About us

Sophie Flemig

Chief Executive

Sophie has been working at the forefront of social change and innovation, and she has been exploring how we can create a new vision for a fairer society across multiple sectors. With a background spanning political science/public policy, economics, education and law, her leadership experience ranges from start-ups, research, public services to non-profits. Sophie has led projects for multinational and government clients, such as Allianz, Deutsche Bank, SAP and the European Commission.

Sophie ensures that Elevate Great continuously improves its strategy and delivery to create a fairer society for all. She represents the organisation and speaks up where Elevate Great’s voice needs to be heard. 

Sophie likes finding a different angle to anything in her life – not just work. She is particularly passionate about rethinking our social contract and the cognitive load, and her happy places are the gym and bookshops.

Azim Arsiwala

Director of Evidence

As an experienced behavioural economist and scientist, Azim has built his career across multiple sectors, employing evidence-based methods to drive positive behavioural change. 

He has successfully created and delivered numerous interventions that measurably improved outcomes and conducted rigorous quantitative and qualitative evaluations for prestigious clients in the public and private sector, including the Welsh Government, Our Future Health, Tesco, Fidelity International, HSBC and others. 

At Elevate Great, Azim leads the Evidence Hub and focuses on meaningful evidence generation and application through data-driven solutions. His expertise lies in identifying, evaluating and elevating existing interventions with proven impact, helping to create a more equitable society through early years transformation. 

When not buried in academic research, Azim indulges his passion for Formula 1 and enjoys hobby simulation racing.

Samantha Bedford

Director of Business Innovation

Samantha has been leading innovations for over 20 years. Throughout her career she’s been at the forefront of digital evolution, driving growth at pioneering startups like Match.com, facilitating Vodafone's digital transition, and spearheading Virgin Money's rapid digitisation, innovation and transformation initiatives. She played a key role in launching and scaling a non-profit meta-skills programme for young people across Scotland.  

As Director of Business Innovation, Samantha is responsible for leading innovation and business advisory work – part of the Elevate Great engine that incubates, tests and scales bold new ideas to drive sustainable change. This involves working across a range of partners to deliver breakthrough ideas that can transform existing systems.  

Samantha is also a charity trustee and enjoys mentoring and supporting young people in their careers.  

Bruce Adamson

Strategic Lead – Human Rights

Bruce is a human rights lawyer who has qualified in three jurisdictions and has over 25 years’ experience. As Strategic Lead - Human Rights at Elevate Great, he ensures that Elevate Great’s work has a children’s rights-based approach and is able to influence the development of children’s rights standards.

Bruce has garnered international recognition for his work on children’s rights, and has acted as an expert for the United Nations, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, European Union and World Health Organization.

He was Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland in 2017-2023 and Chair of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children in 2019-2022 where he coordinated work supporting children during Covid and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He was Professor in Practice at the University of Glasgow School of Law in 2023-2024.

Maria Luiza Campos

Research Analyst

Maria Luiza is a Brazilian economist and behavioural scientist from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), with expertise in quantitative research methods and data analysis. As a Research Analyst at Elevate Great’s Evidence Hub, she supports evidence-based decision-making in early childhood and child development projects.

She has also worked as a field researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, contributing to the Positive Choices project on sex education in English secondary schools. Her interests centre on youth wellbeing, fertility decision-making, and young women's health and rights.

Jillian Elgin

Head of Operations

Jillian brings 30 years of experience across the public and private sectors, specialising in executive support, HR, governance and organisational change, ensuring operational excellence.  

As Head of Operations, Jillian brings her breadth of experience to drive efficiency and innovative ways of working to Elevate Great. Her expertise in streamlining processes and promoting collaboration plays a key role in helping Elevate Great to operate smoothly.

Outside of work, Jillian enjoys travelling to new countries and exploring different cultures. She is also a proud parent of two teenage children.

Lucas Arruda

Project Manager

Lucas Arruda is a dynamic leader with over a decade of experience in business, including seven years as an Audit Partner at KPMG Brazil. He led the governance enhancement of numerous companies across diverse sectors and regions in Latin America.  

Lucas has extensive expertise in managing complex projects, leading and mentoring diverse teams, and building strategic alliances with key stakeholders. As a Project Manager at Elevate Great, he is focused on driving innovation to deliver scalable models for early childhood education and care.

Lucas was recognised as one of Forbes’ Black Innovators in 2020, and he recently completed an MBA at the University of Edinburgh with Distinction.

William Hopper

Research Analyst

William is a researcher with a PhD from the Institut du Cerveau, Université Paris Cité, in computational and cognitive neuroscience. His work involved developing a computational model to explore how people's self-efficacy guides the amount of effort they are willing to invest to overcome difficulties, and how this belief changes over time with feedback.

