About Us

Team dyw

Michelle Fenwick
Leanne Banks
Neil Pedersen
Emma Lacey
Sophie Dawes

Michelle Fenwick
Programme Director

Michelle has been with the team since the project started and aims to bring the best practice from Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian together to support and create more opportunities for industry to inform, inspire and hire the region’s youth talent.

Michelle specialises in supporting organisations to develop and deliver workforce planning and CSR Strategies and is passionate about building relationships, employability, social inclusion and skills development. Blending this with her experience from Hospitality, Learning and Development, Economic Development, Employment and Skills and wider strategic roles means a conversation with Michelle is always solution focused and inspires positive change.

In her spare time, Michelle enjoys a friendly game of football, some pad work at kickboxing and hanging out with her family and dog at the beach.

Leanne Banks
Programme Manager

Leanne has been with the team since the project started and manages on the ground projects for DYW Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian, working closely with the rest of the team and connecting industry and education to inform, inspire and hire young people.

Leanne has 15 years of experience spanning across Education, Employability, Training and Management in both the public and private sectors.

In her spare time, Leanne enjoys spending time with her friends and family.

Neil Pedersen
Project Officer

Neil joined DYW Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian in 2018. As a Project Officer he works closely with the educators and employers across our region taking employer insight and inspiration opportunities to the schools and colleges. Neil covers the Midlothian and South Edinburgh schools and leads on employer engagement with Construction and Engineering firms as well as many other industries.

Neil has been working in employability for over 10 years but enjoys constantly learning more about the employers from his home city, Edinburgh, as well as global organisations.

In his spare time, Neil is kept busy by his two young children and enjoys the highs and lows of following his life-long passion St Johnstone FC.

Emma Lacey
Business Support and Communications Officer

Emma joined DYW Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian in 2018, she manages all communications and carries out any business support duties such as reporting, organising meetings and supporting key events and projects. Emma originally joined the team as a Business Support Modern Apprentice, straight from school, and has recently completed her Digital Marketing Modern Apprenticeship.

Emma is passionate about marketing and design, you will usually find her scheduling social media, analysing reports or designing materials for campaigns and events.

In her spare time, Emma enjoys socialising, walking her dog and watching TV with a nice cup of tea!

Sophie Dawes
Project Officer

Sophie joined the DYW team in April 2018 and since then has been building partnerships between industry and education across the region.

As a Project Officer, Sophie’s role is to support businesses to engage with young people in education and build relationships with schools. She also works closely with the schools in Edinburgh and East Lothian to support them to implement DYW in the school and connect with industry partners.

In her spare time, Sophie is a keen amateur runner, bookworm and loves to travel anywhere she can.

Our research and reports

Team dyw

Board members

Strategic Partners