Summit 2024 Programme

Eilis Barry is a former board member and chair of FLAC. As a barrister, she specialised in employment law, anti-discrimination, and equality, was legal adviser to the Equality Authority and head of its legal section from 2000-09. She drafted Case Law Review of Mental Health in the Workplace and authored Equality How?, a guide to legal practice under the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2008 & Equal Status Acts 2000-08. She speaks on employment & equality law, co-edits ‘Equality in Diversity, the New Equality Directives’, ICEL No. 29, and edited the Employment Law Reports.

Gabriel Coleman is an environmental historian, musician, and artist from Northfield, Minnesota based in Dublin, Ireland. They are currently completing their PhD research on the history of agricultural industrialisation and pollution in postwar Ireland and trying to use their creative skills to extend that body of work. Gabriel’s goal in research and making things is to connect people with their environment through creative storytelling about agriculture, water, and personal histories of place. https://gabriel.town

Hannah Coleman joined the Boardmatch team in 2017 where she is the Communications & Education Manager, overseeing brand, marketing, events, board recruitment website, training programmes, and board review services. Hannah is also an arts enthusiast, with over 20 years of classical ballet training and a BA in English with Film Studies from UCD. Since February 2020, Hannah has been a trustee and company secretary on the Board of the Irish National Youth Ballet. Hannah advocates board volunteering, particularly for those people who might not consider themselves potential candidates. 

Denise Cranston is the Head of Partnerships Advisory Practice at 2into3. She specialises in supporting international, national, and local charities to build long-term strategic Corporate Charity Partnerships based on shared purpose. She spent 23 years at Business in the Community NI, leading their Workplace and Community Investment Programmes. She has recently supported Share Discovery Village in identifying potential corporate partners and developing a strategic proposal, and they are now ready to move towards securing their own strategic corporate partnership.

Aoife Crawford is Research and Policy Officer with the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA). Her work involves advocating for adults with unmet literacy needs, and researching literacy matters. Before working for NALA, Aoife was in the public sector for ten years in roles relating to the Irish language, equality and governance. She holds a Masters in Public Policy and a Professional Diploma in Human Rights and Equality. 

Criona Cullen is a board member of the Rehab Group, with extensive experience in the nonprofit sector in senior fundraising positions at various charity organisations over more than 25 years. She has been Fundraising Manager, Temple St Children’s Hospital, Head of Development, National Gallery of Ireland, Head of Fundraising and Communications, Our Lady’s Hospice and Care Services, and Interim Head of Fundraising, Irish Heart Foundation, in addition to working with many other charities on a consultancy basis. She has a Masters in Ethics & Corporate Responsibility.

Alice Drury has tackled systemic and emerging threats to Australian democracy with the Human Rights Law Ctr since 2018. She was Legal Dir. of GetUp, and worked in areas from human rights, to income inequality, environmental justice, democratic freedoms, electoral law reform, and government accountability. She has assisted the State Solicitor’s Office of Western Australia at the High Court, and practiced public law and commercial litigation with Clayton Utz. She has worked with the Lowy Institute, holds an MA in Iranian Studies (Univ. of Tehran), and an Honours in Arts/Law (Univ. of Western Australia).

Michael Duffy is a retired wood finisher who returned to education with Cavan and Monaghan Education and Training Board as an adult. He is a passionate advocate for adult literacy. Michael has been featured in many media interviews and has taken part in events to raise awareness about literacy and encourage others to take up learning. Michael is a volunteer with local mental health charities and an amateur dramatics group.

Ellen Duggan is Manager of Newbridge Family Resource Centre and vice-Chair of the Family Resource Centre National Forum. Ellen has over 20 years of experience in the community sector and previously worked as a Rehabilitation Coordinator with Kildare Leader Partnership. Ellen is currently completing a Masters in Family Support Studies at the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, University of Galway.     

Allen Dunne is a founding member of the We Act Steering Group. He is the Deputy CEO of the Disability Federation of Ireland. Prior to joining DFI in 2001, he worked in a range of community development initiatives in rural development, training and disability. He has a BA, a MSc in Regional Resource Planning, Diploma in Leadership for Equality, Diploma in Creativity, Innovation and Leadership, and a Certificate in Professional Coaching Skills. 

Rob Foley is the Head of Fundraising Advisory Practice at 2into3. Having pioneered the development of wealth screening services for fundraising organisations in Ireland through prospect research specialist, Prospect 23, much of his work now centres on relationship-based fundraising campaigns, wider strategy development, and board engagement. He offers a range of fundraising services, including fundraising research, strategy review and development, and campaign support. Most recently, Rob worked with Feed Cork to diversify their income stream through a tailored fundraising strategy.

