Our board

Prof. Jeremy Bagg

Chair

Jeremy Bagg’s background is in academic dentistry. He was Head of the University of Glasgow Dental School from 2005-2021. Since 2017 he has been the Scottish Lead for the MalDent Project, a partnership between Kamuzu University of Health Sciences and the University of Glasgow, funded by Scottish Government. The project has established Malawi’s first Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree programme, and the country’s first home-trained dentists are expected to graduate in early 2025. The MalDent Project, through collaboration with the Malawi Government Ministry of Health & Population, has also developed a National Oral Health Policy which was launched in April 2022. Ongoing work is focused on sustainability of the BDS programme and implementation of the National Oral Health Policy.

Sharon Brown

Sharon's passion for strengthening partnerships with Malawi was ignited in 2023 as a volunteer planning and delivering training with Malawi’s educators on effective learning and teaching. This was a privilege to be part of a longer-term solution for sustainability and respectful solidarity to drive forward education standards. The experience extended her understanding of the charity sector and the Nolan Principles in relentlessly aiming for the best outcomes with a ‘can-do’ attitude which lifts others facing desperate circumstances.

Sharon is a former senior psychologist who demonstrated strong inclusive communication, complex case-work, safeguarding and consultation to provide research-informed guidance with credibility and impartiality. Sharon's ability to work compassionately to build individual capacity and discover individual strengths means that her practice comes from a place of personal compassion, dignity and mutual respect for all served by the SMP.

Bosco Chinkonda

Bosco is a Malawian Social Scientist with professional experience in both the academy and NGO sector. His experience revolves around creative and participatory practice in health research, ethical partnerships, community engagement, and resource mobilisation.

Bosco is currently a PhD Student at the University of Glasgow, working between Malawi and Scotland under a One Health project being responsible for facilitating collaboration and partnerships of the civil society, the community, and various government sectors in Malawi for the control of zoonotic diseases. This experience speaks to his capacity to support the board in areas of government engagement, community engagement, NGO activity, and agriculture and health links.

Bosco serves as the Grants and Partnerships Manager for the multidisciplinary Sustainable Futures Global Network- Malawi Hub, nurturing ethical partnerships and grants management. He also serves as a youth country co-lead for the UN-FAO World Food Forum Malawi Chapter, facilitating the meaningful involvement of young farmers in Malawi’s food systems and negotiating global partnerships.

Susan Dalgety

Senior Vice Chair

Before visiting Malawi for the first time in 2005, Susan’s professional career was either in politics or journalism, sometimes both.

For the last 15 years, Malawi has been the main focus of her work, and she has visited at least once a year, for work and increasingly to spend time with friends.

She worked on the first bi-lateral agreement between our two governments, and from 2007 has been a freelance governance adviser, working with Scottish NGO the Active Learning Centre and its Malawi partner, the Women’ Legal Resources Centre (WOLREC).

In recent years Susan has worked with councillors in Malawi on two capacity building programmes, sharing her insights gained as a councillor in Edinburgh for seven years.

In 2019 she and her husband lived in Malawi for six months, researching a book, The Spirit of Malawi, which will be published in February 2021. She also filed a weekly column Letter from Malawi for the Scotsman. She still writes for the Scotsman every Saturday, on a range of topics.

Susan previously served as a board director for the Scotland Malawi Partnership for several years, and is a trustee of 500 miles and the McConnell International Foundation.

Edward Duncan

Edward is Professor of Applied Health Research and Associate Dean of Research for the Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, University of Stirling, UK. His current research, focuses on intervention development and theory-led evaluation of mental health, pre-hospital emergency care, allied health & related global health interventions and systems.

Edward’s family connection with Malawi stretches back to the early 1960’s when his mother worked in Zomba, before she was married. Consequently, he grew up hearing stories of Malawi, its people, culture and environment. In 2016 Edward and his family visited Malawi for the first time with his parents, which commenced his personal connection with Malawi.

Recognising the potential for collaboration and partnership working with academics and public sector colleagues working in similar research areas to himself in Malawi, in 2016 Edward formed the Safe Roads Africa research collaborative (www.saferoadsafrica.com), which has since gained research funds from the Medical Research Council to improve the prevention of and response to road traffic collisions in Malawi and beyond.

John Fanning

Treasurer

John is a Chartered Accountant who has held senior finance and commercial leadership positions in a range of public and third sector/charity organisations here in Scotland and more widely across the UK.

John’s connection to Malawi dates back to 2011/12 when he had two spells totalling around four months working with a micro-finance charity in Malawi. His main work during this time was to help the organisation upgrade the finance systems and processes used to manage its loan portfolio.

