Our team

Anna Ritchie Allan, Executive Director

Anna is Executive Director, and has overall responsibility for the delivery of Close the Gap’s work. She leads on strategic policy advocacy, and participates in a range of strategic level working groups related to women and work. Anna’s background is in research, labour rights, and violence against women.

Lindsey Millen, Head of Policy and Development

Lindsey is Head of Policy and Development. She leads on Close the Gap’s employer engagement and works with Anna and Iona on Close the Gap’s policy work. She supports private and third sector employers to close their gender pay gaps, and works with public sector employers to improve their performance of the public sector equality duty. She also develops policy papers, reports and consultation responses to highlight women’s experiences of the labour market, and leads on Close the Gap’s advocacy work on gender equality in education policy and social care.

Kelsey Smith, Head of Equally Safe at Work

Kelsey runs Close the Gap’s employer accreditation programme, Equally Safe at Work. She works with employers in the public and third sector to develop gender-sensitive employment practice. She engages with a range of stakeholders including employers, violence against women organisations and partner organisations to strategically link work on violence against women to addressing women’s labour market and economic inequality.

Iona Brown, Policy and Parliamentary Manager

Iona manages Close the Gap’s parliamentary engagement work. She builds relationships with parliamentarians, political parties and committee staff, as well as developing briefings and consultation responses for parliament. Iona also monitors parliamentary and legislative developments relevant to women’s labour market equality. She also works closely with Anna and Lindsey on Close the Gap’s policy work. Iona’s background is in feminist economics with a focus on women’s labour market participation, modern apprenticeships and the Scottish economy. She is currently working towards her PhD in economics.

Shannon Johnson, Communications Manager

Shannon leads on Close the Gap’s marketing and communications. She is responsible for promoting Close the Gap’s work to key audiences - employers, policymakers, women, trade unions and wider civil society. In her role, she works closely with the team to develop targeted communications plans, create content and drive engagement to support their specific areas of work. She also develops the communications strategy and manages Close the Gap’s social media channels, website platforms and PR and media relations. Shannon’s background is in marketing and communications roles within the charity and higher education sectors.

Leonie McConnell, Programme Officer

Leonie works on Close the Gap’s delivery of Equally Safe at Work, the employer accreditation programme. She engages with employers across the public and third sector to support them in making their employment practices gender-sensitive, to advance gender equality at work and prevent violence against women. Leonie’s background is in social policy (research methods) with a focus on the gendered impact of the equalisation of the State Pension age.

Collett O’Connor, Programme Officer

Collett works on Close the Gap’s delivery of Equally Safe at Work, an employer accreditation program dedicated to advancing gender equality and preventing violence against women in the workplace. In her role, she collaborates with employers across the public and third sectors to help them develop gender-sensitive employment practices.

Related publications

Annual review 2018-19