Political, business and civic leaders graduate from prestigious Fellowship Programme as Northern Ireland gears up to celebrate Good Friday Agreement Anniversary
Fellows attended sessions in Belfast, Dublin, and Oxford as part of the programme backed by prominent Northern Irish business leaders, the Department for Foreign Affairs and the Irish American Partnership.
Leaders in politics, business, and civic society in Northern Ireland have graduated from the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building’s prestigious Fellowship programme at a ceremony held at Hillsborough Castle.
The Fellowship is a Programme for 25 mid-career political, business and civic leaders in Northern Ireland and aims to support, develop and provide Fellows with an opportunity to reimagine complex political and civic leadership through innovation and capacity building.
The Fellowship’s Advisory Board, which includes prominent business leaders from FinTrU, Fujitsu NI, Allstate NI, Devenish and Ulster Carpets, led curated sessions seeking to evolve and enrich leadership in Northern Ireland, with Fellows also attending sessions with the PSNI, Bauer Media NI (Downtown/Cool FM), as well as residentials in Oxford and Dublin.
The Fellowship is delivered by the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building, working with key stakeholders and facilitators from across the business sector and academic institutions to support the peace process, strengthen democracy and navigate through complexity. This year’s cohort saw 25 individuals engage with leading policymakers, business leaders, and public figures, equipping each Fellow with a renewed ability to tackle some of the most pressing social, political, and economic issues in Northern Ireland.
The graduation ceremony gathered esteemed business and political leaders from across the UK and Ireland to mark the success of this year’s programme which concludes as Northern Ireland gears up for celebrating 25 years of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in April.
Attendees heard from the Fellowship Advisory Board Chair, John Healy OBE, and Ulster University Professor Karise Hutchinson, Advisory Board Vice Chair, and others including Minister of State, Steve Baker MP.
Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minster for Defence, Micheál Martin TD said:
“I would like to extend my congratulations to the Fellows who have graduated today. I am glad that my Government, through the Reconciliation Fund, has been able to support this important work.
“As we mark the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in a number of weeks, it is important to recognise the work that programmes such as the Fellowship have achieved in helping to train and educate the next generation of civic leaders.
“I wish the class of 2023 all the best over the coming months and years as they work to help foster change and transform their local communities.”
Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office, Steve Baker MP, said:
“I wish to extend my congratulations to the Fellows who have graduated from this inspiring Fellowship. As Northern Ireland marks 25 years of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, a programme like this is testament to the determination and innovative spirit of the people of Northern Ireland”.
“A programme that brings together a diverse range of people to work through opposing views, propose shared solutions, and imagine the kind of leadership required to move forward, is incredibly heartening. I would like to thank both the Fellows and the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building for their hard work, and I wish them all the best of luck for their future endeavours.”
Karise Hutchinson, Professor of Leadership at Ulster University and Vice-Chair of the Fellowship Advisory Board, said:
“It has been a brilliant experience this year as I have watched our Fellows grow and continue to explore the spirit of possibility. The Fellowship continues to fill me with optimism that Northern Ireland’s emerging leaders can navigate us through complexities that we will no doubt face in the years to come. As we also celebrate 25 years of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, I am proud to congratulate this next cohort of leaders whether that be in politics or business, and I wish them the best as they continue to transform this place that we live through their work in their respective community or organisation”.
Chief Executive, Centre for Democracy and Peace Building, Eva Grosman, said:
“The Fellowship Prorgramme which runs each year is a unique opportunity to gather ambitious leaders from diverse backgrounds to develop their own leadership and spark new conversations for progress and innovation in Northern Ireland”.
“The Fellows have been a credit to themselves throughout this year’s programme. Their open-mindedness, determination, and optimism for Northern Ireland and it’s future has been truly inspiring. It has been an honour to see unlikely friendships form, and I have watched on as our Fellows have worked through differences, spend time with one another and recognise a greater agenda where we can all work towards a shared goal. I would like to thank each Fellow for their hard work, for giving this programme a chance, and I look forward to seeing what they will achieve as their career progresses”.
TEDxStormont set to return to Parliament Buildings
TEDxStormont is set to return to Parliament Buildings on Saturday 25 March with a stellar line up including globally renowned cellist Patrick Dexter, Sky News Senior Ireland Correspondent David Blevins, Principal of Hertford College, University of Oxford Tom Fletcher, Senator Emer Currie, journalist and author Leona O’Neill, and Northern-Irish-Ghanian artist Winnie Ama.
