Norma has worked in the financial services sector for a number of years and managed at both a regional and national level in Ireland. She has a strong background in risk assurance, change management and project management within the banking sector. She has successfully implemented regulatory policies end to end, developed strategic plans and control structures for the retail network and business banking in AIB Bank.

Norma has demonstrated good governance skills throughout her career and has developed and delivered national programmes in SME Lending and credit quality. She is currently serving as Chair of the Stephens Green Club in Dublin. Norma is the first woman to hold this position since the Club’s formation in 1840.

Órla ran a highly successful marketing and PR Consultancy for over 20 years, specialising and working with global luxury brands. She has worked closely with Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, over the past 15 years producing a number of very high profile events, and in 2018 joined Centrepoint as Relationship Director and Trustee of American Friends of Centrepoint and Centrepoint Trading.

Órla has most recently been working on the set-up and launch of Centrepoint’s innovative, sustainable, and affordable housing initiative, the Independent Living Programme – very much tied-in with the ambitious Homewards Campaign of Centrepoint’s patron, Prince William. Órla is an Ambassador for The Sorority and a founding member of The Sorority Council, a pioneering private society - a sisterhood - of inspiring professional women and is a trustee of FairBreak Global. A global movement whose mission it is to progress gender equality using cricket as a primary vehicle.

Paul is the Co-Chair of Happy Days Enniskillen and works in social and civic innovation. His background is in broadcasting, community organising, and academia and he has held senior leadership roles at Channel 4, Business in the Community and the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA). Paul has also been involved in setting up social ventures such as Action for Happiness, The Media Trust, Key4Life and the international arts programme, Arts Over Borders. As Director of Postgraduate Studies at Ravensbourne University London he established the Institute for Creativity and Technology focusing on design, innovation and technology as drivers for leadership and wellbeing across the creative economy.

Peter has had a career in banking which has enabled him to support his favourite art form, opera. He has supported the leading British opera companies over a number of years. He was on the Board of English National Opera for eight years from 1999, on the board of National Opera Studio for about ten years and is a trustee of the UK friends on the Aix Festival, as well as having been on the board of Happy Days EIBF for 8 years.

Bill is an American lawyer and banker who came to London in 1975. He is currently a senior advisor at Trinity Group Limited, which raises money for private equity fund managers. In his early days as a lawyer, he worked with Robert Kennedy on his last campaign in California in 1968. Since coming to London, he has been involved in a variety of charitable work including: membership on the Northwest London panel of the Princes Trust, funding young entrepreneurs; on the Princeton Schools Committee, interviewing applicants from the UK; membership on the Board of Cooperation Ireland and membership on the International Council of United World Colleges since 2013.

Carlo is one of Ireland’s top writers and a member of the Aosdana, Ireland’s top arts organization which is limited to 250 living artists who have produced a distinguished body of work. It was established by the Arts Council to honour artists whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the arts in Ireland and membership is by peer nomination and selection. Born in Dublin in 1954, Carlo was brought up in London, and studied at the University of York and the National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield. He has written several novels and short stories as well as directing award-winning films. He is currently writer-in-residence in HMP Maghaberry, Co. Antrim, where he has been in post since 1997 and a Visiting Fellow at University College Dublin. He has also taught at Trinity and Queen’s University Belfast. Carlo is also an occasional broadcaster and director of network television documentaries. His film ‘Put To The Test’ won the 1999 Royal Television Society award. He is a sometime chair of the Irish Writers’ Centre and was on the Board of the Arts Council from 1999 - 2003. He now lives in Enniskillen (and has lived in Enniskillen since 1989) with his wife and five children.

Jim Coleman is an economist with 30 years’ experience. A globally recognised expert in urban economic development, he envisions economic futures for cities and regions based on specialised industry strengths, low carbon innovation and urban technology. He is currently Head of Economic Advisory at WSP – a leading multi-disciplinary professional services firm. Jim provides expert economic advice to public bodies internationally including national governments, urban development companies, municipal authorities and international development agencies, including the World Bank and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). He previously held director-level roles at Oxford Policy Management, Buro Happold Engineering, Aecom and Cushman & Wakefield. He started his career as a lecturer in the Economics Department of Durham University and retains a strong link to academia through his position as Professor of Professional Practice in the School of Architecture & Cities at the University of Westminster, where he teaches on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in strategic spatial planning, regional development and urban design.

Mary has been involved in creating and building international businesses for the last 20 years. Specializing in the legal and luxury sectors, she currently runs a global media group which produces several market-leading events and publications. She is a Board member of peace charity Co-operation Ireland and has been involved in major fundraising for the charity for 25 years, having been awarded the Co-operation Ireland Peace prize in 2011. She was one of the founders of the Queens University Belfast City Leadership Group, funding and awarding scholarships to QUB students looking to get internships in the City of London and the US, connecting them with financial and legal firms. She is currently on the Advisory Board of the London Irish Lawyers Association. Mary was nominated as one of the top Irish business leaders in Britain by the Irish Post in its inaugural awards.

Nessa has worked as a lawyer for nearly 20 years in both Dublin and London specialising in media and entertainment. A graduate of Queens University Belfast, Nessa previously headed the film and television group at a top 20 global law firm in the city of London before she left to head the legal team at Umedia, a tax fund based in Brussels. Currently Nessa is commercial director of Align Pictures Inc, a production company based in Los Angeles, and involved at board level in The Take One Fund, a media fund based in Luxemburg which invests in all areas of media including film, television and theatre.