Meet the Board
Lauren Ellison, Board Member and Treasurer:
Lauren was born and raised in Ulverston, a small town which lies just outside the Lake District. She is currently in her fourth year at the University of St Andrews studying mathematics and plans to study medicine after graduating.
Lauren joined the LGBT Network in March 2009 and will be their representative for the Edinburgh LGBT Network. She is the Liaisons Officer for the University of St Andrews LGBT Society. LGBT issues she is particularly interested in include the problems people face when coming out and the way LGBT issues are treated within
the classroom.
Lauren is a keen cricketer and is currently the secretary and first team wicket keeper for the university women’s team.
Nick Henderson, Director:
Nick Henderson was the former LGBT Spokesperson and Policy Co-ordinator for the Scottish Socialist Party, before co-founding the LGBT Network in 2008. Since then he has held the position of director, and runs the Network and its campaigns on a day to day basis. He also co-founded and ran the award winning, international youth led organisation Youth End Poverty, which operates in Dundee and Cape Town, South Africa. Nick was a panellist at the 2008 World Economic Forum in Davos, where he spoke to world leaders on issues that affect LGBT and HIV+ young people. He was also a delegate to the 2008 World Youth Congress and the 2008 World Economic Forum on Africa. He was a member of Scotland’s Youth Commission on Alcohol, investigating policy changes to improve Scotland’s relationship with drinking. He is chair of the Judging Panel for the 2010 Young Scot of the Year Awards, and was previously runner up in the 2007 Youth Link Peer Educator of the Year Awards, runner up in the 2007 Institute of Contemporary Scotland Young Scot of the Year Awards, and winner of the 2008 Young Scot of the Year Award for Democracy and Citizenship.
In 2009 Nick was named runner up Young Thinker of the Year by the Institute of Contemporary Scotland, and competed in the UK final, presenting a paper on same-sex marriage in Britain.
In 2010 Nick will graduate from the University of Dundee with a MA (Hons) in American Studies and International Relations, completing a dissertation on same-sex marriage under the federal constitution of the United States.
Nick is a reform Jew and previously was a Sunday School teacher at Glasgow New Synagogue. His favourite food is cheesy Jalapeno peppers and loves watching Desperate Housewives.
Rob McDowall, Chairperson:
Before co-founding the LGBT Network in 2008, Rob McDowall co-founded and ran the online community, Health Thru Understanding, for people living with depression and anxiety, which attracted members from countries across the world. Rob has a strong interest in Disability and Mental Health in general, and was diagnosed with M.E (CFS) in 2009.
As a Unison Equalities Officer in 2004, Rob worked towards highlighting and tackling inequality and took part in a number of demonstrations to highlight policy inequality within the UK. As a young supporter of the Scottish Socialist Party, Rob joined and was active in the demonstrations against the Iraq war and remains a vocal opponent to the present day. Having left the Scottish Socialist Party in 2008, Rob joined the Liberal Democrats.
Rob was a board member within the Scottish Independent Association for Consumer Complaints and stepped down in early 2008 when Consumer Focus UK began its work. Rob spearheaded the Network’s campaign against the UK Blood Transfusion Service policy on refusing blood donations from men who have had sex with men.
He is a Spiritualist, and enjoys watching the soaps, socialising with friends and keeping up to date with news and politics.
We are currently recruiting board members. If you are based within Scotland and wish to join us as a board member, please read the information here: http://www.lgbtnetwork.eu/?page_id=860