Anna Rose Garvey/Anamorfest is a multidisciplinary maker of things from Wicklow. She works to explore human perception and behaviour through sound and visual media. She graduated with an M. Phil in Music & Media Technologies from TCD, with a thesis on Enactive Motion Tracking, Embodied Cognition, and Autism. She is passionate about collaborative projects and aims to combine creative outputs with real world applications, i.e., to raise awareness, solve problems, or become useful tools. She will build an adaptive soundscape as part of the Climate Immersion Project. https://anamorfest.com/

Eszter Hartay is a Hungarian lawyer and Program Director at the ECNL, leading the program to identify emerging public participation models, to empower both CSO and individual participation in policy processes at EU and national levels. Following 5 years in corporate law, she has spent the past 14 years creating an enabling legal environment for civil society, she has worked in Europe, Central Asia, the MENA, and Latin America, on CSO framework legislation and government cooperation, participation in policy-making, financial sustainability, climate justice, anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing.

Clodagh Hogan is Head of Communications with Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation. An award-winning marketing communications specialist, Clodagh delivers best-in-class, strategic communications and creative brand building campaigns. A UCC Law graduate, with diplomas in PR from the Fitzwilliam Institute and advertising from TUD, she has over 20 years' experience across blue chip, FMCG, and private companies, as well as semi-state agencies. At Jack and Jill, her role includes the delivery of an integrated Communications Strategy, in line with the organisation’s overarching objectives.  

Patricia Keenan has over a decade of experience in EU and National funding in Ireland, working at a senior level in local authorities, government departments, and social enterprises before moving to consulting in 2005. She has led development of 2into3’s Grants & Economic Services team as Director, and is currently working on capital projects including a National Sports HQ, Community Sports Centre, university sports complexes, and local club facilities. Since 2014, the team have secured over €3.5 million in grants for sports clubs, NGBs, and community, arts, and heritage groups.

Ronan Kennedy is the Senior Democratic Freedoms Policy Officer in the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. He previously worked in the Oireachtas and as a researcher on democracy and conflict resolution in University College Dublin. His research on power-sharing in Northern Ireland has been published in the British Journal of Politics and International Relations. His current work deals with freedom of association and assembly in Ireland. 

Ciara McCluskey has been a Sanctuary Runner since September 2019. She is a member of both the Dublin Organising Group and the Poppintree Sanctuary Runners in North Dublin -the largest Sanctuary Runners group in the country. Ciara says that joining the Sanctuary Runners has been one of the most amazing and fulfilling things she has ever done. Over the past four and a half years, she has had the honour of welcoming hundreds of newcomers to Ireland through the organisation. Ciara’s 4 children and husband are also regular attendees at the weekly Sanctuary Runners meet-up in Poppintree.

Claire McGowran has over 15 years in print and digital media. She was the editor of One Fab Day, and has written for the Irish Times and Irish Independent. She worked on the #HomeToVote campaign and a UNICEF campaign to end child marriage. She is currently the coordinator of We Act, a national campaign to celebrate charities and community groups in Ireland.   

Carolann Minnock is a practising solicitor with responsibility for leading the pro bono practice at Arthur Cox. She is responsible for the strategic development and co-ordination of pro bono. Carolann has extensive experience developing and managing pro bono initiatives, bringing over 10 years of international rule of law and access to justice experience to the role. Carolann advises pro bono clients on immigration law matters.

Gabriel Mullarkey co-founded Déanta Studio in 2023 to empower designers and makers while championing the principles of sustainable design, provenance, and the pivotal role of human-centered design in climate action and mitigation. A design professional since 2006, he has been a lead designer with Intel Labs Europe, working with partners such as London City, Bosch, Dublin City Council, and Croke Park. He lead a successful €1m STARTED project at University of Galway, and has been programme director for the Creative Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development pilot programme at CREW . 

Živa Newman joined the CRC in 2016 where she develops and implements strategy, and leads the Fundraising Team in securing additional funding to support essential services. With over 20 years’ leadership experience in the nonprofit and private sectors, including Overseas Aid, 3rd Level Education, and Disability, she has been non-executive Director on various charitable Boards, currently serving on the Board of Alpha Ireland and as patron’s representative on the CRC Special School’s Board of Management. She has an MA in Political Science from UCD and MBSc in Business Practice from UCC.

Robert Nicholson is Head of Unit with responsibility for Rural Strategy and Social Enterprise in the Department of Rural and Community Development. His brief includes the development of the next Social Enterprise policy for Ireland as well as progressing rural development policy under Government’s 5 year plan ‘Our Rural Future 2021 - 2025’. Robert has a MSc. in Local and Regional Development and has previously worked in both policy and operational roles in the provision of community, employment and training services.

Jennifer O’Brien is Sanctuary Runners' Community Development Manager. With a background in community engagement and development work, she has worked on the Rural Development Strategy in Clare County Council and the establishment of Southill Area Centre, now Southill Hub. Focused on Sanctuary Runners' values of Solidarity, Friendship, and Respect, she believes in a fairer society for all. A voluntary director of Limerick City CDP, and independent chair of Southill Regeneration Committee, she also lectures in Community Development at TU Shannon-Midwest.

Assumpta O’Connell is an experienced solicitor having worked in McCann FitzGerald for almost 20 years. She currently manages McCann FitzGerald’s pro bono practice, which provides access to free legal advice for vulnerable individuals and free legal support to help strengthen small charities, nonprofits, and social enterprises. Assumpta is committed to building McCann FitzGerald’s pro bono practice and refining its pro bono strategy.

