rights Law from Chambers in London. He is also a humanitarian and environmentalist where he has worked with and founded organisations around the world whose objectives are the rejuvenation of land, communities and promoting human rights. He helped found the first Indian vegetarian restaurant in Worcestershire with his family (www.mendiveg.com) (of which he is particularly proud), runs Poulstone Court retreat centre (www.poulstone.com) and founded Malvern Bhavan (www.malvernbhavan.com), a centre for Meditation and Enlightened Living.

Mary Kenny has extensive experience as a traditional storyteller with people of all ages and abilities, and is an established member of the Scottish Storytelling Directory. A visual artist and sculptor for 40 years, she has always welcomed opportunities to actively engage with others creatively. From 2017, Mary worked as Community engagement officer at Abbotsford House, home of Sir Walter Scott, before retiring in 2026. Originally from the Midlands, the Borders have been her Home for many, many years.

Geoffrey Baskerville studied Modern History at Merton College, Oxford, before starting a career in arts administration, working largely with émigré Russians pursuing careers in the west. He subsequently turned to freelance writing and journalism and then joined the BBC, where he worked first as a diarist and subsequently as a producer of arts programmes for BBC Scotland, and as a presenter for Radio 3, Radio 4 and the World Service. He has now turned back to writing and editing, and is currently working on a biographical project about Peter Darrell, one of Britain’s most significant post-war choreographers and the founder of The Scottish Ballet.

Lucy Ash is a journalist and broadcaster. She began her radio career as a producer in the BBC Moscow bureau just as the Soviet Union was falling apart. After four years covering the chaotic birth of the New Russia, she returned to the UK and began presenting foreign affairs features and documentaries. Best known for her award winning reports on Radio 4’s Crossing Continents, Lucy has also presented documentary films on BBC2 and BBC World. She is a regular contributor to From Our Own Correspondent. Lucy also sometimes presents Outlook – an interview programme featuring remarkable personal stories – on the BBC World Service. Lucy currently works as a freelance broadcast journalist, reporting on foreign affairs topics including the Ukraine War and human rights.

Misha Glenny is an award-winning journalist, author, broadcaster, and public intellectual. He gained widespread recognition as the BBC’s Central European Correspondent. He is prominently featured across several official publisher and broadcasting platforms.

Glenny is best known for his work on global organised crime, geopolitics, and cybersecurity. His bestselling book McMafia explored the rise of international criminal networks and was later adapted into a major BBC television series. His writing examines the complex relationships between crime, power, and globalisation.

A regular commentator across international media, he has contributed to the BBC, The Guardian, and The New York Times. Through his broadcasting and public speaking, he continues to offer sharp insights into global political and economic trends.

Timothy W. Ryback is a historian, author and co-founder of the Institute of Historical Justice and Reconciliation at Leiden University in the Netherlands. His work focuses on 20th-century European history, particularly the rise of the Nazis and the cultural history of Hitler’s Germany.

Ryback is the author of several acclaimed books exploring the intersection of politics, culture, and memory, including Hitler’s First Victims and Hitler’s Private Library. His research offers a detailed insight into the intellectual and cultural forces that shaped authoritarianism in Europe.

Alongside his writing, he has contributed to major international publications and regularly speaks on issues of history, accountability, and the legacy of totalitarian regimes.

Tim Phillips is a leader in the field of conflict resolution and transitional justice and founder of Beyond Conflict, a global non-profit that has created powerful and innovative frameworks to open pathways for progress in peace negotiations, transitions to democracy, and national reconciliation in the aftermath of conflict and dictatorship in several countries around the world. Under his leadership, Beyond Conflict has catalyzed the field of behavioral science and social conflict and partners with scientists and practitioners to advance new evidence-based strategies to reduce conflict, increase tolerance, and facilitate positive social change in the United States and abroad. Mr. Phillips has advised the United Nations, the U.S. Department of State, and the Council of Europe, and helped launch the Club of Madrid, a forum of 150 former democratic leaders who work to strengthen global democracy and institutions.  Mr. Phillips was educated at Suffolk University, the London School of Economics, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2018.

John Kampfner is a British author, journalist and broadcaster specialising in international affairs, politics and human rights. He has held senior roles at the Financial Times and New Statesman, serving as Editor of the latter from 2000 to 2005.

A former foreign correspondent in Moscow and Berlin, he has reported extensively on global politics. He is the author of several books, including Blair’s Wars and Why the Germans Do It Better.

