Ashley Balbirnie
Board MemberAshley Balbirnie
A well-proven leader with a significant track record of achievement across a variety of market sectors, the management of change has been a constant in Ashley Balbirnie’s career that has included multi-national, start-up, and NGO experience.
As CEO of Focus Ireland, Ireland’s leading not-for-profit working to prevent people becoming, remaining or returning to homelessness, Ashley not only developed a clear strategic vision for the organisation but also helped deliver more services to more people impacted by homelessness than ever before.
Previously CEO of ISPCC Childline, Ireland’s oldest and most well-known children’s charity; and interim Chief Executive of Peter Bradley foundation, service provider to people with acquired brain injuries. Ashley also has vast experience in the commercial sector including the establishment and subsequent sale of Sunday newspaper, Ireland on Sunday, between 1996 and 2001.
Anne Bradley
Board MemberAnne Bradley
Anne has held senior leadership positions in technology, business transformation and aviation. She is a strong believer in inclusiveness: she knows that it is the diverse experience and ideas of people that inspire and lead an organization to deliver for their clients. As the Head of Group IT Digital & Delivery for International Airlines Group, Anne was responsible for a dynamic and innovative workforce in a highly competitive and technologically evolving industry. With over 30 years of experience in industry, she lead some of the most complex implementations in multi-million-pound organizational transformation programs and new business models.
John Casey
Board MemberJohn Casey
John is a partner in PwC, working in the firm’s Advisory practice where he specialises in mergers & acquisition and related due diligence. He has a broad sectoral experience, including healthcare, technology, pharma & life sciences, insurance and financial services, for both corporate and private equity clients. This involves advising clients on the financial and strategic implications of business decisions, through the various stages of the life cycles of those businesses.
John also leads PwC Ireland’s Capital Markets practice, supporting clients on IPOs, equity fundraising, debt issues and cross-border mergers.
Karen Cohalan
Board MemberKaren Cohalan
An experienced, commercially focused leader experienced in the not-for-profit, public and private sectors, Karen is a chartered accountant with an MBA from Henley Business School and a Professional Diploma in Corporate Governance from UCD. Karen speaks Polish, is passionate about supporting people to reach their potential. Qualified as an executive coach with Kingstown College and completed several mental health trainings, she is currently completing her MSc in Psychotherapy & Counselling with Turning Point Institute accredited by UCC.
Karen lives in Ringsend with her two sons.
Regina Doherty
Board MemberRegina Doherty
Served as Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection from June 2017 to June 2020. She was a TD from 2011 to 2020. She previously served as Government Chief Whip from 2016 to 2017. Regina has also been a Member of Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health & Children, a Member of Joint Oireacthtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure & Reform, both of which will have provided her with insights that will be valuable assets to the Pieta Board
John Dolan
Board MemberJohn Dolan
A chartered accountant with experience as Non-Executive Director, Board member and Chairman of a number of Company Boards and sub-committees, John has worked with a number of Ireland’s leading organisations in devising, planning and achieving their strategic growth plans. John has experience in helping organisations of similar size to Pieta to grow and develop their services through a board level focus on strategy, organisational structure and finance & funding.
Committed, innovative and results-driven, John has extensive experience in providing strategic input at board level and in working closely with management teams in executing upon agreed plans. He is commercially focused with a wide breadth of experience from over 20 years of advising Irish companies across sectors and industries as an executive in private equity, venture capital and corporate finance.
Eilis Hennessy
Board MemberEilis Hennessy
Eilis Hennessy Is professor of developmental psychology in the School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Ireland. She is co-founder of the School’s Youth Mental Health Lab, which promotes research in all aspects of youth mental health. Her research focuses on stigma and help seeking associated with mental health problems in childhood and adolescence.
Eilis is a member of the YOULEAD collaborative program, which includes academic researchers, clinical researchers, health service providers, and other stakeholders who are working together to deliver a doctoral training program in Youth Mental Health Research.
Eilis previously served on the board of St. Michael’s House and chaired the Board sub-committee on Quality and Safety.
Kathryn Holly
Board MemberKathryn Holly
Kathryn Holly is the former Chief Operations Officer for the Mater Private Healthcare Group, Kathryn held a number of posts in this organisation including Director of Quality, Director of Cancer Centre prior to being appointed as COO.
Kathryn is currently the Healthcare Sector Lead at TowerView, a specialist advisory and investment firm with a focus on the health and social care sectors. Kathryn holds an MBA( Ist Class Honours) from the Smurfit Business School.