As a Research Analyst with Elevate Great William is passionate about using rigorous research to support better outcomes for children and families, in particular, how neuroscientific research can inform Elevate Great’s work on how interventions work, and when is the right time to use them.

Prior to his PhD, William worked at both children’s holiday and after-school science clubs, where he enjoyed making complex scientific ideas accessible and fun, something he hopes to continue doing.

Marco Cardaci

Manager, Data Science

Marco holds a PhD in particle physics and has extensive experience across both the research and private sectors. He contributed to the landmark discovery of the Higgs Boson at CERN, acquiring deep expertise in statistical data analysis, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Over the years, Marco has applied this expertise across diverse domains in the private sector, including the development of behavioural models in the trading sector and acting as consultant for several public sector agencies.

At Elevate Great, Marco guides the analytical work of a team of Research Analysts and Data Scientists to deliver data based insights that inform equitable early years policies.

Outside of work, Marco is passionate about travel, contemporary art, gastronomy, and hiking, and enjoys spending quality time with his loved ones and friends.

Rhona Matheson

Strategic Lead – Participation

Rhona has joined Elevate Great after 19 years with Starcatchers, Scotland’s arts and early years organisation, and is recognised internationally as an expert in the arts and early years field.

More recently, Rhona has focused on championing the rights and participation of babies and young children, and in 2023 she graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with an MSc (Distinction) in Children’s Rights, with a specific focus on babies’ rights.

As Strategic Lead – Participation, Rhona is working to develop and embed understanding about the active participation of babies and young children across Elevate Great supporting and informing the shaping of innovative initiatives and bringing insights to the Evidence team.

Rhona is a Trustee for a Scottish charity and she chairs the Advisory Board for an arts and early years initiative in England.

Clementine Miller

Junior Project Manager

As a Junior Project Manager, Clementine has a focus on delivering a range of innovative initiatives at Elevate Great.  With a first-class LLB in Law with Honours from the University of Edinburgh, Clementine brings this legal insight to her role when navigating contracts and the protection of creative and strategic assets.

Paul McCambley

Finance Manager

Paul McCambley is Elevate Great’s Finance Manager, responsible for supporting strategic decision-making, budgeting and financial performance management, as well as the statutory compliance of the organisation. He provides financial insights and works to support Elevate Great’s mission and strategic goals.

Paul has experience working as an accountant within both industry and practice and has a background working in support of the higher education sector as well as with various not-for-profit and charitable organisations. He earned his bachelor's degree in accountancy from the University of Glasgow and is a qualified member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

In his spare time, Paul enjoys playing sports such as football and tennis and spending time with his family, especially his young son. 

Steve Murray

Chair

Steve was appointed as a director of Chesnara in August 2021 and as Group CEO in October 2021. He joined Chesnara from Royal London, where he was Group Corporate Development Director and a member of the Group Executive Committee.

Steve started his career at Ernst & Young, primarily working in financial services, before joining Standard Life in 2004.  At Standard Life, Steve held a wide range of senior roles including Group Strategy & Corporate Finance Director where he led the Group’s Strategic Development and M&A activity and sat as part of the Standard Life Group Executive team. He was also CEO of 1825 Financial Planning and Managing Director of Commercial & Strategy for Standard Life UK and Europe and in both roles he was a member of the Standard Life UK & Europe Executive Team before joining Aberdeen Standard Investments as Deputy Head of Private Markets.

He was appointed as a Cattanach (now Elevate Great) Trustee in February 2013 and took over as Chair in January 2021.

Alan Armitage

Trustee

Alan is an experienced non-executive director (NED) and former CEO of Standard Life (Asia) Limited. He has financial services sector expertise in banking, pensions, savings and long-term investments, with extensive international experience. His deep expertise in leadership, general management, growth and transformation is well suited to supporting Elevate Great’s ambitions.

Alan also manages his own private equity portfolio and is a qualified executive coach. He is an alumnus of Wharton Business School, a graduate of the Financial Times Non-Executive Director Programme and a member of the International Coaching Federation.

Alan was appointed as one of our Trustees in June 2024.

Jennifer Corrigan

Trustee

Jennifer is an Investment Manager at Quilter Cheviot where she manages discretionary portfolios on behalf of charities, individuals, trusts and pensions. Jennifer is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI). She also holds the CFA Certificate in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing, which reflects her passion for incorporating values within portfolios as well as promoting overall positive engagement through investment. She has over 10 years' experience in the wealth management industry.

Prior to this, Jennifer was on the graduate scheme at Morgan Stanley and graduated from the University of Strathclyde with a First Class Honours BSc in Mathematics.