Kampfner has also worked as a presenter for BBC Radio 4 and the World Service, and regularly appears as a commentator on international issues. He is currently Executive Director at Chatham House and a former Chief Executive of Index on Censorship.

Stephen Gethins is a member of the Scottish National Party and served as Special Adviser to Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond for four years until 2012. Prior to this, Mr. Gethins has worked on democratization and peace building in the former Soviet Union, particularly in the Caucuses and Balkans. He has also served as a Political Advisor with the Committee of the Regions in the European Union, a position in which he worked with local authorities from across Europe. In his work at the Scottish Europa, he helped Scottish organisations gain influence in the EU.

Susanne Baumann is a senior German diplomat, currently acting as the German Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Prior to her ambassadorship, she served as the State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin from 2021 to 2025 and worked as the Federal Government commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control.

ZarifAtToul-AsSamer is a fundraising social enterprise project that aims to help people and communities.  It is an unincorporated charitable organisation that is committed to prevent and relieve poverty through art, heritage and cultural activities as this is its main social, charitable and community-based objective. It is a small ‘not-for-profit’ organisation and has several volunteers, trustees and donors.

This organisation attempts to convert the individual effort of its founder into a group effort via the help of volunteers, trustees, and donors. It has two main aims: the first is to raise awareness of the Palestinian folklore in Scotland; the second is to use this Palestinian folklore as a tool to help relieve poverty, particularly for orphans and needy children. One of the main tools used to help raise money and relieve poverty is the organisation’s dabke folklore dance troupe.

Catherine Maxwell Stuart is the Director of Heritage at Beyond Borders Scotland. She is the 21st Lady of Traquair and lives at Traquair House, where she was born and brought up.

Over the past 30 years, she has been actively involved in tourism, the arts, heritage, and business, both locally and nationally. She has been a board member of Scottish Enterprise Borders, the Broadcasting Council for Scotland, and a non-executive director of Border TV. She also sat on the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Records and Archives and is Chair of the Scottish Borders Area Tourism Partnership.

She founded and chaired the Tweed Valley Tourism Business Improvement District for 10 years and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Tweeddale in 2024.

Margaret Fox has been the archivist at Traquair House since 1991, wading through thousands of documents, gradually building up a picture of life here across the centuries and still making exciting discoveries. Catherine shares her enthusiasm and together they regularly give talks to promote the House and prepare exhibitions to enhance the visitor experience. They have written two books based on their archival research – A Family Life Revealed, 1491-1875 and All for our Rightful King – Traquair’s Jacobite Story, 1688-1842.

Miwa Nagato-Apthorp is a singer-songwriter based in Hawick in the Scottish Borders. Her songwriting draws on folk traditions to explore multicultural understandings of history, climate, gender and home.

She has performed at events including Celtic Connections, Edinburgh Tradfest, and John McCusker’s Southside of the Tracks, and has opened for Eddi Reader.

Miwa was recently Musician in Residence at Alchemy Film & Arts and Connecting Threads, where she developed new work exploring lesser-known histories and perspectives of the Scottish Borders and beyond. Her debut EP, Noren, was released in March 2025, and she was awarded “Best Acoustic” at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards.

Lyse Doucet is a Canadian journalist who is the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent and an occasional Contributing Editor. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen’s University at Kingston and gained a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Toronto. She presents on BBC World Service radio and BBC World News television, also reports for BBC Radio 4 and BBC News in the United Kingdom, including reporting and occasionally presenting for Newsnight. She also makes and presents documentaries.

Samina Ansari, is the head of public and corporate relations at Equality Check, a Norwegian tech- company with the mission to diversify corporate governance globally. She is also the founding director of Avyanna Diplomacy, a platform with the aim to connect social entrepreneurs from the Middle East and Central Asia to Europe for sustainable growth and stability. She has lived and worked in Kabul, Afghanistan (2015-2021), and actively worked on inclusion in the peace process. Ansari has a background in Cyber Security Law from the University of Oslo and Diplomacy from Sciences Po Paris. She is fluent in English, Norwegian and Dari. Since 2014, Ansari has implemented large-scale social impact projects for North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Nations, the European Union, International Trade Center, and Goldman Sachs in the US, Europe, and Central Asia with a focus on human security, economic growth, diversity and inclusion, and human rights. 

