[3] In 2012, she was appointed by the Scottish Government as a member of the Expert Working Group on Welfare and Constitutional Reform.
[3] She then went on to undertake postgraduate studies in Social Policy and Planning at the London School of Economics, graduating Master of Science (MSc) in 1991.
Previous roles include being a freelance consultant between 1993 and 2006 – during this time Unwin undertook policy analysis, governance support and project evaluation.
She chaired the independent inquiry into the future of civil society, which concluded and published its findings in late 2018.
[9] Unwin was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to the housing corporation,[10] Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2006 as deputy chair of the Food Standards Agency for services to consumers,[8] and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to civil society.