The National Capital Tartan Day Committee
National Tartan Day Symposium
Tuesday, April 9th, 2024
2:00 – 5:00 PM
Location: The Lyceum
201 S. Washington Street
Alexandria, VA
The Symposium kicks off promptly at 2:00PM at the Lyceum, 2nd floor auditorium.
Our lineup of speakers for the afternoon Symposium will include:
Eilidh MacKinnon, Deputy Head, Scottish Gov’t Office, USA–Greetings from ScotGov
Andrew Morrison, Viscount Dunrossil (Keynoter) – News from the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs
Rory Hedderly, Entrepreneurial Scotland & The Saltire Project – Possible Interns Placement and Scholarship Opportunities
George Dixon, Past President, SAS/ MD Eastern Shore – Kirkin’ History Project: 84 Years of Kirkin’ of the Tartans at the Washington Nat’l Cathedral
Camilla Hellman, President, American Scottish Foundation, NYC – The Power of Partnering
Panel Discussion with reps from DC Metro Area Scottish Heritage Groups
Collaboration & Mutual Support/ Importance of Partnering
Chris Humprheys, President, St. Andrew’s Society of Washington, DC
Tracy Morton, President, and Heather Haddock, V.P., Scottish-American Womens’ Society (SAWS)
Alexandra Duncan, Vice President, Virginia Scottish Games Ass’n (VSGA)
Kathy Garrity, President, National Capital Tartan Day Committee (NCTDC)
James Morrison, Member, Alexandria Sister Cities Committee (re: longtime twinning of Alexandria, VA with Dundee, Scotland)
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The Speakers
Eilidh MacKinnon
Deputy Head, Scottish Government USA
Eilidh MacKinnon moved from Edinburgh to take up post as Deputy Head of Scottish Government USA in June 2023, having spent over four years within the Scottish Government in various staff positions. She succeeds Rory Hedderly in the #2 post at the Scottish Affairs Office at the UK Embassy, here in DC .
Eilidh is a Gaelic speaker. As a trained interpreter and fiddle player, she is passionate about celebrating diversity in music and language (Scottish and otherwise).
Rt. Hon. Andrew Morrison
Viscount Dunrossil
Andrew Morrison, Viscount Dunrossil, was born in London and educated at Eton and Oxford, where he studied the Classics.
After joining a bank (Kleinwort, Benson) he moved to the US. For the last thirty years Andrew has made his home in San Antonio, Texas, during which time he has been a principal spokesman for the consumer finance industry. He is a former chairman of the American Financial Services Association and a co-founder of the National Installment Lenders Association. Andrew retired from the Consumer Finance industry in January 2022. He is now a Director of the Equitable Growth Fund, which is dedicated to addressing the problem of unequal access to critical resources among minorities and lower income communities.
Lord Dunrossil is closely involved with various organizations dedicated to strengthening the ties between Scotland and its Diaspora. He is the US representative for the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs, serves on the Advisory Board of the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations (COSCA) and is an Honorary Patron of the American-Scottish Foundation. He is also a former Chairman of the Society of Scottish Armigers, whose President is the Lord Lyon, King of Arms, and is a Director of Scottish Heritage USA.
George Dixon
Chair, Kirkin’ History Project/ Past President, St. Andrew’s Society of MD’s Eastern Shore
George Dixon is a Past President of the St. Andrew’s Society of the Eastern Shore and a Past Vice-President of the St. Andrew’s Society of Washington DC. He is a retired U. S. Air Force Colonel having been a B-52 electronic warfare officer and a RF-4C weapons system officer. George commanded a munition squadron in Turkey; lead the Air Force electronic warfare hardware and software depot; and had staff assignments in the Pentagon and National Security Agency. He later was the general manager of a Turkish joint venture company; lead an IT business development team for Lockheed Martin; and then consulted in the defense and intelligence market space for a number of years.
George was born to a Scottish born mother and an English born father in New York City. He has a BS from New York University and a MSA from George Washington University. Several years ago, he became interested in the roots of the Kirkin O’ The Tartan and started the Kirkin History Project for the St. Andrew’s Society of Washington DC. He lives in St. Michaels, Maryland with his wife and their English Springer Spaniel.
