Judges

Meet our judges:

Our judging panel includes professionals from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland who work within and have an in-depth knowledge of the sustainability sector so that our entrants receive the credible, peer-to-peer recognition that they fully deserve.

Below is a selection of our fabulous judges but stay tuned over the coming weeks to find out more about who will be joining our expert line-up!

Danielle McCormick: Moderator

Triterra logo

Danielle is a sustainability professional with over 22 years’ experience in delivering local, national, and European behavioural change and sustainability campaigns, business mentoring and green marketing support, and is the Founder and Lead Consultant of sustainability consultancy, Triterra.

With a solid background in the industry, Danielle holds a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science, a CIM level 4 certificate in Integrated Communications; CIM training in behavioural change; a PgCert in International Business and a PgCert in Renewable Energy & Energy Management, both from the University of Ulster.

Danielle also established the All-Ireland Sustainability Professionals Network in November 2020, and the All-Ireland Sustainability events, with the goal of raising the profile of the sustainability agenda across the Island, encouraging opportunities to share best practice, learnings and collaborative opportunities. She continues to manage and chair the network, which now has over 450 members across NI and ROI, and runs the All-Ireland Sustainability Summit and Awards initiatives.

Ross Moffett

Everun logo

Ross joined Everun in late 2021 as Sales & Business Development Director to help introduce the full portfolio of renewable products to enhance the company and drive the growth of Everun in the renewable energy sector. Due to his efforts, this has allowed Everun to expand the team with the employment of an additional 20+ staff members in 2022 alone.

Previous to Ross joining Everun, Ross was in the automotive industry for over 20 years where he was a Business Manager in Mercedes-Benz and then also managed a small team in a Fleet Leasing company. Ross is particularly passionate about helping the homeless community and for the past 5 years has devoted his spare time into homeless outreach. He is affiliated with and gives back to social enterprises that oversee the donations of clothing and products, as well as ensuring the safety of the homeless community.

With the current energy and cost of living crisis, Ross wants to achieve a positive impact within his community and beyond through renewable energy. His aim is to leave a legacy and hopes to elevate Everun to become a household name in Renewables.

Shane Doherty

Rumbo Verde

Shane has spent his career managing and developing some of Ireland’s largest Energy from Waste and Renewable Energy projects. A BEng in Civil Engineering and an MSc in Environmental Engineering were achieved before Shane became a Chartered Waste Manager with the CIWM in 2016.

Working with agriculture, agri-food and manufacturing industries, Shane has implemented a range of Circular Economy solutions including electricity production, sustainable agriculture and carbon negative transport.

Named Plant Manager of the Year 2018 at the World Biogas Awards, Shane has since founded Rumbo Verde where he is assisting the development of Biomethane production facilities throughout Ireland. These plants produce renewable products from waste materials to promote a circular economy.

Dr Amanda Greer

Veri Connect Logo

Dr. Amanda Greer is the Director of Sustainability at Veri Connect. As an Environmental Training Manager, she has overseen the roll out of nationwide biodiversity training programmes covering topics as diverse as the history of biodiversity, seed saving, freshwater ecology, citizen science, invasive species, water conservation, management of pollinator corridors, biodiversity & wellness.

Her projects have included both Wild Work and the Nore Vision Highly experienced in course development, Amanda is currently drafting nationally accredited programmes such as QQI Level 5 programmes on Sustainable Procurement and Lean for Sustainable Business. She is also the author of Climate Action 101 an accredited course designed to effective real change by promoting practical climate-based initiatives within businesses.

Previously, Amanda co-founded the Irish ecology company Envirico and developed a strong specialisation in Invasive Species control and eradication including a successful peninsula-wide Japanese Knotweed eradication project. Amanda’s doctorate research features heavily in the documentary “Beak and Brain”, and she is the author of several peer-reviewed journal articles. In her spare time Amanda volunteers as Chairperson of the Environment and Heritage Working Group of the Nore River Catchment Trust.

Nuala Murphy

Head of Business Diversity Mark – the awarding authority on Diversity and Inclusion across the UK and Ireland. Nuala has been described by the Irish Times as “one of the next generations of female business leaders in the North.”

A community builder and connector by nature, Nuala has been an impassioned advocate for women’s equality with a deep commitment to creating workplaces where every person has a seat at the table and a chance to be heard.

Mike Cody

Mike has worked in Gas, Electricity and water for over 25 years in Ireland, UK and US markets. He has extensive knowledge of these markets and the development of them into the renewable revolution and smart technologies.

After spending most of his career working for large energy suppliers, he decided to set up e-volv to help guide, educate & install energy saving, smart and renewable technologies to residential & commercial customers in Ireland.

His passion to help customers move away from fossil fuels has enabled e-volv to grow into a business employing a team of Home Energy Advisers in their call centre in Cork. With expansion into the UK market in 2023 the business is going from strength to strength and playing a big part in helping homeowners and businesses to reduce carbon emissions.

Outside of work Mike is a keen mountain walker with his family and the odd sociable night thrown in!

