Programme Director and Course Leaders

Eileen has been a director of 16 companies over the past thirty years in business, at chair, non-executive and executive levels.

She has advised some of Ireland's leading business and political leaders on communications and public affairs, including a seven-year period as Adviser to President of Ireland, Mary McAleese. Eileen has served as a non-executive director on State boards, plcs, financial services organisations and family businesses.

Simon is also programme lead for strategy for the Institute of Directors UK.

Simon has an MBA from Durham University Business School and a PhD from Strathclyde Business School. He is a Visiting Professor at Durham where he leads the Strategic Management module of its Global MBA programme. Simon's international strategy consulting work covers clients in the private, public and third sectors.   His book, Strategic Decision Making, co-written with Dr Ben Shenoy, was published by Kogan Page in 2018.

Carol is a Certified Bank Director. She is also a trainer on our IoD Essentials Workshop Series and is an Assessor on the IoD’s Board Evaluation service. She has broad banking experience gained in Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank where she held senior roles including Chief Operating Officer and Director of Strategy & Planning. 

Carol is currently Chairperson of An Post, a non-Executive Director on the board of BCM Global ASI Ltd and Chair of Utexam Solutions Ltd, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas.  She also Chairs the Audit Committee of the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine.  Carol is a Patron of Chapter Zero Ireland, a community of non-executive directors who lead Irish boardroom discussions on the impacts of climate change and is a Member of the Balance for Better Business Review Group.  She previously served on the board of The Coombe Women & Infants Hospital until 2020, where she was Chair of the Quality, Safety & Risk Committee and a member of the Nomination Committee.  She has also served on the Boards of the Health & Safety Authority and the Institute of Banking.

She holds qualifications in Finance, Strategy and Innovation (UCC) and has an Advanced Diploma in Executive Coaching accredited by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council.  She is a Fellow of the Institute of Banking where she formerly held the position of Vice President.

Marie is also a trainer on our IoD Essentials Workshop Series and is an Assessor on the IoD's Board Evaluation service.

Marie is a Chair of Home Building Finance Ireland DAC, Bank of Ireland's Dawson MT dac and New Irelands Master Trust. She is an independent non-executive director with Dunnes Stores PT ULC and is Board of Trustees Chair with the Trinity College Dublin Foundation. Marie is an independent member of the Communications Regulator (ComReg) Audit and Risk Committee.

Marie holds a Post Grad Dip in Corporate Governance from University College Dublin (UCD) and an MBA from Trinity College and is a Fellow of The Chartered Governance Institute in the UK. 

Talita is also a non-executive director and Chair of Audit on multiple UK-regulated bank boards. She is the former CFO and CHRO of BMW UK Ltd. and BMW Financial Services Ltd. and has led and implemented award-winning cultural transformation programmes in multiple industries. Talita published her first book, “The Authenticity Dilemma Resolved®”, in 2016. She is currently writing her second book, “Seven shifts to the transformation of Great Leadership”, based on the research from the interview series Global leadership Hypothesis – what makes a great leader.

Talita is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a fellow of the Institute of Directors (“IOD”). She delivers Finance, Strategy and Leadership training for directors at the IoD and has created “Finance Inspired 4 Success”, a training platform for finance professionals to improve leadership and team dynamics.

She has over a decade of experience working in financial markets. After completing her undergraduate degree in France, Caroline began her career working in a hedge fund in Paris.

She then returned to Dublin, working in US-based proprietary trading firm Susquehanna. She has held positions in Dexia and FinTech start-up Eagle Alpha and has also worked as an economist with the Central Bank of Ireland, advising senior policymakers on financial market developments.

Caroline has an undergraduate degree in European Business and French from Dublin City University. She also holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Trinity College Dublin and is a CFA Charterholder.

Joan is involved in all programme communication and administration.  Her background is in Marketing and Communications, with over 20 years’ experience at a senior level in financial services.

She Holds a B.Sc. (Mgmt.) and M.A. from Trinity College Dublin and a Diploma in Advanced Marketing Techniques awarded by the Dublin Institute of Technology.