Ethelinda Lashley-Scott has spent over two decades shaping Scotland’s creative and social impact landscape, bringing energy, passion, and a knack for making things happen. A former Curriculum Manager at Edinburgh College, she dedicated many years to Performing Arts Studio Scotland, helping students find their artistic voices while expertly juggling the demands of arts education that leads to employment opportunities.
Her dance journey began at London Contemporary Dance School, and in 1989, her career (and perhaps a touch of adventure) brought her to Scotland, where she joined Dundee Rep Dance Company (now Scottish Dance Theatre). Never one to stand still for long, she later founded Helter Skelter Dance Co., working as a freelance dance artist and choreographer with some of Scotland’s most inspiring theatre directors. Her work always centred on movement, expression, and ensuring the show went on, no matter the behind-the-scenes challenges.
Her passion for inclusive and socially engaged arts led her to work with Cutting Edge Theatre, an organisation dedicated to working with individuals with one or more protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. This reinforced her belief that the arts should be a space where everyone belongs, not just those who have traditionally had access to them. This project reaffirmed her belief that the arts are for everyone, with no exceptions.
In 2011, she earned an MA in Dance Theatre Practice from Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (accredited by John Moors University), expanding her research interests and commitment to using movement for storytelling, advocacy and healing and knowing there is always more to learn.
Beyond the stage, Ethelinda has played a key role in Scotland’s arts and education sectors. She sat on the Board of Dance Base, Scotland’s National Centre for Dance, and contributed to Advanced HE’s Anti-Racism Project, ensuring that diversity and equity remain at the forefront of discussions within Scottish Higher and Further Education. Ethelinda is completing her training with Education Scotland as an Anti-Racist Mentor and has just joined the Board of Ydance.
In January 2023, she stepped into the CEO role at Multi-Cultural Family Base (MCFB), a social work organisation dedicated to early intervention. MCFB works with children and families navigating significant life transitions such as starting school, moving to a new country, or processing loss and trauma. Under her leadership, the organisation champions equity, diversity, and inclusion, ensuring that all families, regardless of background, feel valued, supported, and empowered.
Alongside her leadership at MCFB, Ethelinda remains active in the performing arts and wellbeing sectors. A long-standing member of the Pilates Foundation, she still teaches in Edinburgh, balancing leadership with movement. She also launched the North Edinburgh Performing Arts Training (NEPAT) Project, designed to help young people (ages 17–24) access career pathways in the performing arts. Because if there’s one thing she knows, it’s that the arts can transform lives as it did hers. She is a full member of the Black Leadership Group, which is a not-for-profit company formerly known as the Black FE Leadership Group, established in November 2020, who envisions an anti-racist culture at the core of further education for both employees and students and wider society.
When she’s not advocating, teaching, or leading, Ethelinda enjoys volunteering, reading, cooking, gardening, and travelling. Throughout it all, she remains dedicated to creating spaces where people feel seen, heard, and empowered—because real change happens when everyone gets a chance to take centre stage.