The DCU Alumni Emerging Leaders Programme | Steering Committee

Mathew is currently based in IDA Ireland’s London Office, working as a Market Analyst, with a focus on the UK Technology & Business Services sectors. He actively supports IDA’s UK client base to develop existing operations in Ireland, as well as new UK companies aiming to expand into Ireland to establish strategic group functions. Prior to this role, Mathew worked across IDA’s Strategic Policy, Financial Services and Regional Development teams. Mathew initially graduated from Dublin City University (DCU) with a BA in Economics, Politics and Law, and has since completed an MA in International Political Economy at UCD, and a Professional Certificate in ‘Data: Law, Policy & Regulation’ from London School of Economics. Outside of work, Mathew has a strong interest in sports and travel.

Jennifer McGarry is a primary school teacher with a diverse background. Before receiving her Masters in Primary Education from Marino Institute of Education in 2015, Jennifer worked in private industry in a mixture of graphics and junior management roles within the life sciences sector. Since becoming a primary teacher and discovering the framework of STEM education, Jennifer has fully embraced the use of technology in her classroom, using various computational materials to explore what “Being a Digital Learner” can look like. Jennifer graduated from DCU with a Masters in Education (Digital Learning) in 2023, after which she took an opportunity to begin her PhD studies in DCU within the School of STEM Education, Innovation & Global Studies. Along with lecturing part-time in DCU, Jennifer also teaches at a primary school in Dublin, where she is developing a Creative Technologies Programme for all classes. Her work to date helped her to win the national Women in STEM “Rising Star” award in 2023. Furthermore, Jennifer has enjoyed working on several collaborations with a variety of institutions and companies, such as DCU, European Schoolnet and Make Create Innovate that explore the potential of computing within primary education. Jennifer also sits on the executive board of the Computer Society of Ireland (CESI), is a member of the Postgraduate Research group in CASTeL, Ireland’s largest research centre in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, in DCU and also enjoys volunteering as a judge at FIRST LEGO League events where possible.

Andrew Graduated from DCU in 2014 with a B.Eng in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. Andrew currently works as a Risk Engineer with Aon, a multinational Insurance broker.  Andrew’s role in Aon involves a lot of travel, visiting factories and workplaces to review fire & explosion risk and to promote ongoing, incremental risk improvement. Evey day is something new and there’s always something to learn. 

In 2023 Andrew joined the DCU Emerging Leaders Program and this sparked his interest in professional development and life-long-learning. Since the 2023 Emerging Leaders Program, Andrew has developed a structured Aon Risk Engineering onboarding training program and taken on board three new engineering graduates.

Andrew is passionate about mentoring and knowledge sharing. Andrew also contributes to the DCU mentorship program as well as mentoring the new starters in his team in Aon.

Outside of work Andrew enjoys aerial acrobatics and is currently training on Aerial Rope (cord lisse) and Aerial Straps. Andrew also loves to read and is currently working his way through an excellent series of fantasy fiction novels. 

Conor graduated from DCU with a BSc. in Biotechnology in 2016. Upon graduating he spent 2 years in New York on the J-1 graduate program before returning to Ireland and starting his professional career here. Conor currently works in the Tech Industry as a Senior Sales Recruiter for HubSpot who he joined after leaving Google in late 2020. Conor is passionate about career growth and is a subject matter expert when it comes to all things Recruitment. While at DCU Conor was heavily involved with the GAA club both as a player and on the clubs committee. Conor was a member of the squad that won the Sigerson Cup in 2015 while he also held the position of club chairman at the time too. Outside of work and studies, Conor plays Gaelic Football for his newly adopted local club Westport and has also been a member of the Wicklow Senior Football Squad over the last 10 years. He enjoys hiking the mountains and travelling abroad to new locations in his free time.

Rachel is a public relations professional, having worked in one of Ireland’s leading PR agencies, Drury, for just over three years. She is uniquely positioned with strong experience across both corporate and consumer clients including Business, Start-Ups, Aviation, Government Agencies, Sport Sponsorship, FMCG, Beauty, Health, and Charity sectors. Global companies include NIVEA, Eucerin, LEGO, Cheez-It, Mars Wrigley, Ryanair, Fexco, Enterprise Ireland. Rachel worked on multiple award winning campaigns, recognised by the PRII. Her most recent venture brings her to Sydney, Australia where she has just taken up a role in TBWA working with the client Samsung.

Gay White is a Chartered Work and Organisational Psychologist who runs her own HR Consultancy business. An experienced business and executive coach, Gay has over thirty years’ experience, gained through a variety of roles both in business and HR. She is an experienced lecturer and has lectured from diploma level to postgraduate programmes. Gay graduated from DCU through Oscail, (now DCU Connected) with a BA in Psychology and continued her studies with an MSc in Organisational Psychology. More recently she completed an MA in Creative Writing in DCU, fulfilling a long held ambition. A believer in lifelong learning, she has just completed a Diploma in Corporate Governance. Gay is the President of the Learning & Development Institute (L&DI), as well as a former director of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland and the Association for Coaching in Ireland. She is a Fellow of the L&DI and the Institute of Banking. Married to Billy, Gay likes to write and paint in her spare time. She also enjoys getting back to nature and enjoys walking by the sea or in the local park.

Karena Flynn Thai boasts a distinguished career of over 15 years as Sales Director at Empathy Marketing T/A Pigsback.com, where she collaborated with Ireland’s largest FMCG brands as the company grew from local advertising to a global product and travel platform.

