3rd John Pearce Memorial Lecture 2017

The Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health is delighted to confirm that Laurie Russell from the WISE Group has agreed to be this year’s lecturer.

Laurie Russell has been Chief Executive of the Wise Group since 2006. The Wise Group is a Glasgow based social enterprise established in 1983. It makes a positive difference to people’s lives through accessing new skills and securing employment, reducing re-offending, regenerating communities and tackling fuel poverty in Scotland and north east England.

The Wise Group operates contracts on behalf of the Scottish and UK governments and their agencies, local authorities and other funders.  All its operations are delivered in partnerships with over 200 other social and community organisations. The Wise Group was Quality Scotland’s business of the year in 2015.

Laurie was Chief Executive of Strathclyde European Partnership Ltd and managed over €1500 million of European funding programmes for the economic and social regeneration of western Scotland from 1989 to 2006.

Prior to that he held posts in the chief executive’s department in Strathclyde Regional Council and led a community regeneration initiative in Faifley, Clydebank in the early 1980s.

Laurie chaired the board of Social Enterprise Scotland from 2007 to 2013. He is currently a director of a community interest company, ARCC in NE England that manages justice services in Durham and Tees Valley.  He is a member of Scottish government leadership and justice leaders’ forums and the devolved employability services advisory group.

Laurie is a geography graduate and has a MPhil in town and regional planning from Glasgow University. He has lived in Glasgow all his life, is married to Pam, a retired teacher, and has two grown up sons and a grandson.

For more information and to register to attend the lecture please visit the website below:

http://www.gcu.ac.uk/yunuscentre/johnpearcememoriallecture/3rdjohnpearcememoriallecture2017/

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