Speakers

Ruth Buckley – I Wish Co- Founder
ICT Director Cork City Council

Ruth Buckley is Head of ICT and Business services at Cork City Council. She is also Co-Founder of I Wish. Ruth currently leads the ICT transition portfolio of projects as part of the boundary extension of Cork City Council.

Ruth holds two internationally recognised project management certifications PMP and IPMA and has managed complex business transformation projects for over 20 years in both the private and public sectors.

Gillian Keating – I Wish Co- Founder
Partner Ronan Daly Jermyn

Gillian Keating leads Ronan Daly Jermyn’s Corporate and Commercial Department and the firm’s Technology and Life Sciences Groups.

Gillian is a Co-Founder of I Wish and is passionate about the next generation of young females and is very focussed on how we as a society need to fully enable young women to participate in the economy of the future.

Gillian believes we need to focus on understanding how we consciously and unconsciously limit young women and how best to remove those limitations as a matter of urgency, while at the same time we need to listen to what the next generation of women tell us is important to them choosing subjects, higher education courses and careers and showcase the opportunities in STEM. 

Caroline O’ Driscoll –  I Wish Co- Founder
Partner Deloitte

Corporate and international tax partner of Deloitte Caroline provides corporate and international tax advice to Tech companies particularly on inward and outward.

Caroline is Co-Founder of I Wish. Caroline says she looks to the girls who attend I Wish as they really inspire her to keep going on what has been a mad but amazing journey. She feels a huge sense of responsibility to enable every girl to live their brightest lives.

Caroline embarked on the I Wish journey with Gillian and Ruth because she could see the opportunity in STEM, but with less than 25% of the STEM workforce in Ireland being women she realised that there was a risk that her own daughter would not participate in the jobs of tomorrow, all she wants for her is equal opportunity of choice.

Sinead Kennedy – RTÉ

Sinead Kennedy is a TV Presenter and reporter who most notably presents the RTÉ one entertainment series Winning Streak with Marty Whelan. Throughout her illustrious career, spanning over fifteen years thus far in RTÉ, Sinead has hosted some of the country’s most popular shows and been on the cover of Ireland’s biggest magazines and national newspapers. For the past number of year’s Sinead has taken the role of MC at I Wish and is a huge supporter. We look forward every year to seeing her and welcoming her back. She creates a buzz and excitement that no one else in the room is capable of.

At I Wish we just love her !

Lauren Andrews – UCC WISTEM Chair & I Wish Alumni

Lauren is the current chairperson of the WISTEM society in UCC and her aim for the year is to make a difference by being the difference.

Lauren is a proud advocate for women in STEM as she was one of the first members of the WISTEM society in UCC where she was involved in public relations and she is the current chairperson.

Kate Brady – WISTEM CIT

kate is currently a 2nd year Structural Engineering Student in Cork Institute if Technology. She attended the I Wish Campus week in CIT in her transition year of secondary school which sparked her interest in Engineering. She returned to I Wish this year by helping out at the CIT I Wish campus week. She believes by encouraging girls to take up STEM subjects from a younger age, there is a higher chance of more girls choosing a STEM career in the future. She is also a member of the WISTEM society in CIT as well as leading the Civil and Structural Engineering Society as their chairperson.

Emma Brennan – CIT & I Wish Alumni

Emma is 20 years old from Bandon Co Cork and is in her 3rd year studying Software Development in CIT. Emma has been interested in STEM for as long as she can remember, she was even dubbed the “tech person” of her family when she was young and was always fascinated by computers and using them to solve problems and create new things.Emma continued pursuing computer science in secondary school and completed a 26-week course in UCC when she was 16. 

From then on her passion for computers continued to grow and brought her to where she is today, studying in CIT

Amy Dolan – UCC & I Wish Alumni

Amy is a third year Business Information Systems student in UCC. Amy was lucky enough to take part in the park Place Technologies I Wish Alumni externship in August 2019 which has really sparked her passion for encouraging young women to study STEM. Amy is a member of the WISTEM society in UCC and is currently on a six month work placement at Johnson Controls.

Emma Love – Senior Consultant & Strategic Advisory Services -Arup

Emma Love is a highly accomplished communication and change professional with over seven years’ experience in communications, stakeholder engagement, organisational change and business mobilisation.

Emma joined Arup in July 2019 bringing significant experience on complex transformation change programmes and a passion for advising clients on achieving their visions for the future. Working across a variety of sectors, including transport, energy and commercial, Emma is supporting change programmes to aid clients with decarbonisation strategies, increasing sustainability, improving experiences for end users and maximising the performance of assets through date driven solutions

Dr Pixie McKenna

Pixie graduated from UCC Medical school in 1995. Following a year of medical and surgical internship in Ireland, she joined the Cambridge Vocational Training Scheme in general practice. This involved three years of hospital training at Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge in medicine, surgery, general practice, care of the elderly, gynaecology, rheumatology, rehabilitation medicine and paediatrics.

