WELCOME to THE CLUB

Aisling Hurley

CEO, Breast Cancer Ireland

Aisling Hurley has 32 years of experience in the non-profit sector, raising over €240 million to date.  She started in 1989, working at the University of Limerick to establish the University of Limerick Foundation before moving to Dublin with her husband in 1997. She was a consultant with CCS Ireland Limited, working on a variety of projects in the arts, culture, NGO and education sectors.

In 2005, Aisling joined the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI) in Ireland as director of development, where she helped to create a development board of high-profile individuals to raise funding to support the College’s ambitious capital development campaign. In 2012, following discussions with RCSI, Breast Cancer Ireland came out from under the RCSI umbrella and Aisling headed up its establishment as a legal entity, securing its own charitable status (CHY 19926), a governing body and independence to support both national and international pioneering research programmes.

Today, Breast Cancer Ireland is one of just 72 triple-locked charities out of 8,770 in Ireland, due to its transparency, accountability and good governance. As CEO, Aisling is leading the development and expansion of Breast Cancer Ireland and its work.

Anita Murray

MD, The Salon & Spa Company

Anita is a passionate beauty entrepreneur and self-care advocate. She is managing director at The Salon & Spa Company, representing some of the world’s most desirable professional beauty brands in Ireland including veteran British beauty brand CACI International and luxury Spanish skincare house Skeyndor. Anita brought brands such as Margaret Dabbs London to Ireland and recently launched cult Australian organic tanning brand, Three Warriors, in Europe. Anita has worked in the Beauty, Spa and wellness sector for over 19 years. She also founded and owns the award-winning Edvard & Pink brand. 

Anita is passionate about beauty, spa and wellness and frequently brings her distinctive approach and expansive knowledge of beauty and business to various industry outlets. She is a regular beauty contributor and her experience extends to business development and consultancy. She presently works with over 300 of Ireland’s leading beauty salons and spas.

At the 2019 Business All-Star Awards in Croke Park, Anita was accredited with the title of Thought Leader by Vice-President of the European Parliament Mairead McGuiness. Anita is a co-founder of the Irish Spa Association and was appointed Irish ambassador of World Wellness Weekend for 2021.

Anne O’Leary

CEO, Vodafone Ireland

Anne O’Leary was appointed CEO of Vodafone Ireland in February 2013, having spent five years as enterprise director. She joined Vodafone from BT Ireland where she was managing director for six years and was previously regional director with Esat Telecom.

As CEO of Vodafone, Anne is committed to continued investment in Ireland’s telecommunications infrastructure, resulting in Vodafone’s nationwide rollout of 4G and, most recently, the launch of 5G. She is also overseeing SIRO, Vodafone’s joint venture with the ESB, investing €450m in the expansion of high-speed fibre broadband across Ireland. 

Additionally, Anne is driving the gigabit society agenda in Ireland – with the explicit goal of access for everyone to 1-gigabit broadband speed. She firmly believes that equality of connectivity and the benefits that digital brings will change how everyone in Ireland lives, works and plays. 

A Cork native, Anne has long championed wellbeing, diversity and inclusion in the workplace. This has positioned Vodafone as an employer of choice in Ireland and helped them achieve the Business Working Responsibly mark. Anne has served as president of Dublin Chamber and is currently chair of Irish charity, GOAL. Anne also sits on the board of directors for South Africa’s Vodacom and the Board of Greencore.

Bobby Kerr

Entrepreneur and broadcaster

Bobby is formally co-owner and Chairman/CEO of Insomnia Coffee Company (which he exited in 2018), Ireland largest independent coffee chain, which at that time had over 140 shops, employed over 500 people and sold over 14 million cups of coffee a year.

Best known in Ireland as an original Dragon on Irish TV version of Dragons’ Den, Bobby is an experienced broadcaster and public speaker. He is a presenter on Down to Business, the popular Newstalk radio business show with 115,000 listeners and co-hosts an SME slot called “#open4biz” on Lunchtime Live on Newstalk. His 2016 eight-part maritime TV documentary, Along Home Shores, saw Bobby circumnavigate Ireland looking at life, history, sport and business with water being the common theme.

Bobby is passionate about small business. He sat on the board of Microfinance Ireland (MFI) for three years, a not-for-profit lender that provides loans to small businesses, and is a member of the Small Business Advice Programme – a targeted programme set up to provide free advice and support to SMEs. Recently, he joined the board of healthy food delivery business DropChef which is a rapidly growing meal distribution business across Ireland.