Adrian Davis

Adrian is Founder and Lead Consultant at AD Sustainability, an environmental and sustainability/ CSR consultancy based in County Antrim. His consultancy provides support to various public and private sector clients delivering cost reduction, compliance assurance and responsible business performance improvement, and is focussed on four main themes, their ‘4 C’s’ – Carbon, Compliance, Circularity and Corporate Responsibility.

Adrian is an experienced environmental and sustainability professional, with 25 years’ experience working in and supporting private and public sector organisations including AES UK & Ireland, Bombardier Aerospace/ Spirit Aerosystems, FG Wilson, the Northern Ireland Assembly, Queen’s University Belfast, River Ridge, Seagate Technology, Translink and Ulster University. He also provides support to clients under Invest NI’s Energy and Resource Efficiency Consultancy Framework and Enterprise Ireland’s Green Offer programme.

He advises his diverse client base in areas including carbon management, circular economy, CSR and environmental sustainability strategy, environmental training, ISO 14001 and 50001 management systems, resource efficiency and waste management.

He is a member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment and a Chartered Environmentalist. He is also an approved NEBOSH environmental trainer and holds a BSc Hons in Environmental Technology and a MSc in Management and Corporate Governance.
Adrian believes in keeping things simple through the provision of practical, common-sense solutions wherever possible.

Esther Dobbin

Esther Dobbin is the Region and Investment Manager at Tourism Northern Ireland.

Esther has previously worked with the National Trust’s as the driving force for responsible tourism at the Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede, located on the Causeway Coastal Route in Northern Ireland.

Esther brings nearly three decades of operational management experience in the tourism and hospitality industries to her current role as Responsible Tourism Manager at these flagship destinations and is a passionate advocate for community sustainability.

She specialises in collaboration to deliver bespoke experience packages which encourage visitors to connect with locals as they share their knowledge and passion for these special places.

Dr Kirstin Lemon

Geological Survey of Northern Ireland

Dr Kirstin Lemon is a Senior Geologist and member of the Executive at the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland. Kirstin specialises in the use of geoscience as an enabler for sustainable development, especially in relation to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Kirstin is a nominated member of the Royal Irish Academy’s Climate Change and Environmental Sciences multidisciplinary committee. She is an expert adviser to the UK National Commission on UNESCO on climate action and the role of the UN Sustainable Development Goals within UNESCO Global Geoparks.

Kirstin holds a BSc (Hons) in Geology (1st Class) from Queen’s University of Belfast and a PhD in Geological Sciences from Durham University. She has recently graduated from SOAS, University of London with a MSc in Climate Change and Development.

She is a graduate of the Northern Ireland Boardroom Apprentice initiative and has since been successful in obtaining a Ministerial appointment to the Board of Armagh Observatory and Planetarium.

Judy McElroy

NIE Networks

Judy McElroy is the Sustainability & Environment Manager at NIE Networks Ltd, a position she took up in July 2020.

NIE Networks owns and manages the electricity networks in Northern Ireland, with c. 50,000km of network and c. 900,000 connected customers. Judy is responsible for the Sustainability, Environment Net Zero and ESG strategies and initiatives at NIE Networks.

Judy previously held a number of Engineering roles in NIE Networks including in Asset Management. She is a member of the Institute of Engineering & Technology (IET) and Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA).

John Ferris

ulster bank logo

John Ferris is Regional Ecosystem Manager with the Ulster Bank and spent his early career coding for a healthcare tech company in Pittsburgh before a 15 year stint in media. A journalist and editor at the North Belfast News, John also ran Ireland’s most successful independent food website, Forked. In 2013 John launched a wifi software technology startup, which was used in restaurants, cafés, hotels, stadia and vehicles around the world.

John joined Entrepreneurial Spark in 2015 to help support ambitious startups throughout Ireland. The social enterprise was bought over by NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank in 2018. Since joining the team John has worked to support 750+ startups across the country. Those businesses have raised £35m+ in investment and created more than 1000 jobs.

Since 2019, John sits as a member of Ulster Bank’s Regional Board and leads on climate and the drive to support a more diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem in Northern Ireland. John has also taken on an additional role as Norther Ireland’s Dealmaker, Department for International Trade and this month launched The Untapped VC, a podcast focused on diversity in Venture Capital.

Ben Craig

International Synergies NI

Ben Craig is Acting Director at International Synergies NI, which helps local organisations become part of the green industrial revolution and accelerate their journey to Net Zero. They are global specialists in resource efficiency and resource matching, diverting waste away from landfill and into the circular economy.

Ben is an experienced sustainability consultant, having worked across sectors and industries with organisations of all sizes. He uses a skillset built from a decade of experience as a sustainable business entrepreneur to support organisations to cut through the jargon and find practical solutions and strategies that can be integrated at pace.

He is a graduate of the Ulster University Business School and Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and when not at work spends lots of time in the sea, having reached #4 in the world at kayak surfing!

