Andy Reed
Founder, Think Tank
A former MP for Loughborough, Andy has a wealth of experience in government relations and policy. Andy is the founder of the independent Sports Think Tank and he sits on numerous sport, Social enterprises, companies and charity boards in a voluntary capacity. Andy describes himself as a ‘social entrepreneur’ and it is his desire for aspiring to transform organisations and individuals that led him to establish his Saje Impact company in 2010 – offering support to sport, charities on strategy, communications and improving their impact
Angela Canavan
CEO, CB & Associates
Angela Canavan is CEO and founder of CB & Associates (a HR Services company) and award winning Canavan Byrne Management and Training Solutions, a firm specialising in compliance services to the early years sector. She is a graduate of UCD and NUI Maynooth. Angela is in business over 20 years and has vast experience in the area of human resource management and training. She also has wide experience in working with community based charitable organisations and has served on several voluntary boards of management. She is a fellow of the All-Ireland Business Foundation and was named their Thought Leader for 2022.
Amy Woods
Manager, Volunteer Ireland
Amy joined Volunteer Ireland in August 2015 as Communications and Advocacy Officer and was promoted to the role of Manager in December 2018. Amy’s role involves managing Volunteer Ireland’s internal and external communications and supporting the organisation’s policy initiatives and events through awareness campaigns. Amy promotes Volunteer Ireland and volunteering through media relations, marketing, social media and online communications including coordinating Volunteer Ireland’s public awareness campaign for volunteering, ‘National Volunteering Week’ – overseeing all PR and marketing activity for the event. Amy also coordinates Volunteer Ireland’s policy and advocacy projects, in particular around Ireland’s National Volunteering Strategy. Amy was Acting CEO from March – December 2021.
Aoife Hennessy
Partner, Sweeney McGann
Aoife Hennessy is a Partner in Sweeney McGann LLP an award-winning commercial law firm in Limerick. Aoife specialises in Commercial Disputes (including banking, shareholder, professional negligence and building disputes), Employment Law, Medical Negligence and Commercial Mediation.
Aoife has acted in several high-profile employment disputes and has significant experience in obtaining and defending interlocutory applications. She has also successfully concluded many complex Medical Negligence & Malpractice actions, in all areas of clinical and medical negligence litigation.
As an accredited Mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), Aoife also offers a CEDR-qualified mediation service, specialising in employment and workplace disputes. Aoife won Employment Lawyer of the Year Munster 2022 at the Dye & Durham Law Awards 2022 and Winner of the Civil Litigation Team Munster at the Dye & Durham Law Awards 2022.
Ciaran Maher
CEO & CO-Founder – Square1
Ciarán is the CEO and co-founder of Square1, an award-winning creative web and mobile software development company with offices in Ireland, UK, France and Spain.
Ciarán has over 20 years experience working on all aspects of the online industry. Previously he held the position of CTO within the Distilled Media Group (Daft.ie, Boards.ie, Adverts.ie and TheJournal.ie).
As co-founder of Square1, Ciarán has worked with some of the best known brands including Stripe, The Irish Times, Hyundai, Bauer Media and Crowdcube.
Curtis Delaney
Marketing Manager, Connexus Recruit
Curtis is the Digital Marketing Manager at Connexus Recruit – a specialist digital recruitment consultancy that focuses exclusively on roles within Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Product, UX/UI and Data.
Curtis holds a Master’s from NUI Galway as well a Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing from the DMI.
A data-driven marketer, he has played a pivotal role in the growth of Connexus Recruit in recent years. Leading and managing their digital presence across PPC, SEO, social, email, website and content as well as implementing a robust lead generation system.
Emmet Ryan
Business and Technology Reporter
Emmet Ryan is a Sunday Business Post and editor of the paper’s Connected magazine, Ireland’s leading IT publication. Emmet is also the paper’s columnist for betting and beer. In 2009 Emmet won the IIA NetVisionary journalist award and has covered technology and digital media in all of its forms for over a decade.
