We are so pleased to welcome our Keynote Speaker -  Dr. Maureen Gaffney

Dr. Maureen Gaffney is a well-known psychologist, broadcaster and writer.  She consults and works with a wide range of businesses, helping them to build strong, diverse leadership teams and work cultures.  She has worked with many multinational organisations including Intel in Ireland, the U.S. and Israel, Boston Scientific, Amazon, Google, Hewlett Packard and Microsoft, as well as the Banking and Financial services sector in Ireland and the UK.

She has served on a number of state and private boards, including as Executive Chair of the National Economic and Social Forum, Chair of the Insurance Ombudsman Council, as a Law Reform Commissioner and member of the Council of the ESRI.  She has a long-term interest in diversity and gender issues, and is a member of the Harvard Kennedy School Women's Leadership Board, and served on its Executive Committee.  

She earned her B.A. in Psychology at University College Cork, her M.A. in Behavioural Sciences at the University of Chicago and her PhD at Trinity College Dublin.  She has completed Executive Education Programmes on leadership and governance in the Harvard Kennedy School, the University of Chicago Business School and the Kellogg School of Management.

She is author of the best-selling Flourishing (Penguin) and her new book Your One Wild and Precious Life will be published next year.

Our Ambassador for this Year's Event is Georgia Visnyei from Art of Coffee

Georgia Visnyei is Hungarian and has lived in Ireland since 2004, working originally as an architect until 2008, when due to the recession, she lost her job.  It was clear that there wouldn't be many architectural jobs in the near future, so she had to look at her other options.  Luckily, she had another passion besides architecture - coffee.  Georgia first started roasting coffee in her kitchen in 2009, then she set up her cafe - Cafe Lounge in 2010.  As the demand for her coffee grew, she invested in a separate coffee roaster premises and the Art of Coffee brand was established.

Art of Coffee won Great Taste Awards, one of their private labels won Bord Bia best prepared organic product.  Georgia collaborated with a brewery and won a silver medal at Alltech Craft Beer Festival in Dublin.  The business also won first place at the Local Enterprise Awards County Final in 2019.  Today Georgia has seven employees, supplying coffee nationwide and exporting to the UK and Hungary.  

MC for the Event is Carole Coleman

Carole Coleman is a journalist, broadcaster and speaker.  She currently presents and reports for This Week - Ireland's oldest radio news show, on RTE Radio One each Sunday.  Carole has held a number of positions in RTE including Environment & Education Correspondent and Washington Correspondent. 

Carole has written two books on American Culture and Politics and her writing has appeared in the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner.  Carole supports local initiatives in Leitrim to connect with the diaspora and bring jobs to the region.