IoD NI Women's Leadership Conference 2025

After the huge success of the 2024 event, with over 550 delegates joining us in person, we are delighted to return for 2025 to unite a community of inspiring and innovative leaders, sponsored by Herbert Smith Freehills.

Founder of the 30% club, mother of 9, and described by Fortune magazine as one of the world’s 50 Greatest Leaders, Dame Helena Morrissey DBE joins us as headline speaker for the 2025 conference.

BBC Presenter, disability activist, and author of Blind Not Broken, Lucy Edwards will also headline this year’s event.

This conference is set to be another complete sell-out with world-class speakers, the 9th 'Pitch Perfect' competition for a chance to win a £4,000 bursary for your female-led start up business, and a chance to connect with over 550 attendees in person.

Keep an eye on our socials @IoDNI as we announce further speakers over the coming weeks!

A special thanks to headline sponsor Herbert Smith Freehills as well as associate sponsors NIE Networks, KPMG, Danske Bank, Henry Brothers, SONI, The Irish News, Cathedral Eye Clinic and Translink for their continued support.

Helena Morrissey is a financier, campaigner, author and the mother of nine. She is an inspirational leader who achieves results – in business, diversity, family life and encouraging others to succeed.

As the Evening Standard put it when reviewing her book, ‘A Good Time to Be a Girl’ (2018) – ‘What supplies extra authority is where Morrissey is coming from — someone who has reached the summit and who did so while being mother to nine children.’ Her next book is ‘ Style and Substance: A guide for women who want to win at work‘ – October 2021

Helena started her City career in New York; when she returned to London she found herself the only woman in a team of 16 fund managers and missed out on a promotion because there was some ‘doubt over her commitment with a baby’. The experience strengthened her resolve to take control of her own career, to provide for her family and to help other women.

She joined Newton Investment Management and was mentored by its founder, Stewart Newton, who taught her the power of true diversity of thought. Seven years later she was appointed the firm’s CEO: over the next 15 years, profits more than trebled and assets grew from £20bn to £50bn. From 2017-2019, he was Head of Personal Investing for LGIM. She is the lead non Executive Director of The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

In 2010 Helena launched the 30% Club to improve the gender balance on UK corporate boards, championed by the chairmen of those boards. Nine years later women represent over 30% FTSE 350 directors, up from less than ten percent. The UK is the only country to have achieved such progress without legislation.

There are now fourteen 30% Clubs throughout the world and the initiative has broadened to help with all career stages from schoolroom to boardroom. It includes world’s largest cross-company mentoring scheme.

Helena has been described by Fortune magazine as one of the world’s 50 Greatest Leaders and was the Financial Times Person of the Year in 2017. In September 2020 she was created Baroness Morrissey, of Chapel Green in the Royal County of Berkshire. She is a sought-after speaker, offering an exciting vision and practical solutions for both companies and diverse talent.

Lucy is an RTS award-winning presenter, journalist, content creator, speaker, and disability activist. After losing her sight at 17 due to Incontinentia Pigmenti, Lucy committed to sharing her experiences and raising awareness about disability.

Her engaging personality and open commentary have garnered her a social media following of over 2.8 million, with her content being viewed over one billion times. Lucy's influence makes her a leading voice in the global diversity, equity, and inclusion space.

Fiona joined PepsiCo in 2020 as Senior Vice President/General Manager of West Europe Snacks, with responsibility for business in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Nordics and Benelux. She was appointed to Chief Marketing Officer for PepsiCo UK and Ireland in July 2021.

Fiona has a long track record in consumer marketing and business leadership. She started her career at Procter & Gamble, then at Mars Inc and prior to Pepsi, worked for Kimberly Clark where she was the Global head for KC’s Women’s Personal Care business (revenue of more than £2 billion). Fiona has led successful local and global Consumer marketing
campaigns, driven business growth and led large teams of people on a range of categories and brands and has lived and worked in the UK and Western Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as USA and Australia.

