GIY IRELAND - Key Persons
After studying Organisational Psychology in UL, Alex joined GIY in 2017 as a Retail Assistant, then as an Operations Coordinator, before becoming GIY's People & Culture Manager. Alex became Head of People & Culture in 2023. Outside of her work on campaigns, Alex has created many of GIY's original designs and illustrations, such as the GROW HQ map, postcards and just about every blackboard we have.
When Alex is not hard at work convincing people to start GIYing, she is happiest when she is up to something creative or planning her next adventure.
"I am very passionate about delivering excellent customer service. To be able to serve creative, nutritious dishes using the best seasonal produce grown on-site, combined with a really pleasant dining environment and a great team, gives me the ideal tools I need to deliver a great dining experience to our customers at GROW HQ."
Job Titles:
- Board of Directors
- Co - Founder and Partnerships Director of the Award Winning Social Enterprise FoodCloud
Aoibheann O'Brien is co-founder and Partnerships Director of the award winning social enterprise FoodCloud. FoodCloud have established two national solutions for food redistribution in Ireland - a network of three food banks that redistribute large quantities of surplus food across Ireland and a technology solution that connects food businesses directly to local charities. FoodCloud's technology is also being used in the UK, Central Europe and Australia to support similar organisations to grow their impact.
Aoibheann was the recipient of the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Impact award and Green Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014. In 2017, Aoibheann received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Special Achievement Award and was named the overall winner of the IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year Award. In 2018 she also received a Humanitarian Award from the Irish Red Cross.
Carol Montgomery grew up eating fruit and vegetables that her parents grew in their garden, although she admittedly took their efforts for granted. In recent years, along with her husband and young children, she has really come to appreciate the joy & pride that comes from growing your own food from scratch. She finds gardening to be a calming and rewarding antidote to what can be a hectic world.
Carol has over 20 years' experience in local, regional and global marketing teams on consumer brands in food and drink sectors. Her current role is Head of Society & Brand Experiences for Guinness and she has a personal passion for business that makes a positive impact on society.
GROW HQ's focus on plant-based diets and its zero waste ethos fits with Cloda's own principles. At home and at work she aims to be as sustainable as possible. She's a vegetarian, although finds herself moving towards a more vegan way of life. She's conscious about reducing her waste having learned about the negative impact single-use plastic and food waste has on the environment.
With the HQ gardens her daily view at work, she's determined to grow veg that Head Grower Richard would give a grunt of approval… before requesting his morning mug of black coffee!
Cloda has lived in Waterford most of her life, and currently resides in Ferrybank with her boyfriend OJ and their two kittens, Lucifer & Bean.
Derek grew up in the all too beautiful Wexford countryside enjoying the freshest of food from an early age. Always out helping his parents with their own fruit and veg, Derek instilled this in his cooking career, working across Bib Gourmand and 2 AA rosette restaurants. Working with JB (who's actually sound like) at GROW HQ and his 3 children at home. Derek loves achieving a Zero Waste Kitchen. Derek is very passionate about supporting his local team ‘Wexford Youths FC'
Job Titles:
- Accountant
- Board of Directors
Eamonn Clarke is an ACCA accountant with over 20 years broad-ranging experience in senior finance leadership and technical/regulatory implementation project roles within the banking and financial services industry. Having served most of my career with the Bank of Ireland Group, he joined PwC Ireland in 2020 where his focus remains on the banking and financial services sector.
Eamonn joined the Board in 2019 having initially been drawn to GIY at the time Mick and the team was setting out to build GROW HQ, which later inspired him to grow his own food at home. Originally from Derry, Eamonn currently lives in Dublin with his wife and two children. Whilst he works on slowly improving his mastery of growing vegetables, he also likes to follow his other two passions of cooking and photography.
He also serves on the Board of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), an Irish charity dedicated to the conservation and better understanding of whales, dolphins and porpoises in Irish waters.
Elma is an insightful and commercially minded senior finance professional with over 20 years' experience working across many sectors (tourism, FMCG, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and financial services). She graduated from UCD with a Commerce degree and a Higher Diploma in Education followed by the Charted Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
As Director of Finance, Elma leads GIY's financial agenda working alongside the CEO as part of the Leadership team. While safeguarding the integrity of the accounts Elma provides financial & commercial leadership in the delivery of GIY's strategic goals.
Eve Anne Cullinan's track record is in innovating better ways to design and deliver sustainable development. Initially Eve Anne gained deep public sector and Board experience in the arts and in cultural regeneration, before co-founding both M.CO, a strategic design and project management business, and Arran Street East, a design studio and pottery.
JB is from a small town called Luneville, not far from the city of Nancy in Lorraine in the northeast of France. After working in childcare, JB followed a traditional chef's training in France. He arrived in Ireland in 2001 and worked in many prestigious hotels and restaurant in Galway, Clare, Cork and Waterford.
Following his passion for sustainable tasty food, he joined GIY in 2016 to open GROW HQ. JB brings a modern flair and dedication to traditional techniques to preserve food and manage a zero-waste kitchen. He has a strong focus on fresh, local, seasonal products of impeccable quality.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board of Directors
- Strategist
Karen Hand is an experienced global strategist and social psychologist who is committed to unlocking systemic change. She has conducted deep research in tipping-point areas like cultivating food-chain sustainability, repealing the 8th amendment and creating positive cross sectoral platforms to bolster child resilience. Karen has two grounded experimental daughters, a highly creative intrepid husband and a riotous raucous golden doodle and she looks forward to living in a collective reality that they and the rest of us all deserve.
