Evelyn Simpson

Evelyn is a coach, mentor and advisor. She works with early stage companies and entrepreneurs, helping them to develop strategy, raise funds and improve their leadership effectiveness. Evelyn is also an active angel investor and is Director of Investing Women Angels. 
She is an entrepreneur in her own right, having co-founded her own coaching and training firm. A former investment banker, Evelyn worked for JP Morgan Chase, executing a wide range of corporate finance transactions around the world and latterly was COO and board member for Chase Manhattan Asia Limited in Hong Kong. Evelyn chairs accessibility tech start-up, Neatbox, and chairs the Board of Trustees of Venture Scotland.

Jackie Waring 

Jackie is a pioneer of women angels 'changing the face of investing', bringing more women angels into Scotland's dynamic angel investment community. An active and experienced angel investor herself, she established Scotland's all-female angel group Investing Women Angels whose members have invested over 80% of their funds in highly innovative female-founded companies. Jackie is an entrepreneur with a passion fro helping other entrepreneurs. It was this passion that inspired her to establish AccelerateHER, creating a channel and direct help for female founders going for scale. Publicly recognised by Scotland's First Minister, she is a major player in shaping the ScotCanDo eco-system.

Rhona Campbell

Rhona is an expert in global product management and product marketing, with over 20 years' experience working with SME's and multinational technology companies at a senior level to achieve growth and success in global markets. Her practical know-how has helped companies to commercialise and launch new products, enter new markets as well as develop and implement international product and marketing strategies. Rhona set up her own consultancy, Rhona Campbell Associates, working with start-up and investor-funded technology companies to assess commercial strategy/ roadmap and take leading-edge technology to market. 

Elizabeth Pirrie

Elizabeth Pirrie works alongside CEO Jackie Waring to develop the strategic direction for AccelerateHER.  Elizabeth brings with her over 20 years of accounting experience including 10 as Finance Director of what was one of Scotland’s largest, independent care home providers. For the past six years she has worked in economic development in Scotland supporting start up and growing companies across several sectors including life sciences, technology and tourism.

Elaine Galston

Elaine is a passionate advocate for creative innovation and start-ups, especially female and STEM based companies. She is currently driving forward her own start up company focused on creating an infrastructure for reusable sanitary wear and normalising and destigmatising incontinence and periods.
Elaine is actively involved with the AccelerateHER programme helping female founded companies with their pitching and business rationales. She is a very proud and active member of the female Angel group, Investing Women Angels through whom Barclays Bank and Scottish Enterprise support her to mentor females with high potential and advise on financial strategies. 

Tricia Bey


Tricia has an Engineering Science degree from Durham University and an MBA from The London Business School. In her early career Tricia worked in the pre-internet world of patent information. She then spent 14 years with Deloitte Consulting building and leading different practice areas including two years as the Managing Partner of the Dutch consulting practice. She was later Managing Director of a London-based management development school.
Tricia subsequently set up her own Ayrshire-based award-winning cheese making business and is a member of Investing Women Angels.

Catherine Muirden

Catherine is a leader in Human Resources. She’s a former HR Director at Barclays, has led the people function during the rescue and re-building of the Co-op, and most recently was People Transformation Director of the John Lewis Partnership. She’s an experienced mentor and coach, Non-Executive Director and Chair. She has a long history of championing and developing women leaders, and she’s known for connecting people within her wide business network.