REGIONAL LEADERS PROGRAMME

Transcription

1 NETWORKING EXCLUSIVE ALUMNI GROUP MENTORING REGIONAL LEADERS PROGRAMME 1:1 MENTORING SPEAKER LUNCHES

2 OVERVIEW The Regional Leaders Programme is designed to develop leaders for the future in the South East Region. It is aimed at professionals who want to develop their leadership competencies and will benefit companies seeking to increase the capacity of their internal talent pool. Potential participants might include: A successor for a senior position An employee who has shown leadership potential An individual seeking to realise their own potential The programme runs monthly from September to June and will incorporate practical guidance on leadership styles, problem-solving and key recommendations during 1:1 mentoring sessions. Mastermind workshops and speaker lunches will create opportunities for programme participants to engage with Regional Leaders colleagues and expand their network. Cost: 50% funding from Skillnet now available: BOOKING for Waterford Chamber and Waterford Chamber Skillnet Members for Non-Members * Discount rate available for previous participants ** To be paid in advance or via montly payment plan To request a booking form or for further details, contact: Kelly Cummins Tel: kelly.cummins@waterfordchamber.ie

3 AIDAN SHINE CEO, South East BIC Aidan brings a wealth of experience to South East BIC having worked in Japan and Ireland in group consolidations and as factory accountant. Working in South East BIC, he brings extensive knowledge and experience in assisting start-ups ups and growth businesses. An MBA, Aidan has special interest in areas such as business modelling and strategic development. He also prepares start-ups for investment as part of the Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN). ANDY CROWLEY General Manager, Teva Pharmaceuticals Andy qualified as an engineer when he was 20 and has always believed in the importance of continuing self-development. He has acquired three further master s degrees including an MBA, is a Chartered engineer and most recently qualified as a Chartered Director in Andy has gained a wealth of experience in business and manufacturing and having worked at Bausch & Lomb for 10 years, Andy now works as General Manager at Teva Pharmaceuticals. His areas of expertise include, leadership development, business strategy, operational excellence, change management and employee engagement. BARRIE ROGERS Owner of Chia bia Chia bia is one of Europe s largest suppliers of chia seeds, selling in over 2000 outlets worldwide. Consistently delivering high quality products that offer consumers a healthier choice, Chia bia only work with chia suppliers who have a direct relationship with their growers. Chia bia has gone from strength to strength since it first opened its doors in Prior to establishing Chia bia, Barrie held roles in Training with Intel, Nypro and as an Independent Financial Consultant. BARRY MORRISSEY General Manager, Cartamundi Ireland Barry spent 13 years with McInerney Homes as Finance Director before joining Cartamundi Ireland in 2011 as Finance Director and moved into the role of General Manager in Barry is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ireland and his areas of expertise include business management, change management, managerial finance. DR BRIAN CREEDON Consultant, University Hospital Waterford Dr. Creedon is a consultant palliative medicine physician working in University Hospital Waterford. He currently is the National Clinical Lead for Palliative Care. Brian has an appointment as a senior lecturer with UCC and is passionate about education. Brian is a board member of the Solas Cancer Support Centre and served as chair from He is a co-founder of lighthouse communications. His areas of interest are quality improvement, governance in the charitable sector, education, presentation skills, team performance and health care leadership. BRIAN ROBINSON CTO, Dataworks Brian is the co-founder and technology innovator behind Dataworks. Brian s areas of expertise lie in business analysis, process automation, software design and development. With over 23 years optimising large scale manufacturing processes, he has seen first-hand how innovative, integrated software applications can create huge rewards for clients. The experience Brian has gained from working with many diverse companies, coupled with his knowledge of software development and his inherent problem solving ability, gives him a unique perspective. Brian also leads the development and technology teams in Dataworks. EDEL SPILLANE Director of HR, Sun Life Financial Edel is a Business Graduate from the University of Limerick working at Sun Life Financial as the Director of Human Resources for the global technology and client operation teams. Edel has over 15 year s experience leading business and change management programs across industries such as pharma, retail, FMCG, IT and contact centres. Edel recently