Anite Anand is a prominent British journalist, broadcaster, and author. She is known for presenting BBC Radio 4’s Any Answers? During her career, Anita has covered Pakistani elections, tracked India’s most criminals in Portugal and interviewed several high level politicians.

Oscar Guardiola-Rivera is a writer and professor of human rights and political philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. After leading the student movement that initiated a wave of constitutional reform throughout Latin America in the late 1990’s, he continued his studies in the United Kingdom where he obtained an LLM with Distinction at University College London, and a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen. He is the writer of the award-winning What If Latin America Ruled the World? which was listed as one the best non-fiction books of 2010 by The Financial Times. Dr Guardiola-Rivera is also the co-editor of the contemporary art and theory journal Naked Punch: An Engaged Review of Arts & Theory, and has engaged with an extensive range of publications and broadcasters, including Granta, El Espectador, the BBC World Service Nightwaves, and Al-Jazeera to name but a few. He is currently the Deputy Postgraduate Director of the Department of Law at Birkbeck, University of London and is recognized as one of the most representative voices of contemporary Latin American philosophy and literature.

Dr. Kojo Koram is a legal scholar, writer, and activist. He studied at University of Kent and University of London before becoming a Lecturer at the School of Law at the University of Essex (2016-2018) and then a Senior Lecturer in Law at Birkbeck School of Law, University of London (2018-Present). Throughout his career, Dr. Koram has written for numerous publications, including the Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the New Statesman. He has also published a number of journal articles and books, including The War on Drugs and the Global Colour Line (2019) and, most recently, Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire (2022).

Nigel Osborne is an accomplished composer, teacher and aid worker. Mr Osborne’s works have been performed around the world by major orchestras and opera houses, including the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia of London, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Scottish Opera. He has been awarded the Opera Prize of Radio Suisse Romande and Ville de Geneve, the Netherlands Gaudeamus Prize, the Radcliffe Award, the Koussevitzky Award of the Library of Congress, and the Washington and the British Composer Award for Inspiration. Mr Osborne was the Master of Music at Shakespeare’s Globe from 1999 to 2000 and has pioneered methods using music and the creative arts to support children who are victims of conflict. This innovative approach was developed during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992-95), and has since been widely implemented across the Balkan region.

Nicola Sturgeon, served as First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party (2014-2023). She also represented the Member of Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Southside. Formerly a graduate of Law from the University of Glasgow, she originally worked as a solicitor. Having already become a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, she was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and served as the SNP’s shadow minister for education, health and justice. Since then, she has held multiple positions within the party serving as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, deputy leader of the party and Deputy First Minister of Scotland before becoming First Minister. She has won several awards including both the title of Scottish Politician of the Year and the Donald Dewar Debater of the Year Award.

Jenni Fagan is a critically acclaimed, award winning novelist and poet in global translation. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and also a longstanding member of Liberty. Fagan’s memoir Ootlin won the Gordon Burn Prize 2025, it was also long listed for the Women’s Prize. She has won Scottish Author of the Year, Granta Best of Young British Novelist and been on lists for The Sunday Times Short Story Award, Impact Dublin, Desmond Elliott, Encore, BBC International Story Prize, among others.

Author of seven fiction novels, eight poetry collections and currently Directing an adaptation of her own work. The Delusions is a story of unprecedented human connection, described by Irvine Welsh as ‘1984 for the afterlife.’ In 2024 she wrote 200 poems for The Macallan in celebration of their 200th year, this was bound into an exclusive book and Fagan narrated the accompanying films by Pixar.

Jim Naughtie FRSE  is a British radio and news presenter for the BBC. He began his career as a journalist at the Aberdeen Press and Journal before moving to the London offices of The Scotsman. He became its Chief Political Correspondent before working for The Washington Post and The Guardian. Mr Naughtie later moved into radio presenting and has anchored every BBC Radio UK election results programme since 1997, and worked on every US presidential election since 1988. He has been the main presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme and his radio presenting has earned him two Sony Radio Awards: Radio Personality of the Year in 1991 and Voice of the Listener and Viewer Award in 2001. That same year, Mr Naughtie received an honorary doctorate from the University of Sterling and was appointed as its chancellor in 2008. He retired from regular presenting duties in 2016 and is currently the BBC’s Special Correspondent responsible for charting UK constitutional reform, as well as the BBC news’ Book Editor.

Sir Don McCullin is one of the world’s most celebrated photojournalists, renowned for his powerful black and white images documenting war, conflict and humanitarian crises. His work spans decades and includes coverage of Vietnam, Northern Ireland, and the Middle East. Recently awarded the Companion of Honor, McCullin has received numerous awards for his services to photography. 

