Meet the team
Our Skills Academy team is made up of highly experienced staff who deliver our courses and workshops across Scotland.
Colette Lowe, Service Delivery Manager
Colette has over 15 years' experience operating in the third sector, the majority of which has been spent in Learning and Development. Over this time, she has developed a high level of skill in designing and facilitating development courses to all levels. Colette has worked with LinkLiving for over six years and is responsible for the management and development of LinkLiving Skills Academy. She is a qualified SQA Assessor & Internal Verifier and acts as the Centre Co-ordinator for all SQA activity within Link Academy.
Colette has a particular interest in leadership and is a strong advocate for taking a trauma-informed approach. Colette currently sits on Link Group’s Employee Engagement Forum and Wellbeing Group. As a trained Values Based Reflective Practice (VBRP ® ) facilitator, Colette provides reflective practice sessions for LinkLiving services.
Outside of work, Colette is passionate about community involvement. Colette has held various voluntary positions over the years. Examples include Independent Custody Visitor for the Scottish Police Authority, Board Member for Addiction Support and Counselling (ASC) Forth Valley and Mentor as part of the MCR Pathways programme. At present, Colette has a young family that takes up whatever spare time there is left!
Natalie Graham, Skills Academy Facilitator
Natalie has worked with LinkLiving for 7 years designing and delivering accredited and non-accredited training to the people we support and to professional staff. Natalie has over 12 years of training experience and is a qualified SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority) Assessor and Internal verifier, with a strong background in ensuring compliance regulations are met and a sound knowledge of SQA procedures and expectations. Prior to LinkLiving, Natalie worked for Rape Crisis supporting service users to overcome barriers to recovery from trauma, training volunteer support workers and delivering youth initiatives across High Schools across the Forth Valley area.
Natalie has vast experience working in customer-focused and person-centred roles, in supporting service users to overcome barriers to recovery from trauma and providing training to support others to do the same. Natalie believes in a trauma-informed approach to working with people and strives to make our training as accessible as possible.
Katy Penman, Skills Academy Facilitator
Katy joined the Skills Academy team from a background of roles in health and social care regulation and community engagement. Experienced in establishing and leading teams of volunteers and colleagues, Katy is responsible for the design and delivery of training within her current role at LinkLiving and has a particular interest in leadership, systems design, inclusion and wellbeing.
With a background in evidence-based practice, quality standards, quality assurance and continuous improvement as well as public engagement, inclusion and diversity, Katy brings a range of skills and experience to the team. Outside of work, Katy enjoys spending time with friends and family, getting creative with papercrafts and fiber art, listening to live music and travelling.
Jade McNaught, Business Administration & Finance Officer
Jade has recently joined the LinkLiving team as Business Administrator and Finance Officer. Having developed strong critical capacities and attention to detail in her History MA, Jade sought out a role in administration so she could put these skills into action.
Jade has a naturally empathetic and approachable nature, and has worked in a variety of people-orientated roles, particularly with young people. This included working as a Support Worker for children with additional needs alongside her university studies. This experience ultimately led her to undertake a PGDE qualification to train as a history teacher, where she further developed her knowledge of young people, mental health, trauma and development.
Jade now leads a team of administrators to coordinate courses and events, manage finances and implement effective processes across all three Link Academy locations (Falkirk, Edinburgh and Fife). Jade is settling in well, and is excited to face new challenges and learning opportunities that come her way while supporting the Skills Academy team.