In 1999she obtained her certificate in general practice training and membership of the Royal College of Practitioners. Over the last 13 years she has worked both in the NHS and the private sector in Ireland and the UK.

She is best known for her role in Channel 4’s primetime, BAFTA winning medical series Embarassing Bodies and Channel 4’s Food Hospital.

Claire McCarthy -Inside Sales Representative, Dassault Systémes

Claire graduated with a business degree in Marketing and Organisational Psychology and a Masters degree in International management & Global Business from the University of Limerick with her thesis focusing on the applications of the Internet of Things.

Passionate about sustainability completed Dassault Systémes 2019 graduate scheme, in which she is actively involved in various STEM initiatives, including representing Dassault Systémes at the UK’s largest STEM event- the Big bang Fair in Birmingham. In her pare time., she enjoys volunteering and running fundraising events around her native town of Skibbereen in West Cork.

Isabel O’ Connor, Solutions Architect, Dell Technologies

Isabel is a Solution Architect in the Dell Technologies Customer Solution Center in Limerick. Isabel started with the CSC as an intern in the summer of 2016 and returned to the team after completing her studies in Business Information Systems in Cork Institute of Technology. Isabel’s work focuses on all things End user computing but she also enjoys co-running the bi-annual Dell tech Limerick Transition Year Program and the work involved with being a core team member of GenNext Limerick.

Ciara Revins – REDFM Presenter

Ciara has been involved in radio for 18 years starting her adventure behind the mic at the age of 18. Having studied journalism in London Ciara returned to Ireland to pursue a media career. Ciara has worked in radio stations across Munster- Corks RedFM, Soin South West, Clare FM, Radio Kerry, and has held a diverse mix of positions from News Editor, Breakfast and Drive Time Presenter, news reporter and producer. She has also worked as a TV Presenter hosting a show on Irish TV for a number of years. Ciara is currently working on the Breakfast Show on Cork’s RedFM as well as presenting Saturday Breakfast.

Mary Moloney – Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering At CIT

Mary lectures on the Masters in Civil Engineering and the masters in Structural Engineering. Her research interests are primarily focused on sustainable infrastructure development and delivery, Irish infrastructural investment across its productive networks, planning policy and its relationship with infrastructure development. Mary’s Phd from UCC was on the Irish State infrastructural investment and analysis of past patterns and an outline of a future Integrated Systems of Systems evaluation methodology.

Mary is a strong advocate for female participation in STEM and is the Co-Ordinator of the CIT I Wish Campus Week.

Ciara has been involved in radio for 18

Cliona Murphy – Vice President R&D Pepsico

Strategic, achievement driven, consumer oriented senior R&D executive with proven track record of R&D and Technical leadershipin Snacks, Nutritious Foods & Beverages across developed and developing markets.

Experienced in business partnership, innovation portfolio management & transformation plus innovation, quality and R&D governance across multiple markets and business models. Track record of effectively managing technical professionals in multiple locations and leveraging supplier and external partnerships to complement internal system capabilities to deliver growth and productivity.

A high performing, effective leader who blends integrity, strategic thinking, business acumen with strong people management and communication skills to impact on business strategy, growth and top & bottom line performance.

Cliona is a huge supporter of I Wish and also serves as Chair of the I Wish Alumni Counsel. 

Amanda Burridge – Senior Site Reliability Engineer – Google

Amanda graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. After working a few years as a software developer for Compunetix, Amanda was recruited as a Site reliability Engineer in 2014 to Google’s office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in America.

For the first two years at Google, Amanda worked for hardware Operations SRE the team that supports all the automation that keeps google’s datacenter machines healthy for Google’s users. In 2016 Amanda initiated a transfer to Google’s engineering office in Dublin, Ireland working on the same team. In 2018 she joined Networking SRE, the team that supports Google’s enormous network and stepped into management that same year in October 2018.

Brenda Romero – Romero Games

Brenda Romero is an award winning game designer, Fullbright Scholar, entrepreneur, artist, writer and creative director who entered the game industry in April 2017. Brenda is best known for her work on the Wizardy series of role playing video games and more recently the non-digital series The Mechanic is the message..

Brenda served as Chair of the Savannah College of Art and Designs Interactive Design and Game Development department until November 2009. She moved to San Francisco to consult as Creative Director for social media company Slide Inc and then became creative director of social gaming company Lolapps. She co-founded the social game company Loot Drop with Jon Romero in November 2010, then left Lolapps and joined Loot Drop in February 2011. In 2013, Brenda became the first game designer in residence at the games and playable media program of the University of California at Santa Cruz. She also served as the program’s director. Brenda is currently the Program Director of the MSc program in Game Design and Development at the University of Limerick

Anne O’ Leary – Chief Executive Officer Vodafone

Anne O’ Leary was appointed CEO of Vodafone Ireland in February 2013, having spent five years as Enterprise Director. She joined Vodafone from BT Ireland where she was managing director for six years and was previously regional director with East Telecom.