Rajesh Rai was introduced into the many different faiths of India including Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, Sufism and Buddhism from a very early age. These faiths have formed a large part of his upbringing. His formal meditation training started in 1997, when he was taught a systematic practice by the Himalayan Institute. In 2001 he was initiated into the tradition of the Himalayan Masters on the banks of the Ganges at the Maha Kumbh Mela and has been a student of the Tradition since this time. He has been practicing Meditation on almost a daily basis since 1997.

He has travelled extensively to deepen his practice and has worked with various traditions including Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism, Sufism and Sikhism. He is a Barrister by profession specialising in Human Rights Law from Chambers in London. He is also a humanitarian and environmentalist where he has worked with and founded organisations around the world whose objectives are the rejuvenation of land, communities and promoting human rights. He helped found the first Indian vegetarian restaurant in Worcestershire with his family (www.mendiveg.com) (of which he is particularly proud), runs Poulstone Court retreat centre (www.poulstone.com) and founded Malvern Bhavan (www.malvernbhavan.com), a centre for Meditation and Enlightened Living.

Fi Martynoga is an environmental activist, journalist, museum researcher and a renowned figure in Scottish nature, sustainability, history and food circles.

Events participated in:

A Nature Walk Through Traquair: Submerse yourself in the beautiful Scottish borders landscape and stroll around the scenic Traquair grounds led by Fi Martynoga for a foraging walk. (2024)

Walk and Talk with Fi Martynoga: Experience a taste of the Scottish Borders with Fi Martynoga as she leads a foraging walkaround the grounds of Traquair. (2023)

Foraging Walk: Experience a taste of the Scottish Borders as Fi Martynoga leads a foraging walk around Traquair. (2022)

Foraging Walk: Experience a taste of the Scottish Borders as Fi Martynoga leads a foraging walk around Traquair. (2021)

Woodland Hike with Fi Martynoga: Join Fi Martynoga on a hike from Traquair Houseon the Southern Upland Way, before exploring thenew footpath up to the Satyr Sykes and returningto Traquair House. Please note that this walk involves hills, but is on a sturdy path. (2019)

Foraging Walk with Fiona Martynoga: Take a walk on the wild side as local foraging expert Fi Martynoga leads a walk through the surroundings of Traquair House. (2018)

Foraging Walk with Fiona Martynoga: Take a walk on the wild side as local foraging expert Fi Martynoga leads a walk through the surroundings of Traquair House. (2017)

Taste the Wild with the Foraging Fionas: Join local writer and foraging expert FionaMartynoga and Fiona Bird on a foraging walkaround the grounds of Traquair House. (2016)

A Forager’s Tale: Discover a delicious new side to the Borders ona foraging walk with Fi Houston in the groundsof Traquair House and taste the foraged goodslater in the Festival Café. (2015)

Where the Wild Things Are – A Borders Foraging Walk: Delve into the wild in the surroundings of Traquair House with foraging experts to discover a delicious new side to the borders. (2014)

Walk – Walking Scott’s Border Ballads: At yon castle wa’ join Fiona Houston as she talks to acclaimed modern artist and Harvard Lit Professor Peter Sacks and leads him through true Elfyn-land and beyond to rediscover the Medieval Border Ballads saved, and tinkered with, by Sir Walter Scott. (2013)

Scotland’s Wild Harvests: Local writer and foraging expert Fiona J. Houston discusses a new guide for wild food enthusiasts. (2012)

The Literary Walk: Join local writer Fiona Houston for a literary walk around the hills of Traquair and meet Scottish artists Silvia Woodcock-Clarke, Caroline McNairn, Andrew Brown, and Joseph Maxwell Stuart in situ. (2010)

Jeremy Corbyn, independent MP for Islington North, founder and director of the Peace and Justice Project (PJP), was twice elected leader of the British Labour Party (2015-2020). He has served as Member of the British Parliament for Islington North for 42 years and he was a member of the Council of Europe (2020-2024).

His extensive and lifelong campaigning for peace, justice and human rights has taken him across the world, advocating in senior roles for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Palestinian Solidarity Committee, Stop the War, the UN Human Rights Council in New York (review of the Geneva Convention), nuclear non-proliferation, trade unions, Labour rights, Indigenous rights and many social movements. Corbyn has twice been awarded prizes for promoting peace, including the Seán MacBride Peace Prize for his sustained and powerful political work for disarmament and peace. He founded the People’s Forum after winning the 2024 elections.