The daylong event, supported by Herbert Smith Freehills and compered by presenter and broadcaster Sarah Travers, is expected to see 200 guests fill the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings for the event’s 10th anniversary.
As we look forward to marking and celebrating 25 years of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in April, this year’s speakers will deliver their talks on the theme of “YES”. Standing on the iconic red dot, speakers will share their ideas on hope, peace, and possibility for Northern Ireland and beyond.
Beginning as a four-day conference in California, TED and the TEDx programme has grown to support world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives like TEDxStormont, which since 2013 has organised over 20 events and meet-ups, including TEDxStormont, TEDxStormont Women, Salons, City 2.0, TED Global viewing parties, TED Circles, Countdown, and a week-long virtual Summer Camp.
Across the span of a decade, TEDxStormont has hosted some of the most acclaimed speakers including Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, Lyra McKee, Ana Matronic of the Scissor Sisters, and astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell.
The event will bring individuals from an array of backgrounds such as academia, journalism, music, business, and sport.
TEDxStormont speakers being announced today include:
Lisa McLaughlin, Managing Partner of Herbert Smith Freehills’ Belfast Office said:
“Original ideas and inspiring individuals are the twin pillars of progress, so it is always important to give a platform to those who can help develop the foundations on which our collective futures are built. We are thrilled to be able to support efforts to ensure their vision of change becomes a reality”.
Selina Wallace, Business Director at Smarts Agency added:
“It’s a privilege to once again support TEDxStormont, especially in what is a milestone year for the event and for Northern Ireland. As a creative agency Smarts is passionate about creating ideas that drive change and we look forward to considering the insights and new ideas for positive change that each talk will offer. The speakers announced today set the stage for what will be a phenomenal event.”
Eva Grosman, Curator of TEDxStormont 2023 concluded:
“It is fantastic to be joined by some of the most inspiring and respected individuals from various fields at this year’s TEDxStormont, taking place in the historic backdrop of the Great Hall at Stormont. We can certainly feel a sense of expectancy and excitement ahead of our 10th anniversary event”.
Our fantastic speakers will help us to imagine how ideas, solutions and fresh opportunities for change and progress are always within reach”.
Tickets and more information are available at www.tedxstormont.com.
How Leadership can overcome complexity
The Centre for Democracy and Peace Building Fellowship (CDPB) is full steam ahead for another year and Fujitsu NI is delighted to be a part of this fantastic initiative once more as it moves into its third year of nurturing local leaders.
The Fellowship Programme is designed for leaders from political parties, business, public and civic society backgrounds working in Northern Ireland. Through a series of curated sessions, participants have the chance to develop their leadership skills by learning from renowned speakers from across academia, public sector, and business.
Fellows recently enjoyed a residential trip to Oxford, learning more about how to tackle complex topics, as well as leadership and diplomacy traits from a wider variety of speakers. Fujitsu hosted a “co-design” session to enable the fellows to identify a social challenge and apply design thinking methodologies to consider solutions and approaches to solve these challenges. This session was very well received by all who took part in the sessions.
The next CDPB Fellowship programme session took place on Thursday 20th October and built on the skills learnt in September residential. This session was led by Dr Janet Smart, Emeritus Reader in Operations Management from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. There was a follow-up session where the design thinking workshops presented their progress against their challenges.
In the afternoon, keynote speaker Angela McGowan, Director at CBI Northern Ireland, presented on current pressures and future opportunities for the Northern Ireland economy and businesses. This was followed by a discussion between Angela, John Healy from Allstate NI and myself on how best to address these pressures and opportunities in the future.
With just three sessions remaining before fellows present their group projects, we are proud of the progress made to date by this year’s fellows. Their dedication to civic society is inspirational and we are proud to be a part of their leadership journeys.
David Clements, Client Director at Fujitsu NI
Read more about the CDPB programme at: https://fellowship.democracyandpeace.org/
Follow Fujitsu Northern Ireland on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Lord John Alderdice receives Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal College of Psychiatrists
Lord John Alderdice has been awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal College of Psychiatrists during their annual awards ceremony.
The awards mark the highest levels of excellence and achievement within the field of psychiatry.
Lord Alderdice was born and brought up in Northern Ireland and played a vital role in helping to resolve conflict and restore peace during the Troubles. In 1978, he joined the Alliance party which tried to build the centre ground. In 1987 at the age of 32, he was elected leader of the Alliance Party.
He engaged in ongoing talks including with the prime ministers of the UK and Ireland and leaders of the EU and the President of the USA, that culminated in the Good Friday Agreement in Belfast in 1998.
