Team category

Class of 2024

Ciarán Fox

Director of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects
Ciarán Fox is the director of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA) which strives to enhance Northern Ireland’s built environment for the benefit of all through the promotion of architecture. Ciarán is the current chair of Climate Northern Ireland, a cross-sectoral network devoted to understanding and promoting adaptation and mitigation actions that can address the climate emergency in the region. He is a former chair of the Northern Ireland Construction Group and was a member of the Construction Industry Forum for Northern Ireland for over a decade.

Martin Fisher

Head of Northern Ireland at the Irish League of Credit Unions
Martin Fisher trained and qualified as a solicitor with the Southampton City Council before returning to Northern Ireland in 2011 where he worked in private practice with Carson McDowell LLP and then the NHS for several years. Moving to the Irish League of Credit Unions in 2015, Martin advised and assisted Northern Ireland credit unions in a variety of legal and regulatory areas. He has been a member of the Bank of England & Prudential Regulation Authority’s independent statutory practitioner panel since 2017, representing Northern Ireland credit unions. Martin has been an associate tutor with the National College of Ireland and separately has been a lay plus committee member of the NHS Research and Ethics Committee for Northern Ireland since 2017. He is now responsible for advancing and leading on the strategy, legal, regulatory, policy, advocacy, and engagement agenda of credit unions in Northern Ireland.

Chloe Ferguson

Policy and Research Officer for the Alliance Party

Chloe Ferguson is a campaigner and activist, dedicated to peacebuilding through furthering the accessibility of education and creating a climate aware future.

After graduating in English and Social Anthropology in 2020 from Queen’s University Belfast, Chloe was elected leadership within the student movement,  working full-time as NUS-USI President, the official spokesperson for over 130,000 students across Further and Higher Education.

She is currently a Policy and Research Officer for the Alliance Party and sits as vice chair of Climate Coalition NI. She played a key role in garnering civic society support for Northern Ireland’s first climate legislation.

Megan Fearon

Senior Manager for Policy and Public Affairs, The Open University in Ireland

Megan Fearon is a former Sinn Féin MLA for Newry and Armagh, Junior Minister in the NI Executive and Chairperson of the NI Assembly Women’s Caucus.

She was the youngest political representative on the island and the youngest government minister in Europe.

She currently works with The Open University in Ireland as Senior Manager for Policy and Public Affairs. Megan is a Trustee on the board of Conciliation Resources where she continues to advocate for women leading conflict resolution efforts for lasting peace.

Deborah Erskine MLA

Democratic Unionist Party MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone
Deborah Erskine is an MLA serving Fermanagh & South Tyrone since 2021, where she was co-opted into the role and later elected in May 2022. Deborah is currently the youngest unionist MLA in the Northern Ireland Assembly. During her time in the Assembly, Deborah has been a member of the Health Committee and was involved in several Assembly All-Party Groups such as Mental Health, Community Pharmacy, Early Education and Childcare, Higher and Further Education, Social Enterprise, and Youth Participation. She is the DUP spokesperson for promoting the Union with young people and new communities. Previously, Deborah served as councillor for the Fermanagh & Omagh District Council and worked as a journalist, writing for the Ulster Herald, before becoming a press officer for the DUP, working alongside former First Minister Arlene Foster.

Gareth Edwards

Vice President for Compliance at FinTrU

Gareth Edwards graduated with a degree in Law from Queen’s University Belfast and has nearly twenty years’ experience working in financial services in Dublin and Belfast, specialising in regulatory and compliance issues relating to the investment fund and banking industries.

Now living in Belfast, Gareth is father to an active seven-year-old son.

He is passionate about enabling the growth of the Northern Ireland economy to create quality local opportunities for its talented young people and to stem the ‘brain drain’ of graduates who move away from Northern Ireland for university study and never return here to live and work.

Beverley Copeland

Director at Ulster Carpets

Beverley Copeland is a director at Ulster Carpets, one of Northern Ireland’s leading businesses. Beverley is responsible for the company’s sustainability strategy alongside people & talent development, quality, safety and environmental.

Her passion for Northern Irish manufacturing is also illustrated through her previous roles in organisation development, business improvement and human resources.

Beverley is a chartered member of the CIPD and holds a degree in Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast.

Outside of work, she is a sports leader and recognises that sport plays an important role in bringing people together from all aspects of life instilling values of fairness, discipline, perseverance, and respect.

Anne Clarke

Finance Business Partner at NIE Networks

Anne Clarke is a member of the senior leadership team at NIE Networks and a fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland. Anne began her accountancy career as a trainee chartered accountant in Energia Group in 2007, gaining experience in a range of finance roles within the electricity generation and retail businesses.

In 2017, she moved to NIE Networks and is now the finance business partner for the Network Assets directorate which provides strategic direction for NIE Networks’ ongoing capital investment in the electricity network.

Eileen Chan-Hu

Founder and Executive Director of CRAICNI

Born in Belfast of first generation Chinese, Eileen Chan-Hu is passionate about adding diversity, inclusion, creativity, and colour to our society.

With over twenty-five years’ experience in the field of race, covering English language teaching, community development, and community safety initiatives, Eileen is the founder and executive director of CRAICNI, whose mission is to Cultivate Respect, Appreciate Inclusion in Communities in Northern Ireland, through training and education regionally, across the island of Ireland, across Europe, and globally.

She was a member of the Centenary Forum and an Equality Commissioner (2018 – 2020) and is currently on the All-Island Women’s Forum, Vice Chair of Migrant and Minority Ethnic Council NI, Trustee of New Europeans UK and a Patron of Horatio’s Garden.

Dorinnia Carville

Comptroller and Auditor General, Northern Ireland Audit Office

As comptroller and auditor general for Northern Ireland, Dorinnia Carville is the head of the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) and an officer of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Dorinnia is responsible for the financial audit of central government departments and their arm’s length bodies, as well as reporting on value for money studies and promoting good practice.

She has a degree in Law with Politics from Queen’s University Belfast and is qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG London and has worked in local government as deputy chief executive and director of corporate services at Newry Mourne and Down District Council.