Fiona Neary, NUI Galway – A finalist in the WMB Empowering Women Award category
18th April 2022
Over the coming weeks, we will be introducing you to our WMB Award Finalists. Ultimately there will be one winner in each of our five Award categories, to be announced at our Conference & Awards on May 16th. If you’d like to attend our Conference & Awards, you can book now>>
Here, we introduce you to Fiona Neary, NUI Galway – a finalist in the WMB Empowering Women Award category.
Title and University:
Innovation Operations Manager at NUI Galway.
Sector and size of operation
Education – 22k students and 2.5k staff.
You originally hail from
Born in London and moved to Galway at age 8. I now live in Oranmore, Galway.
Single or relationship
Married to Adrian with 3 teenagers.
What is the best part of your job
Helping start-ups through their commercial journey as an entrepreneur, mentoring them and watching them grow.
Getting involved in new impactful initiatives every year.
And the most challenging
Dealing with Public sector constraints.
Your definition of success
Doing a job you love.
Best trait
Extremely supportive and I like to make a difference every day.
Worst trait
Can’t say ‘no’.
Biggest ‘win’ to date?
Professionally: In 2018 I raised €1.6m and delivered Ireland’s first Medtech accelerator called Bioexel. I’ve worked with 14 companies who have raised €13.6m in funding to date and employ 52 people.
Personally: Having 3 teenagers in a good place.
Who inspires you most
Dad & Michael Bublé
Name two things on your ‘bucket list’
Visit Vietnam & do a skydive
What does it mean for you to be a woman in business today
Being strong, having a voice, credibility that I have earned my way in life through hard work, experiences gained and determination.
Best advice to pass on
People will listen if what you have to say is; helpful, organised, strategic, adds value and comes from the heart.
