The National Learning &
Development Conference

Matt’s research and speaking focuses on ways we bend and break rules to get results from technology and converting these deviant practices into tomorrow’s solutions. His research has appeared in top management publications such as Administrative Science Quarterly and Harvard Business Review. He has spoken at TED, was selected in 2012 as a Human-Robot Interaction Pioneer and is a regular contributor to popular outlets such as Wired, MIT’s Technology Review, TechCrunch, Forbes and Robohub. He also took a two-year hiatus from his doctoral studies to help establish and fund Humatics, an MIT-connected, full stack IoT startup.

Kathi is a Senior Vice President and Global Industry Analyst at The Josh Bersin Company,supporting clients and the market with evidence-based insights on all areas of HR, Learning,Talent, and HR Technology.Kathi has more than 20 years global experience from management consulting with IBM, PwC,and EY, and as a talent leader at McKesson and Kaiser Permanente. Most recently, Kathi ledtalent and workforce research at Deloitte. She is a frequent keynote speaker, author, andthought leader.Originally from Austria, Kathi has worked in Vienna, London, San Francisco, and Spain andnow lives in Palo Alto, California. Her passion is to make work better and more meaningful.Kathi holds a doctoral degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in mathematics from theUniversity of Vienna, Austria.

Since 2009, Danny has been the CEO and Executive Board Director of Ireland’s largest lobby and business representative group - Ibec. Their purpose is to help build a better, sustainable future by influencing, supporting and delivering for business success. His professional career has been driven by passion for economics, having previously served as chief economist for both the Economic & Social,Research Institute and Central Bank of Ireland, along with holding lecturing posts at Dublin City University, University College London, University of Oxford and Trinity College Dublin. He is a Independent Non-Executive Director at Iput Real Estate Dublin, an Adjunct Professor at Trinity College Dublin Business School, on the governing committee of MaREI research consortium, member of the Balance for Better Business, and Executive Council Member of Business Europe in Brussels.

Julie is a coach, facilitator and consultant with a global portfolio and over 25 years of Organisational Change experience. Her passion is working with individuals, teams and Boards – typically through transition periods - to support insights, learning and positive action.Julie works to build long-lasting results with her clients, getting underneath surface symptoms to address root-cause issues. In her coaching practice, she works with a range of tools including appreciative inquiry, reflective writing, somatic/body work and leadership theory. Her approach is to blend Head (data and evidence) with Heart (emotion, values, identity) and Hands (practical actions, delivery and outputs). As a result, she is described by clients as pragmatic, compassionate and clear. Julie is Co-Chair of Scottish Games Week steering committee and a Trustee of The Social Enterprise Academy. She has recently taken up a strategic partner role as Head of Coaching for the CLO100 aimed at developing senior Learning Leaders across all sectors.

Richard Curran is a journalist, broadcaster and author. He is the presenter of The Business radio show on RTE Radio One and a columnist with the Sunday Independent. Presenter of Dragons Den on RTE Television for eight series, Richard has 30 years experience in business journalism. He is a former business editor of the Irish Independent and former deputy editor of The Sunday Business Post. He has co-written two books, one on Irish entrepreneurs and the other on the multi-billion euro collapse of Irish Nationwide Building Society. He has also made several television documentaries for RTE including, Future Shock: Property Crash in 2007 and The Battle For Rural Ireland in 2015.

Sinead is a qualified solicitor with experience in Company law and Corporate Governance. As Director of Professional Development at William Fry, she leads the firm's Professional Development function. She is responsible for planning and overseeing the professional development of all William Fry lawyers and employees as part of the firm's strategic objectives. She is the Chair of the firm's Environment Committee. She holds qualifications in Professional Education and Executive Coaching, and she lectures in business law at the Law Society. In 2023, William Fry's Professional Development Team won the Pearse Walsh Award for "Outstanding L&D Team" at the L&DI Excellence in Learning Awards

John O’ Shaughnessy is the managing director of Clancy Construction a national building contractor with offices in Dublin, Cork and Tipperary (head office) with a work force close to 200 full time staff. John holds a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) a law degree (LL.B Hons) Project Management Professional qualified (PMP) Dip in construction management and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Builders (FCIOB), John is a Past President of the Master Builder Contractors Association of Ireland, a past Chair of the South East Branch of the CIF, Chair of the both Education, Leaning, and Training and the Building Regulation, Planning and CIRI sub committees of the National Executive of the CIF, John has also been appointed by the Minister for Housing to the board of the Construction Industry Register of Ireland (CIRI) and more recently appointed to the newly formed National Skills Council.