Kirsty Lang studied at the University of Bristol, where she earned a degree in Drama and English. After completing her education, she embarked on a career in journalism. Lang’s career in broadcasting took off when she joined the BBC World Service as a producer and reporter, covering various international events and issues. She later became a presenter for the BBC World Service arts and culture program, showcasing her passion for the arts.

Kirsty Lang is best known for her work on BBC Radio 4, where she presented and co-presented several programs. One of her notable contributions was as a co-presenter of “Front Row,” a daily radio arts and culture magazine show that featured interviews with prominent figures from the creative world.

Throughout her career, Lang has interviewed numerous artists, authors, actors, and musicians, providing insights into their work and creative processes. Her in-depth knowledge of the arts and her engaging interviewing style have made her a respected figure in the broadcasting industry.

Events participated in:

‘A Citizen From Nowhere’: Join BBC correspondent Kirsty Lang as she talks to Aminatta Forna OBE on being cosmopolitan as they explore the question of whether we choose or are made to become global souls in an era of mass migration, nationalism and as a response to growing populism across the world. (2024)

The Lesson of Jan Karski: Join Kirsty Lang as she talks to award-winning actor David Strathairn and director Derek Goldman about their internationally celebrated play and film Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski, which tells the true story of the Polish World War II hero and Holocaust witness who risked his life to carry the first reports of the Holocaust to the West. (2023)

William Dalrymple is a Scottish-born bestselling author and historian. While studying at the University of Cambridge, he mirrored – on foot – the route of Marco Polo from Jerusalem to Mongolia and wrote his first book, In Xanadu about the journey. This became a bestseller and in 1990 he won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award. He has written several books about his travels, particularly around India, and his historical works have earned him several notable awards. Among them are the Wolfson Prize, the Scottish Book of the Year prize and three honorary doctorates of letters from the Universities of St Andrews, Lucknow and Aberdeen. His most recent written work The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company (2019) was shortlisted for numerous prizes. He is one of the co-founders and co-directors of the world’s largest writers festival, the annual Jaipur Literature Festival.

Martin Griffiths OBE was the former Deputy Head of the UN Supervisory Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) where he was the lead civilian and responsible for political affairs, human rights and civil affairs, working with Kofi Annan.

He was the Founding Director of Geneva based Humanitarian Dialogue Centre where he specialised in developing dialogue between governments and insurgents, and helped lay the foundations for peace in a range of countries across Asia, Africa and Europe.

Mr. Griffiths has worked with UNICEF in Asia, in the British Diplomatic Service, Save the Children, and as Chief Executive of ActionAid. He rejoined the United Nations (UN) in 1994 as Director of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs (which became OCHA) in Geneva and became the Deputy to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator in New York in 1998. He has also served as UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Great Lakes and UN Regional Coordinator in the Balkans with the rank of UN Assistant Secretary-General.

Frances Guy is the chief executive of Scotland’s International Development Alliance, after a long career in diplomacy and international development. She was born and educated in Scotland, Italy, and Canada before embarking on an international career that has taken her principally to the Horn of Africa and the Arabic speaking world, including Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen. Frances worked for Christian Aid between 2014 – 2017 as head of their Middle East team based in London. Most recently she was gender team leader for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regional office in the Arab states. She was Representative for UN Women in Iraq from May 2012 to December 2014 and before that she had a long career in the British Diplomatic Service during which she served as British Ambassador to Lebanon (2006 -2011) and to Yemen (2001 -2004).

Katherine joined Oxfam Scotland in 2026 and leads on Oxfam’s policy, advocacy and influencing in Scotland. She is Co-Chair of the Scottish International Development Alliance Policy Committee. Prior to that, she was a civil servant at the Scottish Government for nearly a decade working in a range of policy roles to promote equality, children’s rights and human rights. Most recently she was the International Human Rights Policy Lead and led the Scottish Government’s human rights response in conflict affected areas. She holds an LLM in Human Rights from the University of Edinburgh where she specialised in human rights in conflict and peace-building.

Sandy Wood is Head of Collections at the Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture. He is responsible for the management, care of, and access to the RSA’s uniquely formed collection, Recognised as a collection of National Significance to Scotland.

