Judging Panel

We are delighted to announce the 2023 WMB Awards judging panel. 

Judges will be considering completed applications received by deadline. The shortlist will be confirmed in late August and finalists contacted. The final winner in each Award Category will be announced at our annual WMB Conference & Awards on Monday October 9th, 2023 at Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel.

EIMEAR COFFEY VP TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT, FIDELITY INVESTMENTS

Eimear Coffey is a VP of Technology Management for Fidelity Investments, Ireland.

Eimear started her career in Boston working in a variety of roles as a developer, analyst, project manager, product manager and Technology leader. Since returning to Ireland in 2012, Eimear has held various roles including Product Manager, Global Lead for Innovation Program, Program lead for enterprise initiatives and has led multiple business units in the Ireland organisation. Together with this, Eimear is a member of the Fidelity Ireland Technology leadership team, and has also led the Women’s Leadership ERG and the Leadership Community for the organisation.

Eimear is a graduate of Tralee I.T. and the University of Limerick, holding an honours degree in Business and a first-class honours graduate diploma in Computing and is PMP certified. Eimear recently completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence for Managers from NUIG.

DEIRDRE O’NEILL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, COMPASS GROUP IRELAND

Deirdre O’Neill – better known as Dee by her team – first joined the Compass Ireland family in 2016, leaning on 15 years of experience in the Food & Retail sector to head up the Marketing Department.

Her fresh take on transforming the image of food service earned the plaudits of colleagues and industry professionals alike, securing her ascent into the role of Managing Director.

Since 2016, Dee has consistently translated her visionary ideas into reality, cementing Compass Ireland’s status as the nation’s most celebrated food service specialist through a series of pioneering pivots, initiatives and acquisitions.

Dee’s conviction for challenging convention finds parallel with her passion for empowering women, proudly cultivating a culture where women can thrive and make their mark. This is evident in her executive team, where female representation now exceeds 70%. Dee leads a community of over 1500 people, working within 130 locations from Cork to Donegal, responsible for producing 45,000 meals a day to fuel the nation’s leading businesses and institutions.

ROSEMARY DELANEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR, WMB PUBLISHING

Rosemary Delaney has worked in media & publishing for over three decades

She represented Magazines on the Press Council of Ireland and was previously Chairperson of the industry body, Magazines Ireland. In 2006, having reached the top tier in her industry, Rosemary took a leap of faith and launched WMB Publishing and the platform WomenMeanBusiness.com. The website is targeted at female entrepreneurs and businesswomen. WMB hosts the very successful annual WMB Conference & Awards, which celebrates the best female talent in the country. WMB, which is 17 years in business, also provides publishing consultancy to a number of blue-chip clients.

Rosemary’s a published author and her first book ‘Women Mean Business – One Woman’s Journey into Entrepreneurship’ was published by Orpen Press.  In 2014, she was appointed to the Board of InterTradeIreland for a period of four years and also sat on the Trade and Communications Sub-Committees.

Rosemary lives by the mantra which she borrowed from Walt Disney ‘If you dream it, you can do it’.

HELEN SHAW, FOUNDER AND CEO, ATHENA MEDIA

Helen Shaw is a multi award winning media professional and documentary maker.

She runs her own company – the digital content and consultancy agency Athena Media –and was one of the first podcasters in Ireland when she launched Podcasting Ireland.

She’s been a groundbreaker in her career; the first woman on the executive board of RTE, when she was appointed Managing Director Radio, and before that she was a senior editor with BBC Northern Ireland and a news reporter with the Irish Times.

In keeping with the theme for this year’s conference ‘What is your why?’, Helen has been questioning her ‘why’ and has just completed a Master in Climate Change at Dublin City University. Not surprising then that her new documentary series for RTE lyric fm “We Only Want The Earth” is about the power of the creative arts to help us engage with the climate crisis.