Gordon Boyd

G.B Associates

Gordon Boyd, experienced Owner of G.B Associates has a demonstrated history spanning over 26 years of working in the environmental services industry.

Gordon is skilled in ISO 9001, 45001, 14001, sustainable development, end of waste protocols, corporate social responsibility, and business planning.

He is an International speaker on waste legislation, end of waste and sustainability future and well known and respected professional within the sustainability sector.

Anne-Marie Roddy

Anne-Marie, Associate Director at Carbon Fit, is a qualified Engineer and leads the Net Zero compliance department within Carbonfit.

In 2019, based on shared client experience and feedback, Annemarie along with three other Chartered Engineers worked together to develop a solution to simplify carbon reporting, legislative requirements and deliver real carbon reduction, Carbonfit.

This solution is Carbonfit an Intelligent Net Zero Solution with an online platform at its heart with a mission to provide technology and support to businesses throughout Ireland and the UK, resulting in the acceleration of Net Zero journeys, well ahead of the 2050 deadline

With over 15 years’ experience working in the Energy and Carbon industry Annemarie’s experience spans a range of sectors including manufacturing, construction and hospitality. In her role, she assists organisations to accelerate their Net Zero Journey, in line with and where possible ahead of SBTi .

Anne-Marie works on the Invest NI and Enterprise Ireland frameworks assisting clients on their decarbonisation journeys. This involves working with various sized companies from SMEs to Large Global organisations, each at various stages of their Net Zero Journey. With greenwashing making headlines, Anne-Marie provides the guidance required to ensure our organisations can disclose and promote their Net Zero progress without concern.

Steven Agnew

Steven Agnew is Director of RenewableNI, a not-for-profit organisation representing the voice of Northern Ireland’s renewable electricity group.

Steven is the ‘face’ of RenewableNI. He is responsible for public affairs and engagement and lobbies on behalf of RenewableNI members to achieve their strategic goals. Successes include for the Climate Act target of 80% renewable electricity generation by 2030, and setting a 1GW target for offshore wind in DfE’s OREAP.

As a former MLA and leader of the Green Party, Steven has a long track record of his commitment to addressing climate change and improving the lives and economy of Northen Ireland citizens.

Chris Martin

Chris is Head of Sustainability at Danske Bank. He has over 25 years’ experience in financial services with a background in both retail and corporate banking and strategy roles.

At Danske Bank his primary focus and responsibility is the development and delivery of a comprehensive sustainability strategy and Net Zero outcome for Danske Bank’s UK operations. This includes all aspects of sustainability and climate risk, development of customer focused solutions and services, successful alignment with regulatory requirements, delivery of sustainability reporting including TCFD and development of transition finance.

Eugene Heaney

Invest NI

Eugene is Business Development Manager in the Green Economy Development Team at Invest Northern Ireland.

Eugene Heaney, joined Invest Northern Ireland in 2014, following a 20-year career in the Construction supplies sector, where he specialised in low energy building practices, and held a Senior Regional Management role. Since joining Invest NI, he has used this private sector experience in to assist start-up and early-stage exporter businesses develop propositions, grow sales, and expand their workforces.

He has worked within the Invest NI Skills Division, assisting groups of companies combine their capabilities, through Collaborative support, to deliver collective projects. This role enabled him to assist over 25 Green Economy projects, including a Low Energy housing project, which achieved United Nations recognition for its innovative sustainability and energy efficiency performance.

Eugene now manages the Green Economy Development team in Invest NI who are responsible for working across industry and stakeholders to help promote and support growth for Northern Ireland businesses in the Green Economy locally and internationally.

Sally O'Kane

Frylite logo

Sally is Head of Compliance & Sustainability at Frylite Solutions.

Sally began working at Frylite Solutions over 12 years ago as Environment, Health and Safety Manager and is now the Head of Compliance and Sustainability based at our Head Office in Strabane.

Sally’s passion is about finding solutions and driving sustainability in the Food & Catering industry across the island of Ireland, and she is delighted to be driving the sustainability agenda of a pioneer in the catering industry that has circularity at its very core.

Her career spans nearly 25 years, specialising in occupational health and safety and environmental management gained through working in defence for 10 years and over the last 14 years in the private sector, supporting the food manufacturing industry.

The knowledge and skills gained over the years has given Sally the tools that she uses daily to drive continued improvement, transparency, and a greater understanding of what Frylite do and how it impacts their stakeholders.

Sally feels that this is such an exciting time for Frylite, as sustainability is integral to everything that Frylite do, she says “we understand the importance of what we do and how it impacts on our current generations and how our actions impact our future generations, whilst ensuring a balance between economic growth, environmental care and social wellbeing.”

Award Sponsors:

This year’s All-Ireland Sustainability Summit is brought to you in partnership with:

Everun logo

Media partners:

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And sponsored by:

NIE Networks
International Synergies NI
Visit Belfast
Veri Connect Logo
ulster bank logo
Frylite logo
Hastings Hotels logo
Profile Tree
Invest NI
Adler & Allen logo
2b creative
Invest NI
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Charity partner: