Anna Cowan Email and Phone Number

I am Policy and Campaigns Officer at Waverley Care, Scotland's leading HIV, Hep C and sexual health charity. Within the Communications team, I lead on our policy and influencing work by frequently meeting with policymakers and ensuring work is on track to meet the Scottish Government's goal of zero new HIV transmissions by 2030. I am also currently working on a national campaign seeking to mobilise the public to work together to help Scotland get to zero. I am also responsible for engaging with the media and press. On World AIDS Day 2022, I spoke on BBC Radio Scotland about the need for the Scottish Government to implement strong policy commitments such as opt-out HIV testing. I also contributed to several articles, one of which was the front page of the Glasgow Times.I also lead on Fast-Track Cities Scotland work, a global initiative of cities working to reach crucial HIV targets. Five Scottish cities are signed up and I work on a national consortium which joins up cities, allowing them to share best practice and work collaboratively on important HIV work.My extensive policy and campaigns experience enables me to successfully influence policymakers, however I am still learning as I go and gaining new skills in this exciting and fast-moving role.

I am the co-founder of Girls Against, a campaign fighting against sexual violence in live music. As a co-founder I am responsible for supporting and managing our team of 13 volunteers in planning events, establishing relationships with other organisations and running our social media platforms – most notably our verified Twitter account. We have amassed over 25,000 followers on our various platforms.I have represented Girls Against on BBC Scotland, BBC Radio One, BBC Breakfast and Sky News. I have also been invited to deliver talks and presentations at events such as Women of the World Festival 2017 (WoW Perth), Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) and East Dunbartonshire 16 Days of Action. I am a confident public speaker and media performer and thoroughly enjoy this element of the role.Particular campaign successes have included influencing security companies to implement sexual violence prevention training, working with the Association of Independent Festivals to ensure all UK festivals support survivors of sexual violence, and hosting events both online and offline with influential figures within the music industry.

I was a campaigner for Back Off Scotland, a campaign fighting for harassment-free abortion access through the implementation of buffer zones around clinics. I have produced physical campaign resources such as posters, and work with opposition MSPs to hold the Government to account on their commitment to enacting buffer zones.I organised and hosted two sell-out live music fundraising events, raising hundreds of pounds for the campaign.The campaign was mentioned in three of the five main party manifestos in the recent Scottish Parliament elections, and was mentioned in the most recent Programme For Government.

I was the Policy and Public Affairs Officer at ASH Scotland. In this role I was responsible for all parliamentary engagement, which included producing briefings and reports, engaging with individual MSPs and Committees and responding to consultations and parliamentary inquiries. I also work on our communications plan and lead on key campaigns, most recently No Smoking Day 2022.I worked as a part of multiple coalitions with stakeholders and other public health organisations, for example SCOT (Scottish Coalition On Tobacco) and the Non-Communicable Disease coalition, in which we worked together to improve public health in Scotland and to reduce ill-health caused by health-harming products.I have improved my interpersonal skills through building and forming relationships with parliamentarians and other organisations, and feel confident in my ability to form these relationships.

During my final year of university I was elected as Welfare Coordinator onto the Sexpression Edinburgh committee. My role was to ensure all committee and society members felt safe and supporting during meetings, particularly those with difficult topics. I planned meetings, took minutes and organised events such as HOWL, a night of live music to raise money for Shakti Women's Aid.

I was the lead administrator for The Clit Test, an organisation promoting better representation of female pleasure in film and TV. I am fluent in using programs such as Microsoft Excel and CommunityBox. I was responsible for inputting data about The Clit Test passes and fails onto an Excel sheet, and finding corresponding information about the data, such as a screenshot from a film. I used Canva to create engaging content for our social media platforms.

I worked as a member of the marketing team for Edinburgh University Students’ Association during term time. I assisted in promotion of services, events and promotions. I also engaged directly with students on campus through handing out leaflets and answering questions about ongoing events.I uploaded and promoted content to the Students' Association social media platforms.

I was a researcher about the stigma surrounding the morning-after pill in Scotland for the Contraception, Education and Reform Team (CERT). This involved conducting in-depth literature reviews in order to understand cultural differences in perceptions of contraception, as well as survey research design. When designing the survey questions, I ensured all responses could be open-ended to allow respondents to fully tell their stories. I worked with the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) to ensure all questions were worded correctly and as inclusively as possible.

I worked for the UBC student union, AMS The Nest, as a catering assistant at events and conferences.

During my year abroad at the University of British Columbia, I volunteered for AMS Peer Support - an on-campus peer support service for students struggling with their mental health. On the marketing team, I was responsible for promoting this crucial service and making students aware that support was available if they needed it. I promoted it in person through hosting events and stalls, and on their social media platforms.

While still at school, I was elected onto the East Dunbartonshire Youth Council as a representative from my school. As a part of this I sat on a council committee called Empowered, which worked towards ending gender-based violence in the local area. As the sole youth representative sitting alongside councilors, I was responsible for promoting youth concern and interest within the committee and ensuring young peoples' voices were heard.As a part of this work I designed and distributed a survey about gender-based violence among schools in my local area. The survey was designed to understand awareness of gender-based violence services and what young people know about the issue. The survey received hundreds of responses and I analysed the data, then reported this back to the council committee.From a very young age I have shown initiative and drive for causes I believe in, and I am very proud of where this has taken me.