Caroline Kennedy

Founder, Kennedy PR+Brand

Caroline Kennedy is the founder of Kennedy PR+Brand, one of Ireland’s leading communications agencies, specialising in premium and luxury consumer brands. The company has an impressive reputation over 25 years as a leader in the beauty, hospitality, fashion, property, interiors and lifestyle sectors.

Caroline and her team regularly work with blue-chip companies and brands such as Louise Kennedy, Brown Thomas, Hermes, Jaguar, Landrover, Nespresso, The Merrion, Sheen Falls, Zalando, Waterford Crystal, Ballyfin Demesne, and the FX Buckley Group, amongst others.

Caroline is a board member of the Ireland Funds and is passionate about media and the consumer marketplace. She has been responsible for the inception of the IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year Awards and has been a judge at the awards each year.

Chupi Sweetman Pell

CEO, Chupi

Founding her eponymous jewellery company in 2013, Chupi Sweetman Pell wanted to capture memories and moments through her unique, nature-inspired collections. With a focus on sustainability, craftsmanship and design, her creations have become increasingly focused on heirloom investment pieces. Every piece designed by Chupi is handcrafted by skilled artisans in Ireland using traditional methods and ethical, sustainable materials.

Chupi’s small startup became an internationally beloved brand, adored by fans in over 65 countries across the world. Working from the Dublin headquarters, Chupi has a team of 50 people working for her and is currently expanding into the American market.

Clodagh Edwards

CEO, IMAGE Media

Clodagh’s passion for media, innovation and disruption means she was always destined for a career in publishing. As CEO of IMAGE Media since 2015, Clodagh has reinvented an iconic brand, developing it from one based solely in the printed word, into a modern, relevant media business that includes digital, video, social and experiential offerings. 

Clodagh became CEO of IMAGE Publications in January 2015. Formerly, she was commercial director of the company, a position she had held since August 2011. Clodagh’s responsibilities included overseeing revenues for all titles including IMAGE, IMAGE Interiors & Living, IMAGE Brides, Garden Heaven and Cara along with IMAGE.ie and IMAGE Events. In addition, Clodagh oversaw all print and digital, corporate sales and product brand development initiatives for IMAGE Publications.

Clodagh embraces an industry that is constantly in flux. She is never afraid of change nor is she slow to embrace it. She loves the challenge this dynamic industry presents and is determined to play her part in defining the future shape of it. To this end, Clodagh has attended major publishing conferences abroad including FIPP, Toronto 2015, Guardian 2016, FIPP Berlin 2018. Clodagh participated in the Yale University course in Leadership Strategies in Magazine Media, 2016 and is a member of IAB Ireland. 

Dan Kiely

Co-founder, Voxpro

As co-founder and former CEO of Voxpro, Dan Kiely is an entrepreneur through and through. Voxpro was acquired by TELUS International in 2017 and Dan continues to be part of the global TELUS International team as a Strategic Advisor, providing digital customer experience innovation and next-generation solutions for global and disruptive technology brands.

Using his entrepreneurial passion and creativity, he dreams big and encourages innovation in all aspects of his work. Dan is an early-stage investor and most recently, a co-founder of MarTech startup Vudini.

Dee Forbes

Director-General, RTÉ

Prior to taking up her role as Director-General of RTÉ in July 2016, Dee was based in London for more than 27 years, working for broadcasters and advertising agency Young and Rubicam.

Most recently she was President and Managing Director of Discovery Networks Northern Europe. Before joining Discovery, Dee led Turner Broadcasting’s business in the UK and Ireland. She spent several years working at Turner in a variety of commercial roles, including General Manager for the Nordic/Central and Eastern Europe and EMEA regions, and Head of Advertising Sales for Europe.

Dee is a former non-executive director of the board of The Irish Times, she currently sits on the board of Munster Rugby and was a founding director of Ireland’s first rural digital hub, the Ludgate Hub. A native of Drimoleague in West Cork, Dee is a graduate of UCD where she studied history and politics.

Domini Kemp

Co-founder, ITSA Group

Domini Kemp co-founded ITSA, Hatch & Sons, Alchemy Juice Co, Joe’s and Feast catering and events with her sister Peaches. The sisters were finalists of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year, and winners of the IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year Award.

