Sam currently works for a Scottish Local Authority as a Promise Ambassador, supporting services to understand their responsibilities to #KeepThePromise and understand the needs of the Care Experienced community.  

Within this role, Sam has a particular focus on workforce support and supporting Care Experienced people in employment. Sam is privileged to work in professional and voluntary roles where she can use her lived experience to enact positive change.  

Sam is also studying a part time MSc in Policy and Management at the University of Glasgow.  

During her Undergraduate degree, Sam was a keen activist for the rights and awareness of estranged students, and those on the edges of care in Higher Education in Scotland. This involved lobbying, participating in panels at the Scottish Government and writing about the issue. Along with other estranged students, Sam successfully campaigned for estrangement to be included as a UCAS tick box, and for the Scottish Government to carry out formal research into estranged students. This research was published in 2022.  

Sam has also spent five years as a trustee at ProjectChange, including Vice Chair and Acting Chair roles within the final year of this. Sam is committed to changing the narrative about Care Experienced people and ensuring that we are listening to the voices of the Care Experienced community in non-tokenistic ways.  

Sam is also a trustee of the Unite Foundation which works to support Care Experienced and Estranged students in Higher Education, offering free accommodation at partner universities.  

Outside of work, Sam is an amateur powerlifter and spends her spare time at the gym. This has allowed her to change the narratives around fitness and young women, focussing on physical strength in an era of pressure around appearance.