Mark Melia is a senior leader at Enovation, where he leverages a 20-year career at the intersection of learning and technology to drive innovation and deliver impactful elearning and LMS solutions. Enovation specialises in creating cutting-edge learning platforms based on open-source Learning Management Systems, serving a diverse range of Irish, European, and international organisations. Mark holds a Ph.D. in Computing from Dublin City University (DCU) and a Master’s in Product Management from Technological University Dublin (TUD). His expertise in digital transformation, combined with his deep understanding of learning technologies, positions him as a thought leader in shaping the future of education and professional development.

Kevin Fitzgerald has been leading L&D and Quality Assurance teams for multinational organizations for over 25 years. Kevin is currently Assistant Vice President of Operational Learning & Performance with Sun Life, an international insurance and wealth management company, where he leads a team of 110 learning and quality professionals across five countries. Before Sun Life, Kevin worked in Project Management, Operations, and L&D leadership roles with AOL Europe and FAS (now the Enterprise Training Board). Kevin is certified in training delivery, instructional design, mediation, psychometric assessment, design thinking and team dynamics. He is a graduate of UCC with a Bachelor of Arts (Psych) honours degree and recently graduated as one of the first students from DCU’s MSc in Strategic Learning & Development programme.

Bernadette has over 16 years of experience in Learning & Development. She currently leads a global team of L&D practitioners at Citco, a financial services organisation providing a broad range of products to clients worldwide. In her role, Bernadette oversees the full HRD life cycle, from thorough needs analysis to robust impact and evaluation assessments. Passionate about learning, Bernadette views it as a key driver of organisational success. Under her leadership, her team promotes Citco’s learning philosophy of "Provide, Guide, Drive," empowering employees to take ownership of their development. She is particularly focused on utilizing strong KPIs to measure and report the impact of L&D initiatives on achieving organisational goals. Bernadette recently graduated with an MSc in Strategic Learning & Development from DCU.

Annette is the Head of Learning and Development at the Central Bank of Ireland, bringing over 35 years of diverse experience across the private and public sectors, both domestically and internationally. Her career spans roles in L&D, Organisational Development, and Talent Management. While working in Global Investment Banking, Annette led large operational teams, before pivoting to HR. There, she led the L&D function for Ireland and Talent Management for EMEA. In 2014, she joined the Central Bank of Ireland, initially overseeing L&D, Talent, and Performance Management, and later moved to work with the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, where she focused on Leadership Development, Career Frameworks, and Talent Management practices. Returning to the Central Bank of Ireland in 2021, Annette now leads initiatives to align learning strategies with business needs, focusing on leadership, behavioural, and critical technical skills development to future-proof the workforce. Annette is passionate about creating impactful, future focused learning experiences that not only build critical skills but also foster a culture of continuous growth and adaptability across the organisation. Annette holds qualifications in Psychotherapy, Leadership Team Coaching, and Executive Business Coaching. She is currently pursuing an MSc in Business and Executive Coaching at UCD Smurfit Business School.

Kevin works with clients to develop, deliver and evaluate bespoke solutions that drive performance across their business - from graduate to C-suite level. He is a highly skilled consultant and facilitator with a wealth of experience in designing the systems and processes that support effective learning, measurement and talent development. Kevin has developed HPC’s evidence-based approach to measuring the business value of our clients’ learning solutions. He brings an analytical and insightful perspective to the way we demonstrate L&D’s impact across organisations through data and storytelling. Before joining HPC in 2013, Kevin was Head of Learning and Development for Matheson where his work was recognised with a number of National Training and Grad Ireland Awards. Since joining HPC, his client work has been recognised at the L&DI Awards, the Training Journal Awards and the LPI Learning Awards. The most recent accolade is a LPI finalist nomination for HPC for the 2025 Learning Provider of the Year Award.