Staff and Board
Staff
These are our real life superheroes, dedicated to overpowering illiteracy wherever they find it!
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Claire Heffernan
Chief Operating Officer
Claire began work at the Super Power Agency in 2019 and has taken on the role of Volunteer Coordinator, Programme Manager, Managing Director and now CEO. She has 15 years’ experience in education, including many years as a classroom teacher, and passionately believes in allowing young people to be creative in their learning.
In her role as CEO, Claire is responsible for the overall direction of the Super Power Agency, fundraising and the development of the team.
Outside of work, Claire enjoys reading, writing, painting, walks on the beach and visiting new cities.
Claire’s favourite words are suspicious and surreptitious. She regularly misspells the word necessary.
claire@superpoweragency.com
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Rebecca Low
Programme Manager
Rebecca joined the Super Power Agency in 2023 as Programme Coordinator. She has over a decade of experience working in roles across the arts, education and third sector around Scotland. Rebecca loves any project that involves working with people and words, so this role with the Super Power Agency is pretty much her ideal gig!
When she’s not working, Rebecca can usually be found hanging out in her local coffee shop with a book, out for a windswept walk on the beach or checking out the newest tasty food spot in town.
As a writer herself, Rebecca has plenty of favourite words including coorie, kerfuffle and mellifluous.
rebecca@superpoweragency.com
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Maria Bruno
Volunteer Manager
Maria has many years of experience in the charity sector and is very passionate about giving young people the chance to expand their lives and imagination through the power of writing and storytelling.
Her role is to take care of the Super Power Agency’s family of volunteers who help us make the magic happen.
When not working, Maria loves writing, reading and travelling to new places on a mission to find the ultimate bakery!
Her favourite word is cappuccino but she recently fell in love with the word teabag too. She constantly mispronounces and misspells the word development.
maria@superpoweragency.com
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Guy
Programme CoordinatorGuy has over seven years’ experience working with young people, in the performing arts and third sector. He is passionate about encouraging young people to believe in their own ideas, and making sure they have a giggle while they do.
Outside of Super Power, Guy is a theatre and filmmaker which takes up a lot of his time. At other times he can be found eating cheese and/or staring into the middle distance.His favourite words are craven and supercilious, the latter of which he struggles to spell (or ever use). -
Nelly Heffernan
Chief Wellbeing Officer
Nelly is a key member of our team and works as our Chief Wellbeing Officer.
Within the Super Power Agency, it is Nelly’s job to visit schools, attend workshops and encourage young people to mix and chat. She will also show up at trainings and other events. Love and affection are her super powers. She may be small but she makes a big difference.
Outside of work, Nelly lives a charmed life with her human Claire and her mischievous cat brother Haggis. Nelly’s favourite things include fluffy blankets, napping, and drinking tea. Take a look at our social media and you will find she is ‘paws down’ the most popular member of our team.
Her favourite word is squirrel.
Our Board
These heroes help us be the best we can be...
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Maxine Sloss
FounderSuperpower: creative connections
Maxine founded the Super Power Agency in 2016. An artist and interior designer, Maxine has worked in London, New York and Edinburgh, most recently establishing the MHS Studio where she has a portfolio of Scottish and international clients. Maxine’s commitment to the Super Power Agency is rooted in her own experience of dyslexia. With her finger firmly on the pulse of Scotland’s arts scene, Maxine thrives when making connections between artists, writers, craftspeople and creatives; she always has an eye for an inventive fundraiser or an opportunity to celebrate our work.
Maxine’s favourite word is joy, because it is easy to spell and the world needs more of it! She cheerfully misspells pretty much everything elseo.
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Jane Milne
TrusteeSuperpower: librarianship and the public sector
A chartered librarian, Jane has spent many years increasing access to books and libraries, and encouraging a love of reading. Her 20-year career in the public sector has encompassed hands-on librarianship, local government management and national strategic direction; she now works in a senior role at the National Records of Scotland. However, Jane believes that her most important contribution to our Board is her enthusiasm for supporting young people to find their superpower when the world may not see it yet, a passion that was ignited when her son thrived in one of our high school programmes.
Jane’s favourite word is nook. It makes her think of reading nooks, which many public libraries now have, giving readers the opportunity to hide away and devour a good book. She can only spell definitely right if she thinks about the Oasis album Definitely Maybe – she remembers that the 'a' is only a 'maybe' so it must be an 'i'!
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Kalubi Mukengela
TrusteeSuperpower: performing arts and education
Kalubi is a dancer, musician, choreographer and teacher. She toured internationally with the Sangalayi arts company, performing traditional dances from the Democratic Republic of Congo, then studied contemporary dance and dance education. Alongside her own practice, Kalubi has taught singing and hip hop dance, was the Creative Director at Edinburgh School of Music, and established a coaching agency for young people starting out in the creative industries. We benefit from her passion for helping young people find their own talent and develop their self-confidence, and her expertise in arts education.
Kalubi’s favourite word is dynamic; it particularly appeals because of her belief that the only constant in life is change, and change only comes from movement. She struggles to spell the name John, having to use an exceptional amount of focus every time to make sure that the ‘h’ is in the right place.
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Dave Scott
TrusteeSuperpower: charity governance and outreach
Dave has more than a decade's experience running Nil by Mouth, one of Scotland's leading equality charities; he has in-depth knowledge of the same challenges and opportunities that the Super Power Agency faces. Dave has worked in communities across Scotland on projects that bring people from different walks of life together, including the ‘Neeps & Tatties’ campaign which has provided free books to more than 1,000 schools. He has worked in partnership with councils, workplaces, schools, NGOs and politicians; he also serves on the boards of a number of national, regional and local charities.
Dave’s favourite word is the Portuguese term saudade, which describes the sense of memory we have for a time or place that may not even have existed; part nostalgia, part escapism and more than a pinch of remembering things being kinder than perhaps they really were. His most frequently misspelled word is… also saudade, of course! How many Irishmen do you know who can speak Portuguese?