Sandy joined the RSA in 2003 after graduating in Fine Art from Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, later completing a Masters in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester. Starting work at the RSA as a technician, he was appointed Assistant Curator in 2010 and Collections Curator in 2013. His areas of interest include the stories woven between historic and contemporary practice and practitioners, artistic lineage and legacy and the revealing of art through process and artistic voice. Sandy works with many partners across the UK on behalf of the RSA and has presented and advocated widely on Scottish art and architecture.

Recent exhibitions and publications have included James Cumming RSA (1922-1991): Symbols of the Mind, 2015; UnRealised: Architectural Imagination from the RSA Collections, 2016; Ages of Wonder: Scotland’s Art 1540 to Now, RSA and Touring Scotland, 2017-21, Andiamo! Forty Years of the John Kinross Scholarships to Florence, 2021, William Gillies: Modernism and Nation, 2023, and Benno Schotz and A Scots Miscellany, 2024

Barbara Dickson is a multi million selling recording artist. She was born in Scotland, and was scouted by RSO Records when performing in a Beatle’s musical in London’s West End. She sang on the original cast recording of ‘Evita’ the musical by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Weber, and was awarded the ‘Best Actress in a Musical’ award from the Society of West End Theatres for her role in ‘Blood Brothers’. Her ‘All For a Song’ album in 1982 was certified platinum and spent almost a year on the album chart. She was awarded an OBE from Her Majesty the Queen in 2002 for Services to Music and Drama, She has also presented several radio series for BBC Radio Scotland and had major roles on TV. She remains one of Scotland’s biggest-selling female singers of all time.

Humza Yousaf is a Scottish politician who served as the former First Minister of Scotland and the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in March 2023. Yousaf studied Politics at the University of Glasgow and began his political career as an aide to several SNP politicians. In 2011, he was elected the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region. Yousaf has held  several positions at his time in the Scottish Government including Minister for External Affairs and International Development (2012-2014), Minister for Transport and the Islands (2016-2018), Cabinet Secretary for Justice (2018-2021) and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care (2021-2023). His role as former First Minister of Scotland held historical significance as the first Muslim and person of Asian descent to hold office in Scotland.

Clariss Rufaro Masiya is dedicated and well-trained Project Manager, and Gender Equality and Social Inclusion expert who has a working knowledge of Monitoring and Evaluation with a rich mix of over 7 years’ proven success in coordinating positively impacting programs and robust capacity-building initiatives with a passion in enriching marginalized communities and promoting social inclusion. In addition to her development work, Clariss is an accomplished writer, contributing articles and opinion papers on topics related to social vulnerability, community development, environmental issues, and women’s rights. She holds a BSc in Peace and Governance and an MSc in Disaster Management.

Laura Elhayek is currently serving as a Women, Peace, and Security and Humanitarian Action Programme Associate at UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States, where she supports gender-responsive peacebuilding and youth initiatives across conflict-affected contexts. She previously worked with the UN Women Palestine Country Office, contributing to programmes addressing the needs of women in complex humanitarian settings, and has over six years of experience in advocacy, communication, programme coordination, and research within international human rights organisations, including the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies, and ALQST for Human Rights.Laura holds an MA in Human Rights from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom, and a BA in English Language and Literature from Al-Azhar University of Gaza, Palestine. She is originally from Palestine, where she was raised and worked under conditions of prolonged occupation, blockade, and most recently genocide. Laura brings both professional and lived experience to her engagement with issues of conflict, displacement, and mass atrocity. Deeply committed to human rights and philanthropy, she focuses on supporting marginalised communities in conflict zones to realise their rights, reclaim their voices, and lead transformative change. This perspective informs her commitment to inclusive peacebuilding and to advancing the rights and agency of women and girls in crisis and post-conflict environments.

Catalina Gil Pinzon is an accomplished project leader and program manager with over 15 years of experience in peacebuilding and security fields. Her work spans various areas, including drug and security policies, police reform, youth violence prevention, innovative memory processes with victims of conflict, and disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of ex-combatants (DDR). Her work emphasizes exploring new narratives and incorporating gender perspectives as a way of driving change towards diversity and inclusion in these sectors. She has collaborated and been part of teams within the Colombian government, international foundations, civil society organizations, and multilateral organizations. Operationally, she excels in managing complex, multi-project portfolios, aligning diverse agendas, and using strategic thinking and creativity to achieveimpactful outcomes. Additionally, she independently leads and promotes initiatives focused on transforming how we understand and approach security through three key areas: the relationship between democracy and security, narrative change, and women’s leadership in the security field. She regularly contributes opinion articles on drug policy, security and gender to various national and international media outlets. She writes frequently for El País and have also been published in El Espectador, Washington Post en Español, and Agenda Pública.

