People
Trustees
The SWAN Board of Trustees is responsible for ensuring that the Charity is well-managed in line with our vision, mission and values, maintains a clear focus on our strategic objectives, and abides by its charitable objectives.
As an Autistic-led Charity, it's written in our rules that the majority of SWAN Trustees must be autistic - something we're very proud of.
We’re just as proud of the (minority) neurotypical Trustees who form part of our Board - for neurodiversity in our thinking, a range of skills, and as valued allies.
Gail Mohamed
Chair
(she/her)
Gail is a Chartered Accountant with an international career in financial services, economic development and renewable energy. She is a champion for her employer’s charity Foundation and Co-chaired the creation of its first Neurodiversity employee network group.
She is an enthusiastic pencil artist, knitter, baker and cook, with interests in the maths and physics of climate, weather, geology, music and human geometry.
She is proud to be a Trustee of SWAN and, as a late diagnosed autistic woman, is honoured to play a part in SWAN’s autistic led support of existing and future generations of autistic people in Scotland.
Emma Pollard
Treasurer
(she/her)
Emma has 5 years’ experience as a money adviser for 3rd sector and Local Authority advice services, and she has previously advised the board of a Scottish charity on their accounts. She is working towards her AAT Accounting qualification.
She loves music, computer games, and exploring the countryside with her family and dogs.
Emma wants to help create a world in which autism is understood, and autistic people are valued and supported as standard.
Tanya Milligan
Trustee
(she/her)
Tanya is a professional librarian working part time in public libraries as a Project Lead – obtaining funding, creating and managing projects, as well as working on social media and marketing. She also works for a charity as an Associate Trainer, training employers on how to be autism friendly. Tanya has two autistic children and recently received her own autism diagnosis at the age of 49.
Tanya loves knitting, reading and cuddling with her two dogs
When Tanya’s eldest child was diagnosed, she found SWAN very helpful. When she began to wonder if she might be autistic Tanya found a great deal of support through SWAN webinars. SWAN has supported Tanya all the way through her autism journey and she is keen to give something back by being a Trustee.
Dr Sabina Strachan
Trustee
(she/her)
Sabina is the founder of how2glu ltd. which supports collaboration between individuals and organisations through consulting, training, facilitation, organisational development, bespoke resources and digital tools. She champions diversity as an essential, not optional, part of effective collaboration and is an experienced board member and charity advisor.
Sabina is into interior design and loves a bit of colour, is an avid follower of a few foreign-language dramas, and (when she remembers!) takes a sketchbook on holiday.
Sabina is grateful to be a SWAN ally and support the great work SWAN does.
Staff
As an autistic-led Charity all of SWAN’s staff are autistic, bringing their lived experience to their roles, in addition to their professional knowledge and skills.
Lyndsay Macadam
CEO
(they/she)
My role is to lead the development of SWAN’s work, raising our profile and maximising our reach. I oversee SWAN’s operational and financial development and translate our strategy into action, manage our incredible staff team and work closely with our Trustees. Key to my role is ensuring that we listen to and involve the autistic women, girls and non-binary people who come to SWAN, and their feedback has a meaningful impact on the organisation.
I am proud to be the CEO of the only Charity run by and for autistic women and girls in Scotland.
Becky Choat
Projects Lead
(she/her)
My role at SWAN is split between two main areas of work. Within my role I am so privileged to work directly with autistic women and girls, supporting them to develop their own understanding and confidence in their autistic identity, improve wellbeing and reduce isolation through connection and community. This is offered through groups, webinars, resources and 1-1 sessions. Alongside this I lead on SWAN’s bespoke training and consultancy work. Informed by the lived experience of our SWAN community, this work is aimed at raising understanding, dispelling myths and improving service provision and opportunities for autistic individuals.
Mandy Williams
Volunteer Coordinator
(they/she)
My role at SWAN is to recruit, train and support a team of amazing volunteers who are integral to the work we do at SWAN. Our volunteers, who are all autistic, play many key roles including facilitating Meet Ups across Scotland and providing digital support. My main goal is to make sure every volunteer has everything they need to both enjoy and get the most out of their volunteering experience, whilst providing opportunities to develop and learn new skills for future volunteer roles and employment.