Rory Hedderly
Rory Hedderly serves as the Head of Business Development (USA) at Entrepreneurial Scotland. Prior to that, Rory spent 15 years of public service on behalf of the Scottish Government. Most recently, Rory held the position of Deputy Head of the Scottish Government USA (2018-2023). In that time, Rory worked to grow Scotland’s reputation in the US by showcasing Scotland as the best place to Live, Work, Study, Visit and do Business. A vital part of that success was his ability to build networks across business, political and wider interest groups will the sole purpose raising awareness of what modern Scotland has to offer the world.
Prior to his move to the USA, Rory spent over 10 years working in Private Office as Deputy Private Secretary to the First Minister of Scotland as well as several other Cabinet members.
Rory also volunteers in support of the Washington Tattoo, a charitable organization modeled on the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, that focuses on cultural exchange, support for veterans and education of the arts. Rory resides in the Washington, DC area with his wife and golden doodle where he enjoys golf and traveling.
Alexandra Duncan
Board Member, Scottish American Women’s Society (SAWS) and Virginia Scottish Games (VSGA)
By day, Alexandra can be found herding attorneys in her 9-5 gig. Most weekends find her herding a very different group, highland games athletes. Having been born into and growing up in the Scottish Country Dance, Clans, and Highland Games communities, she has spent more than 25 years working for the Virginia Scottish Games (VSGA) and Mid-Atlantic Scottish Athletics (MASA). Alex is finishing her term as Membership Secretary for the Scottish American Women’s Society (SAWS) of Washington, D.C.
Amongst her VSGA jobs, Alex has done everything from learning how to create websites to building a social media campaign, picking up trash to putting on a reception for Sponsors and VIPs, chauffeuring mobility impaired guests to directing parking, hiring bands to baking for the VIP tent, and whatever else it takes to put on a successful festival. Alex began scorekeeping with MASA before it was MASA, now judges at most of their events (and a few others), and has helped bring MASA into the 21st century. In this time, MASA has grown to host not just men’s athletic events, but to include women and adaptive athletes, increasing the number of festivals, classes, and competitors. In all of these endeavors, she has been known to conscript unsuspecting friends and family members (who honestly should know better) into action.
Alex has a longstanding relationship with the Clan Donnachaidh Society, through her parents in the New England Branch and on her own with the Mid Atlantic Branch. She has also spent a number of years working with the Association of Scottish Games and Festivals to improve networking and access to resources for those running Scottish Games and Festivals. Some of the deepest friendships and adopted family members have come about from all of these activities.
Camilla Hellman
President, The American-Scottish Foundation
Camilla Hellman’s career has been transatlantic relations, undertaking projects both in Britain and the United States to further collaboration between the two countries.
Camilla joined the American-Scottish Foundation in 2009 as Development Director, becoming Executive Director in 2012 and was elected President in 2017. In addition to increasing the ASF’s charitable work, Camilla has developed diverse event programs, often involving exhibits and performances, with a strong multimedia platform.
Camilla represents the ASF on the National Tartan Day New York Committee. Camilla serves on the Board of The Foreign Press Association and Make Music New York.
In 2007, Camilla was honored by HM Queen Elizabeth II and awarded the MBE for services to British-American relations.
Christopher Humphreys
President of the St. Andrew’s Society of Washington, D.C
Mr. Christopher “Chris” Humphreys is the current President of the St. Andrew’s Society of Washington, D.C and has been a member of the society for the past seven years. Chris has served in several senior roles to include the board of managers and holding the role of chairman of the Tartan Ball, a well-known DC event of pageantry, camaraderie and celebration of Scottish-American heritage, raising funds to support scholarships and cultural events. Chris is a proud member of the Clan Bell Society and is a direct descendant of the Scottish Beall’s of Georgetown. Chris is also a member of The Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg, First Families of Maryland, Washington Assembly, Society of Colonial Wars, VA/DC masonic lodges, and Scottish Rite Freemasonry of Washington, D.C. Chris received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Capitol Technology University (Laurel, MD) as well as post-graduate work through Penn State. Chris is a program manager with a defense firm in Arlington, VA, supporting national priority programs over the past 23 years. Chris is married to Christy Humphreys, with whom they have two beautiful daughters, Isabelle and Leah.
