Dr John Loughton BEM is Chief Executive of Young Scot, Scotland's national Youth Information agency. A social entrepreneur, keynote speaker, campaigner, and leadership coach with a background in youth work and public affairs, John ran his first campaign aged 11 despite a challenging childhood in North Edinburgh. He has since spoken to over one million people across 65 countries and helped raise over £15 million for good causes.
He is Founder CEO of Dare2Lead, a leadership training company that has worked with 75,000+ people across 125+ clients, and Founder and Chair of Scran Academy, an education social enterprise that produced over 150,000 meals for vulnerable families during lockdown and has enrolled over 1,000 learners in alternative education since 2018.
As a speaker, John has addressed the UK and Scottish Parliament, the White House, the UN General Assembly, TED Talk events, and the European Commission. He was appointed by the Prime Minister to the Calman Commission and has served on the National Literacy Commission. He was also elected Prime Minister of the Youth Diplomatic Service at the G8 and G20 Summits in Washington DC.
John was named Outstanding Youth of the World 2013 in Rio de Janeiro and awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen's Honours List 2020. He is a World Peace Tartan Global Ambassador and a World Ambassador for Junior Chamber International, inaugurated at the UN HQ in New York. He studied Comparative Human Rights on a UNESCO programme at the University of Connecticut and in 2024 received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West of Scotland for services to young people and social enterprise. He is a trustee of The Robertson Trust, the Children's Parliament, and Turn2Us.