Domini is a Euro-Toques chef and was awarded her MA in gastronomy and food studies in 2019. She developed the PEP Entrepreneur Programme in Wheatfield Prison, which was recently turned into a documentary, Prison Breaks on Virgin Media, looking at ways to reduce the cost of recidivism through entrepreneurial activities for prisoners.

Domini is author of five cookbooks and was the Irish Times food writer from 2008 to 2016. Her fifth cookbook, The Ketogenic Kitchen, has been a best-seller in Ireland and the US. She has presented to health care professionals both in Ireland and Switzerland as a patient advocate on topics of food, cancer and the concept of food as medicine. She is currently completing a chartered director Diploma in the Institute of Directors and a diploma in culinary medicine. She regularly contributes to TV and radio and consults on restaurant and food projects.

Fiona Dawson

Global President, Mars Food

Fiona Dawson joined the Mars Graduate Scheme in 1988 straight from Trinity College in Dublin, rising through various management and leadership positions, to her latest role as Global President of Mars Food, Mulitsales and Global Customers. She has been a member of the Mars Incorporated Leadership Team, which has global annual revenues of over $40billion. Her leadership roles have included General Manager Ireland, President of Global Retail and Mars Chocolate UK and European Marketing Vice President.

Fiona also has a strong track record in sustainability and health and wellbeing, particularly women’s entrepreneurship and human rights. She currently chairs the Women’s Business Council in the UK and sits on a number of advisory boards, including Trinity Business school.  

Fiona is a non-executive director of the Lego group, and has recently joined the board of Marks & Spencer. In March 2021 she was awarded an honorary CBE for services to women and the UK economy. 

Hazel Chu

Councillor, Dublin City Council

Hazel Chu is an Irish Green Party Politician and current Dublin City councillor. Formerly the Lord Mayor of Dublin from June 2020 to June 2021, she was the first Irish-born person of Chinese descent to be elected to political office in Ireland.

Her career spans thirteen years from start-ups to multinational operations, non-profits to government and public sector to private sector. Working in communication and marketing, her skills at stakeholder management and brand development meant she rose through the ranks to become head of brand and corporate communications at Diageo in 2013, a role she remained in until 2018 when she made the leap to politics. She joined the Green Party and in 2018 was named the party’s national coordinator and chair of the executive committee.

Hazel has received a number of awards including commendations from then-President of Ireland Mary McAleese and President of Supreme Court Justice John Murray. She is also a regular contributor for Newstalk and RTÉ.

Helena Ryan

Co-founder, WellFest

In the field of health and fitness, Helena Ryan is an innovator and pioneer who co-founded the award-winning festival, WellFest. Helena graduated university with a bachelor degree in business and law from University College Dublin. In 2011, Helena commenced a training contract with William Fry solicitors and qualified into the Commercial Real Estate department where she currently works as a Senior Associate.

In November 2014, WellFest started as an idea between Helena and Fionnuala Cleary. As the idea grew from concept to start-up, Helena’s sister Katie Ryan and Fionnualla’s husband Anthony Kelly joined them.

On 19 September 2015, WellFest held its first event in Herbert Park. Since then, WellFest has taken off. Held annually ever since with approximately 11,000 people attending the festival in Royal Hospital Kilmainham in May 2019.

Although the summer festival is still the jewel in the crown, WellFest is much more than this and has now become a health, fitness and wellness community offering year-round ‘pop-up’ style events including virtual events throughout 2020. 

Helena was awarded Young Businesswoman of the Year at the Image Businesswoman of the Year Awards 2018.

Iseult Ward

Co-founder and CEO, FoodCloud

Iseult is co-founder and CEO of FoodCloud, a non-profit social enterprise with a vision of a world where no good food goes to waste.

Launched in 2013 with co-founder Aoibheann O’Brien, FoodCloud has established two solutions for food redistribution connecting food businesses with local charities and community groups, providing an environmentally sensitive, socially responsible, and economically viable alternative to throwing away perfectly good food. In 2020, FoodCloud redistributed 3,022 tonnes of surplus food in Ireland. This is the equivalent of 7.2 million meals and 9,670 tonnes of CO2-equivalent avoided.