She demonstrates strong leadership skills with a proven track record in developing middle and future senior managers, an ability to develop and implement new services and a key understanding of measurement systems to monitor and to ensure an optimum operating environment.
Declan O’Neill
Board MemberDeclan O’Neill
Executive Vice President (Product & Data) at Munich Re Automation Solutions, Declan O’Neill is a senior executive and actuary with extensive experience across product and system development. His proven ability to learn and adapt, with a track record of delivering key strategic projects makes him a dynamic and passionate leader, with strong interpersonal skills that have been responsible for influencing, motivating and organising cross functional teams. Declan also has extensive experience in managing significant internal and external stakeholder relationships.
He holds an MBA from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, a Professional Diploma in Financial Advice / QFA and is a Fellow of both the Society of Actuaries in Ireland and the Institute of Actuaries since 2000.
Ros O’Shea
Board MemberRos O’Shea
Ros is a founding partner of Acorn Governance Solutions, a consulting firm providing advice and leadership training in governance, culture, risk, compliance and business integrity and she lectures on these topics with UCD Smurfit Graduate Business School and the Institute of Directors. Ros is also a director of the BlackRock funds in Ireland, the Bank of Montreal (Europe) plc and the Food Safety of Ireland.
Prior to transitioning to a portfolio career, Ros enjoyed a highly successful executive career spanning almost 20 years working with two of Ireland’s largest and most-respected companies: CRH plc, where she was Head of Group Compliance & Ethics, and Smurfit Kappa Group plc.
Ros has first class honours business and Masters degrees from UCD, a professional diploma in Corporate Governance from UCD Smurfit Graduate Business School, is an associate of the Institute of Tax and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, having trained with PwC. She is also a graduate of the “Value Creation through Effective Boards” programme at Harvard Business School and is a Certified Bank Director, as designated by the Institute of Banking.
Furthermore, Ros is author of the book “Leading with Integrity – a Practical Guide to Business Ethics”, and is a regular contributor to news and print media on related topics.
Fiona Tierney
Board MemberFiona Tierney
Fiona Tierney is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Public Appointments Service which is the centralised provider of recruitment for the civil and public service. In that role, she successfully transformed and repositioned the organisation and oversaw the introduction of a new process of appointments to State Boards.
Fiona has a career history of successful leadership in senior executive and non-executive positions in both the private and public sector. She is a Chartered Director of the Institute of Directors, a member of the Board of eir and of the Board of the IMI. Until recently, she was a member of the Civil Service Management Board and of the Board of Trocaire.
She is a member of the Government appointed business group, Better Balance for Better Business, which is examining how more women can be involved in decision-making at the top level of businesses in Ireland. Fiona is on the committee of the International Women’s Forum and is a strong supporter of the 30% Club.
Mary Walshe
Board MemberMary Walshe
Mary has 36 years’ experience working in the health service. She is a registered nurse and midwife and has worked in senior nursing positions as a clinical nurse manager, Assistant Director of Nursing and Director of Nursing, in Beaumont Hospital, Peamount Hospital and Connolly Hospital. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing Studies, post graduate Diploma in Management, Post graduate Certificate in Neurosciences, Masters in Quality and Safety in Healthcare, and a Diploma in Coaching for Performance.
Mary also worked in acute services as the CEO in Connolly Hospital and in CHO 9 Dublin North City and County in several roles as Area Manager, Head of Social Care and as Chief Officer. In these roles she was the accountable officer for significant budget of 720 million and the delivery of health and social care services to a population of 620,000. Within her remit was responsibility for primary care, mental health, and social care services including disability and older person services. Mary retired from the health service in 2019 and now does healthcare consultancy.
She has served as a board member of Grangegorman Development Agency.
Elaine Austin
CEOElaine Austin
Elaine is a leader with over 20 years experience and expertise in delivering transformational people change to improve organisational capability, agility and performance. Elaine is currently the CEO of Pieta, the national suicide prevention charity in Ireland. Before joining Pieta Elaine held positions such as Associate Director with BDO Eaton Square, Head of Strategy, Culture and Organisational Design with Bank of Ireland, and the Chief Operating Officer, Group HR with Bank of Ireland.
Elaine is passionate about people - creating and driving people change to achieve strategic intent and enhance service delivery. She is also an externally recognised programme director.
Elaine has an MBA from the Ulster Business School, a 2:1 Honours in Economics from Queens University Belfast and a Postgraduate Diploma in Executive Coaching from the Irish Institute of Management.