Aberlour Children's Charity is delighted to announce the appointment of Justina Murray as our new Chief Executive

Today [Tuesday 24th June 2025] Aberlour Children's Charity is delighted to annouce the appointment of Justina Murray as our new Chief Exectuive.

Justina, an advocate for social justice with over 30 years’ experience in the public and third sector, joins Aberlour from Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs (Scottish Families), where she worked since 2017 following previous senior roles at South West Scotland Community Justice Authority, North Ayrshire Council and strategic policy posts in Auckland, New Zealand.

During her eight years as Chief Executive of Scottish Families Justina transformed the charity, introducing multiple new services and innovative programmes to extend reach and impact. 

Under her leadership, Scottish Families profile and influence has grown greatly and the staff team and charity income increased significantly. Justina is now eager to make a lasting impact for children and families supported by Aberlour, the largest solely Scottish children’s charity.

Justina says:

I feel very humbled and privileged to be taking up the role of Chief Executive at Aberlour. I intend to bring the same level of energy, passion and commitment as SallyAnn has so visibly demonstrated over her time with the charity. I recognise I have very big shoes to fill! I am really looking forward to joining the team, continuing Aberlour’s vital work to beat poverty and discrimination, and working hard to make rights real for Scotland’s children, young people and families.

Justina will be starting her new role in Autumn, succeeding SallyAnn Kelly OBE who has led Aberlour as CEO for 11 years and is hailed as a leading voice in the third sector.

Aberlour’s Chair, David Robb, said:

We are excited to welcome Justina as our new CEO. Whilst we have made significant progress for children and families across Scotland there is still much to be done. Justina embodies the values of Aberlour and we are keen to leverage her knowledge and experience, alongside her commitment and drive to create change to secure better outcomes for children and families.

David added:

We would also like to express our gratitude to SallyAnn for her outstanding commitment and dedication to Aberlour. She has revitalised the organisation over the last 11 years, introducing many new services and enriching and strengthening the ways in which we support children and families across the country, placing campaigning for children and families at the heart of what we do.
 
“As we celebrate our 150th year, we are well-placed to look to the future, and we very much look forward to welcoming Justina to the team.