Marion Pirrie is an experienced fundraising leader with more than 20 years in the third sector, a leader shaped not by titles, but by the people and stories she’s carried with her since the day she left a job in retail to pursue a career in fundraising. Her career spans Cancer Research UK, Maggie’s, Parkinson’s UK, and now Age Scotland, where she manages a multidisciplinary fundraising team and plays a key role in shaping the organisation’s ambition to double income over the next five years.

Marion’s leadership philosophy has been shaped by real, human moments — from supporting fundraising activity through the pressures of Covid, to rebuilding trust with key partners, to supporting colleagues through personal and professional challenges and learning from the pain of poor leadership earlier in her career. These experiences have strengthened her belief in compassionate, authentic leadership.

Marion loves being in the third sector and is an active volunteer with the CIOF Scottish Executive Board and Scottish Conference Committee and has recently completed the CIOF Future Leaders Programme.

Today, as she helps shape Age Scotland’s ambitious growth, Marion is driven by a simple but powerful ambition: to build environments where people feel safe, valued and brave — and where fundraising is understood, shared and celebrated across whole organisations, breaking silos and empowering colleagues.