Participant in: October 2024 Fellowship: Peacebuilding and Women’s Meaningful Participation in Peacebuilding Processes

Jim Naughtie FRSE  is a British radio and news presenter for the BBC. He began his career as a journalist at the Aberdeen Press and Journal before moving to the London offices of The Scotsman. He became its Chief Political Correspondent before working for The Washington Post and The Guardian. Mr Naughtie later moved into radio presenting and has anchored every BBC Radio UK election results programme since 1997, and worked on every US presidential election since 1988. He has been the main presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme and his radio presenting has earned him two Sony Radio Awards: Radio Personality of the Year in 1991 and Voice of the Listener and Viewer Award in 2001. That same year, Mr Naughtie received an honorary doctorate from the University of Sterling and was appointed as its chancellor in 2008. He retired from regular presenting duties in 2016 and is currently the BBC’s Special Correspondent responsible for charting UK constitutional reform, as well as the BBC news’ Book Editor.

Nigel Osborne is an accomplished composer, teacher and aid worker. Mr Osborne’s works have been performed around the world by major orchestras and opera houses, including the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia of London, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Scottish Opera. He has been awarded the Opera Prize of Radio Suisse Romande and Ville de Geneve, the Netherlands Gaudeamus Prize, the Radcliffe Award, the Koussevitzky Award of the Library of Congress, and the Washington and the British Composer Award for Inspiration. Mr Osborne was the Master of Music at Shakespeare’s Globe from 1999 to 2000 and has pioneered methods using music and the creative arts to support children who are victims of conflict. This innovative approach was developed during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992-95), and has since been widely implemented across the Balkan region.

Allan Little is an award-winning Scottish journalist and presenter who has reported from more than 80 countries including a variety of war zones, revolutions and natural disasters. After graduating from the University of Edinburgh, Mr Little joined BBC Scotland as a news and current affairs researcher before moving to London to train as a radio reporter. He specialised in foreign reporting for BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, including accounts from the revolutions of 1989 across Eastern Europe. He then worked as a reporter for BBC News, reporting from hostile environments such as the 1991 Gulf War, Kuwait, former Yugoslavia, South Africa, Rwanda and Zaire. Mr Little also worked as the BBC Moscow correspondent and reported on the 1995 Afghanistan earthquakes before becoming the BBC’s Africa and later, Paris correspondent. He has won several awards, including three Gold Sony Radio Academy Awards for Reporter of the Year, the Bayeux War Correspondent of the Year, and in 2012 he won both the Thomas Reuters prize for Reporting Europe for his Radio 4 documentary, Europe’s Choice and the Charles Wheeler Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcast Journalism. Mr Little left the BBC in 2014 and today chairs the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Eldridge Adolfo is a Senior Advisor for Dialogue and Mediation at the Folke Bernadotte Academy in Stockholm. He has worked as an advisor to senior envoys, SRSGs, EURS and diplomats as a Mediation Advisor at the European External Action Service (EEAS), as well as the United Nations. He has extensive experience in mediation and negotiating with armed conflict parties and process design in various countries including Ukraine, Georgia, Sudan, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Colombia, Venezuela, Georgia, Myanmar, Western Balkans and Afghanistan. Adolfo is currently working on Ukraine and as Presidential Adviser on Social Cohesion. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Stockholm University.

Janine Di Giovanni is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished foreign correspondents of her generation. She is the Executive Director and CEO of the Reckoning Project, a transactional war crimes documentation initiative. 

Over a career spanning more than three decades, di Giovanni has reported from nearly every major conflict zone of our time: the siege of Sarajevo and conflicts throughout Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, South Sudan, Yemen, and Ukraine. 

Previously, she was the Senior Foreign Correspondent for the Times of London and from 2013-2018, served as Middle East Editor at Newsweek. 

She is the author of eight novels and her work has garnered widespread critical acclaim. The Daily Telegraph called her the “finest foreign correspondent of our generation”. 

Through the Reckoning Project, she helped pioneer a model for documenting war crimes that is rooted in both trauma-informed interviewing and international legal standards. Her work directly supports prosecutions by Ukrainian courts and international mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court. She has advised the United Nations, Nato, and the European Union on issues related to conflict and transitional justice, and has played a vital role in elevating the importance of survivor testimony.

