The 2024 Winners
The finalists for this year’s WMB Awards descended on the Shelbourne Hotel yesterday (September 30th) to listen to inspirational speakers, network with some of Ireland’s leading business people and celebrate the announcement of this year’s Award winners across WMB’s five Award categories.
The winners for this year’s WMB Awards are pictured here and include (l-r): Rebecca Keenan, Expleo Group winner of the Fidelity WMB Woman in Technology Award; Rose Kidd, ICON who was awarded the WMB Businesswoman Award; Prof. Ita Richardson, Lero | University of Limerick, winner of the WMB Empowering Women Award; Lauren McKenna, Positive Carbon winner of the Compass WMB Rising Star Award, and Helene Hugel, Helium Arts, winner of FTI WMB Female Entrepreneur Award 2024.
WMB Businesswoman Award 2024 – Rose Kidd, President, Operations Delivery, ICON plc
Rose Kidd is President of Operations Delivery at ICON and drives the efficient delivery of services and quality data to large pharma, mid-size, and biotech sponsors in all phases of clinical development and post-marketing.
As a science graduate, Rose joined ICON in 1994 and has grown her career from Clinical Research Associate to project management roles, in addition to holding several senior roles in the organisation from Clinical Delivery, Strategic Management positions, Clinical Monitoring and Head of Quality & Compliance.
Rose is the executive sponsor on ICON’s Pride community group. She also sits on the Diversity Inclusion & Belonging (DIB) Steering Committee providing governance and direction to the company’s DIB Operating Committee, ensuring they are driving progress as set against its DIB strategy.
As President of Operations Delivery at ICON, Rose is a member of the ICON Leadership Team, reporting to the CEO of one of the largest global clinical research organisations.
Rose tells us to:
“Be brave and say yes. You don’t need to be expert in everything. Set the vision and empower your team.”
FTI WMB Female Entrepreneur Award 2024 –Helene Hugel, Helium Arts
In 2010 Helene Hugel founded Helium Arts which now employs 47 staff along with 35 volunteers all working to support the wellbeing of children and young people living with lifelong physical health conditions. Through creative workshops offered in communities, hospitals and online, the charity provides safe spaces where children navigating health conditions can come together, forge friendships, have fun, and discover new skills.
In 2023, Helium Arts doubled its impact year on year reaching almost 3,000 children and young people through various programmes. In the same year, Helene was chosen for the Social Entrepreneurs Changing Ireland Accelerator initiative and has won many other awards and accolades for Helium Arts.
The Dublin launch of Helium Arts earlier this year was a significant milestone in the charity’s growth. It was noteworthy as it also officially launched a 3-year partnership with Children’s Health Ireland. Helene’s insight, ambition and vision for Helium Arts has driven the rapid growth of the charity in recent years and these attributes were key in creating the 2023-2027 Strategic Plan.
Helene tells us to:
“Surround yourself with the right people. Welcome crucial conversations as they can lift you and your team higher.”
WMB Empowering Women Award 2024 –Professor Ita Richardson, Lero | University of Limerick
Professor Ita Richardson has an outstanding record of empowering women in STEM throughout her career. Not only does she lead by example – she is a Full Professor in the Computer Science and Information Systems (CSIS) Department at the University of Limerick (UL) – she also actively works to increase female participation in STEM and in particular, in computer science.
Prof. Richardson was appointed Deputy Director of Lero in January 2024 and is the first female to hold the role. She was UL’s Special Advisor on ED&I (2017-2020) and led Lero and CSIS at UL’s Athena SWAN (Scientific Women’s Academic Network) committee. This resulted in a Bronze Athena Swan award recognising efforts to support and transform gender equality in higher education and research. In 2023, UL received a Silver institutional award.
Prof. Richardson is a previous recipient of Lero Director’s Prize for Diversity and Inclusion. Last year, she was Diversity Co-Chair for the International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE). Prof. Richardson is the current General Chair for the International Conference on Software and Systems Processes (ICSSP) and in this role, she has appointed an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Chair.
Prof. Richardson says:
“It is incumbent on those of us who have been able to make our choices and to have successful careers, to support and encourage those women following us.”
Fidelity WMB Woman in Technology Award 2024 – Rebecca Keenan, Expleo Group
Rebecca Keenan is a Solutions Director & Global Head of Intelligent Automation at Expleo. She has spearheaded numerous high-impact projects that have significantly contributed to the company’s success. For the past eight years, Rebecca has successfully led the global Intelligent Automation Service, advancing it to its latest iteration of Hyperautomation and AI.
Rebecca is an authentic leader – She is a key senior member of Expleo’s Women in Tech/Gender Balance Employee Resource Group, which has significantly contributed to Expleo winning multiple diversity awards. She is an advocate for women; is vocal about calling out bias and feels a responsibility to support and mentor women entering the technology field.
Rebecca organises and leads workshops and training sessions aimed at upskilling women in various technology fields. She has spoken at leading tech conferences and believes in continuous learning to stay ahead. Her most recent success is to be named lead of Expleo’s new AI ‘Centre of Excellence’ hub in Dublin.
Rebecca reminds us to:
“Remain curious, stay resilient, be kind, and always believe in your ability to make a difference.”
Compass WMB Rising Star Award 2024 – Lauren McKenna, Positive Carbon
Lauren McKenna is originally from Co. Derry and moved to Dublin to undertake a degree in Philosophy & English at TCD. On graduating last year, she joined Positive Carbon – a product-centric and reduction-driven company with a focus on achieving food waste reductions at a global scale.
Since joining the company, Lauren has onboarded a significant number of new clients and developed and launched multiple UX enhancements and high-impact features on Positive Carbon’s platform. These include a mobile app, an algorithmic feed to view waste, and AI-generated repurposing suggestions for certain foods.
Lauren was recently promoted to Head of Product. She works on the company’s go-to-market strategy as it expands its footprint to the UK and European markets. Since driving both product and customer development, Lauren’s contribution to Positive Carbon has been significant. Initially, the company’s impact was notable, having prevented 2 million meals from going to landfill. Under Lauren’s product leadership, this number has soared to an astonishing 25 million meals.
Nominated by Mark Kirwan, co-founder of Positive Carbon, he says: “Lauren’s work not only represents a significant stride towards sustainability but also sets a benchmark in the industry.
She exemplifies innovation, commitment, and the spirit of Positive Carbon, making her an outstanding candidate for this award.