She is currently the Programme Coordinator for the Centre for Executive Education at DCU, partnering with large corporate organisations to design and deliver executive education programmes that provide impactful learning experiences outside the workplace.

Karena is deeply involved with the DCU alumni community, serving on the Emerging Leaders Programme Committee for over five years. She also champions the DCU Access Program and serves as a Director at Sphere17 Youth Services, which empowers youth from underserved communities.

Katie Keogh, a native of Indianapolis (Indiana, USA), has lived in Ireland since 1998 pursuing a career devoted to developing communities and the Irish – American relationship, through innovation, education, and advocacy. She began her tenure in Ireland as Associate Director of the University of Notre Dame’s Ireland Programme. She later served as the Director of Strategic Partnerships, Alumni Relations and Events at the US Embassy in Dublin and as Director of Special Projects for the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland where she spearheaded the establishment of their Emerging Leaders and Emerging FDI Programmes.  She is currently an INED on the board of Arachas Corporate Brokers Ireland and a Strategic Project Manager for Creative Hut Ireland. Her volunteer commitments include Programme Director for the DCU Alumni Emerging Leaders Programme, Co-Founder and Director of the DCU Women's Impact Network and Chair of the LEGO Robotics Project Group for the Irish Girl Guides.  She also serves on the board of St. Declan’s School.  She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (BA, 1998) and University College Dublin (MA, 2000) and is currently pursuing her PhD at Dublin City University. She is married to Professor Dáire Keogh, President of Dublin City University, and they have four children.

Kean Hortillo collaboratively provides financial and business expertise for its global market and services group as a Intellectual Property Operations Associate Manager in Accenture. He graduated with a BA in Accounting and Finance in 2017 and is a qualified ACCA member. He is a detail oriented and highly adaptable professional with extensive finance and business knowledge for successfully executing financial management and business advisory, meeting client and stakeholder needs. He is proactively seeking greater exposure, leading and delivering innovative projects for a global solution.

Megan Maguire graduated with a Bachelor of Business Studies (2015) and Masters in Electronic Commerce (2016) from DCU. Megan is a Senior Solutions Engineer at Slack, a Salesforce company. Megan started in 2020 with Small Medium Business Slack Customers in the UK and Ireland. Now she supports Communications, Media and High Tech Enterprise Customers in the UK and Ireland. Megan also is the Global Lead for Slack Women. 

Prior to Slack Megan was as a Technology Consultant in PwC for 5 years working on System Implementation, Project Management and Robotics Process Automation for clients across the Financial Services, Public Sector and Hospitality sectors. Megan also launched PwC Ireland Women in Tech programme which aims to attract, retain, advance and develop Women who work in Technology in PwC.

MK Andersen is the DCU Alumni Relations Officer, responsible for ensuring all logistical elements of the Emerging Leaders Programme are prepared for all participants and thought leaders. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, MK graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2017 and opened her own event production firm with a focus on high emotional impact and individual connections. She closed her company in the summer of 2022 to move to Dublin, Ireland. At Dublin City University she hopes to continue to facilitate meaningful events and experiences for DCU Alumni and students. Outside of DCU, MK is a spin instructor and enjoys travelling and exploring Ireland.

Niall Behan works as an Account Exeuctive for US software firm Toast. Niall was one of the founding reps hired as part of Toast’s International expansion post their IPO in 2022 and was fortunate to be recognised as a President’s Club rep for 2023. Niall was recently elected onto the Toast’s philanthropic committee (Toast.org) Before Toast, Niall worked as an Enterprise sales team lead of Irish Tech Start-up, Intouch.com for 4 years. Niall is passionate about growth, opportunity and nurturing talent. 

Niall completed a BA Accounting and Finance from DCU, before being elected  as President of DCU Students Union in 2017. As part of his tenure he lead  a nationwide campaign to support student renters from unjust rent increases, which ultimately resulted in a piece of student specific legislation “The Residential Tenacies (Amendment) Act 2019”. 

During Covid (2021) Niall came back to DCU online and completed the MSc Management of Operations, where he graduated with distinction. Niall is currently studying Sales Management in UCD.  Outside of work, Niall is interested in road cycling, cold water swimming, and is the secretary of the Charleville tennis club.

Paula Melvin was elected President of Conradh na Gaeilge in February 2022. Conradh na Gaeilge is the international advocacy group for the Irish language that was founded in 1893 by Douglas Hyde. Her passion for an Ghaeilge was fostered while studying Irish and history in DCU where she was elected Oifigeach na Gaeilge to the Students’ Union. Paula has a keen interest in education and served on DCU’s Governing Authority. She is employed as Senior Manager with the Ireland-United States Fulbright Commission for Educational Exchange. Having represented Fulbright Ireland in New York and Washington DC, she strives to promote the Irish-American relationship. As a proud alumna of the U.S. Embassy Dublin's National Youth Council, Paula serves as Events Secretary of the Ireland United States Alumni Association.

Ross Munnelly was appointed the first Director of Alumni Relations at Dublin City University in July 2017. Over a 19 year period, Ross has worked in a number of roles at the university including the Careers Service, Head of Sports Development and Acting Head of Student Recruitment. As Director of Alumni Relations, Ross manages the domestic and international engagement programme for over 90,000 Alumni worldwide. He is a four time graduate of DCU, some of his qualifications include an MSc in Education and Training (e-Learning), Graduate Diploma in Guidance and Counselling and most recently the Executive MBA. Ross is the National Secretary for the Irish Guidance Counsellors Association.