Geraldine joined the Federation in 2009 and is responsible for the running of the NRF office and all divisions of the Federation, including all PR & Marketing and internal communications. Since her arrival to the NRF she has been focused on expanding the services of the NRF to member and has introduced the accredited Certificate in recruitment practice to the Irish recruitment industry the only certificate for recruiters in Ireland. Her belief and vision is that the recruitment industry should be viewed as a profession and have a full academic career path, she has been instrumental in the success of the government award of the first under graduate 3 year degree apprenticeship programme for recruiters in partnership with the National College of Ireland. She has also successfully led the NRF to obtain their own Skillnet which provides much needed reduced funded training for members.

In 2018 she was recognised by the Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) in the top 100 staffing leaders in Europe and the top 150 global women leaders.

Meet the Judges for 2019.....

Anthony Cooney took up the position as Chief Executive Officer of Fingal Dublin Chamber of Commerce in July 2017. Fingal is Irelands fastest growing , youngest and most culturally diverse region on the island of Ireland and the Chambers primary role is to enable the region to be at the forefront of economic development both from an indigenous and foreign direct development perspective.

Anthony would reach out to overseas organisations in order to put Fingal at the very forefront of economic development plans both incoming and outgoing.

Prior to joining Fingal Dublin Chamber Anthony worked for more than twenty years with one of Europes largest private Equity organisations specialising in the acquisition , management and turnaround of “ Recurring Income “ B2B businesses throughout the UK and Ireland.

Companies specialising in the food service , catering and hot & cold beverage supplies was Anthonys main focus and he managed some of the UK and Irelands largest businesses in this sector

Fergal is Entrepreneurial Specialist at the Innovation Academy, University College Dublin and Founder/MD at Open Innovation Services. His focus is on facilitating and mentoring innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship for Corporates, SMEs and the undergrad/postdoc startup community. He has advised on a wide range of innovation initiatives at ESB, MetLife, Deloitte, PwC, BDO, Adobe, Roche Pharma, Primark, Colgate-Palmolive, Bank of Ireland, New Ireland Assurance, Enterprise Ireland, Irish Stock Exchange, Health Research Board (HRB), US Embassy and numerous SMEs. Fergal is lead facilitator for the Innovation Pillar on Enterprise Ireland’s Go Global 4 Growth management development program and is a mentor to awardees of the not-for-profit Social Innovation Fund (SIF). Fergal co-founded Open Financial Services, a fintech company, in 2001, with many Fortune 500 clients, which was scaled and sold to GreatWest Life, one of World’s largest financial services firms in 2014.

Lorcan Bourke works as Fresh Produce & Potatoes Manager in the Horticulture & Meat Division of Bord Bia. He has worked for almost 30 years in the Irish food and horticulture industry, with 20 years of this time working in Bord Bia. It is Bord Bia’s mission to drive, through market insight, and, in partnership with industry, the commercial success of a world-class food, drink and horticulture industry. In this context, his role involves the development and implementation of strategic plans, undertaking market research and implementing promotional programmes within the horticultural industry.

Alan is a Startup and scaling SME expert, Supporting commercialisation, Internationalisation and funding for growth strategies. He is an innovative and leadership expert, with extensive experience with enterprise agencies around Europe and has been a founder of several technology companies. He has supported the raise of >€20m in angel/VC funding.

Joe retired from Wavin Ireland as Business Development Manager after 47 years of service. During his time in Wavin, he has been involved in direct sales, project sales, merchandising, key account management and business development. Joe has 20 years’ experience in training staff in product knowledge and sales techniques.

Mario is a lecturer with the School of Business & Humanities, Dundalk Institute of Technology. He works closely with many business support organisations and SME's in the region consulting on business planning and development issues. Mario has a background of 37 years in the international industry at senior management level through this time holding eight directorship positions with manufacturing and financial services companies.

Rebecca Harrison, former President of Network Ireland, the leading organisation for women in business, currently sits on the National Retail Consultation Forum, the Board of Retail Excellence Ireland and the SFA’s Skillnet Steering Committee. She is managing director of Fishers of Newtownmountkennedy department store & founder of Food at Fishers Café.

Niamh is Chief Operations Officer and Director of Programmes at DCU Ryan Academy with a demonstrated history of designing, developing, recruiting for and execution of high quality accelerator programmes for early-stage start-ups and experienced entrepreneurs in Ireland. Most notably Niamh is Programme Director for the Award Winning ‘Female High Fliers Accelerator Programme’, among other Academy accelerator programmes. Development and management of relationships with stakeholders; including national organisations, state bodies and industry, is an integral part of Niamh’s role at the Academy.

Sonia has spent the last two decades working in Human Resources, she was MD of SAB Consultancy, Human Resources Director for Siemens in Ireland up until July 2017 and is now the founder and Director of The Green Door Group since January 2018.

Sonia has extensive experience in all Human Resource functions, Leadership Development, Emotional intelligence, Employee Engagement and Change Management.

Sonia holds a degree in Employment Law from The Honorable Society of Kings Inns, a Diploma in Coaching and is a member of the ICF and a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD.