Our Patron
Our Patron is Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland.
Our Board
Gerry Culligan (Chairperson)
Start date: April 2016
Gerry Culligan is an independent Consultant, Board Advisor and Non Executive Director in the private, public and not for profit sectors working with clients to develop and implement strategies and enhance business performance.
Gerry has extensive commercial and financial experience across a number of industries, having held senior Executive Director roles in Transport with Iarnród Éireann/Irish Rail, Financial Services with Aviva, Communications with Eircom and Grocery with Mars Ireland. Gerry has held positions as non-executive Chair of Eircom Phonewatch, Ireland’s leading residential home security company and is a former Director of the Eircom Employee Share Ownership Trust. Also, he was a Non-Executive Director at Trócaire and was Chair of their Funding and Public Engagement Board Committee.
Gerry is an accountant (FCMA) and a member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland (MMII).
Skills: Strategic Development and Implementation, Business Transformation, Commercial Acumen and General Management.
Monika Vikander-Hegarty (Vice Chairperson)
Start date: December 2020
Monika Vikander-Hegarty is a strategic Human Resources executive with extensive global experience across HR functions, with strong capabilities in talent management and organisational effectiveness. Career spans across private sector organisations in diverse industries including, Medical Device, Retail, Electronics, and Manufacturing. Aligns HR programs with business strategies and delivers shareholder and stakeholder value.
Serving as a Director of Teleflex Medical Europe Limited and several subsidiary companies. Monika is currently Vice President, Human Resources, Global Commercial & Talent Development.
Monika is an active member of the Global Diversity and Inclusion Council and has served as member of the EMEA and APAC Regional Boards. She has extensive experience in the critical HR functions of recruiting, talent management, performance management, total rewards, and operations and driving cultural change through employee engagement strategies
Monika has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Higher Diploma in HR Management, a Master of Science in Leadership in Education, is a qualified Personal, Leadership and Executive Coach and has a Diploma in Company Direction. She holds chartered membership with several industry associations.
Skills: Strategic Leadership, Board Leadership, Human Resources & Learning and Education, Project Management, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Corporate Social Responsibility and Change Management.
Michael Kavanagh (Treasurer)
Start date: January 2018
Michael is the CEO of the Compliance Institute, a Board member and chair of the audit committee of Carmichael, vice chair of the Sport Ireland/FAI Governance Oversight Group, a member of the Sustainable Finance Skillnet Steering Committee , a council member and Chair of the Education committee of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a member of the Irish committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales.
Prior to that Michael was Director of DPP with KPMG Ireland, CEO of IAASA (The Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority), Head of Financial Reporting Supervision with IAASA and Technical Manager and Head of the practice review function at the Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He established Ireland’s statutory accounting enforcement function (tasked with examining whether the financial reports of listed entities comply with financial reporting standards) and oversaw the establishment of Ireland’s statutory Audit Inspection regime (tasked with inspecting the quality of audit work conducted by Ireland’s large audit firms) . For 12 years, he was the Irish Observer at the Corporate Reporting Council of the FRC which produces UK and Irish accounting standards. He was also Ireland’s representative at ESMA’s European Enforcers Co-ordination Sessions which is tasked with co-ordinating accounting enforcement across Europe having chaired a number of ESMA sub-committees. Michael has acted as examiner, moderator, lecturer and solution writer for various accountancy bodies.
Michael is a qualified accountant and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CPA Ireland) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW).
Clodagh O’Brien
Start date: January 2018
Clodagh is a partner in Crowe Horwath’s Consultancy department and she and her team joined from Newmarket Consulting where she was Managing Director. Clodagh has almost 20 years’ experience working with organisations in the commercial, nonprofit and public sectors. Her particular interests are arts and culture, the creative sector, education, health and social care, and tourism.
She has worked in multi-national and owner-managed environments, in national and international contexts. Prior to joining Newmarket, she worked in a marketing capacity in the media, leisure and electronics sectors in Ireland and the UK.
