PEOPLE

Say hello to our dynamic and purpose-driven team. Specialising in offering a blend of coworking and consultancy services within the realm of social innovation.  We are committed to fostering positive change and supporting impactful ventures here in Scotland.

  • Chief Executive Officer
    Helen Denny
    Helen is an entrepreneurial and empathetic leader with 20+ years’ experience across sectors.
  • Chief Operating Officer
    Jennifer Richmond
    Jeni joined the team in 2011. Bringing over 30 years’ experience in finance, administrator & PA roles, she helps keep The Melting Pot’s operations on the straight and narrow.
  • Operations and Facilities Manager
    Phillip Reid
    Phillip joined us in 2010 as part of a Community Jobs Fund for a 6 month post as an Events Assistant, and loved TMP so much that he decided to call it home!
  • Community Coordinator
    Xabier Villares
    Xabier is a Community Coordinator at TMP, taking care of day-to-day hosting of the space as well as running the TMPEvents programme and our community-building activities.
  • Administrator and Finance Assistant
    Aleksandra Klis
    Aleksandra joined TMP in February 2022 as a part time community host and she has been the go-to person for all hosting tasks.
  • Community Host
    Millie Ashworth-Ritch
    Millie started working at the Melting Pot since August 2022 as a host for our out-of-hours venue hire bookings.
  • Community Host
    Fiona Taylor
    I joined The Melting Pot in 2023 as part-time Community Host.

Board

  • Chair of the Board
    Lisa Paris
    Lisa has worked for the last two decades in cross border senior leadership roles envisioning strategic initiatives, developing pragmatic operational plans, and delivering cultural transformation, sustainability, innovation and efficiency across different teams.
  • Alice Paterson
    Alice is an accredited coach, former management consultant and investment analyst.
  • Felicity Rylands
    Felicity is an experienced head of international programmes with a demonstrated history of consulting, developing and delivering strong programmes and innovative partnerships into new geographies and sectors worldwide.
  • Niall Shannon
    Niall is the founder and director of Baroudeur Consultancy, specialising in stakeholder engagement, consultation and research across the education, outdoors and sustainability sectors.
  • Cleo Goodman
    The Melting Pot gave Cleo her first full time job, during her time working with the team she contributed to a variety of business areas from operations, business development, social impact measurement to marketing and communications.
  • Evie Simkins
    Evie works for the Social Enterprise, Verité where she has been employed for eight years.
  • Sarah Jackman
    Sarah is an experienced senior executive legal Counsel, Chair, Board advisor and recognised employment lawyer, she works across a broad range of organisations from privately owned and listed companies to public sector institutions.
  • Catherine Henderson
    Catherine has over 25 years of third sector experience in Scotland and England; specialising in all aspects of third sector business development, including fundraising, cause engagement, lobbying and operational and strategic management.
  • Mark Anderson
    Director of The Europe Office within Glasgow Caledonian University and a champion for social innovation within the university sector.
  • Andrew Richards
    Andrew started his career as a videogame developer, before starting a high-tech specialist computer software company.
  • Hanoz Mirza
    Hanoz has over a decade experience in accounting, finance and treasury.

Founder

  • Founder
    Claire Carpenter
    Claire founded The Melting Pot – one of Europe’s first coworking spaces – in 2007, in her adopted home city of Edinburgh, Scotland.