Angela Canavan is CEO of Canavan Byrne Management and Training Solutions and has vast experience in the early years care and education/ School Aged Childcare industry. Prior to setting up her own business she held a senior role in Dublin City Council. Her company, Canavan Byrne, recently celebrated 21 years in business, a business that specialises in providing professional services to the early childhood care and education sector to include Policy and HR Advisory services, Compliance, Training Services , and Business advice.

David specialises in the area of commercial law, tax, family businesses, taxation, mergers and acquisitions. He has experience in family businesses, transferring from generation to generation, structuring of family businesses and family Estates. He sits as a Non-Executive Director with Tricel Group (Killarney) Limited with oversight monitoring of company operations and risk management, input into strategic planning and ongoing monitoring of performance against targets, involved in budgeting, annual budgeting and reviewing of same and much more.

David is a practising solicitor, member of the Law Society of Ireland, and a Chartered Tax Advisor.

He is a Strategic Advisor to Family Business Ireland in respect of Family Businesses.

David is Co-Author of “Irish Stamp Duty Law” 5th Edition – Published by Tottels, has written articles published in Law Society Gazette, Tax Review and main stream press dealing with legal and tax structures, is a Committee member Quality, Safety and Governance Committee of Cope Foundation.

John is the Executive Director of The Family Business Network, the network organisation for experiential learning, mutual support and advocacy for and on behalf of Irish families in business. He is also the Director General of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce and Founder and CEO of kmend.com, the enterprise solution tech start-up. Retired from a forty-year career in business banking, his interests weave through commerce, culture and community. He sits on the Boards of Fishamble: The New Play Company and the Irish Film Institute and he has led numerous public policy initiatives including the Government’s Forum on Philanthropic Funding of the Arts and the creation of the National Concert Hall Quarter.

Jonathan Carroll is an independent curator based in Dublin. He has curated the visual arts strand for St. Patrick’s Festival and was on the panel of curators for the Goethe-Institut. He was the assistant curator of the Project Arts Centre and is a regular columnist for the Visual Artists’ News Sheet. He co-founded Artlot (programming outdoor art for vacant space) with John Kenny of Culturehead. Jonathan is a graduate of Art History UCD, Cultural Management Instituto Universitario Ortega Y Gasset, Madrid and Curating Contemporary Art at the RCA, London.

John Kenny has worked in the arts and entertainment sector for over 20 years.

He is the director of CultureHead, a leading communications agency for the creative industries in Ireland specialising in Public Relations and Digital Marketing for the arts, entertainment and technology sectors. Clients include numerous large scale national-cultural events including The UCD Festival, Culture Date With Dublin 8 and Culture Night Dublin as well as many of Ireland’s key heritage sites and museums including Butler Gallery, Kilkenny the Wexford Arts Centre and the Seamus Ennis Arts Centre.

John is founder of the Glow Depot, a creative production house that runs the ArtLot area at the annual Electric Picnic Festival. He has been a guest lecturer at University Limerick, University College Dublin and the graduate marketing program at EM Normandie. His commentary on arts and marketing has been published in The Sunday Times and The Business Post.

J.J. O’Connell is Chairman and Director of Family Business Ireland. Through his many years of work with family run and family-owned Irish businesses he has developed a unique insight into the family business sector and in particular the challenges of the succession process and all that goes with it – planning, preparation, continuity, transference, succession, legacy, relationships and most importantly ensuring the welfare and wellbeing of the family. He is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable business succession planning practitioners in Ireland. As one of Ireland’s most expert family business advisers he works with state agencies, local government and public sector organizations to advise and advocate support the sector.

He is Chair of the PLATO Ireland Business Network and a founding member of Small Business Advice Ireland.
He is a Graduate of UCC, the NUI and of Harvard’s Business School International Competitiveness Programme.
He is a former international tutor and examiner of the Financial Times Institute UK (Henley MBA Management
College).