As CEO of Vodafone, Anne is committed to continued investment in Ireland’s telecommunications infrastructure. She is also overseeing SIRO, Vodafone’s joint venture with the ESB, who are investing €450m in the roll out of high-speed fibre broadband across Ireland.

Additionally Anne is driving the gigabit society agenda in Ireland – with the explicit goal of access for everyone to 1 gigabit broadband speed. Equality of connectivity will change how everyone in Ireland lives, works and plays.

A Cork native Anne champions wellbeing and diversity in the workplace and has spearheaded Vodafone securing a position as one of Ireland’s top ten great places to work and achieving the Business Working responsibly mark.

Anne is a keen triathlete who competes regularly.

Marie Moynihan – Senior Vice President – Dell Technologies

Marie’s mission is to help Dell Technologies become the most relevant technology company in the world.

Their goal is to create technologies that drive human progress. To do that, they have to take better care of their customers than anyone else in the industry, be constantly curious, and always looking for great solutions. To do that, they have to attract and retain the best talent in the world. That’s Marie’s job, she leads teams that are responsible for reaching out to great talent, showcasing a work environment that is uniquely open and engaging, where team members from all backgrounds are encouraged to contribute their best ideas, and develop themselves both personally and professionally.

Zainab Boladale – RTÉ

Zainab Boladale is a journalist, TV presenter and public speaker. She was born in Nigeria and raised in Ireland. In 2017 she was named Journalist of the Year at the DCU Hybrid Awards and was nominated in the same category in the Union of Students in Ireland- Student Achievement Awards. That same year, she made her TV debut on RTÉ’s children’s programme, news2day. At the age of 20 years old she became known as the first Afro-Irish woman on Irish TV news.

Oonagh Reid – Associate Director/Mechanical Engineer Arup

Oonagh Reid is an Assocaite Director at Arup, Oonagh is a mechanical engineer, responsible for the multidisciplinary design, specification, construction and commissioning of building projects. She has worked across a variety of sectors within Ireland and abroad, including pharmaceutical, science and industry, commercial, education and the arts. Oonagh is passionate about encouraging young people to consider the opportunities available in STEM, as she believes that these careers offer the chance to shape and improve our world.

Furkan Kurayel – Founder & CEO of Diversein

Furkan is an inclusive leader advisor, Women in tech, diversity and female founders ambassador. Founded Diversein.com after 10 years of software engineering experience.Dublin Chapter lead of Sprinters.co, a global Diversity and Inclusion Track Captain for Startup Week Dublin. Member of Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

Additionally Furkan is an active speaker at international events about her journey into tech world as a woman, her recommendations for women in tech issues and power of diversity and inclusion at workplace. She judged several tech and startup competitions.

Sharon Hanafin Software Engineer Dell Technologies

Sharon is the first female in Ireland to graduate with a B.A(Hons) in Digital Humanities and Information Technology from University College Cork. She then continued her studies at UCC with an MSc in the design and development of digital business. A versatile IT graduate who has been with Dell technologies just over a year. Developed my communication and social skills through extensive work as a Chef and Waitress over 5 years before entering the Technology Industry. Currently working in the Content management team, where they focus on enterprise cloud file sync and storage solutions for internal team members. Sharon has a strong interest in data compilation and using data to it’s full advantage.

Kelly Carling – A330 First Officer – Aer Lingus

Kelly has been working for Aer Lingus as a First Officer for the last 9 years. In that time sha has flown the Airbus A320.A321 on the short haul network and has spent the last 4 years flying the Airbus A330 across the North Atlantic. Fyling was always a passion of hers but she chose to go to University to gain some extra qualifications before pursuing her career as a pilot. Kelly attended The University of Hertfordshire and graduated with a 1st class honours degree in Aerospace Engineering. It was her degree and her subsequent courses in aircraft structural repair and stress analysis that facilitated her employment as an engineer as a contractor for the Royal Australian Air Force in Sydney, Australia. After many enjoyable years Kelly moved back to Dublin. Now working for Aer Lingus Kelly is proud of the fact that a percentage of female pilots in Aer Lingus is more than twice the industry average she firmly believes it could be much higher.

Jane Wyatt – Senior Director, External Quality, Alexion

Jane is a qualified person (QP) and global quality leader in Alexion managing teams of quality professional in Dublin and Connecticut USA. Her role is to ensure that biological and small molecule product manuafactured in external facilities for Alexion and safe and effective for patients. Jane has 23 years industry experience within the pharmaceutical industry from the Microbiology lab back in 1997 through manaufacturing roles and quality assurance positions. Jane has a Masters in Pharma Quality Assurance from TUD and also completed a Masters in Pharmaceutical Technology in Trinity College Dublin to be eligible for Qualified Person status.