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Our Board + CEO
Luke Fitzgerald
Chief Executive Officer
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Board of Directors
Naomi Rutenberg (Chairperson)

Naomi is a seasoned and strategic leader with experience maintaining healthy organizational growth and building a high-performance culture. Naomi is an expert in sexual and reproductive health, HIV and AIDS, adolescent and gender programming, and program research and evaluation. She is also a skilled fundraising professional with a successful track record of increasing funding and support for mission driven organizations. Naomi has extensive networks among NGOs, governments, and multi-lateral agencies, and foundations, and is a frequent speaker at events, has authored blogs and opinion pieces, and has published more than 40 peer reviewed articles.

 

Helen Thompson
Helen is a senior business leader with significant experience gained across fashion, apparel, footwear, and accessories sectors. Helen holds key experience in leading business with strong social purpose, ensuring strong connection to the purpose at all stages of the consumer and employee journey. Helen has delivered profit across international markets, channels and regions including Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and the Americas. She has also led large and multicultural teams delivering to consumers and customers across multiple channels; retail, franchise, owned and third-party ecommerce, wholesale, JV, distributors, and agents.

 

Pam McHugh
Pam holds 20 years’ + experience in international cooperation and humanitarian programmes focusing on early childhood development, child protection, mother and child health programmes, women’s empowerment, and prevention of gender-based violence, as well as donor liaison, communications, and management. Pam has also gained 10 years’ experience in social programmes in Ireland focusing on services for single parents and people affected by serious mental illness.
 

Kevin Hayes
Kevin is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland with over 15 years’ experience of senior financial positions in SME’s in Ireland.  Kevin has experience of the Not For Profit sector having worked for Goal in Somalia and in the Dublin Head Office from 1992 to 1997.
 

Lauren Du Preez
Lauren is a senior revenue accountant at Ion Trading Ireland Limited and a registered Chartered Accountant in South Africa since 2019. Lauren has many years of experience of audit with big 4 companies such as PwC South Africa and EY Ireland.

 

Donal Denham
Dónal joined the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs in 1974. He has extensive experience in the areas of economic policy formulation and trade promotion, of human rights and of humanitarian and development issues. Dónal was the first Irish diplomat to serve in Zambia where he oversaw the launch and expansion of the Irish Government’s bilateral aid programme. During the period 1990 to 1997, he achieved a number of significant advances in Ireland’s human rights track record and was closely associated in the selection of Mary Robinson as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. From 1997 to 2001, Dónal served on secondment from the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Irish Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and was actively engaged in policy initiatives leading to the improvement of Irish economic performance. Dónal was posted as Irish Consul General to the western United States in November 2001. In 2005 he was appointed Ireland’s first resident Ambassador to Lithuania & Belarus and in 2013 he became Ambassador to Finland. Dónal retired in 2015 and is now a mentor, consultant, and initiator. He is a founder and facilitator of three U3A groups with over 360 members. He is also a former Board member of the European Movement..