joined the Waterford Chamber Board of Directors, and is keen to contribute to the ongoing evolution of Waterford as a place to live, work and do business. ELAINE FENNELLY Crystal Valley Tech Elaine is the founder of Crystal Valley Tech, an Industry led company set up to promote Tech in the South East. Along with the President of WIT and other Tech Leaders - CVT is a voice for over 7,500 employees. Elaine s work experience spans EI and IDA companies, she was one of two founding Directors of Feedhenry where she was CFO until acquisition by RedHat Inc, she also set up Bluefin Payment Systems in Waterford where she was GM for 3 years. Elaine has also worked in many multinationals including Bausch + Lomb, Intel and GSK. DR. FELICITY KELLIHER Co-Founder and Senior Researcher, RIKON Felicity has 30 years of experience in the area of leadership and management capability development. As co-founder of the RIKON research group, she has engaged with over 1200 small firms in service innovation, capability development and learning initiatives since 2007, supported by Failte Ireland, INTERREG and Enterprise Ireland, among others and was awarded the Knowledge Transfer Ireland Research2Business Collaborative Impact award in 2015 in recognition of this work. Before entering academia, she worked internationally as a project manager in the technology sector.

4 HELEN BARRY Managing Director, SimplifyHR Helen has extensive experience in leadership and business advisory roles across a variety of industries. As former Vice President of HR for Lake Region Medical (now Integer), Helen was responsible for the HR and Development activities across sites in Europe, Asia, and the US. Prior to joining Lake Region Medical in 2012, Helen was Regional Director for IBEC in Cork where she lead the team in providing strategic business solutions to 450 businesses in the region. Helen s experience is broad reaching across many sectors including telecommunications, manufacturing, hospitality, professional services, and education industries. JOHN O GORMAN Managing Director, Fieldmaster John has developed his company from a stationery shop to an organisation that are now Leaders in the Office Furniture market in the South East. With a team of 20 plus, showrooms in both Waterford and Cork, Fieldmaster are working with the largest of multinational companies, providing solutions so that the working environment is the very best available. John, who is a qualified accountant, has strong Leadership skills, a strong belief in Forward Planning and Sales Pipelines. Nothing ever stays the same in business you must constantly develop and change, as John knows with his 40 years of leading Fieldmaster successfully. HELEN O BRIEN Principal, Bowe O Brien Solicitors Helen qualified as a solicitor in 1978 having previously graduated from UCD as a Batchelor of Civil Law and became a partner in a large provincial firm in Helen served as the first female president of Waterford Law Society in 1998/99 and founded Bowe O Brien Solicitors in She is an Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator and was appointed to a panel from which Personal Insolvency Complaints committees are formed. Appointed by the President of the High Court, she frequently chairs Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal hearings. Helen is a member of the board of the South, South West Hospital Group. Helen s practice is now mainly engaged in advising and acting for private clients, who derive benefit from her business and commercial experience. JACKIE ROCHE Learning and Organisational Development Manager, Bausch + Lomb Talented Learning and Organisational Development Manager with expertise in helping Senior Leadership align Human Resource development with strategic business objectives. Proficient at talent and succession planning strategies to drive competitive growth. Jackie is organised and creative with strong leadership, collaboration and networking skills. A strategic thinker and motivational leader with ability to work at all levels of the organisation. Inspires and challenges others to achieve their potential. Passionate about people and organisational development with strong coaching and interpersonal skills. JOHN FOGARTY RE/MAX Team Fogarty Starting his career in finance in 1987, where he quickly established himself in the top 10 out of 600 Financial advisors, John harnessed his skill and knowledge to open his own financial and mortgage advisory business Fogarty Financial and The Mortgage Team in In 1999 John joined Property Partners Estate Agency Network, where he was Marketing Director and IT Director. In 2010 John acquired the Master Franchise for RE/ MAX in Ireland and Northern Ireland and currently owns and manages RE/MAX Real Estate Branches in Waterford, Carlow and Limerick and has a further eight franchised branches throughout Ireland. JOHN TALLON Former Senior Manager, Honeywell John held several senior management roles in Manufacturing including