Together currently has nine members of staff. We also work with visiting consultants.

Juliet Harris - Director

Juliet is Director of Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights).Over the past decade, Juliet has led work to progress the human rights of children across legislation, policy and practice.

She is Vice Chair of the Children’s Parliament, a Trustee of the Environmental Rights Centre Scotland and is a founder member of the Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland. She sits on numerous Scottish Government Advisory Groups, including the UNCRC Strategic Implementation Board and the Human Rights Bill Advisory Board. She is the current chair of the Rights of the Child UK Coalition and has played an active role of a number of UN Taskforces, including UN Committee’s Day of General Discussion on Children as Human Rights Defenders.

Juliet is a guest lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and her work on children’s rights has been published widely. When not working, Juliet spends as much time as possible exploring the outdoors, climbing, biking, running or skiing to the most remote places she can find.

Carly Elliott-Scott - Assistant Director (Programmes and Participation)

Carly is Assistant Director (Programmes and Participation), focusing on the development of programmes that help fulfil Together's strategic priorities. A key aspect of her role involves ensuring Together's work promotes the rights of babies, toddlers and early years children.

Carly has experience of leading participatory influencing across a range of children's sector organisations, supporting children with a high level of state intervention in their lives, and therefore whose rights can be most at risk. This included leading '1000 Voices', the participation project supporting Scotland’s Independent Care Review to listen to care experienced babies, children, young people and adults.

Carly also has an LLM in Human Rights Law and a keen interest in the development of child-friendly access to justice.

When not working, Carly is a Trustee of The Young Women's Movement and Up 2 Us. She can also be found at the gym, traipsing hills, attempting arts and crafts projects or taking part in some amateur DIY (emphasis on ‘amateur’).

Maria Doyle - Legal & Policy Manager

Maria is Together's Legal & Policy Manager. She leads on reporting to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, our annual State of Children's Rights reports, responding to Scottish and UK Government consultations, and drafting reports and briefings explaining Together’s policy positions.

Maria joined Together in 2017 to complete a placement as part of her LLM in Human Rights Law. Maria also has an LLB in Scots law with a focus on the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers. Maria previously held roles as Together's Legal Research Officer and Assistant Research Officer.

Outside of work, Maria can usually be found making linocut prints and leaving inky fingerprints all round the house.

Sarah McDermott - Development Manager

Sarah is the Development Manager at Together, working with members to support the implementation of the UNCRC.

Sarah is passionate about children’s rights, and has previously worked for the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland where she led on the Office’s work to incorporate the UNCRC into Scots law. She was also the Policy Principal at the Children’s Commissioner for Jersey, where she provided child rights advice to the Government on changes to law and policy during the pandemic, and led on the production of the Commissioner’s report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Sarah has also worked in the third sector for several years at Children in Scotland, where she worked on a range of projects and was previously at the Health and Social Care Alliance where she focussed on carers rights.

Sarah has a Masters in Human Rights Law, as well as an LLB in Law with the French Language, and is a former Member of the Children’s Panel.

Outside of work, Sarah enjoys endless walks with her dog Fergus, and playing a couple of instruments badly.

Christine Klien - Business Operations Manager

Christine has an MSC in Information and Library Studies and worked in libraries her whole life before she joined Together in January 2021. As Business Operations Manager she sees to all of Together’s organisational needs from finance to HR and everything in between. With a keen eye for detail Christine brings structure to the team and makes sure everyone has the support they need. Every day she is spinning many different plates, so her work is never boring (though she is the first to admit that updates on procedures and reminders about expenses are the least interesting part of Together’s work).

When she’s not busy with Together, Christine is writing or reading novels, traipsing through the woods with a bow and arrows, crocheting dragons, or going on adventures with her dog.

Mary Campbell - UNCRC Implementation Officer

Mary is Together’s UNCRC Implementation Officer. She has recently been working on the Skills and Knowledge Framework and Training plan commissioned by the Scottish Government as part of their implementation strategy. This was a joint project with Children’s Parliament, JustRight Scotland, JRS Knowhow and the Observatory on Human Rights of Children. Mary worked with a panel of professionals and stakeholders from across Scotland to ensure the Scottish workforce helped shape all project outputs.  

Mary developed a passion for children’s rights through her work in primary schools, and during her time as an Edinburgh City Councillor, leading on Education, Children and Families Committee for her group. Mary is passionate about making positive change, and was a board member of Action Porty, helping to complete the first successful urban community buy out.

When not working, Mary enjoys walks with her rescue podenco Grace, board games with her children, reading as much as she can, and trying to get better at knitting and crochet.

Caitlin Forrest - Membership and Social Media Officer 

Caitlin is Together’s Membership and Social Media Officer. Her role is relational and supports Together’s members, including children and young people. She helps co-ordinate and support Together’s events, communication with members and social media.

Caitlin joined the team in August 2022 and is passionate about helping children and young people. She graduated from Queen Margaret University in 2015 with a marketing and events degree and worked for TIGERS Group for six years in a variety of different roles to support and develop young people including: marketing; administration; and taking lead of a project called ‘The Kickstart Scheme’ as a Co-ordinator. Whilst at TIGERS Group, Caitlin gained an SVQ Digital Marketing Modern Apprenticeship. The Kickstart Scheme was a major project created by the UK Government in response to the coronavirus to support young people into the world of work and prevent a skills gap. We managed to support 180 young people at the end of the project working alongside different businesses from a variety of different sectors, connecting with young people, whilst updating Department of Working Pensions (DWP). For this project, Caitlin was shortlisted in 2021 for ‘Year of the Young Person’ with Investors in Young People.

TIGERS Group are co-founders of ACE-Aware Nation, creating three major National Conferences. Caitlin helped support TIGERS and ACE-Aware Nation over the years striving towards a Scotland where every citizen understands the long-term impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

Outside of work, Caitlin loves to travel exploring new countries and new cultures. She loves walking too but needs a buddy as she has no sense of direction.

Judi Martin - Policy and Participation Officer

In her new role, Judi will assist in the creation of Together’s annual State of Children’s Rights Report, submit responses to relevant government and parliamentary consultations and write briefings for Together members on various children’s rights topics. She is particularly enthusiastic about developing child-friendly versions of these resources for children and young people, to help inform them about their rights and stay updated on policies and legislations that affect them.

Shilla Shomai - Policy and Public Affairs Assistant

Shilla is the Policy and Public Affairs Assistant, supporting Together's mission to ensure  babies, children and young people have their human rights respected, protected and fulfilled. Among other things, she contributes to the development and dissemination of policy and supports the research and drafting of the annual State of Children's Rights Report. Shilla is also undertaking a PhD in Social Policy and Social Work. Her research examines the parenting experiences of Care-Experienced parents in Scotland compared to those in England. Outside of work you'll often find her exploring nature trails or getting lost in a good book.