"To really know and appreciate where your food comes from is a true gift - GIY gives this gift abundantly"
Mary has been a keen grower since she unearthed her first crop of potatoes at 5 years old. From a mountain of spuds grown on her family farm in Australia, she has continued to grow edibles the world over, in beds, in pots, on balconies, in allotments and now again in her backyard. As an educator, she has spent the last 16 years teaching children in classrooms and gardens across the world, sprouting growing enthusiasm in Australia and Switzerland. Mary is excited to be a member of the team at GIY, where combining both her passions for growing and learning about growing gives her an abundance of hope for the future of our global food systems.
Mick is founder of GIY, a social entrepreneur, author, TV presenter and hacker grower. He worked in the IT industry for 10 years before starting GIY in 2008 after a chance encounter with a bulb of Chinese garlic in a supermarket. He co-presented/produced 3 series of Grow Cook Eat for RTE which is now watched around the world on Amazon Prime. He also presents and co-produced the 6-part series Food Matters on RTE 1.
Mick is an Ashoka Fellow, a member of The Irish Food Writers Guild and a board member at Common Knowledge. He has written 5 books, the latest of which The GIY Diaries was nominated for an Irish Book Award in 2022. He has written columns on food for The Irish Times, The Irish Independent and Food & Wine Magazine. He was Local Food Hero in the Food & Wine Awards. He lives in Dunmore East with his wife Eilish and two teenage GIYers.
Nell comes to the GIY patch from a background that sprouted from a multi-national travel company to an Irish tech start up, from digital marketing consultancy to a national charity. She has held roles across a diverse, broad and always interesting range of brands and industries spanning global corporate partnerships & relationships, digital marketing & analytics, commercial & strategic planning, fundraising, philanthropy and partnerships.
A BA in English & History, MSc in Advertising and MSc in Sustainable Development (and a toe-dip in documentary making) were but leaves of the learning journey that brought her to GIY, where only now she fully realises the insight and wisdom of The BFG*. Nell is excited about the power of food as a defining issue of the 21st Century, not to mention its glorious taste sensations.
"Take a bite and I'm positive you will be shouting out how scrumdiddlyumptious this wonderveg is." Roald Dahl, The BFG
Job Titles:
- Business Owner
- Board of Directors
Paul Sweetman is a business owner whose job is made easy by having a brilliant team of people working for the organisation who are passionate about delighting our customers at every opportunity. Paul has over 10 years of growing experience, though still refers to himself as a novice grower. Paul believes making the connection to how and where your food comes from is very important in making more informed choices about what we eat. He is always trying to strike the balance between work and living the good life! Paul's two 9 year old twins constantly ground him and remind me about what is really important. The best advice he says he can give people, is grow what you love to eat, you will always find it tastes even better when you grow it yourself.
Richard Mee started growing at only 3 years old with his dad and since then has accumulated over 40 years of growing experience. He studied for a BSc in Horticulture at Reading University and an MSc in Organic Farming at the Scottish Agricultural College. In addition to the UK and Ireland, Richard has grown veg all over the world, including Central America and Africa.
Richard came to GIY simply to continue to do what he loves, which is growing (he might also tell you it's because we needed him, which isn't wrong!). Richard lives on a few acres in Carrick on Suir where he grows for his family, including his three children, and commercially in his tunnel.
After graduating from Dun Laoghaire IADT with a degree in Business and Arts Management, Rosy worked in a number of different arts organisations, festivals and events. She joined GIY in 2017 to help with campaigns and events, and is now Head of Operations.
Rosy has always enjoyed working for not-for-profits and loves the impact that our work at GIY has on people. When she's not making sure GIY runs like a well-oiled machine, her favourite part of the job is designing new GIY assets with fellow team member, Alex. In her spare time she loves going on adventures with her German Shepherd, Kaija.
Sami comes from Sudan and lived in Holland and France for a few years before settling in Ireland in 2005. For the last 13 years, Sami has worked in a variety of local restaurants. He chose to work in the GROW HQ kitchen for the great spirit and camaraderie with the team. Sami is very meticulous and is very proud of his attention to detail. He has a great passion and knowledge of spices, as well as North African and Indian cuisines.
Shona comes from a retail and event management background and has worked for large Irish retailers and Waterford festivals, including Harvest Festival and Winterval. She graduated from WIT with a BBS degree, specialising in economics and finance.
As Director of Operations, Shona leads the achievement of GIY's strategic goals by planning and coordinating activities across campaigns, retail and at GROW HQ.
A self-confessed foodie and (very) novice grower, Shona loves spreading the GIY message far and wide. She lives in Tramore with her husband JB (who is Head of Food at GROW HQ), two children, three cats and a dog.
"I believe that change starts at the grassroots level, and GIY embodies that belief "
Suzannah sprouted onto the Irish scene in 2021, bringing with her a background in Arts Marketing and Event Management from the UK. In 2022, she joined the Communications team at GIY, where she was able to immerse herself in the world of sustainable living. Evolving with GIY, Suzannah took on the role of Operations Coordinator, contributing to multiple national campaigns, where she gets to see the real impact on people's lives. Outside of GIY, Suzannah is a reformed (accidental) plant killer. After years of her plants receiving emergency intervention from her mum, she is finally able to keep them alive - a victory for both her and Plantkind.
Supercharger for leaders to deliver on net zero and nature goals, Tom Popple leads the design, development and delivery of climate leadership programmes for a portfolio of global brands including Sky, Logitech, PwC and Ørsted as a Senior Manager at Natural Capital Partners. Tom also finds time to provide support initiatives that inspire change at scale, including ChangeX, Natural Capital Ireland, Sheep Inc., and his beloved Climate Cocktail Club.