Iseult is a One Young World Ambassador and one of Time Magazine’s Next Generation Leaders. In 2016, Iseult secured the Marie Claire Future Shapers Award and was included on Forbes 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurs European 2017 list. She received a Humanitarian Award from the Muhammad Ali Centre in Louisville, Kentucky, the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Special Achievement Award and was named the overall winner of the IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year Award. In 2020, Iseult was awarded the Social Responsibility Award at the inaugural UK Dept of TradeEuropean Tech Women Awards.

Kira Walton

Co-founder, VOYA

Kira Walton co-founded VOYA alongside her husband Mark and she serves on the board of directors for this innovative lifestyle brand.

VOYA started as an organic skincare company based in Ireland and has now grown to become a major exporter of Irish beauty products in 46 countries worldwide. Today’s top clients include, though is not limited to, The Four Seasons, St. Regis, Ritz Carlton, Brown Thomas, GHM, Jumeirah Burj Al Arab, The Peninsula Hong Kong, Ashford Castle, Waldorf Astoria, and Emirates Airlines.

Since 2006, Kira’s main role in the business is new product development. Her goal is to make beautiful, sustainable, and organic products that do not compromise efficacy or quality. With a background in graphics, Kira’s desk is constantly covered with the diverse materials, components, and new samples VOYA has in development. Kira guides the team during each stage of the process, from experimenting with ingredient combinations and testing to packaging design.

Recipient of the IMAGE Business of Beauty award in 2016, Kira has been responsible for bringing in high-profile influencers and partners over the years.

Linda Kiely

Co-founder, Voxpro

Linda Kiely is a strategic, award-winning businesswoman with over thirty years’ experience driving company growth at Voxpro, a digital marketing provider creating streamline customer experience, technical and sales support solutions that was acquired by TELUS International in 2017.

Within Voxpro, Linda led the charge, fostering the company’s chameleon-like culture that was crucial in the forging of long-lasting partnerships with some of the world’s most recognisable technology brands and becoming a truly global business.

Liz Cunningham

Director, Google

Liz Cunningham is EMEA finance director at Google. She is responsible for developing the strategic direction and future growth of the company as it relates to finance, investment and tax planning for over 100 entities across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Liz sits on the Google Ireland Ltd board as well as the boards of Alphabet entities in Ireland. She also leads the EMEA finance leadership team with responsibility for risk, compliance and culture. Liz is an active member of the Google Ireland leadership team where she contributes to site wide-initiatives and is the executive lead for the local [email protected] chapter and executive sponsor of Dublin Business Development.  

Liz joined Google in 2009. Starting out as a tax trainee with Arthur Andersen (and later KPMG), she was admitted as a Chartered Accountant Ireland member in 1997 and subsequently as a member of the Irish Taxation Institute in 1998. Liz is a graduate of DCU with a first-class honours degree in accounting and finance and a Masters degree in accounting.

Liz is married to Brian and has three children, twins Hugh and Petra, and big sister Claudia.

Mairéad Connolly

Partner, PwC

Mairéad is a taxation partner at PwC, leading a team of tax professionals with expertise in areas such as VAT, capital gains tax, income tax and corporate tax. She advises an extensive range of clients, from multinational companies and state bodies to family-owned businesses, on a variety of complex tax issues related to structuring, compliance, and Revenue interactions.

Levering Ireland’s knowledge-based tax incentives, intellectual property structuring, succession planning and tax-efficient executive remuneration are particular areas of interest for Mairéad. She is a regular public speaker and contributor in business forums and publications and is a fellow member of Chartered Accountants Ireland and an associate of the Irish Taxation Institute.

Margot Slattery

Global head, ISS World Services

As the Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion for ISS World Services, Margot Slattery is responsible for the strategic direction, implementation and alignment of its integrated diversity and inclusion initiatives across five global dimensions: Cultures & Origins, Disabilities, Gender, Sexual Orientation/LGBT+ and Generations. 

Margot also represents ISS World Services in global diversity and inclusion forums such as the UN Global Compact, UN Free & Equal initiative and the Valuable 500 initiative. 

She is a member of the Workplace Pride Council and the ILO Council, through which she engages with other large global organisations that are looking at the present and future challenges surrounding D&I. 

Prior to joining ISS World Services in May 2021, Margot was Global Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer with the Sodexo Group for two years. Before that, she was country president for Sodexo Ireland for four years.

Outside work, Margot was co-chair of one of the Irish NGOs involved in the passing of the 2015 Marriage Equality Act in Ireland. Margot is President of the France-Ireland Chamber of Commerce and her non-executive board memberships include Out and Equal Workplace Advocates, Bord na Móna, the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and Business in the Community Ireland.

