Meet the Team: Gillian Denovan, DYW School Coordinator at Inverness Royal Academy and Glen Urquhart School
12 September 2025
Introducing Gillian
Gillian is married with two teenagers who keep her on her toes. She has worked for around 20 years since leaving university, building up a wide range of skills and experiences in different roles. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, travelling and eating good food. Gillian is inspired by her family and by the people she meets along the way – hearing their stories and learning from their journeys.
What Gillian enjoys most about being a DYW School Coordinator
Although still relatively new to the role, Gillian enjoys the variety and impact of her work. She loves connecting pupils with local employers, experiences and opportunities that help them see the relevance of their learning and inspire them to think about their own career journeys. Gillian also values working collaboratively with teachers, employers, and the wider community, knowing that every partnership opens up new opportunities for young people.
What she’s looking forward to this academic year
This year, Gillian is looking forward to working with colleagues to embed DYW even more into the curriculum, so that employability and career inspiration become a natural part of school life.
Gillian’s Journey #NoWrongPath
When Gillian left school, she went on to study Spanish at university, driven by her love of languages. Her career has since taken her on a varied path – from pensions administration and consultancy services, to spending 10 years in France for a change of lifestyle. While there, she ran a self-catering business, tried out a range of different roles, and worked as a school librarian in a French high school, which she found particularly rewarding.
Three years ago, Gillian returned to Scotland and now works as a DYW School Coordinator. Reflecting on her journey, she believes there truly is no one “right” path – every experience provides transferrable skills and opens the door to new opportunities.
Advice to her younger self
If she could give advice to her younger self, Gillian would say to trust the journey and embrace change. She would remind herself that it’s okay not to have everything figured out right away, and that exploring different paths – even those that seem unrelated – can provide invaluable skills. She would also encourage herself to take more risks, try new experiences, and not be afraid of making mistakes, as each one is a chance to learn and grow.
Contact Gillian today…
…if you’d like to explore DYW opportunities connected with Inverness Royal Academy and Glen Urquhart School then please get in touch with Gillian at gillian.denovan@dywich.co.uk
Or visit our DYW Inverness & Central Highland - What's on - get involved (padlet.com) platform to get a full picture of our programme of activity across our 14 secondary schools and get in touch today to find out more!