Facilities, Maintenance and Operations Management at Honeywell. He demonstrates strategic vision and has vast expertise in the area of continuous improvement holding senior site leadership roles in this area for a number of years. He understands the importance of leadership for the achievement of business success and throughout his career John has been a strong role model for employees and gives his time to sponsor, coach and mentor. KAREN BURNS General Manager & Assistant Vice President of Human Resources, Sun Life Financial A Bachelor of Commerce graduate from UCC, Karen started her career with Dunnes Stores, before she moved to become the Director of Human Resources at AOL Time Warner where she spent 7 years. Karen went on to earn her Masters from University of Limerick in Strategic Human Resource Management before moving to Sun Life Financial in Waterford in In 2013 Karen became the General Manager of Sun Life s Irish operations as well as the AVP of Human Resources for teams located in Ireland, the US and Canada. Karen is an expert in her field in the areas of employee engagement, organisational development, and succession planning & talent management. KIERAN NOONAN Operations Director, Bausch + Lomb Kieran has significant multisector experience, having worked at Management, Site Leadership, COO and Global Leadership levels in a number of key leading companies; GE Alstom, Rolls Royce Aero Engines, Boston Scientific, Merit Medical and Bausch + Lomb. Kieran s role focus has covered Operations and Business Excellence in developing and enabling strategies for effective delivery and developing cultural change through people development and engagement. He is also the Chairman and Member of the Board of Directors of the Irish Centre for Business Excellence (ICBE), Director of Innovation & Lean Six Sigma Skillnet and a Shingo Prize Examiner.

5 KIERAN WHELAN Manufacturing Manager, Bausch + Lomb Kieran has over 20 years experience in Medical Device Industry as part of Operations in management of manufacturing and new product introductions. Holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Studies Degree. Highly motivated selfstarter that is an effective communicator and relationship builder at all levels of the organisation. Analytical and clear thinker, skilled trouble shooter/ problem solver recognising the issue clearly allowing focus on solutions. Highly organised results driven achiever who consistently exceeds targets and delivers success. MARIAN KEANE Head of Housing for Kilkenny & Waterford, AIB Marian was recently appointed AIB Head of Housing for Kilkenny & Waterford following six years as Manager of The Quay, Lisduggan and WIT Branches. Previous roles include Branch Banking, Regional Trainer, Personal Financial Manager, Private Banking Manager, Regional HR Manager. In 2016, Marian was selected for a Leadership Development programme within AIB Group, resulting in an expertise in leadership, retailing, customer relationship management, networking and people development. NIALL GRFFIN Owner/Director, Metalman Engineering Niall is currently Owner/Director of Metalman Engineering Ltd, Air products plc, Storage City Ltd, Roadskill Ltd Training Centre, and HUS Spaces Ltd. Niall has vast knowledge of the business world in every aspect, travelled the world to trade fairs and visiting customers at various stages of business development and has a constant appetite for knowledge and new projects. NIALL HARRINGTON Managing Partner, Fewer Harrington & Partners Niall has over 25 years experience in Architecture, working in both Ireland and the UK. In 1987 Niall worked on the conversion of a Norman Keep private residence on a 400 acre island into what is now Waterford Castle Island Resort. In 1998 Niall established his own architectural practice, HRM Architects and in 2003 merged his practice with then Fewer McGinley and formed what is now Fewer Harrington and Partners. As the managing partner, Niall has been responsible for urban design and master planning projects in Europe and North Africa, working closely with clients on large commercial schemes. MICHAEL DEE Manufacturing Manager, Bausch + Lomb A results-focused Senior Production Manager with 28 years experience within the contact lenses industry. Specific areas of expertise include people management, change management, quality, Business excellence, new product introductions/ transfers, supply chain management and large-scale project startups. MICHAEL FLYNN Executive Chairman, FLI Group Michael founded FLI Environmental in 1989 and has spent most of his working life investing in and leading the company from a specialist geosynthetics solutions provider around the world, to the multi-faceted group that the FLI Group is today. Michael s original 3rd level education is in electronic engineering and in 2008/9 he completed a government sponsored leadership program, L4G, run by Enterprise Ireland and led by Duke Corporate Education, focused on