Znak provided legal support for presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka who was jailed in June 2020 during the Lukashenko 26-year presidency of Belarus, prior to the 2020 Belarusian presidential election Babaryka had intended to contest the 2020 Belarus election before being rejected by election officials.

Derek Goldman, is Artistic and Executive Director and co-Founder of the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University in Washington DC, with the mission to harness the power of performance to humanise global politics.  He is Chair of Georgetown University’s Department of Performing Arts and Director of the Theater & Performance Studies Program as well as Professor of Culture, Politics & Global Performance in GU’s School of Foreign Service.  He is an award-winning stage director, playwright/adapter, scholar, producer, and developer of new work, whose work has been seen throughout the US, off-Broadway, and internationally at leading venues such as Shakespeare Theater Company, Steppenwolf, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Baltimore CenterStage, Folger, Ford’s Theater, Chicago Shakespeare, and many others. He co-wrote and directed the award-winning play Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski starring Oscar-Nominated actor David Strathairn as the Polish Holocaust witness. The play is touring internationally to leading venues and will premiere Off-Broadway in New York in the Fall. The film version of Remember This is also premiering at leading festivals this summer.  Goldman is the author of more than 30 professionally produced plays and adaptations, including work published by Samuel French, and he has directed over 100 productions. His engagement with global performance in recent years has taken his work to Sudan, Cambodia, Bangladesh, China, Poland, South Africa, Australia, Peru, Japan, Bulgaria, Armenia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, France, and throughout the UK, among other places. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Theatre Communications Group (TCG); Vice-President of UNESCO’s International Theatre Institute, and Founding Director of the Global Network of Higher Education in the Performing Arts. He holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and he received the President’s Award for Distinguished Scholar-Teachers at Georgetown and the Provost’s Award for Innovation in Teaching for his work as creator of In Your Shoes, an internationally recognised groundbreaking model for using performance to counter polarisation and to engage challenging conversations across difference through theatrical techniques and deep, respectful listening.

Events particpated in: 

Meet the Fellows: Let Director of Global Performance at Georgetown University, Derek Goldman introduce you to some of the Beyond Borders 1325 Women in Conflict Fellows through his mesmerizing ‘In Your Shoes’ methodology. (2024)

The Lesson of Jan Karski: Join Kirsty Lang as she talks to award-winning actor David Strathairn and director Derek Goldman about their internationally celebrated play and film Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski,which tells the true story of the Polish World War II hero and Holocaust witness who risked his life to carry the first reports of the Holocaust to the West. (2023)

In Your Shoes: Meet Derek Goldman as he discusses In Your Shoes, an inspiring, award-winning project he created and directs for The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University (2022)

 In Conversation with Raja Shehadeh, Sarah Helm, and Derek Goldman: Join Sarah Helmas she discusses Raja Shehadeh’s new book on Palestine and the power of narrative with Derek Goldman from Georgetown University. (2022)

Irina Kruzhilina is an award-winning theater maker whose roles include director, scenographer, experience designer, playwright, professor, and artistic director. Raised in Moscow in an intercultural household with a Ukrainian mother and Georgian father, Ms. Kruzhilina creates work that grapples with social issues, exploring identity, displacement, and belonging. Since 2000, Irina has created over two dozen performances spanning interdisciplinary theatre, large-scale parades, opera, and site-responsive installations. Her work has been shown, locally and globally, at Times Square, Tokyo Disney, BAM, Prague National Theatre, the NY Philharmonic, the XXI Commonwealth Games, Barbican Center, and others.

Currently, Irina’s work centers on two primary forms: site-specific performances and socially engaged projects with community members to address important issues like immigration, polarization, conflict, and peacebuilding.

Relentless in her ambition and risk-taking, Irina pushes the boundaries of theatre to create work that is both artistically daring and socially urgent. In 2024, Ms. Kruzhilina launched SpaceBridge, a workshop program and performance uniting 19 refugee and American children— most of whom had never been on stage. Leading a team of 60 collaborators, I transformed their stories into a fully realized Off-Broadway production. After being named a critics’ pick at the 2025 Under The Radar Festival, Irina is now expanding its workshop curriculum to develop new SpaceBridge performances with local and refugee youth in the U.S. and globally.

Irina is the founder of Visual Echo, a New York-based performance organization fostering generative dialogues among people from diverse backgrounds who rarely intersect.