Appointments will strengthen the leadership team and support ambitious 2023 goals to tackle gender disparity nationwide

A Scotland-based social enterprise supporting female entrepreneurs has today confirmed the appointment of two new trustees to its board.

Rowan Morrison, Co-Founder and Managing Director of strategic brand and communications agency; We Are Rationale and Ailsa Lochhead, an Edinburgh-based artist, coach, and Founder of Move To Feel will play a vital role in supporting Keystone Women towards achieving some ambitious goals for the year ahead.

Current data verified by The Gender Index, confirms that only 16.8% of all active UK companies are female-led. And high-growth companies led by women lag significantly behind their male counterparts with the percentage of those that successfully raise capital from investors even lower. Keystone is working to directly address this gender disparity.

Created as a result of hundreds of conversations with women who all shared the same challenges, frustrations and desires for a better working life, Keystone supports women to design a working life that brings together personal vision and business mission while prioritising good health and prosperity.  It runs a holistic-based programme of seven bespoke courses which include business skills and planning alongside well-being strategies to help businesswomen thrive.

Dani Trudeau, Founder of Keystone Women, who was recently voted as one of the 100 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch by The Telegraph and NatWest, says: “I’m delighted to be strengthening our board with the appointment of these two amazing women. We have embarked upon a journey together which will enable us to support working women to find purpose and balance.”

Rowan Morrison will become a key advisor on the subjects of business growth, strategy development and strategic marketing.

Rowan has extensive experience in global agency leadership, consulting with clients so they can create an impact. Her focus is supporting them to drive long-lasting engagement with their audiences through meaningful visual and narrative storytelling.

Commenting on her appointment, Rowan said, “I’m delighted to be joining the board of trustees alongside Dani and Ailsa. I strongly align with their values and passionately believe in and support the well-being economy. I’m looking forward to working with them and ensuring Keystone is available to as many women as possible.”

Ailsa Lochhead already coaches on the programme and co-facilitates Keystone events. Interested in the relationship between creativity and well-being,  she facilitates intuitive movement sessions, somatic coaching, and creative workshops for individuals and groups, in person and online. Her practice is based on a holistic approach, connecting the entire mind-body-emotion system to create and make a change, not just cognition.

Talking about her decision to join the board, Ailsa said: “What excited me most about Keystone is the integration of business tools, a holistic approach to how wellbeing can be seeded into your working life, and a community of women actively listening in honest support. As a creative, I get high on witnessing and supporting ideas being translated into action, so it’s really exciting and uplifting to work with individuals on the programme.”