Clodagh graduated from Dublin City University in 1993 with an honours degree in International Marketing and Languages (German and Spanish) and graduated from NUI Maynooth in 2010 with a Masters in Sociology.
Skills: Strategy, Organisation Review and Development, Marketing and Digital Marketing, and Business Planning
Joe Ritchie
Start date: January 2018
Joe is the Principal of Donal M Gahan Ritchie & Company Solicitors which is a general legal practise based in Dublin 2. Joe has over 20 years’ experience of dealing with a variety of legal matters.
Joe is a qualified solicitor and was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 1998.
He is a Board member of the IMNDA (Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association)
Skills: Legal Compliance, Commercial and General Management.
Margaret Rogers
Start date: March 2018
Margaret retired as CEO of Heart Children Ireland (HCI) in August 2021. HCI is the support group in Ireland for children born with a Congenital Heart Disorder.
She has over 21 years’ experience as the CEO of a charity. She also has over 20 years’ experience working in credit control at EBS Building Society.
Margaret also worked in the nursing home sector for a short time.
Margaret is a Trustee of the Grant Making Committee of the Hospital Saturday Fund.
Skills: Fundraising, Event Management, Project Management, and Nonprofit Management.
Orla Cunningham
Start date: December 2020
Orla Cunningham is the COO with Trinity College Dublin having previously worked with Bank of Ireland for c30 years. During her career she has held numerous leadership positions and managed multiple projects which include Outsourcing, GDPR, IT change, Procurement, Operations Management, Facilities Management, Real Estate Restructure, Training and COO Markets and Treasury.
She holds a Bachelor of Business Studies degree from Trinity College, a CIPD diploma in Human Resource management from the National College of Ireland and a Diploma in Corporate Governance from the Corporate Governance Institute. She is also a co-opted Board member of the Children’s Rights Alliance and Common Purpose Ireland.
Skills: Business Transformation, Change Management, Project Delivery, Cyber Security, HR, Administration, Team Leadership, Process Re-engineering.
Martin Lyes
Start date: December 2020
Martin Lyes has held a number of senior management roles in the public sector and was Divisional Manager for Research & Innovation with Enterprise Ireland for 14 years. He has extensive experience of leading large teams in the delivery of technology and innovation programmes against strict deadlines and deliverables. He has also been deeply involved in leading staff through significant periods of change, including organisational mergers.
During his working life Martin has been involved in strategy development at an organisational, national and international level and retains an active network of contacts across European research and innovation agencies. He was Chair of the European Association of Innovation Agencies for a number of years, a Governor of the European Science Foundation and Delegate to a range of EU programmes.
Currently, Martin undertakes consultancy roles nationally and internationally, most recently in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, where he specialises in research strategies and innovation led change. He has been on the boards of a number of not for profit organisations and was Chair of the St Michael’s House Group of companies from 2016 – 2020 where he oversaw significant corporate governance changes. He was recently appointed to the Board of Tallaght University Hospital.
Skills: Organisational Innovation, Change Management, Performance Monitoring.
Noreen Fahy
Start date: June 2022
Noreen is the Director of Finance and Corporate Services of the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) and as a member of the IPA Senior Leadership Team, has responsibility for the development and delivery of the IPA Corporate Strategy, with specific responsibility for the Finance and Corporate Services strategy.
Noreen is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA), a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (ACMA), a Chartered Global Management Accountant and a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD Dip), Ireland.
Noreen’s career spans commercial and non-commercial sectors, both national and international. Specifically, Noreen offers 25+ years’ experience in the service sector (Education and Professional Development) with specialist expertise in the leadership and provision of training, advisory and consultancy services across state bodies, regulatory agencies, central and local government and the non-profit and public benefit entities.
In recognition of Noreen’s particular expertise in this area, she has been invited to sit on and Chair the Audit Committees of many public bodies including the Houses of the Oireachtas, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Local Authority and previously the Department of Defence, Mental Health Commission and others.