Mary Ann O'Brien

MD, Lily O’Brien’s

Mary Ann O’Brien is the founder and managing director of Lily O’Brien Chocolates. Following her recovery from a debilitating illness in the 1990s, Mary Ann discovered her passion for chocolate and founded Lily O’Brien’s in her Kildare kitchen in 1992, naming it after her eldest daughter, Lily. 

Producing luxury chocolates, the company is now an internationally recognised brand with a turnover of over €20 million. It continues to operate our of Kildare in their state-of-the-art Newbridge factory where Mary Ann puts an emphasis on innovation and flavour. Winner of the 2007 overall IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year, Mary Ann has created a luxury brand in a highly competitive marketplace and she sits on a number of advisory panels that support female entrepreneurs.

Melanie Morris

Contributing editor, IMAGE Media

With backgrounds in PR, event management, publishing and journalism, Melanie joined as the editor of IMAGE Magazine in 2005, and since then her role has taken many shapes and forms. Promoted to editor-in-chief in 2013, she founded the company’s now thriving events division and has since been the catalyst for many of IMAGE’s broad-spectrum offerings.

Creativity has always been at the heart of everything Melanie does, she enjoys the thrill of building and connecting long-lasting relationships. Now an IMAGE contributing editor and experienced presenter,  Melanie’s close personal and professional relationship with Clodagh Edwards sees the two constantly hatching plans, usually over Diet Cokes and coffee.

Pamela Quinn

MD, Kuehne + Nagel

Pamela Quinn joined global logistics company, Kuehne + Nagel, in 2001, at a time when its Irish operation had a small dedicated team of just 30 employees. With a natural aptitude for numbers, Pamela started her career in accounts and later human resources, recognising how important an organisation’s staff is to achieving and maintaining a successful business.

In 2013 Pamela took the lead of the Irish operation as Managing Director and currently leads a team of 400 across 3 branches in Dublin, Cork and Shannon. Throughout her tenure, Pamela has driven and overseen a clear strategy for the business resulting in a bottom-line growth of 150%, firmly placing Kuehne + Nagel as the largest freight and logistics company in Ireland. Pamela has a clear and consistent vision of where she wants the company to go, which she credits with always starting with the end in mind.

Pamela has been consistently recognised as an inspirational leader. She won IMAGE Business Woman of the Year 2016, was one of the top 25 most influential women in Ireland in 2018 and in 2019, Pamela was awarded the accolade of Ireland’s Most Trusted Leader by the Great Place to Work Institute. 

Peaches Kemp

Co-founder, ITSA Group

Over 20 years ago, Peaches and her sister, Domini, founded ITSA Bagel and have since created multiple brands including Joe’s Coffee, Alchemy Juice Co, Hatch & Sons, Kemp Sisters, Feast Catering and most recently, Betty’s Milk Bar. They also run Hugh Browns and Edition in Brown Thomas Dublin and Table Restaurant in BT Cork.

Peaches holds a postgraduate degree in PR and qualified with the Wine and Spirit Education Trust in the Irish Wine Board (Advanced Level). The sisters won the 2009 IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year and they were EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in 2011.  She served on the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year board from 2012 to 2020 and was its chair from 2018 to 2020.  She serves on the judging panel for SEI (Social Entrepreneurs Ireland) and regularly contributes to their mentoring programme. 

She is a huge advocate for entrepreneurism and has worked with Cork BIC for the past eight years on the Entrepreneur Experience, mentoring emerging entrepreneurs and HPSU’s looking to scale and seeking investment. She is currently enrolled in the Institute of Directors’ chartered director programme.

Sinéad McSweeney

Managing Director, Twitter Ireland

Sinéad McSweeney leads both Twitter’s public policy team in Europe, the Middle East and Africa as well as serving as the Managing Director of Twitter’s operations in Ireland. Sinéad has been a key leader within the Twitter team since she joined the company in 2012.

Prior to Twitter, Sinéad was director of communications for An Garda Síochána from 2007 to 2012 and before that was director of media and public relations for the police service of Northern Ireland between 2004 and 2007. From 1996 to 2004 Sinéad held a range of political advisory positions in the Irish government including roles as special adviser to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and, prior to that, at the Attorney General’s Office.

