Patrick O'Hare
Patrick O'Hare is a senior researcher in Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews. He has been an active Palestine solidarity campaigner since he was a student when, as a founding trustee, he helped to establish STEPS and also undertook several educational visits to the West Bank.
Ellen Colingsworth
Ellen Colingsworth is a co-chair of STEPS. She is committed to improving the lives of Palestinians, having lived and worked in the Middle East for a number of years after earning an MA in Middle Eastern history
Mike Orr
Mike Orr is a founding member of STEPS and the current. He is Teaching Fellow in Education at University of Glasgow and treasurer of STEPS. He’s been an active supporter of justice for Palestine since a visit to Gaza and the West Bank in 1988.
Mohammed Sabbah
Mohammed is the secretary of STEPS and a former STEPS scholar. A Palestinian from Gaza, he is committed to helping Palestinian students pursue their studies. Mohammed is currently a researcher in ultrafast lasers at Heriot-Watt University.
Chris Given-Wilson
Chris Given-Wilson has been a trustee of STEPS since 2014 and Chair since 2016. He is a former Professor of History at the University of St Andrews and has always a taken a keen interest in the politics of the Middle East, especially the Israeli-Palestinian question. He lives in St Andrews.
Iain Whyte
Iain Whyte is a retired Church of Scotland minister and former Chaplain to the University of St Andrews. He has chaired the Middle East Committee of the development charity Christian Aid, led educational visits to Palestine, and taken part in international groups assisting with the olive harvest on the West Bank. He has been a Trustee of STEPS since 2017.
Malaka Shwaikh
Malaka is a Palestinian academic from the Gaza Strip, currently based in Scotland where she teaches and researches prisons as spaces of power, resistance, and peacebuilding. Much of her research has been on the dynamics of prison hunger strikes. In addition to her research commitments, she is a trustee of Firefly International and a board member of The European Peace Research Association. In 2021, she co-founded FreelancersinGaza.com with Candace Amani to connect youths in Gaza with clients around the world and provide them with mentorship. In her spare time, she loves to spend time hiking in beautiful Scotland or swimming in the North Sea whenever it is warm enough. She finds purpose in giving back to the community, whether it is through teaching, mentorship, volunteering in organisations that fit her life purposes, or simply taking good care of loved ones and herself to be able to continue giving back.
Sheila Boardman
Sheila is a chartered accountant (now retired) who was a partner in a Fife based practice for many years. She had a particular interest in the charity sector and acted for a number of charity clients, large and small. She now serves as a trustee/treasurer on the board of a former client charity and became a trustee of STEPS in the summer of 2024. She is looking forward to working with STEPS to help widen educational opportunities for the young people of Palestine and learning more about the Palestinian cause.