Noreen is deeply committed to continued self-improvement and development, and is motivated by supporting stakeholders in achieving goals and objectives.
Skills: Public Sector and Not For Profit Finance and Corporate Governance, Leadership and Strategic Performance, Operationalisation of Change, Audit and Assurance Arrangements.
Aileen Hickie
Start date: June 2023
Aileen Hickie is the Chief Executive Officer of the charity Parentline. Parentline is a national organisation offering information, support and guidance to parents in confidence and without judgement. Aileen has previously worked as a barrister in both criminal and civil law having been called to the Bar of Ireland in 2000.
Prior to that, Aileen was a journalist with various newspapers including The Sunday Business Post, The Sunday Tribune and The Irish Independent and has also worked as a broadcast journalist and contributor with many radio and television stations such as RTE radio 1 and Today FM and TV3 (now Virgin Media) and RTE television. She remains a weekly television news panel contributor to Today with Maura and Daithi on RTE 1.
Aileen has a BA (honours) in Communications and a Masters in Journalism from Dublin City University and a Barrister-at-Law degree from The Honorable Society of King’s Inns.
Skills: Legal, Fundraising, Media, Marketing, Nonprofit Management and Event Management.
Susan Prendiville
Start date: June 2023
Susan Prendiville is a Regulatory Compliance leader at Meta Inc. Susan has held the leadership role of Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Risk Officer and Money Laundering Reporting Officer for over five years at Meta, reporting directly to the Board of Directors, on risk, compliance and AML regulatory matters. Prior to Meta, Susan gained significant regulatory experience through both Risk Consulting as a senior manager with KPMG, and in Operational Risk with Elavon Financial Services merchant acquiring, a subsidiary of US Bank. Susan has over 15 years experience helping financial service institutions with Risk, Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing regulation implementation and adherence. Through her work, Susan has worked closely with the regulators in Europe, APAC, the USA and South America.
For over five years, Susan has been serving as an Executive Director on the Board of Facebook Payments International – an E-Money Institution (“EMI”) licensed in Ireland, which enables EU based charities to receive online donations via Facebook and Instagram from over 40 countries – c. $250M donations per annum.
Susan is a cross-functional leader with significant corporate, compliance, operations and governance expertise. She excels in high-growth environments, dealing with complex problems.
Susan is a chartered accountant (ACA) having trained with KPMG Ireland and is a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland, the International Compliance Association and the Institute of Banking. Susan holds a degree in Business and Law from University College Dublin and a Masters in Accounting with UCD Smurfit School.
Skills: Corporate Governance, Risk, Compliance, Regulation, Payments, Financial Services, Strategy
Hugh O’Hagan
Start date: July 2023
With over 15 years of expertise in the field, currently serving as Head of Risk Management at Mercer Global Investments Managers Limited in Dublin, Hugh specialises Risk Management and Compliance within the Asset and Investment Management industry. Hugh plays a crucial role in overseeing the firm’s risk, governance, and controls frameworks. He is passionate about supporting and cultivating risk cultures within organisations.Prior to his current role, Hugh held various positions in Operational Risk, Performance and Attribution within Risk Management at Amundi/Pioneer Investments. He also served as the Head of Risk & Compliance for W&W Investment Managers DAC. Hugh’s educational background further complements his professional experience. He is an Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) and holds a Certificate in Compliance (ACOI). He obtained a Bachelor of Business Studies from Trinity College Dublin and a Master in Business from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. Additionally, Hugh has a Professional Diploma in Applied Alternative Investments from the Institute of Bankers. Most recently, he completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Sustainability Leadership in Business from TU Dublin, highlighting his commitment to corporate environmental and social responsibility.
Skills: Risk Management, Corporate Governance and Reporting, Compliance, ESG & Sustainability, Financial Reporting and Audit & Assurance.