scaling a business in the global market. In February 2015 Michael graduated from UCC with an MSc and First Class Honours in Personal and Management Coaching. NOEL KELLY Senior Director, Nypro Healthcare Noel is an experienced professional Engineer with a Higher Diploma in Applied Finance. He has over 28 years experience in the global manufacturing and business environment having held leadership roles with Waterford Crystal, Honeywell and Nypro Healthcare. He is currently a Senior Global Business Unit Director with Nypro Healthcare, a worldwide manufacturer of complex drug delivery devices and part of the Jabil company with annual sales of over $18 billion. NORA WIDGER Commercial Director, Theatre Royal Nora has been involved in business life in Waterford City and County for over 30 years having previously held senior positions with Bank of Ireland. Actively involved in the local community, she is a Board member of Waterford Chamber for 10 years and currently chairs the Membership Committee of Chamber. Nora previously held the position of President of Waterford Chamber and President of Waterford Rotary Club.

6 PAMELA PIM Head of Bank of Ireland for County Waterford Originally from Dublin, Pamela lived in Australia for 15 years and held several senior management positions in Dell Computers, IBM and Lenovo Pamela returned to Waterford in Pamela set up the Cpl Resources brand and office in Waterford, and accepted the role of City Manager for Bank of Ireland in December Pamela is responsible for driving the Customer Agenda, Business Results, Community Programs and People Development across the Waterford Cluster. DR. PAT LYNCH Founder and Senior Researcher, RIKON Pat Lynch is the director of RIKON-WIT, a business innovation research centre located in WIT. Over a 15-year period, he has amassed considerable industry, consultancy and applied innovation research experience in process optimisiation, business & market modelling and digital transformation. Patrick manages a team of 35 researchers and is the principal investigator on over 450 innovation and research projects. In addition, Pat is responsible for securing 37 directly funded industrial and government projects and has been involved in European project such as Interreg, FP7, H2020, and Innovation Actions as work package and task leader. PAUL NOLAN Group Development Manager, Dawn Meats Paul Nolan is Group Development Manager with Dawn Meats Group, with whom he has worked since He is currently a Quality Assurance Board Member with An Bord Bia and is a former President of Waterford Chamber. Paul has been very much involved with numerous events in Waterford City and County. These include the West Waterford Festival of Food, the Waterford Harvest Festival and the Waterford Tall Ships Races. Before joining Dawn Meats, Paul worked in Saudi Arabia with Masstock, having previously worked for Bord Bia in London and in the family butchery business before that. STUART FITZGERALD Fitzgerald Power Chartered Accountants, Freshii GB, LEON Ireland Stuart Fitzgerald has been with Fitzgerald Power since 2003 and was appointed Director of the firm in November Stuart is also CFO and co-founder of the company which operates the Freshii master franchise in Great Britain and heads up the team that is bringing LEON to Ireland. He has worked with a range of franchised concepts in food & beverage and general retail and has intimate knowledge of the elements that are required to build, manage and control a successful franchise network. Stuart specialises in corporate fundraising, financial reporting & control, strategic planning and corporate leadership. TERESA JANE O MAHONEY Director, BMCI insurance & Investments Teresa Jane started her career as an Insurance Broker in 1988 and in early 2013 she opened an office in Waterford for a Dublin based brokerage BMCI Insurances & Investments Ltd. Within 12 months she was appointed to the Board of Directors and became a shareholder in the company. Her area of expertise is in liability, property and financial risks and the operations of the business. To date her roles have included responsibility for a wide range of commercial clients in most sectors of industry. She has extensive experience in the development and marketing of insurance products for commercial and broker clients alike. RONAN CLINTON Partner, EY Ronan is a Partner in EY s Assurance practice, based in Waterford. He has over 20 years experience in the provision of audit and assurance services, serving large multinational, private and fast growth businesses in Ireland and internationally. Before joining EY, as a partner, Ronan co-established a successful accounting firm in Waterford. He has a particular interest in Entrepreneurial, fast growing and family businesses expanding both nationally and internationally. He has worked on a wide variety of clients and has significant experience in manufacturing, retail and distribution, professional services and technology sectors.