In his psychiatry career, he was appointed to professorships at the University of San Marcos in Peru and at the Universities of Virginia and Maryland in the USA. He currently holds appointments at Oxford University, including Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College and Executive Chairman of The Changing Character of War Centre at Pembroke College.
He is a professor of practice at the Global Humanity for Peace Institute at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
Lord John Alderdice said: “This award is a demonstration of the good fortune I have had in my professional life to be encouraged by colleagues in psychiatry who care both about their patients, and the disturbed societies in which they live.
“The mental health professionals that I worked with in Northern Ireland, and later around the world, gave me the intellectual, emotional, and collegial support that I needed to work in situations of conflict.
“I want them and others to know that they should never underestimate the impact and importance of encouragement, especially to a young person trying to do the best they can for others.”
Dr Adrian James, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “If anyone deserves a lifetime achievement award, it is Lord John Alderdice. He has devoted so much of his working life to politics and psychiatry.
“Not only was he an ambassador for peace and conflict resolution during turbulent times in Northern Ireland but he is a focused and world-leading psychiatrist at the top of his profession.
“It is wonderful to be able to recognise him through this award.”
Dr Richard Wilson, chair of RCPsych NI, said: “Many congratulations to Lord John Alderdice on this much deserved award. Not only has he been an important political figure in Northern Ireland, but he continues to be a leading light in the world of psychiatry.
“This accolade is a true testament to an interesting and much varied career.”
Twenty-five leaders from politics, business and civic society in Northern Ireland unveiled for prestigious Fellowship
The Fellows are joined by the Chair of the Fellowship Advisory Programme, John Healy, Managing Director of Allstate Northern Ireland and Professor of Leadership at Ulster University and Vice Chair of the Fellowship Advisory Programme, Professor Karise Hutchinson.
Press Eye – Belfast – Northern Ireland – 6th September 2022
Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye
Twenty-five leaders from politics, the business community and civic society here, have been selected for the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building’s 2022 Fellowship programme.
The Fellows, unveiled today at an event at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, will engage with leading policymakers, academics, business leaders and public figures on social, political and economic issues and seek to develop their understanding of how to tackle those issues in Northern Ireland.
The Fellowship is backed by the leadership of some of the highest profile businesses operating in Northern Ireland including Allstate NI, FinTrU, Devenish, Fujitsu NI and Ulster Carpets. The programme is also supported by leading academic institutions and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Irish-American Partnership.
Speakers at the announcement of the new Fellows included Head of the NI Civil Service, Jayne Brady, as well as Chair of the Fellowship Advisory Programme, John Healy from Allstate Northern Ireland, and representatives from all five main parties.
Now in its second year, the six-month programme will see the Fellows undertake workshops and training in Belfast, Dublin and Oxford.
John Healy, Vice President at Allstate NI and Chair of the Fellowship Advisory Board, said:
“This is an incredible group of talented participants selected for this year’s Fellowship programme. As we begin the second cycle of this programme, – and the first without the political institutions in place – it is critical that these Fellows are well-equipped to provide leadership skills to tackle and navigate us out of the significant number of problems we are facing here in Northern Ireland.”
“The chosen 25 candidates will be joined by a group of business, political and civic society leaders throughout the next 6 months, who will assist with the formation of the strategic leadership tools and techniques required to overcome the obvious hurdles in front of us. We need to invest in our potential game changers right now and this Fellowship is a purposeful way of making that happen.”
“I would like to thank the significant contribution that the advisory board of the Fellowship has made shaping this programme into the success it is already. Their time, effort and commitment should act as a guiding light to the past, present and future participants.”
Karise Hutchinson, Professor of Leadership at Ulster University and Vice-Chair of the Fellowship Advisory Board, said:
“Given our troubled past in Northern Ireland, and the current political paralysis, we often neglect to be ambitious for the future. The Fellowship programme seeks to continue the conversation about what good leadership is, one that explores the possibilities of what a forward thinking society looks like.”
“As we move towards the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, this is a prime opportunity for renewal and to help develop those ambitious young leaders that will be taking on these challenges. I am proud to be supporting the launch of this year’s fantastic programme alongside my colleagues on the Advisory Board.”
(Left-Right): Professor Karise Hutchinson and John Healy, Managing Director of Allstate NI join Head of the NI Civil Service, Jayne Brady at the launch of the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building’s Fellowship Programme 2022.