Fiona is originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and was educated at Oxford University, where she obtained a BA, MA (Oxon) in Modern History. Fiona is enjoying living back in Ireland after a long period of living overseas. Outside of work, Fiona is a fan of literature, plays golf, and is a keen traveller.

The Rathbane Group is a second-generation family business based in NI encompassing three well known construction & manufacturing businesses - MJM Marine, Mivan and Topglass. It has a diversified property & investment portfolio which includes MJM Renewables, with one of the main projects being the development of the former Shackleton Barracks and Airfield, near Limavady, with a masterplan which has the potential to generate over 150MW of green renewable energy and be a catalyst for green growth in the North-West.

Naoimh McConville is Managing Director of the Rathbane Group, alongside her brother Conleth. Naoimh has a finance background but has been in the family business for 12 years, working operationally across the various brands and managing special projects & acquisitions. Since 2021, Naoimh has been responsible for leading the strategic direction of the Rathbane Group. Naoimh is committed to leading the business with an emphasis on excellence, innovation, & people to have a truly world class group of brands. Naoimh is a strong advocate for NI Plc and sits on the Makers’ Alliance advisory panel and is a Member of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce Council. Naoimh was also recently appointed as Director of NIMO (NI Maritime & Offshore) Steering Group. Naoimh was awarded the IoD’s Young Director of the Year in 2019.

Dorinnia graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with a degree in Law, with Politics. Dorinnia is a Chartered Accountant who trained and worked in “Big 4” private sector accountancy firms in London and Belfast, before moving into public sector audit, joining the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) and gaining experience auditing a wide range of public bodies in Northern Ireland.

Over the course of 11 years, Dorinnia held a number of positions in the NIAO including Financial Audit Director and Director of Corporate Services. In this position she was the Technical Director providing technical audit advice to the C&AG and the Local Government Auditor and represented the NIAO on the Public Audit Forum with colleagues from the audit offices in England, Wales and Scotland.

Following the review of public administration, Dorinnia moved into local government as Director of Corporate Services at Newry Mourne and Down District Council in 2016. She was the senior financial officer within the Council, and was also responsible for a wide range of corporate services including audit, human resources, legal and compliance, communications and marketing, and capital projects. She was responsible for the Audit Committee of Council and the Strategy Policy and Resources Committee. Dorinnia also held the position of Deputy Chief Executive and was Acting Chief Executive of the Council from February to May 2022.

Dorinnia has also held a number of voluntary roles in the public sector as well as the voluntary and community sector.

Ruth McGuinness is Head of Data & Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Kainos Group plc, a FTSE 250 IT Services provider. Kainos have been pioneers in AI for nearly a decade, with a highly skilled Data & AI Practice of 150+ experts.

Having led delivery of services into complex public and private sector organisations, Ruth brings an up-to-date perspective of enterprise-grade AI deployment, with a particular focus on responsible and ethical AI.

Susan HayesCulleton, CFA, “The Positive Economist” is Managing Director of the Hayes Culleton Group, with clients across Europe and the USA. The businesses include BECKSearch which facilitates active peer learning and #SavvyTeenAcademy which manages the entire experience of teenage work experiences in corporate organisations.

The company also provides training, speaking and content development services, in the subject areas of the financial markets, economics and entrepreneurship. Susan has twice co-authored “Positive Economics”, the market-leading Leaving Cert economics textbook in Ireland, and she is the author of two books published by Penguin, The “Savvy Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom” and “The Savvy Guide to Making More Money”.

Susan is co-founder of The Positive Economist, Associate Lecturer at Ulster University, host of the “Fantastic Female Fridays” YouTube show and presenter of the Savvy Women Online podcast. She serves on the boards of the Irish International Business Network and the Ireland Hong Kong Business Forum. Susan holds a Chartered Financial Analyst charter, MSc Executive Leadership, BSc Financial Maths and Economics and a Diploma in Taxation.

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