7 GROUP MENTORS DEE HUTCHINSON Owner, Dee Hutchinson Coaching MICHAEL WALSH CEO, Waterford City & County Council Dee is a multi-award winning business executive, international best-selling author and awardwinning business coach. Most recently recognised as Business Women of the Year for the Best use of Digital by Network Ireland (Waterford branch); Dee is also a mentor at the Entrepreneurs Institute in Bali. Dee works with entrepreneurs from Peru to New Zealand to access their strengths, discover their true capabilities and help them build profitable businesses they are proud of. In a nutshell she helps entrepreneurs get out of their own way and stay on track until they achieve their goals. Michael s background is one of engineering, graduating from UCC in 1983 with a Civil Engineering degree. He started his career in Local Government with Waterford County Council in 1983 and worked between there and Limerick City Council until 2000 when he was appointed as Senior Executive Engineer in Waterford City Council. From there he progressed to the post of Director of Services and became Waterford City Manager in November, In June 2014, Michael was appointed Chief Executive of the newly amalgamated Waterford City & County Council. OCT 03 MAR 27 Group Session 1: Coaching: The Difference Between Purely Productive and High-Performance Teams Group Session 2: The 5 Essential High-Performance Coaching Skills For Today s Leaders DEC 06 MAY 08 Group Session: Leadership/Teamwork Group Session: Leadership/Teamwork NOV 13 APR 09 MARK HENNESSY Site Lead, Bausch + Lomb Mark is an experienced operations professional with over 20 years experience in the medical device industry. After originally joining Bausch + Lomb in 1998, Mark held a number of operations and project management roles before joining Stryker Ireland in 2008 where he was responsible for operations for 2 of its Cork plants. In 2012 Mark re-joined Bausch + Lomb and has led the company through a period of significant change and growth. Originally from Waterford, Mark holds an MBA from UL and a diploma in manufacturing technology from WIT. Group Session 1 Topic TBC Group Session 2 Topic TBC DEC 04 FEB 05 REGINA MANGAN Book A Room / Liberty Blue Estate Agents Regina Mangan, is the founder and Managing Director of Bookaroom Property Letting / Management and of its Sales arm Liberty Blue Estate Agents. Regina founded Bookaroom in 1997 to provide a top class residential lettings service for both landlords and tenants. The business has seen enormous growth over its 20 years, now managing close to 500 properties. The company expanded into sales in 2014 and launched their new brand Liberty Blue Estate Agents in December In March 2016 Liberty Blue Estate Agents opened a sales office in Dungarvan, expanding services to West Waterford. Group Session 1: Strategic Forward Thinking Group Session 2 Strategic Forward Thinking MICHAEL COX MCX Training & Development DR ROISIN O SHEA Arc Mediation JAN 09 Prior to establishing MCX Training & Development Michael accumulated a range of experience and skills working in private, public and social enterprises in Ireland and overseas. His last position, before setting up his own company, was Head of Training & Education with Chambers Ireland where he managed projects worth in excess of 4m, grant aided by (the agency that was formerly) FÁS, Skillnets Ltd., European Social Fund and directly from the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment. Michael also held the position of Deputy CEO with Waterford Chamber. Michael s entrepreneurial spirit led to the development of his own company in Group Session: Emotional Intelligence JAN 24 Róisín is a founding partner of Arc Mediation. She is an expert in Family Law, Employment Law, and has significant experience as a mediator completing over 330 cases since 2009 including family, workplace and commercial mediations for private and public sector clients. She is a former Irish Research Council scholar, who was awarded a Ph.D. in 2014 for her empirical research in the Family Law Courts. She has won or finished runner-up in multiple awards including the Irish Independent/HEA Making an Impact award 2010 and the Hague Institute s Innovation Justice In 2011, her contribution to Irish legal research was recognised in the Irish Research Council s commemorative book Mosaic A Celebration of Irish Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Group Session: Mediation Skills For Effective Communication