Press Eye – Belfast – Northern Ireland – 6th September 2022
Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye
The 26 participants of the 2022 CDPB Fellowship programme include:
Alfred Abolarin, Strategic Partnerships Manager, Housing Executive
Caoimhe Archibald MLA
Charmain Jones, Women Spaces Co-Ordinator, Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network
Conleth Burns, Senior Associate, More in Common
Diane Forsythe MLA
Doire Finn, Constituency Manager
Don McCann, Strategy Manager, Invest NI
Eoin Bradley, Political Strategy Advisor
Gina Savage, Vice Principal, St Patrick’s Grammar School, Downpatrick
Cllr Hannah Irwin
Jamie Warnock, Head of Policy and Engagement, Law Society of Northern Ireland
Jonathan McAdams, NI Civil Service
Joy Ferguson, Economist
Karen Smyth, Head of Policy and Governance, NI Local Government Association
Michael McConville, Engineering Manager, NantHealth
Nuala Murphy, Director, Diversity Mark
Nuala Toman, Head of Policy and Communications, Disability Action
Padraig Delargy MLA
Patricia O’Lynn MLA
Phillip Brett MLA
Cllr Ryan McCready
Stephanie O’Rourke, Deputy Director, Springboard Opportunities
Cllr Stephen Donnelly
Cllr Ben Mallon
Tara Grace Connolly, Media Researcher
Fellowship for Northern Ireland’s political, business, and civic leaders opens for applications
Launching amid another Stormont impasse, the programme equips aspiring leaders here with the skills to lead Northern Ireland forward
Applications are now open for the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building Fellowship, a prestigious programme which seeks to produce Northern Ireland’s next generation of changemakers.
Now in its second year, the Fellowship aims to strengthen Stormont’s democratic institutions and ensure that our next generation of Ministers, CEOs, and civic leaders, are best placed to lead the region going forward. Previous Fellows include John Finucane MP, Connie Egan MLA, and Cllr Aaron Callan and IoD Northern Ireland Director, Kirsty McManus.
The Fellowship is delivered by the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building (CDPB), working with leading representatives from Northern Ireland’s business sector including Allstate NI, FinTrU, Devenish, Fujitsu NI, Ulster Carpets. The programme is also supported by leading academic institutions and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
In discussions with leading policymakers, academics, business leaders and public figures, Fellows will engage with global social, political and economic issues and seek to develop their understanding of how to tackle those issues in Northern Ireland. Successful participants will also have the chance to participate in residential sessions at the University of Oxford and in Dublin.
Fellowship Chair, and Managing Director of Allstate NI, John Healy, says that this year’s programme is timely and significant given the current political deadlock facing Northern Ireland. He calls on parties, businesses, and civic society organisations to nominate those individuals that can use the Fellowship to build a better society here.
John Healy, Managing Director at Allstate NI and Chair of the Fellowship Advisory Board, said:
“The Fellowship is a brilliant initiative, and this year’s programme could not have come at a more crucial time. Northern Ireland is facing multiple challenges and with the Stormont corridors empty, we are also facing a political leadership crisis. This programme will give our future leaders the knowledge, skills, and relationships to look beyond the insular world we face here, and bring an exciting, new, and much-needed vision to our region’s future.”
“Last year’s Fellowship was a resounding success, seen through the election of former Fellows following May’s Assembly poll. This year’s expanded programme includes engagements with some of the UK and Ireland’s brightest minds in Dublin, Oxford, Belfast, and everywhere in between. From political parties, to businesses, to the third sector, I would encourage all organisations to nominate an individual for this year’s Fellowship they feel could help shape the future of Northern Ireland.”
Karise Hutchinson, Professor of Leadership at Ulster University and Vice-Chair of the Fellowship Advisory Board, said:
“Next year we will celebrate 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement. A hard-won hallmark of compromise, it is disheartening that we currently face the prospect of honouring this milestone with no functioning government in place. The Fellowship seeks to ‘level up’ our next generation of political, civic and business leaders, giving them the confidence and ability to address Northern Ireland’s ongoing political, economic, and social challenges. At its core, it seeks to pave the way for a new spirit of possibility and compromise in our society.”
“Our Advisory Board contains leaders from Northern Ireland’s leading companies who will seek to instill in this year’s participants the hard and soft skills required to introduce real, wholesale change. I am thrilled to be supporting this fantastic programme, and I would encourage all those eligible to apply.”
Those interested can complete the Fellowship application form at fellowship.democracyandpeace.org where they will be asked to upload their CV and a short essay.