Graham Morris
Founder at Connexus Recruit, C0-Founder at Conscia
Graham is the Founder of Connexus Recruit, a leading Digital Recruitment Consultancy based in Dublin as well as the Co-Founder of Conscia Talent.
With almost 30 years of experience in the recruitment industry, Graham has gained invaluable knowledge and insight on Talent Attraction, Retention and Growth Strategies working with multi-nations and high-growth start-ups in both Ireland and EMEA.
Iseult Dunne
Ms. Iseult Dunne is currently CEO of Dublin City Council Culture Company (CLg) which was established 5 years ago to create and deliver cultural initiatives and run heritage buildings for the people of Dublin. Now and in the past, she has led and motivated multiple cultural, heritage and cross-sectoral teams to deliver ambitious cultural projects, run heritage sites and create an environment for cultural participation and exploration. She is motivated by the aim to make a difference to cultural audiences in the work that she leads. She has over 30 years of experience in the development and implementation of cultural projects across Ireland.
John Kenny
Creative Director, CultureHead
John Kenny is Creative Director of CultureHead a leading communications agency for the creative industries in Ireland. Specialising in public relations, digital marketing and training, CultureHead’s clients include University College Dublin, Culture Night, The Butler Gallery and The Wexford Arts Centre
John McGrane
Executive Director, Family Business Network
John is the Executive Director of the Family Business Network. He is also the founder and Managing Director of NSI Technology, the Founder and CEO of enterprise solution tech start-up Kmend and the Director General of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce , a private sector organisation which he co-founded in 2011 to represent businesses with interests in the two islands and their economies. Retired from a forty-year career in business banking, his career has spanned substantial initiatives in the enterprise and corporate sectors, both indigenous and foreign direct investment.
His interests weave through commerce, culture and community. He sits on the Boards of Fishamble: The New Play Company, he is the Chair of the Irish Film Institute and he has led numerous public policy initiatives including the Government’s Forum on Philanthropic Funding of the Arts and the creation of the National Concert Hall Quarter.
Jonathan Carroll
Independent Curator of Contemporary Art
Jonathan Carroll is an independent curator based in Dublin. He has curated the visual arts strand for St. Patrick’s Festival and was on the panel of curators for the Goethe-Institut. He was the assistant curator of the Project Arts Centre and is a regular columnist for the Visual Artists’ News Sheet. He co-founded Artlot (programming outdoor art for vacant space) with John Kenny of Culturehead.
Jonathan is a graduate of Art History UCD, Cultural Management Instituto Universitario Ortega Y Gasset, Madrid and Curating Contemporary Art at the RCA, London.
Julie Schiro
Assistant Professor of Marketing and Academic Director of the MSc in Digital Marketing programmes at UCD Smurfit
Rick McKee
Chief Executive of The Foundation
Scarlet Bierman
Founder of Engage Content & Ethical Marketing Consultant
Scarlet has 30 years’ experience working in marketing and communications across the public and private sectors in the UK, France, and Ireland. Since founding Engage Content at the end of 2014, she has delivered a range of award-winning content marketing strategies and services to organisations in various sectors, including Enterprise Ireland, Williams Lea Tag, ICDL, UCD Professional Academy, and several Skillnets. She is also a mentor for Dublin City Local Enterprise Office, supporting small business owners in all areas of marketing and branding.
Scarlet recently launched a ground-breaking ethical marketing practice, making her Ireland’s first and only ethical marketing consultant. She helps organisations to play their part in creating a more sustainable and equitable world by implementing just and transparent marketing strategies that minimise reliance on, for example, surveillance capitalism.
Sharon O’Donoghue
CEO OF Media Life
named ‘Network Cork Business-Woman’ and ‘Network Ireland Business-Woman’ of the year 2013.
She is currently CEO of Media Life, a Marketing and Digital Company representing clients in the hospitality, enterprise, and healthcare sector. Her clients include Romantic Castles of Ireland, Audiology Medical Services, Small Business Ireland to name a few.