Young Enterprise (YE) Scotland has appointed Emma Soanes as its new chief executive.
Taking up the post in October, she will step down as chief executive of social enterprise charity Unity, bringing 30 years’ experience in the third sector.
Her background covers care, employability, education and community development. She is also a board member of the Glasgow Social Enterprise Network.
With enterprise education now endorsed by the Scottish Government in its National Strategy for Economy Recovery and embedded in the Young Person’s Guarantee, Soanes' role is to increase YE Scotland’s reach across schools and colleges to meet the increasing demand for enterprise learning.
In the last academic year, YE Scotland reported a 91% increase in the number of young people accessing its enterprise learning programmes.
The record number of more than 24,000 pupils and students across Scotland has been driven by the organisation’s expanding financial education programme and a rise in demand from schools post-pandemic to include enterprise in the curriculum.
Of these, 1576 young people took part in one of YE Scotland’s accredited programmes that can lead to a qualification in entrepreneurial skills.
Bill McDonald, chair of YE Scotland, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, said: “Emma brings an ambitious balance of creativity and organisational rigour to our continued growth and development as Scotland’s leading finance and enterprise education provider.
“She has extensive experience of working with young people and at a time when we are facing more economic hardship, we believe that her experience of social enterprise, of social care and deprivation in communities, will add significantly to the impact we can have on people’s futures through enterprise learning.”
Don't miss the latest headlines with our twice-daily newsletter - sign up here for free.