8 SPEAKERS CONOR MCCARTHY Founder of Dublin Aerospace Conor left school at 16 to train as an Apprentice Aircraft Engineer with Aer Lingus. Having won a scholarship he subsequently graduated with a first class honours degree in Production Engineering from DIT and Trinity College. Conor s impressive 39-year career in Commercial Aviation includes CEO of Aer Lingus Commuter at 28 years of age, Director of Group Operations at Ryanair, Director and Co-founder of AirAsia Asia s largest Low Cost Airline), Director of Pegasus Airlines, MD of PlaneConsult and Executive Chairman of Dublin Aerospace. Conor has extensive knowledge and experience with Commercial start-ups to established businesses worldwide. Dublin Aerospace started from the ashes of SR Technics in 2009 which today is a 50million, 400+employee business. Recently, Conor was appointed non-executive chairman on the board to Stobart Air, which operates across 43 routes throughout 11 European countries. DR NORAH PATTON Faculty Member, International Space University Dr. Norah Patten is a faculty member at the International Space University and became Ireland s first scientist-astronaut candidate with Project PoSSUM (Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere) in Norah is an experienced communicator and is the founder of Planet Zebunar which develops products to inspire the next generation of engineers, astronauts, scientists and innovators. In 2016, Norah participated in the New Frontiers Entrepreneur Development Program in ITT Tallaght, funded by Enterprise Ireland and was awarded Local Enterprise Funding in She was a recipient of the Emerging Space Leaders Grant and a Next Generation Plenary panellist at the International Astronautical Congress in Through a partnership with NanoRacks, Norah initiated and managed The Only Way is Up project which launched Ireland s first student experiment to the International Space Station in She participated in the International Space University Space Studies Program in 2010, has industrial experience from The Boeing Company and Bell Labs Alcatel Lucent and was the Space Generation Advisory Council National Contact Point in Ireland for 4 years. Norah holds a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering and a 1.1. bachelor s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Limerick. Norah has worked as a lecturer at the University of Limerick and spent three years at the Irish Centre for Composites as the Communications and Outreach Manager. MICHAEL DOHERTY CEO, Woodbrook Group Waterford businessman Michael Doherty has led the Woodbrook Group through a period of significant international expansion since the 45-year-old set up the financial advisory company five years ago. Woodbrook merged with the Felicitas Management Group earlier this year and the company s reach now extends across the globe with offices in Cyprus, Hungary, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Vietnam. The rapidly-growing company is looking at potential takeovers in South America and the Middle East and is currently in talks with a view to making a public offering on the NASDAQ Stock Market in the United States. Michael is also CEO of Mutual Trust, whose clientele includes high net-worth individuals, local and international companies and government agencies, and Robusto Asset Management. Michael has amassed a wealth of experience from his time working at a senior level across a wide range of specialities in the financial services sector. Before establishing the Woodbrook Group, he worked across Europe, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, including various roles as CEO, Country Manager, Managing Partner and Financial Consultant at some of the most respected wealth management companies. Michael set up his own mobile phone company when he was just 17, which he sold on a few years later before going on to establish the Waterford-based logistics company Osprey with his father Andy and brother Richard. Last month the Cheekpoint native was recognised as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the Global Financial Services Sector by the respected International Advisor publication.