A native of Midleton, Co Cork, Sinéad qualified as a barrister in 1993. She began her working life as a parliamentary transcriber in the Dail debates unit of the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Sonia Deasy

Co-CEO, Pestle & Mortar

Sonia Deasy is co-founder and co-CEO of Pestle & Mortar, an Irish skincare company that launched in 2014. As a busy mother-of-five, Sonia understands how difficult it can be to find a daily skincare routine that is both simple and effective. Sonia became determined to find a simple daily skincare solution to remedy dull, dehydrated skin. Driven by the belief that skincare shouldn’t be complicated, she created a line of simple, highly effective skincare products.

Pestle & Mortar’s philosophies are rooted in Sonia’s Indian heritage in natural healing. For six generations, her family have practised as medicine men in India. By combining high-performance, active ingredients with nourishing natural extracts, Sonia has created a routine of products that are pure, safe and suitable for all skin types.

Since the phenomenal success of her first formulation, pure hyaluronic serum, Sonia has catapulted the company onto the global stage. Pestle & Mortar is now stocked in 21 countries across three continents. 

Before establishing Pestle & Mortar, Sonia worked alongside her husband in their portrait photography studio. They continue to work together today and live in Kildare with their five children.

Sophie Carey

Deputy director, UCD Careers Network

Sophie Carey is an experienced manager with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. She is the deputy director of the careers network in University College Dublin where she leads a number of strategic initiatives and manages a team of career professionals.

Prior to this she was MBA programme director at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and has extensive experience in both career development and human resources, having previously worked as a career development consultant and in the banking sector in a variety of HR and project management roles.

Stha Banks

Board Director, Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland

Stha Banks has 12 years of experience working in digital media marketing – from strategy right through to implementation, insights and reporting. Stha is the Board Director of the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI) – the leading representative and advocacy organisation for the Irish marketing and communications sector. IAPI recently published the first-ever global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) census in the marketing and advertising world, designed to assess the scale of the diversity challenge facing the profession. As a passionate advocate of Diversity and Inclusion, Stha also sits on the Core Diversity & Inclusion Council.

As an advertising professional Stha has delivered award-winning campaigns with local and international brands helping them connect with their customers using digital platforms. As Head of Paid Social at Core, Ireland’s largest marketing communications company, Stha has doubled her team; developed processes; best practice frameworks; driven strong revenue growth through reviewed financial structures and targets, and developed key relationships in social – all of which are now used to train new starters/ clients and internal teams too.

Tom Lyons

CEO, The Currency

Tom Lyons is a decorated business journalist and chief executive of The Currency, an online publisher offering insightful, dynamic and brave stories, commentary and investigations with a focus on business, finance, economics and public policy. Named Business Journalist of the Year on three occasions, Tom won plaudits and respect for his unflinching coverage of Ireland’s boom, bust and recovery. 

Prior to The Currency, he worked with The Sunday Business Post for four years, serving as deputy editor and then as executive editor. In these roles, he was crucial to the revival of the newspaper, both commercially and editorially.

He is the co-author of two bestselling books, The Fitzpatrick Tapes and Fingers, and a presenter of Inside Irish Nationwide, a full-length television documentary.

Uruemu Adejinmi

Mayor, Longford County Council

When Fianna Fáil Cllr Uruemu Adejinmi was elected as Mayor of Longford County Council in June 2021, it marked a series of firsts for the county. She is the first migrant, first African and first black female to become Mayor.

Uruemu’s election as Cathaoirleach of Longford Municipal District also makes her the country’s first female African Mayor.

Uruemu came to Longford from Nigeria in 2003 and joined Fianna Fáil in 2016, when she supported a candidate in a local election. In 2018, she undertook an internship with the Immigrant Council of Ireland, shadowing Joe Flaherty while he was a local councillor. In 2020, Mr Flaherty became a TD and Uruemu was co-opted to his seat.

Uruemu previously served as an executive officer at the Department of Health and has a Masters of Business Administration from Athlone Institute of Technology.

Yvonne Mowlds

Partner, PwC

Yvonne is an advisory consulting partner at PwC, having recently joined the Irish firm from PwC UK. As part of the PwC government and health industries team, Yvonne works with clients to support them to solve some of their most complex problems.

She has specialised in healthcare for the last 14 years and has experience working with a wide range of healthcare organisations and systems, at both a local and national level, in the UK and other international territories to deliver transformation and sustainable change.