Noeline has been the Director General of FLAC since 2005.  Before that, she worked in general practice as a solicitor, with a particular interest in family law and in human rights law in general, refugee and immigration law in particular. She sits on the Law Society's Human Rights Committee and its Family Law and Civil Legal Aid Committee. She is a former Chairperson of the Irish section of Amnesty International and is a Trustee of Front Line, the Dublin-based international foundation for human rights defenders at risk.

 

John is currently a Non-Executive Director of Zurich Bank and Bullman Investment Management.  He has been a practitioner in the financial services industry for more than 23 years.  John initially spent 14 years with Irish Permanent and, after a number of varied management positions within the company, was appointed Deputy Head of Group Marketing.  He played an integral role in the demutualisation of Irish Permanent.  He was head-hunted to Eureko Ireland in 1999. He joined the company as Head of Group Planning and Marketing. John was responsible for the launch of the Friends First Group brand.  John was appointed General Manager of Friends First and was appointed to the Management Board.  While at Friends First, he was responsible for group planning and marketing and the running of a number of subsidiary businesses.

John has been a Director of Social Innovations Ireland since 2001.  He is Chair of the Immigrant Council of Ireland and a Director of the Irish Youth Foundation. 

 

For more than 50 years, Sr Stan Kennedy has pioneered, campaigned, explored and developed a range of inspiring social innovations to benefit thousands of people.  In the 1960s, she worked alongside Bishop Peter Birch to develop Kilkenny Social Services into a blue-print for the rest of Ireland.  In 1974, Sr Stan was appointed the first Chair of Combat Poverty and in 1985, she established Focus Ireland – the country’s biggest NGO dealing with homelessness.  In 2000, Sr Stan founded The Sanctuary, a meditation and spirituality centre in the heart of Dublin City and in 2001, she established Social Innovations Ireland, parent organisation of the ICI and Young Social Innovators.  Sr Stan has received many awards and tributes including:  Kerry Person of the Year (1981); Honorary Doctorate in Law from Trinity College Dublin (1982); University of New York Special Honour for commitment to the disadvantaged in Ireland (1993); The Lord Mayor of Dublin’s Award (1996), Honorary Doctorate in Law from NUI (2003); Meteor Awards Humanitarian of the Year (2004); and Honorary Degree of Doctor of the Open University.

 

Stewart was Chief Executive of Paddy Power plc for 14 years.  He is on the Board of a number of organisations, including Paddy Power plc and the Dublin Simon Community.  He is currently in practice as a psychotherapist.

 

Lawrence came to Ireland in 1986 as an undergraduate student.  After completing his PhD, Lawrence set up a consultancy business in 1995 and then worked for Ericsson in Athlone.  Later, he set up his own pharmaceutical R&D businesses in Dublin.  Lawrence is active in the migrant community in Ireland.

 

Stavros (Aki) Stavrou has a 25-year record as a development practitioner and activist in the academic, private, state, civil society and NGO sectors in Europe and Africa.  His main areas of expertise are in reintegration of ex-combatant programmes in post conflict countries, focussing on child, female and disabled ex-combatants; democracy and peace building in developing countries; forced migration and youth at risk in emerging democracies; and communications regulatory policy, specifically universal service delivery, in developing countries.  In Ireland, he has worked on immigration, integration and social inclusion service and policy issues related to asylum seekers, refugees and labour migrants.  He is currently a senior conflict and development specialist at the World Bank in Washington DC.

 

Derek has been a practicising solicitor in the areas of immigration and asylum law since 1993.  As one of the few legal practitioners in Ireland trained by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Derek joined the newly emerging council of the Irish Refugee Council and became its Chair from 1999 to 2001.  During this time, he negotiated legal representation for the Council and as active in securing a system of legal representation for asylum seekers in Ireland.  Derek has been a lecturer for the Law Society of Ireland and a guest speaker for other organisations active in pursuing the rights of migrants.

 

 

 

Larry is a representative of Social Innovations Ireland on the Board of the Immigrant Council of Ireland.  He was formerly President of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Dublin and is currently on the World Council of that organisation.  Larry is a non-executive Director of a number of voluntary agencies concerned with homelessness, community development and social justice and has been a member of Government advisory bodies on social issues.

 

 

Prior to his retirement in 2010, Philip was a senior hospital manager in Dublin.  For the major part of his career he was Director of the European Healthcare Management Association -  a not-for-profit network organisation, with 250 corporate members in 30 European countries, committed to improving healthcare in Europe by raising standards of managerial performance.  He has acted both as a World Bank and World Health Organisation consultant, advising on healthcare management strategies in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Turkey, and has directed five major multinational studies funded by the European Commission.  He is currently a Commissioner of the Accreditation Commission on Colleges of Medicine and, in addition to the ICI Board, he is on the Board of Trustus - a South County Dublin social welfare organisation.  Philip is also advising the Irish Red Cross on migration policy.