Sharon has significant experience and expertise in entrepreneurship, marketing, and brand development. She has worked in the hospitality and communications industry since 2000. A business graduate of IT Tralee, Sharon also holds the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII) Diploma in PR and the Institute of Marketing, Diploma in Digital Marketing.
Sharon is a former board member of Brook Foods, where she also held the position of Sales & Marketing Director from 2005 until 2016. She was also former Marketing Director of the Rose of Tralee International Festival, Sales & Marketing Manager of The Earl of Desmond Hotel. She was named ‘Network Cork Business-Woman’ and ‘Network Ireland Business-Woman’ of the year 2013. She elected first female president in Rotary Ireland in 2011.

She is currently CEO of Media Life, a Marketing and Digital Company representing clients in the hospitality, enterprise, and healthcare sector. Her clients include Romantic Castles of Ireland, Audiology Medical Services, Small Business Ireland to name a few.

Dr Siobhan Killion is the Head of Management in the School of Management, People & Organisations at Technological University Dublin. Siobhan has her PhD in Family Business Research focusing on how family businesses can evolve successfully over time, has extensive teaching experience to management students and has published successfully in a number of Journals.

Siobhan has been a member of the judging panel for the family business awards for a number of years and brings her academic experience and her own family business background to the table for this notable event.

Tomás was appointed CEO of Business in the Community Ireland in January 2018. Previously, he was with Spain’s largest sustainability network, Forética as Director of External Affairs, where he increased the international profile of the organisation and its external reputation and impact.

Between 2002 and 2012 he held several positions with Business in the Community Ireland, among them Manager of the Membership Services Team. He is a member of the Board of Young Social Innovators and the Irish Association for Social inclusion Opportunities (IASIO).

Tomás holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Universidad de Belgrano in Argentina and a Master’s degree in International Relations and International Management from the Università di Bologna in Italy. He also holds a Certificate in Management from DIT.

Colette O’Connor has over 20 years’ experience in hospitality, tourism, and events, specialising in creating experiences that celebrate people, place, and culture. Her
career spans senior roles in hospitality operations and event management, alongside seven years as an independent consultant providing strategic guidance and hands-on support to organisations and professionals. She also has a long-standing involvement with community projects, reflecting her commitment to local development and social engagement.

In 2021, she became the first female CEO of Tralee Chamber Alliance, Kerry’s largest business representative organisation, where she champions collaboration, enterprise growth, and strong local networks. Colette is dedicated to fostering connections that strengthen both economic development and the social fabric of the region.

Her event work, inspired by Ireland’s rugged beauty, delivers authentic weddings and experiences rich in story. With board experience across tourism, education, and culture, Colette is a trusted leader focused on innovation, professionalism, and community vitality.

Lucía Garcés Galdeano is a Full Professor at the Public University of Navarre (UPNA). She holds a double degree in Business Administration and Management and Law, as well as a PhD from UPNA, where she received the Extraordinary Doctoral Prize in 2019. Her research focuses on family business management, with particular attention to the role of socioemotional wealth in shaping strategic choices and human resource practices.

Her work has been widely published in leading international journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Small Business Economics, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, and The International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal. She also serves as Associate Editor for Business Research Quarterly and the Journal of Strategy & Innovation.

In addition to her academic roles, Lucía is the Director of the Family Business Chair at UPNA, which promotes dialogue between academia and the business community. In this capacity, she collaborates with companies, associations, and policymakers to address the unique challenges of family enterprises and to strengthen their visibility and impact in both research and practice.

John is a chartered accountant and experienced finance professional who was Finance Director and a shareholder in Punch Industries, best known for the manufacture and distribution of Colourcatcher and Punch Shoecare products. He had significant responsibilities in the areas of corporate governance, finance, and overall management of the business.

He now sits as a Non-Executive Director with several SMEs with oversight monitoring of company operations and risk management and providing strategic financial and governance insight.

As an angel investor, John supports emerging Irish businesses, drawing on his extensive commercial and finance expertise to advise and fund startups and SMEs.