Executive Staff
Ross Martin, Policy Director
Ross has been with the CSPP since August 2004, firstly as the interim Chief Executive and now in the newly created post of Policy Director. Prior to joining the CSPP, Ross was Director of the Scottish Forum for Modern Government based at the Robert Gordon University for 5 years.
Ross was a senior councillor during the 1990's, serving as the Convener of the Lothian & Borders Police Board for 5 years and then as West Lothian Council's Education Convener until 1999. He also stood in the first SP election before establishing the think tank at RGU.
Ross is a physics/maths teacher by profession but now mainly concentrates on policy development, with a particular focus on Public Service Reform, Town Centres and City Regions.
Linkedin profile @PolicyWonker
Elaine Bone, Events and Operations Manager
Elaine has an established career history in event management and set up her own firm, Brightstar, in 2000. With a team of associates, she has provided operations and event management support for CSPP since 2006.
Elaine performs a similar role in The Economic Development Association Scotland (EDAS) and Business Improvement Districts Scotland (BIDS). She will be central to taking forward Scotland’s Towns Partnership, an initiative that was borne out of the CSPP’s Towns Policy Group and will serve to provide a unified voice for Scotland’s towns.
Through these connections, Elaine has developed good working relationships with key public, private and voluntary organisations Scotland-wide and if she doesn’t know someone, she’ll know someone who does.
Barry McCulloch, Policy Manager
Barry has been working with the CSPP since April 2008. He first joined as an intern with a specific interest in energy and environment issues and has subsequently gone on to hold a number of policy positions including policy officer. Currently, he manages the CSPP’s policy programmes and communication efforts. His specific interests include: democratic renewal, public sector change, foreign policy, social media, sustainable cities and climate change.
Barry continues to have a strong interest in graduate employability having played an instrumental role in the creation of the successful Adopt an Intern programme. Embedding work-related learning in vocational courses remains a key goal for him.
Barry is an independent Policy Consultant who also works for the Economic Development Association for Scotland (EDAS). He holds an MSc in International Politics from the University of Glasgow.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it @CSPPScotland Linkedin profile
Joy Lewis, Intern Programme Manager
Joy joined the CSPP in January 2009 and set up the Adopt an Intern Programme a year later. Having watched the Programme go from strength to strength, she is determined to see it flourish further with future funding and support. Joy also gets involved with other CSPP policy programmes as, having served for 20 years in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, she still enjoys fine tuning her diplomatic skills. She has lived and worked in Brazil, Argentina and Germany.
Joy also worked for many years in retail where she recruited, trained and mentored sales managers, culminating in a successful business in Germany.
Sascha Strupp, Project Officer
Sascha first joined the CSPP as an intern in 2009 and subsequently took up work at the Centre on a permanent basis as a Policy Officer. He supports the Intern Programme Manager in the development of the successful Adopt an Intern programme and lends assistance in other areas of the Centre’s work. Sascha is passionate about fair access to internships for recent graduates based on merit not background and would like to see the proliferation of paid internships as the general rule not exceptions.
Sascha holds a degree in Politics and Central and East European Studies from the University of Glasgow and recently completed an LL.M. in International Law at the University of Bristol.
Linkedin profile @AdoptanIntern
Yvonne Prager, Finance and Administration Manager
Yvonne is a self-employed administrator offering a wide range of services including financial, diary, event and association management, venue finding and general admin services. An experienced bookkeeper who has extensive knowledge of Sage, Microsoft Office and databases such as Amlink and Access, she joined the CSPP in 2009.
Previously, Yvonne has been Office Manager for a Professional Conference Organiser responsible for the financial management of a diverse range of seminars, conferences and events held throughout the UK and attracting from 50 – 6000 delegates. And was a PA at the University of Strathclyde and with British Steel Corporation.
Jacqueline Cassidy, Fringe Programme Manager
Chuck Dalldorf, Policy Associate (United States)
Chuck Dalldorf is an independent government and public affairs consultant in Sacramento, California. He is also a policy consultant with the Centre for Scottish Public Policy, part-time lecturer at Sacramento State University in the Government Department and serves on the practitioner panel for the international academic journal, Interest Groups and Advocacy.
Chuck has extensive experience in government at the federal, state and city levels and he served as Chief of Staff to three former Sacramento Mayors. He has been a staff member to a former Member of Congress from California; former California State Senator and former California State Assembly Speaker. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Chautauqua Playhouse and the Sacramento Zoo.
Kirstin MacLeod, Policy Intern
Kirstin joined CSPP in January 2012 as a policy intern. Her initial focus will be assisting in building an evidence base for the development of cities strategy policy, as well as working with the CSPP team in the run up to the Local Government Elections in May. She is passionate about widening the debate in order to achieve long-term sustainable solutions for the future of public services during a period of widespread public sector cuts.
Kirstin is also employed as a part time Political Researcher by parliamentary monitoring company, Newsdirect, for whom she previously worked as an intern, a post obtained through the Adopt an Intern programme. She holds an MSc in Political Communication from the University of Glasgow, which continues to be an area of strong interest to her.