Diarmaid Ó Corrbuí is CEO of Carmichael, a charity providing governance training and supports to nonprofits. He has extensive experience as both a board member and chair, and in providing governance support and advice. A member of the Charity SORP Committee for the UK & Ireland, he is actively involved in Carmichael's Good Governance Awards, Mentoring, and Board Chairs Network initiatives. He worked as a management consultant for over 25 years with Prospectus Management Consultants and Accenture, alsongside organisations in the public, healthcare, and nonprofit sectors.

Ellie O’Donnell has been the manager of My Legacy Since 2015. My Legacy is a membership organisation of over 90 Irish charities working together to make legacy giving the norm in Ireland. Previously, she was the National Fundraiser at the Simon Communities of Ireland, Campaign Manager for the Pennies from Heaven euro fundraising campaign as well as holding various corporate roles in marketing and strategic development.

Marty O’Prey, leads the dynamic fundraising team at Belong To LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland. Before joining the Belong To team in 2022, he worked with charities including Cork Simon, Dogs Trust, LauraLynn, and Trocáire during his time at Ask Direct. He has campaigned for LGBTQ+ rights for over 16 years, as a grassroots activist and as political staff to the Minister of State for Equality during the 2015 Marriage Referendum. A passionate advocate for equality, diversity, and inclusion, he works across Ireland advocating on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community.

Nathan O'Shea is co-founder of Déanta: a mission-driven non-profit design studio based in Galway focused on supporting designers and makers to grow sustainably. Nathan specialises in human-centred research. His key focuses is on sustainability in creative-cultural heritage and local employment. Empathising with people, catering for their needs, and generating innovation through community engagement is what stimulates his creative process.

Niall O’Sullivan is the founder of Campaign Solutions, which specialises in database research for Major Gift campaigns, legacies research, legacy plan writing and case for support writing. Prior to establishing Campaign Solutions, Niall worked as a fundraising consultant and also with Community Foundation Ireland and the Trinity Foundation.

Anna Quigley has over 30 years’ experience working in community development. She has been Coordinator of Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign for over 20 years, and has significant experience engaging with government departments and state agencies addressing inequality. She has been a community representative within government structures overseeing the National Drugs Strategy, and a member of the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs. She also served as a Dublin City Councillor for the North Inner City area in 2011/2012 on behalf of the Gregory Group (named after the late Tony Gregory T.D.).

Derv Ryan is a Literacy Development and Outreach Worker with NALA. She delivers literacy awareness workshops and ambassador programmes to promote adult literacy. Derv also supports organisations in the community and voluntary sector to learn how to be more literacy friendly. Derv has worked in the sector for over ten years in the areas of workers’ rights, migrant rights and environmental issues.  

Michael Smyth joined COPE Galway as CEO in May 2021. He previously served as CEO of SCCUL Enterprises and a lecturer in GMIT School of Business. Michael is a graduate of GMIT (BA Gno agus Cumarsaid 2012) and NUIG (MBA 2020 and MSc Strategic Marketing 2013). He has served for over ten years on a number of voluntary boards and committees, including for NUIG School of Business External Advisory Board, BIA Innovator Campus, Bizmentors, Charities Insitute Ireland, and The Wheel. 

Sylvester Takaza, from Zimbabwe, joined Sanctuary Runners in August 2022 and is still trying to run his second marathon since 2011. He not only runs with Sanctuary Runners but has also volunteers, supporting the delivery of the Sanctuary Run on the Sport Ireland Campus in 2023 and has become a volunteer run director with parkrun, contributing to the wider community in Dublin. 

Jane Trenaman has brought a decade of experience in the automotive, design, and telecoms industries to a range of public engagement and fundraising leadership roles in the non-profit sector. Over the past 13 years, she has developed a breadth of experience in fundraising and income generation as a senior management team member and consultant. Chairing Fundraising Director Networks in the UK & Ireland, she has also held board and subcommittee roles with Christian Aid Ireland, Samaritans Ireland, and the National Opera House. She is currently a Non-Executive Director with Common Purpose Ireland.

Zsé Varga is the Volunteering Development Programme Manager at Volunteer Ireland, the national development organisation for volunteering in Ireland. Her role focuses on the delivery of actions 1, 13, and 53 of the National Volunteering Strategy, creating fresh ground for flexible and diverse volunteering to grow, where everyone can get involved in volunteering and feel safe and rewarded doing so. Zsé specialises in developing and supporting flexibility in volunteering and helping organisations make this transition. She is passionate about volunteering and sustainable volunteer leadership.

Sinéad Vaughan has worked at The Wheel since 2019 as a member of the Skills Team and as Training Manager. She oversees The Wheel's Training Calendar and is involved in the coordination of The Wheel’s special events, such as our Annual Summit. She studied in University College Dublin and Dublin Institute of Technology. Her background includes six years of running a small business, and volunteering with a variety of Irish charities including Parents Plus, Barnardos, and Laura Lynn. She is a trained yoga teacher, and proud custodian to Lulu the rescue dog.