At the December meeting of the Board of Epilepsy Ireland, Cathy Grieve was elected as the new Chairperson of our charity.
Cathy has lived with epilepsy since her diagnosis in 2008 and was originally appointed to the Board in 2014. She has a background in media and journalism and spent 19 years with the BBC. Cathy originally became involved with Epilepsy Ireland through our awareness raising and advocacy work and she has been Secretary of the Board since 2016.
Cathy replaces Mark Dowdall who had served as Chairperson since 2013. During Mark’s stewardship, Epilepsy Ireland achieved “Triple Lock” status – the gold standard of charity governance, as well as overseeing the attainment of the organisation’s first quality mark, PQASSO. Mark also oversaw the development of our current Strategic Plan 2017-2021 and he departs the role having made a long-lasting difference in how the organisation is governed.
Also at the December meeting, Clare O’Dea was appointed as the new Secretary. Clare has a background in management consultancy, corporate strategy, marketing and fundraising. She became involved in Epilepsy Ireland when her son was diagnosed with a rare form of the condition and she joined the Board in 2017. Epilepsy Ireland’s board consists of 12 members, who are collectively responsible for the organisation’s direction and governance. All members of the board, including the Chairperson and Secretary are voluntary and receive no payment for their contribution. Welcome to both Cathy and Clare in their new roles, and thank you to Mark for his contribution over the past six years.
To learn more about our board, visit the 'Governance' section of our website.