John joined the SMP’s Audit & Finance Committee in 2012. He has been a trustee of a Scottish charity working in the social care sector since 2016.

Blessings Kachale

Blessings is a PhD student at Queen Margaret University studying International Health and Development, with a particular focus on elderly carers of orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi. Blessings has been a Board member with four SMP members (Global Concerns Trust, Tearfund, StekaSkills and MIND), she has a wealth of knowledge about Malawi, the sector and Charitable Governance.

Barry Klaassen

Barry has decades of experience working with Malawians in clinical settings, especially in the area of Emergency Medicine for which his team has received many awards and as advisor to the British Red Cross.

Yonah Matemba

Co-Vice Chair

Yonah is a co-founder of the Association of Malawians in Scotland and was an SMP Board member a decade ago. He is currently Chair of the SMP Higher & further Education Forum and his current work concentrates on decolonial and anti-racist approaches in education.

Tracy Morse

Tracy Morse has lived and worked in Malawi in public health research and higher education for the last 20 years, recently returning to Scotland with her family to a new role within the University of Strathclyde as Head of the Centre for Sustainable Development. Within both her professional and personal life she is still very much engaged with Malawi through both her academic work, and engagement with organisations such as FROM Scotland and Open Arms Malawi. Tracy is passionate about ensuring that we effectively support Malawi's development through the priorities of her citizens to help the most vulnerable and marginalised in society. Tracy's work has involved not only research which has provided evidence for Malawian policies and strategies, but she has also been a trusted voice with colleagues and the Government of Malawi in the development of strategies and training programmes at a national level. She is a strong believer in community led development models, which aim to understand and focus on the context and priorities of the population rather than donor imposed priorities using interdisciplinary approaches.

Rachel Phillips

Rachel Phillips was born in Lilongwe Central Hospital in 1984 to Irish and Scottish parents who lived in Malawi from the 1960s to the 1990s. Rachel left Malawi when she was 11 but, like many displaced diaspora, became passionate about her original home and has travelled back 11 times.

Rachel's continued interest in Malawi, sub-Saharan Africa and politics, led her to take a couple of years out from medical training in Edinburgh, and between her second and third years she undertook an intercalated BSc at University College London where she was awarded First Class Honours in International Health.

Later on, before her final year, she spent a year in South Africa volunteering for Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) – the largest NGO in South Africa that campaigned for a national roll-out of anti-retroviral medication in the public sector during a period of governmental AIDS denialism.

She is now a GP in Edinburgh with an interest in medical education and postgraduate training in primary care.

Sally Rae

Sally Rae first fell in love with Malawi in 2011 when Linda MacDonald (MUMS) encouraged her to consider Malawi as a venue for the GWC annual school trip. After two weeks’ visiting various MUM’s feeding stations, 500 Miles Clinic and a range of accommodation. Sally has since organised eight trips, each growing in popularity - now taking 44 pupils.

Sally spent an extended sabbatical with Open Arms in 2013 and since then has organised trips for adults who have been inspired to learn more about GWC's activities in Malawi.

Kevin Simpson

Kevin has great experience in charity leadership and governance. He founded Malawi Fruits in 2015 and is currently its CEO.

Judith Turbyne

Judith has spent the majority of their professional life working for, volunteering for or studying the charity and voluntary sectors and are driven by a passion for social justice. Judith initially volunteered in community development in Guatemala which started their journey working in international development and solidarity. This led them to working for Christian Aid in Latin America and the Caribbean before working as the CEO of Progressio Ireland (international development organisation).

Judith moved back to Scotland to be closer to family and spent eight years working as Head of Engagement with the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) in which time they lead the Regulator’s work on Safeguarding, out of which came a new piece of guidance for the sector. They then went on to become CEO of Children in Scotland.

Judith has a PhD which explored empowerment in development and is currently Chair of the Corra Foundation.

John Wyllie

Co-Vice Chair

John has worked on the protection of vulnerable groups over the last 30+ years. As a police officer he has worked extensively on training and capacity building internationally across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

As Head of International Development and Innovation he led Police Scotland’s Africa program, with significant emphasis on Malawi, where he has worked with the Malawi Police, Social Services and Health Services, Scottish Government, UK Government, the EU and UN Women, as well as a huge variety of NGO’s on projects designed to protect the most vulnerable.

Since 2013 John has also been involved in significant international projects with 5Rights Foundation in protecting children and young people on line including international standards https://engagestandards.ieee.org/Childrens-tech-design-governance.html , with Arabian Child designing and delivering practical and effective training as well as with UNICEF in Bhutan.

John is currently Head of Safeguarding for the Scottish Episcopal Church and has worked with the SMP Safeguarding Committee since 2020.