Jennifer was appointed as a Trustee in January 2021 and as Chair of the Investment Committee in September 2021. She became a mother to her daughter in 2023, which has further strengthened her commitment to Elevate Great’s ambitions.

Scott Ferguson

Trustee

Scott is originally from Ayrshire but was educated in England and the USA. He has an MBA in Finance and a BA in Economics.

He then spent his 30-year career based in London, New York, Hong Kong, and Dubai. Scott has held a number of senior roles in investment banking and capital markets.

Scott has been one of our Trustees since June 2024.

Trisha Hall

Trustee

Patricia (known as Trisha) worked in secondary and further education in the Netherlands for a decade, before moving to the UK in 1987 and retraining as a social worker. After settling in Scotland in 1993, she held posts at Moray Council and Aberlour Children’s charity at various levels. In 2013, she became National Director of the Scottish Association of Social Work, retiring from full-time work in June 2019 while occasionally engaged as a professional practitioner at the University of Stirling’s School of Social Sciences.

Trisha has held non-executive director and trustee posts on the boards of large national as well as smaller organisations, and is currently involved as Chair and trustee on two local boards. She is passionate about systems change that is shaped by real and meaningful input from children and families, grounded in human rights and supported by clear evidence of what works, for whom and under which circumstances. Trisha lives in Stirling with her family.

Trisha has been one of our Trustees since 2022, after two years as an Associate.

Dr Patricia Jackson OBE

Trustee

Patricia trained as a Paediatrician at the University of Edinburgh. She specialised in neurodevelopmental assessment and, although now retired from clinical practice within the NHS, continues her research attachment with the University. As a Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, she continues to teach there and represents it on several advisory groups.

She is a former Chair of the Scottish Association of Community Child Health and a past President of the Scottish Paediatric Society.

Her work in connection with policy and service development includes:

Contributing to the development of the Early Years Birth–Three publications

Being a member of the Children’s and Young People’s Mental Health Task Force

Establishing the CEN NMCN (National Care Network in Scotland for Children with Exceptional Health Care Needs)

Developing Scotland’s Additional Support Needs (ASN) legislation

Co-chairing the SIGN (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network) Fetal Alcohol Spectrum

Disorder (FASD) Diagnosis Guideline Group which published the first UK guideline for the care of children and young people exposed prenatally to alcohol

Serving as a member of the Scottish Government Preconception Health and Care Group

Rory Marsh

Trustee

Rory lives in Edinburgh and currently works at Royal London, where he leads their Workplace Pensions business. He has worked across a range of strategy, commercial and marketing roles in the financial services sector in Scotland and Australia.

Rory is passionate about Elevate Great’s purpose and is ambitious about the impact it can make in partnership with others for children. Having recently become a dad, Rory is also desperately trying to practise what he preaches in helping his wee girl to flourish.

Rory has been one of our Trustees since January 2021.

Aron Mitchell

Trustee

Aron qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) before moving overseas with KPMG, working primarily in financial services audit. Since returning to the UK, Aron has accumulated over 25 years’ experience working in financial services, predominantly within the asset management and insurance sector. Aron is highly experienced in corporate governance matters and has held a number of directorships within the Aberdeen Group. Aron is currently Chief Executive for Aberdeen’s UK Insurance business. 

Aron is married with two children, now at university. Aron and his wife love the outdoors and can generally be found up a mountain, skiing or hillwalking depending on the time of year.

Aron has been a Trustee on our Board since November 2022.

Caroline Murray

Trustee

Caroline is a chartered accountant with nearly 30 years’ experience in financial services. She's been with Aberdeen Investments for over two decades and currently leads Product Management for Alternatives. In this role, Caroline oversees investment vehicles for real estate, infrastructure and other private market assets around the world. As part of this, she works closely with boards of directors to ensure best practice corporate governance standards are applied. Caroline also has a background in operational risk, with extensive experience of risk and control frameworks and process improvement.

Outside work, Caroline volunteers with Girlguiding Scotland, leading a Rainbow unit that offers a fun and exciting programme for girls aged 4–7, helping them learn new skills, build confidence and make friends.

She has been one of our Trustees since January 2021.

Ginny Richardson

Trustee

Ginny is Global Head of Strategy and Investment Specialists for Fixed Income at Aberdeen Group. She joined the company in 2009 and has held roles in Group Strategy, Corporate Development and Investment Management, focused on driving positive change. Prior to her current role, she spent three years as Chief of Staff to the Chief Investment Officer, covering aspects of strategy, governance, finance, communications and HR.

Ginny is a CFA Charterholder and holds a Maths degree from the University of Cambridge. She has two small children, and is passionate about improving the system and lives for children and their caregivers in early years. She joined the board of Elevate Great in June 2024.