Abigail Gibson, Senior Policy Analyst
Email: abigail.gibson@ukces.org.uk
Tel: 01709 774825
Biography
Abigail joined the UK Commission for Employment and Skills in October 2008. Prior to this she worked for nine years, for the Wise Group, a leading social enterprise that delivers employment, community regeneration and sustainability services across Scotland and the North East of England. Abigail undertook a variety of roles at the Wise Group including Internal Auditor, Development Executive, Funding Manager and latterly Head of Policy, Research and Communications; providing her with a broad experience of the management of social enterprise and of the delivery of employment and related activities. During her time at the Wise Group, Abigail led and developed a series of policy and research activities including responses to Scottish and UK government inquiries, project and programme evaluations, and analyses of the barriers to work experienced by unemployed client groups. Abigail has a degree in Sociology and an MSc in Social Research Methods from the University of Edinburgh.
Areas of Expertise and Interest
• Unemployment and worklessness
• Welfare reform and the welfare market place
• The third sector and social enterprise
• Labour market disadvantage and the barriers to work faced by priority groups.
Current Responsibilities
• Joint Project with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation– exploring the links between poverty, inequality and skills
• Management of Praxis, policy think piece series
• Knowledge brokerage support – including development of series of policy events
Previous Projects
• 2010 Skills Jobs Growth Policy Convention
• Social Accounting and Audit Research Project, Social Audit Network, 2008
• Scottish Living Wage Campaign – steering group member, 2008 (ended September 2008)
• Witness for Parliamentary enquiries – including Benefits Simplification (Work and Pensions Select Committee, 2007)
• Pathways to Work and Incapacity Benefit (Work and Pensions Select Committee, 2005)
• Regional Development Funding (Scottish Parliament, 2004)
• Member of European Social Fund Labour Market Advisory Groups – Strathclyde European Partnership & the Objective Three Partnership, 2004-6.