The Community Foundation for Ireland is governed by a Board of Trustees comprising experienced, respected and esteemed leaders in the community, corporate and philanthropic sectors. Our Patron is President Michael D Higgins.
Mike Gaffney-Chairperson
Mike is a Chartered Accountant and works with KPMG. He specialises in dealing with privately owned companies and in particular property transactions. He has written and lectured extensively on these subjects over many years. Mike is also a Fellow of the Irish Tax Institute. Mike was appointed to The Community Foundation for Ireland board in February 2012. Mike has been chair of The Community Foundation for Ireland board since 2016.
Richard George
Richard is a chartered accountant and was a partner in KPMG from 1980 until 2004. He became chair of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants for five years from 2005 and he is currently a director of a number of Irish and European companies. He is also a member of the Governing Authority of NUI Maynooth. Richard was appointed to The Community Foundation for Ireland board in March 2012.
Roddy Rowan
Roddy established Genesis in 1995 having spent the earlier part of his career in the advertising industry. He was co-founder of Dimension, Ireland’s first multi-disciplinary marketing communications group, which was acquired by McConnells Advertising in 1994. With more than twenty years’ consultancy experience across all business sectors, Roddy specialises in strategic planning and facilitation. He works with boards and senior management teams to address complex customer, market and organisational issues and enable them to drive out plans that are ambitious, realistic and executable.
Tara Smith
Tara Smith has worked in the community/voluntary/local development sector for 20 years. She joined Epilepsy Ireland in late 2018 where she is currently the Director of Services, having previously been CEO of Dublin South City Partnership and Rathmines Pembroke Community Partnership for 14 years. Tara has held voluntary board positions in numerous community and voluntary sector organisations, including Dublin 246 Citizens Information Services and Dublin South East MABS. She is currently vice-chair of the Neuorological Alliance of Ireland and sits on the Advisory Board of Rathmines College. Tara joined the Board in 2017.
Catherine Mullarkey
Catherine Mullarkey has been involved in property and finance for the past 12 years prior to which she spent 15 years in banking with KBC and Anglo Irish Bank. She is a director of a Clondalkin based charity, Follow Your Dream. She served as a non executive director with the Dublin Docklands Development Agency from 2007 to 2012 and was a member of the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee and Arts and Culture committee. She has a keen interest in the Arts, having established and operated “Powerscourt Theatre” in Dublin 2. She is a graduate of UCD, B Comm, a qualified ACCA and had recently completed the Diploma in Company Direction with the Institute of Directors.
Faye Walsh Drouillard
Originally from Washington D.C., Faye is founder and board chair of The Giving Circles of Amsterdam and Ireland, whose aim is to engage a new generation of philanthropists. Formerly Executive Director of the Freedom Writers Foundation, she now provides strategy, management and fundraising guidance to social enterprise, non-profit and philanthropy clients. An aspiring impact-minded angel investor, she is also a board member of Philanthropy Ireland and member of the Ashoka Support Network. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Dr Gráinne Healy
Dr Gráinne Healy has worked and volunteered in the community and voluntary sector for three decades. Founder and Chairwoman of Marriage Equality (2004) she was Co-Director of the Yes Equality campaign in 2015. Published author, trainer and facilitator she has conducted research and developed strategic plans for many leading Irish NGOs. Gráinne was Chairwoman of the European Women’s Lobby’s Observatory on Violence against women. She is a former Chairwoman of the National Women’s Council of Ireland and is a long-standing feminist activist. She is a member of the Department of Education and Skills Student Grants Appeals Board. A graduate of UCD, she is a former secondary school teacher, journalist and public policy advisor. She completed her PhD at DCU in 2015 and founded Social Intelligence Associates which delivers leadership training to NGO leaders.
Barbara FitzGerald
Barbara FitzGerald has a varied background of both a degree in Mechanical Engineering and she is also a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland. Her career has involved roles in Business Development in NTR, Corporate Finance in KPMG and she currently works in the aircraft leasing and financing industry. Barbara has been involved in The Community Foundation for Ireland since 2007 and joined the board in December 2018.
Ian Power
Ian Power has worked in the youth sector for the past eight years and is currently executive director of SpunOut.ie, Ireland's youth information website by young people, for young people. Ian is president of the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) and a board member of the Citizens Information Board (CIB). He is a member of a number of advisory boards and holds qualifications in economics, politics, juvenile justice and fundraising.
Peter Law
Peter Law is a solicitor and a Consultant with A&L Goodbody, having been a partner in that firm from 1983 until 2020, the last seven years serving as the firm's Risk and Compliance Partner. For 15 years he was legal advisor to the Standards in Public Office Commission. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of Peamount Healthcare, Newcastle, Co Dublin where he was Chairman of the Quality and Safety Committee. Peter is also a member of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board where he serves on various committees. Peter has a B.A. in Business Studies from Trinity College Dublin.
Art O’Leary
Art O'Leary is a Former Secretary General to the President advising on constitutional and all other matters relating to the presidency. He was also responsible for the administration of the President's office and staff at Aras an Uachtaráin. Prior to that he was Secretary to the Constitutional Convention, a two-year citizen-led initiative to consider constitutional change in a wide number of areas, from the electoral system to marriage equality. Art also worked in the Houses of the Oireachtas for over 20 years, primarily as a member of the senior management team. He has an MBA from Henley Business School.
Tim Murphy
Tim Murphy has been Chair of Flow Technology since 1999, a Cork based, family owned,process engineering company serving the Beverage, Food & Life Science sectors in Ireland and Europe. Previously Tim worked in brewing & engineering in the UK. In recent years Tim’s family have refocused their community support efforts with the assistance of the Community Foundation for Ireland. Tim studied mechanical engineering at UCD, is a chartered member of Engineers Ireland, and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.