Slavery and colonialism in Edinburgh

Chair of the group

The Council invited Irene Mosota to be Chair of the Group in March 2023. Irene is an Edinburgh-based social enterprise practitioner with experience in delivering a variety of social projects and campaigns. She is founder and managing director of Knowledge Bridge, which supports organisations to translate

• equity
• diversity
• inclusion 
• sustainability strategies

into meaningful action, change and impact.    

Irene has specialist expertise in

• stakeholder management
• skills in change management and research.

Her experience includes providing focused leadership in cross-cultural intelligence within organisations and communities. She is

• a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Improvement of Arts (RSA)
• on the board of Social Enterprise Scotland
• a former member of the independent Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review Group and contributed extensively to that process.

Group members

Members were recruited over the summer 2023 when fourteen other people were invited to join. They bring a wide range of skills, experience and shared passion for this work taking place in Edinburgh.

Abimbola Adeola

Abimbola obtained a first (Bachelors) degree in Political Science from the Ondo State University, Ado-Ekiti (now Ekiti State University). He was also awarded a Master's degree in Public and International Affairs from the prestigious University of Lagos. He is an associate member of

• Nigeria Institute of Management
• Nigeria Union of Journalists
• Sports Writers Association of Nigeria.

He is the managing director of 27 July Ltd, a complete media/content production company.

Alex Stobart

Alex works for Mydex, a community interest company, which provides identity and personal data services to citizens and organisations across the public, private and third sectors in the UK. Alex has worked in

• technology
• food and drinks industries
• the third sector
• public sector

in Scotland, UK and Europe. Alex is also a Board Member of Birthlink.

Anila Mirza

Anila works as the Equality Manager at Historic Environment Scotland. She has previously worked at Shakti Women`s Aid where she worked closely with women who have no recourse to public funds. She campaigns to promote women’s rights, justice, and equality for all women. Anila has an in-depth knowledge of issues related to the migrant communities in Scotland. She is

• co-editor of ‘Real Women: Unheard Stories-based on true stories of migrant women in Scotland
• a published poet for a poetry collection `Fire In Me`.

Asif Khan

Asif is the director of the Scottish Poetry Library (SPL). Based in Edinburgh, the SPL is home to the nation's collection of modern Scottish poetry. Asif has worked on numerous projects engaging African diaspora communities at home and abroad. His work includes being 

• a producer of the Jamaica Rising and Yardstick poetry festivals
• a senior cultural policy advisor for the UK’s Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade programme in 2007.

Christina Sinclair MSc MA BArch IHBC

Christina is the Director of Edinburgh World Heritage, the independent charity dedicated to the proactive conservation of our beautiful city, for the benefit of all. She is a passionate ambassador for Edinburgh’s outstanding historic environment. Her experience includes

• studying architecture on Edinburgh’s Chambers Street
• a Masters in European Urban Conservation
• years dedicated to positively and proactively managing change in historic places across the sectors.

Grant Mackenzie

Grant has over 20 years of experience in delivering cultural projects and is an experienced

• strategic leader
• project manager
• consultant.

He recently delivered the David Livingstone Birthplace Museum project, recontextualising the museum exhibition’s interpretation. He also worked at 

• Kelpies/Helix project
• National Museums Scotland
• British Museum. 

He is a long-standing Edinburgh resident who is keen to ensure that our history tells the real story of the past.

Harry Mould

Harry is a mixed-heritage and neurodiverse artist and wellbeing facilitator. They are a graduate of Stonewall’s Role Model programme. Harry is currently the Federation of Scottish Theatre’s first Policy and Public Affairs Lead, focusing on advocacy and inclusion. They were a member of the HiPA working group,which produced two guides combatting harassment in the performing arts. Harry was also

• Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh’s first EDI Associate
• one of the founding team members of Bolton Pride festival.

Harry Ross

Harry is a

• teaching artist
• producer
• librettist

who has been commissioned globally, from Théâtre des Champs-Elysées to New National Theatre Tokyo.

He was founding producer of Secret Cinema, then worked to create art experiences that bring minoritised histories to life with

• National Trust
• National Archives
• Kensington and Chelsea Culture.

Currently he is creative director of Army at the Fringe, commissioning art and theatre that deals with

• diversity
• inclusivity
• utility

of the armed forces in society. He obtained a PhD candidate at Edinburgh Napier University's Centre for Military Research, Education and Public Engagement.

Professor Kenneth Amaeshi

Kenneth joined the University of Edinburgh in 2010. He has an expert level knowledge of developing and emerging economies. He has an extensive network in Africa and is currently

• visiting professor of Leadership and Financial Markets in Africa at the London School of Economics
• visiting professor of Strategy at the Lagos Business School in Nigeria
• Honorary Professor of Business in Africa at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Kenneth Barker

Ken recently retired as a partner of Baillie Gifford & Co where he headed their fixed income client business. He also served as a director of Scottish Financial Enterprise from 2014 to 2018. Prior to his career in asset management, Ken worked in investment banking in London for JP Morgan and Banque Paribas. He is

• a graduate in Political Science of the University of Glasgow
• a Charterholder of the CFA Institute.
• Chair of Trustees with The David Hume Institute.

Dr Melissa Moncrieffe

Melissa is Jamaican-American. She is the Founder and Director of Valued Educational Services (VES), a global education company based in the UK and the USA. She has years of professional and academic experiences in

• the arts (visual and piano)
• international studies
• languages
• education
• history.

She obtained her Masters in International Studies at the Graduate Institute in Geneva then her PhD in Education from The University of Edinburgh.

Nava Rizvi

Nava is an art historian and artist whose practice and research interests revolve around

• cultural memory
• (de)colonial theory and practices
• themes of identity and belonging
• language
• third culture.

She graduated in December 2022 with an MSc in History of Art, Theory and Display from the University of Edinburgh. She has been a Curatorial Fellow for the Future Flow project with Edinburgh Printmakers.

Professor Roger Jeffrey

Roger was Professor of Sociology of South Asia at the University of Edinburgh from 1997 to 2020. Starting in 1970 he has been involved in many sociological research projects in different South Asian countries. He was a co-founder of the University’s Centre for South Asian Studies. He is now Associate Director of its Edinburgh India Institute. Roger is also a Trustee of the Edinburgh Indian Association.

Stephen Kelly

Stephen has lived in Edinburgh since 1989 having moved here the day after leaving school in North Lanarkshire. He studied in Edinburgh, qualified to teach Physics and Mathematics, and then began working in Edinburgh schools in 1995. He is currently on secondment to the post of Head of Education from his substantive post as Headteacher of Liberton High School where he has been in post since 2012.