Scottish North American Community Conference Executive
Gus Noble, OBE - President, Chicago Scots
Gus Noble, OBE was born in 1969 in Dundee, Scotland. He grew up in the Duns, in the Scottish Borders. In 1992, after graduating from the University of Stirling, Gus moved to Chicago, where he worked for the British Consulate General for seven years.
During this time he concentrated on developing UK-US trade and investment. In 1999, Gus completed a Business to Business Marketing Strategy course at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Following 1999's devolution of Government authorities in the United Kingdom, Gus established and operated the first overseas office of the Welsh Assembly Government in Chicago. Gus took up his current appointment in August 2004.
Gus serves on the Board of the Admiral at the Lake and the Rosehill Cemetery Reserve Fund. Gus supports Newcastle United Football Club and plays electric bass guitar in a Scottish-American honky-tonk band. Gus is married to Aisha. They have two sons, Bobby and Langston.
Camilla G. Hellman, MBE - President, 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.
Brought up in Britain ( "I am a hodge-podge - English, Scottish, German, French-Swiss"), Camilla came to the USA in 1990. She loved the challenges and enthusiasm she found in the States, and started an import company representing leading luxury manufacturers and selling to major retailers.
Moved by the events of 9/11, she conceived and led on the creation of the British Memorial Garden in Manhattan's Financial District and headed its organization as President from 2002 - 2009, during which time the Park received four royal visits. The Park was further honored by a visit from HM Queen Elizabeth II in 2010 when it was renamed the Queen Elizabeth II September 11 Garden.
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.
John King Bellassai, JD - President, Council of Scottish Clans & Associations (COSCA)
John King Bellassai is an attorney and management consultant. He is a graduate of Georgetown University's College of Arts & Sciences and the Georgetown University Law Center.
John's maternal grandfather, after who he is named, emigrated to New York City from the little Loch Lomondside town of Killearn (of Rob Roy Fame) in Stirlingshire in 1910.
John's interest in his Scottish heritage has been a life-long one. He is President of the Council of Scottish Clans & Associations (COSCA), which is essentially the national professional association for the clan societies in America, of which there are some 140. A Past President of the St. Andrew's Society of Washington, DC, John is currently Vice President of The National Capital Tartan Day Committee, Inc. (NCTDC) and Secretary of The Living Legacy of Scotland, Inc. - a founding member of the Scottish Coalition, USA. Past Chancellor (in-house legal counsel) of the American Clan Gregor, Society, Inc. (ACGS), John currently serves as Chairman of the ACGS Board of Trustees, a five-member group which manages the invested assets of this nonprofit charitable corporation. He and his wife, Judith Walton, live and work in Washington, DC.
Lt. Governor John Cherry, Jr. - Chairman of The Trustees, St Andrew's Society of Detroit
John Cherry became Michigan's Lt. Governor in 2003 when he was elected along with Governor Jennifer Granholm. Together, they served as Michigan's Executive leaders for the constitutionally allotted eight years. Before that Lt. Governor Cherry served the people of Michigan for more than 20 years as a State Representative and as State Senator.
For six of those years, he served as the Senate Democratic Leader. During his nearly three decades of state public service, John Cherry developed a reputation as a fair-minded legislator who forged relationships with other legislators regardless of political party. During his service, John authored and co-sponsored several Michigan laws dealing with political reform, environmental protection and conservation.
The Cherry Commission on Higher Education & Economic Growth brought higher education into the larger discussion of creating and retaining jobs in Michigan. It was also recognized nationally as a road map for higher education policy, and it won praises from President Obama when he came to Michigan to unveil his National Community College Initiative. During his tenure as Lt. Governor, John Cherry was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Saginaw Valley State University, an Honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from Central Michigan University and a gubernatorial appointment to the Midwestern Higher Education Compact.
Michael A. Reid
Michael Reid, a member of the American-Scottish Foundation board and several of its committees, has long been active in Scottish-American affairs, having also served on the regional council for Clan Donnachaidh Society and the board of New York Caledonian Club, the planning committee for SNACC, as well as of the Cameron Scottish Dancers, and is active in two other New York City-based Scottish dance groups.
His working life has included nearly two decades of supporting senior executives and boards at nonprofits in the education and healthcare fields as well as for profit firms in the financial technology arena. But Reid has also had success as a performer, singing with New York Grand Opera, New Jersey State Opera, National Grand Opera, Opera Orchestra of New York, New York Philharmonic, St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, Ensemble for Early Music, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Renee Fleming, Soupy Sales, the Muppets and many more artists. He has also provided a home for a succession of rescue dogs, mostly miniature Schnauzers.