Patrons & Ambassadors
As a non-profit, voluntary organisation we are very grateful for the generous support of our Patrons and Ambassadors.
We are proud of our diverse diaspora; therefore, we greatly welcome and encourage all women who are Irish or of Irish heritage to connect with us to better serve our members and our community. If you would be interested in learning more about what we do or how to get involved, please get in touch as we would love to hear from you.
Our Patrons
Rosaleen Blair CBE
Rosaleen Blair is the CEO and founder of Alexander Mann Solutions, a global talent acquisition and management company. Combining outsourcing and consulting expertise, AMS has established itself as the market leader, serving many of the world’s leading brands in over 80 countries worldwide.
Rosaleen created Alexander Mann Solutions in 1996 with an ambition to revolutionise and professionalise the way blue-chip multinationals attract, engage and retain top talent while helping the best people in business achieve their fullest potential.
Recognised as an industry leader and entrepreneur, Rosaleen has won numerous awards including UK Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year, London Entrepreneur of the Year, Tatler Woman of the Year, Strategic Leader of the Year National Outsourcing Awards, and most recently the Recruiter Magazine Impact Award 2017. Additionally, Rosaleen enthusiastically supports organisations including everywoman, Barclays LifeSkills, the Prince’s Trust and UNICEF. She also invests her time and resources in entrepreneurs and small businesses through coaching, sponsorship and mentoring.
Mary Clancy Hatch
Mary Clancy Hatch is a Main Board Director and major shareholder in the Clancy
Group Plc, a Civil Engineering Group whose turnover is approx. £260m pa and employs approx. 3000 people.
She is also a former Chair of the Irish Youth Foundation, U.K. and the Women’s Irish Network. She was also a Trustee and Chair of the Development Committee of the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn. Mary read history at Trinity College Dublin.
She is also a Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire
The Late, Great Baroness May Blood, MBE
The fearless Baroness May Blood was an incredible support to the WIN network over the years, hosting many wonderful events for us at the House of Lords.
A former Belfast linen millworker who left school at the age of 14 without any qualifications, May lived by the tenet that anything was possible for those who were sufficiently determined. She went on to become a peace campaigner, community activist, member of the House of Lords and the first female life peer from Northern Ireland whose activism bridged the sectarian divide. May dedicated her life to fighting for the disadvantaged, and has been described as a "fearless and tireless campaigner to make Northern Ireland a better and more peaceful place".
Baroness May Blood will be missed greatly, but her legacy lives on. To learn more about the incredible work of the late Baroness May Blood, read our ‘Inspirational Women: Baroness Blood’ blog on our website
Our Ambassadors
Publisher, broadcaster and human rights campaigner Norah Casey works between radio, television and her own business Harmonia – Ireland’s largest magazine company.
Norah is a former Dragon on the popular television series Dragons’ Den and is a well-known radio and television personality. The 2nd Edition of her book Spark! was published by Penguin in 2017 and her TEDx talks include The Cure for Grief and The Courage to leave (her own testimony of domestic violence). Her digital learning platform Planet Woman seeks to empower women and much of her work can be viewed at norahcasey.com.
Norah received a Woman of the Decade Award from the Women’s Economic Forum in Delhi, May 2018. She is currently Ireland’s Philanthropist of the Year has been Publisher of the Year no fewer than five times (and is the current Publisher of the Year). She has served on numerous boards including the Press Council of Ireland, the London-based Women’s Irish Network and The International Women’s Forum. She also serves on the European Board and is a Global Ambassador for Vital Voices established in 1997 by the then First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She is a former Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year, Ambassador for Dublin Honours Magdalenes and hosted Voices of Impact: Women Leaders Shaping Global Change at the 2018 World Meeting of Families. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (conferred 2016) and the Honorary Graduate Award for 2018 from BFEI. Her work to highlight domestic violence was recognised with a Safe Ireland SÍLA Leadership Award in October 2018. She received a 2019 Lord Mayor Of Dublin Award on April 12th 2019.
Contact Details: ncasey@harmonia.ie / norahsoffice@harmonia.ie
www.norahcasey.com / www.harmonia.ie planetwoman.ie Twitter @norahcasey / Facebook Norah Casey / Instagram Norah_Casey / LinkedIn NorahCasey
Norah Casey
Trish Halpin
Trish Halpin is an award-winning editor with 20 years at the helm of three of the UK’s most iconic magazines: Marie Claire, InStyle and Red. She has spearheaded campaigns on girls’ education, climate change and inequality in the justice system, as well as powering women’s careers through a mentorship programme, reader conferences and awards that celebrate women who are changing the way we live and work. An experienced presenter, speaker and moderator, Trish has chaired live interviews with celebrities such as Kylie Minogue and Richard E Grant, as well as hosting talks for Fortune Most Powerful Women Europe among other events. Trish is a qualified executive coach, brand consultant, and writer, contributing to The Daily Mail, The Guardian and Good Housekeeping. Trish is the co-host of chart-topping podcast Postcards from Midlife
She is also a patron of children’s charity Rainbow Trust and founder of the Trust In Fashion fundraising event. Trish, 54, has been married for 25 years to photographer Neil Cooper, and they live in Wandsworth with their 17-year old twins Esme and Kit, as well as Bridie the labrador and Margo the cat. She is a keen walker, sailor and aspiring aviator.
Maxine Mawhinney
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Mawhinney was educated at Regent House School, Newtownards. She trained as a newspaper journalist in Northern Ireland, then joined BBC Television and Radio in Belfast, before moving to Ulster Television and then ITN in London.
She joined Sky News at its launch in 1988 as an Ireland correspondent, remaining for two years before going to Tokyo as News Editor for Asia for Reuters Television.
After two years in Asia, she spent a year in Frankfurt, Germany, for Reuters Television, before being appointed Washington Correspondent for GMTV at its launch in 1992.
Mawhinney returned to London in 1996, joining the BBC's international news channel BBC World. In November 1997, she joined the BBC News Channel (then known as BBC News 24) as one of the launch presenters. Mawhinney presented in various timeslots on the channel, including a period in the afternoon slot before being assigned to Sunday afternoons in April 2006. She took on the Saturday and Monday morning slots and the Friday afternoon slot and regularly covered other shifts on the channel.
She also presented BBC Breakfast and BBC One O'Clock News (later BBC News at One). Later, she appeared on News at One weekend lunchtime bulletins.
She left the BBC in April 2017, presenting her last BBC News Channel shift on 10 April.