9 REGIONAL LEADERS PROGRAMME September December March October January April November February May June Group Session Enquire for times when booking. 1:1 Sessions Dates are guideline only. Mentors and mentees to arrange time & dates. Speaker Lunch pm Please kelly.cummins@waterfordchamber.ie to book your place at RLP events, group sessions and speaker lunches. SEP 26 Programme The Majestic Hotel, Tramore pm DEC TBC 1:1 Sessions APR TBC 1:1 Sessions OCT 03 Group Session: Dee Hutchinson JAN 09 Group Session: Michael Cox APR 09 Group Session: Mark Hennessy OCT TBC 1:1 Sessions JAN 24 Group Session: Dr Róisín O Shea MAY 16 Speaker Lunch: Michael WIT Arena NOV 08 Speaker Lunch: Dr Norah TBC FEB 05 Group Session: Regina Book A Room/Liberty Blue MAY 08 Group Session: Michael City Hall NOV 13 Group Session: Mark Hennessy FEB TBC 1:1 Sessions JUN 19 Programme TBC pm DEC 04 Group Session: Regina Book A Room/Liberty Blue MAR 14 Speaker Lunch: Conor WIT Arena DEC 06 Group Session: Michael City Hall MAR 27 Group Session: Dee Hutchinson

10 TESTIMONIALS I found the Regional Leadership Programme hugely beneficial. The option of being able to request specific mentors, the mix of one to one sessions and group sessions and the inspirational speaker sessions, was a terrific format that offered a huge range of opportunities for mentees. The networking opportunities between mentees was wonderful and the talented local mentors were so generous with their time and expertise. I would highly recommend this programme. Tracy McDaid Manager, Solas Cancer Support Centre After taking part in the inaugural Waterford Chamber Regional Leaders Programme, I would encourage anybody thinking of doing the programme to not wait a minute longer and go for it! The programme facilitated meetings with mentors from a range of industries which was conducive to, not only building a broad range of business relationships, but also to sharing the various learnings, successes and challenges in business. Each session was approached in an open, honest and focussed manner so that both parties had clear objectives going into each meeting. The communication and support from Waterford Chamber staff throughout the programme was second to none and made the process stress-free. Thanks so much to Waterford Chamber of Commerce for putting on such a brilliant, innovative learning Regional Leaders Programme. I was personally mentored by some of the best In business over the past nine months and this has given me a whole new range of skills I will find invaluable to both my personal and business development. Irene Treacy, Smovey Health Ronan Douglas Business Development Manager, Faithlegg Hotel Participating in the Regional Leaders Programme in its first year, and with mentorship not something I had undertaken before, I was unsure of what to expect. What I discovered was a really great monthly programme offering different methods aimed at improving my competencies, from group sessions to 1:1 mentorship sessions with business leaders from in and around Waterford. I found it an excellent way to improve my leadership competencies. There is some knowledge that can only be gained through personal experience or by learning from the experience of others. The Regional Leaders Programme introduces you to a wide-ranging network of mentors and speakers with invaluable experience. These individuals are honest, open and willing to share their stories. The 1:1 and group facilitated sessions allow for self-awareness, professional knowledge sharing, discovery of career opportunities, and networking. An excellent development programme that I would highly recommend. Claire Williams Marketing Manager, Chia Bia Matthew Terry Sun Life Financial A brilliant opportunity to learn from the experience of a wide range of industry professionals. The individual and one on one sessions were relevant, inclusive and delivered valuable knowledge that I have applied within my own role. The pace of the program over a six month period allowed time to reflect and learn from each session before moving to the next. I would recommend this program to anyone that has the opportunity to take part. Deirdre Lacey Bausch + Lomb