Committee members

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Paul Montgomery
Paul Montgomery
Chair and Policy Lead

Paul has twenty years’ experience in fundraising across corporate, community, events and trust income streams.

With the first half of that career based in England, Paul started in fundraising at the Anthony Nolan Trust and later at Cancer Research UK. Upon returning to Northern Ireland, he has worked with NSPCC and has led the fundraising team at the Stroke Association since 2012.

Paul joined the Northern Ireland Regional Group committee in 2018.

Emma Corry
Emma Corry
Vice Chair and Communications Lead

Emma has worked in the charity sector for over ten years, having previously worked in marketing and communications roles in the public and private sectors. Her fundraising experience has included roles at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Diabetes UK and Parkinson’s UK. Currently she works as a fundraiser for Marie Curie Northern Ireland. Through these roles Emma has gained experience in a wide range of fundraising – community, major donor, events, trusts & foundations, corporate and individuals. Emma also has a Diploma in Marketing Communications and a Diploma in Fundraising.

Naomi Breen
Naomi Breen
Treasurer

Naomi is an experienced and adaptable fundraising professional with over ten years' community fundraising experience with a MInstF (Cert) with the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.

She is responsible for developing and implementing the community fundraising strategy in Northern Ireland for Diabetes UK, working independently but also as part of a regionally dispersed team. Naomi is highly skilled at relationship-led fundraising with a proven track record of building successful long lasting relationships with supporters and possess solid volunteer management skills.

Jimmy Laverty
Jimmy Laverty
Secretary

As Engagement Manager for the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Jimmy helps stimulate and support the flow of good quality applications; providing pre-application advice and support to potential applicants, contributing to and implementing outreach strategies. Jimmy is an expert on researching funding sources and has significant experience in helping groups obtain funding. He has sat on numerous grant assessment panels including various EU funds. He has an Advanced Diploma in Social Enterprise at the University of Ulster, is Diploma qualified from the Chartered Institute and is also a Volunteer Mentor for the Sported Charity and is Chairman of St Johns GAC, Drumnaquoile.

Clare Galbraith
Clare Galbraith

Clare has been working in the third sector for almost twelve years; eleven years in fundraising and one year in service delivery. Clare was Community Fundraising Manager with NSPCC Northern Ireland for nine years and took up the position of Corporate Fundraising Officer with AWARE in February 2018. She is currently the Fundraising Manager at AWARE. She has many years’ experience in both community and corporate fundraising, event and volunteer management and was delighted to manage the AWARE fundraising team that won Fundraising Team of the Year at the Chartered Institute of Fundraising NI Awards 2019.

Neal Somerville
Neal Somerville

Neal has worked in the charity and volunteer sector for over 20 years and brings a wealth of experience from the Direct Marketing and Face to Face world. He currently is the Face to Face Manager, Ireland for the RNLI while also holding a volunteer position with the Sea Cadets.  Neal has an array of experience in project and event management, and throughout his time in the fundraising sector has been involved in grants and trusts. Neal has sat on selection charity grants committees and has been a member of the committee since 2021. 

Mark McMahon
Mark McMahon

Mark has worked in fundraising for over 14 years with experience in community, corporate, major donors, trusts & foundations and legacy fundraising. He has worked for Children in Crossfire, Cancer Research UK, Christian Aid Ireland and is currently Fundraising & Outreach Officer in Trócaire. Mark has a Diploma in Fundraising from the Institute of Fundraising and joined the NI Regional Committee in December 2023.

Treasa Rice
Treasa Rice
Social Media Lead

Treasa was appointed as CEO of GLOW in October 2023.  Prior to joining GLOW, Treasa worked with several charities across Northern Ireland including Brain Injury Matters (NI), where she was Engagement Manager for 11 years; Action Cancer as Health Promotion Manager/Officer and Ligoniel Improvement Association, where she spent time at the start of her career as a Youth Health Worker. Treasa is currently a Committee Member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising Northern Ireland.

Treasa is a graduate from Ulster University and holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health and a Masters of Science in Health Promotion. Treasa has completed ILM Level 5 and Level 7 in Leadership and Management.

Claire Hogarth
Claire Hogarth
Events Lead

Claire has been working in fundraising since 2017 after spending four years volunteering for a national children’s cancer charity.   Currently she is the Fundraising Lead and part of the Senior Leadership Team for Lighthouse.  Claire has experience across community, corporate, and event fundraising as well as charity marketing and communications.  She has previously worked for RSPB, Friends of the Cancer Centre, and CLIC Sargent.
 
Claire joined the Chartered Inst. Of Fundraising Northern Ireland as a member in March 2021 and the NI Committee in June 2021. She has been involved with the planning and implementation of various training and networking events and is currently chair of the Awards 2024 sub-committee. 

Maria Smalls
Maria Smalls
Emails Lead

Maria is an exceptional fundraising professional with over 18 years’ experience gained in the voluntary sector. Starting her career at Macmillan Cancer Support provided her with a solid foundation, particularly in leading capital build fundraising appeals and managing volunteers. Her recent role as a Development Manager at Queen's University Belfast has further honed her skills in major gifts fundraising and high value relationships. Now, as the Partnership and Philanthropy Advisor at Cancer Fund for Children, Maria will bring her wealth of experience to lead the Northern Ireland team.

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