Aware works to create a society where people who experience depression and bipolar disorder, and their families, are understood and supported, are free from stigma, and have access to a broad range of support options.

Health & Wellness

Aware

Larkin Feeney is a consultant psychiatrist with the St. John of God Community Adult Mental Health Services in Dublin and he served as Clinical Director from 2017-2022. He has extensive experience in the assessment and treatment of the full range of mental health difficulties. He has interests in the treatment of severe mental illness; recovery and rehabilitation; medical education and training; information technology and mental health service development. He was a Senior Lecturer with RCSI from 2009 to 2022 and has published extensive research in a wide range of mental health areas. He has been Consulting Editor of the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine since 2010. He has led Balint groups for doctors and others over many years.

Larkin Feeney

Neil is a Director at KPMG Corporate Finance and has over 25 years of corporate finance experience having joined KPMG in 1996. Neil has advised on a wide variety of corporate finance transactions including mergers and acquisitions, infrastructure and energy projects, debt portfolio transactions and fundraisings. He is a graduate of University of Limerick, University College Dublin and a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland and chairs the Irish branch of the International Project Finance Association.  Neil is married to Denise and has a son and two daughters.  He is actively involved in his local GAA and golf clubs.

Neil Collins

Fiona has been a Support &amp; Self Care Group volunteer with Aware since 2018 and has assisted in the Aware trainees’ programmes for a number of years. She co-founded a destination management company in 1996. She served terms as President and Treasurer of the Incoming Tour Operators Association – Ireland and Treasurer  of SITE Ireland. Subsequently, she established a consultancy practice in business tourism. Her consultancy included a role responsible for business development in Central Events in Trinity College Dublin. Fiona is an executive mentor and coach. She works with start-ups, including Secret Street Tours, a non-profit, social enterprise that trains those affected by homelessness to become tour guides. She was a member of the advisory board of the EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum. She has been the Chairperson of the Trekkers Mountaineering Club for the past 2 years.

Fiona O'Sullivan

Lauren proudly joined the Aware team in 2022. She volunteered as an Aware Support and Self Care Group facilitator since 2019 and as a Life Skills Online supporter. Lauren is completing her BA in Counselling and Psychotherapy at DBS and holds a diploma in Counselling Studies. She has completed 200 hours Yoga and Meditation teacher training in India and brings a passion for self-care, emotional well-being and resilience. She has worked in telecoms, customer care and radio. Lauren is passionate about emotional health and supporting volunteers in delivering support, education and information while caring for and nurturing their own well-being.

Lauren Smith

Amanda joined Aware in 2022. As the Recruitment, Learning and Development Manager for our volunteers, she is involved with the recruitment, training and development of our fantastic volunteers who deliver Aware’s nationwide support services. She has formerly worked in a variety of learning and development roles within consultancy, retail, pharmaceutical and most recently healthcare, with LauraLynn Children’s Hospice. She has a Masters in French &amp; English from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters in Learning &amp; Teaching from the National College of Ireland.

Amanda Vaughan

Lucy joined the Aware team in September 2021. As the Education Programmes Coordinator, Lucy is responsible for the management and delivery of our programmes in Aware. Prior to her time with Aware, Lucy worked with a national charity, running and managing their operations and events in the UK.

Lucy Andrews

Leah joined the Aware team in December 2017, where she is responsible for the operational management of Aware's educational programmes. Leah also trains and mentors our volunteers who support clients on our "Life Skills Online Programme". Prior to her time in Aware she has worked in both Ireland and Australia in the Events Industry. She originally studied Business and Marketing in TU Dublin and while in Australia completed a Diploma in Event Management in the Fitzwilliam Institute in Perth WA.

Leah O'Brien

Cherie joined the Aware team in July 2022 as Fundraising Executive, providing planning and logistical support to the fundraising team. Prior to Aware, Cherie has over 20 years’ experience working in the corporate sector with organisation such as IWP, State Street and Ardagh Group in senior administration roles. She is delighted to have the opportunity to work in an organisation such as Aware.

Cherie Hyland

Drew joined Aware in summer 2014 as Business Development Executive and actively seeks new opportunities for Aware to partner with companies on Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and corporate partnerships. With a background in the hospitality sector, Drew came to Aware following a hugely enjoyable 17 years with The K Club. He is passionate about Aware’s work, particularly the positive mental health programmes which deliver wellbeing and resilience skills to students and employees across Ireland.

Drew Flood

Bernadette is an insight driven, result focused marketing strategist with broad geographic experience across local, European and Emerging markets. She has worked across a number of FMCG companies such as Lir Chocolates, Batchelors and Kellogg. Her career in Kellogg has spanned over 16 years where she worked as Marketing Director for various regions in Europe and in her most recent role led the innovation agenda for Europe where she demonstrated a strong track record for tranformational growth of existing brands and led the development of new brands. She is a passionate leader of teams and enjoys developing talent. Bernadette was also one of the founding members of the Kellogg Diversity and Inclusion forum and was appointed resilience trainer for the European Organisation. She holds a B.Sc. Food Business and a Graduate Diploma in Management from University College Cork and is a Member of the Institute of Marketing.

Bernadette Grant

Stephen is a chartered counselling psychologist and group psychotherapist accredited with these relevant professional bodies. He has a breadth of experience operationally leading teams and working as a psychotherapist in the health service and charity sector. He is passionate about the development and delivery of excellent support, education and information services for people experiencing depression, bipolar disorder and other mood related conditions. Stephen holds a MSc Counselling Psychology and MSc Group Analytic Psychotherapy.

Stephen McBride

Adrian runs his own consultancy business in workplace wellbeing. Lizado Services was set up in 2018 to support organizations with the management of their employee&#8217;s wellness needs, particularly with regard to Stress, Anxiety, and/or Mental Health issues. A graduate of Dublin City University in International Marketing and Languages, Adrian has a commercial career of over thirty years and has worked with Xerox, Nissan Europe (seven years in the Netherlands), and twenty years with Volvo Car Corporation. He was CEO of Volvo Car Ireland from 2012-2017. Adrian is a strong advocate for positive mental health and has lived with anxiety and depression since 1994.

Adrian Yeates

Keith is Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Bank of Ireland Group.  He has responsibility for Group IT strategy and deployment, systems management, and the adoption of technologies to support the delivery of strategic business change programmes. Keith was formally Chief Operations and Technology Officer with RSA in Ireland where he had full executive responsibility for all aspects of the Technology Strategy, Delivery & Operations in addition to shared services and general insurance business operations.  Prior to RSA, Keith held a number of roles with Telefonica O2 Ireland. Keith led O2’s transformation journey providing the leadership and direction necessary to effect the sale and integration process of O2 Ireland to Hutchinson Whampoa (“3”) in Ireland” . A graduate of Trinity college Dublin Keith holds an honours degrees in Civil & Environmental Engineering.

Keith Kiernan

Stephen has held senior roles in a variety of industries in Ireland. He was Head of Sales with Sky TV for several years, and most recently held the role of Head of Operations with Hickey’s Pharmacy. Stephen brings extensive experience of business development, marketing and operational management to Aware. He holds a BA in Economics from [Trinity College](/org/trinity-college).

Stephen Butterly

Prior to joining Aware Dominic held senior executive roles in the UK, USA, and Ireland and has also run his own restructuring and turnaround advisory business. He is the former Country Manager for [Motorola](/org/motorola) Ireland and a former Vice President and General Manager for the division of a global network with [Motorola](/org/motorola) based in the USA. He was also a former Chief Executive for Meridian Ltd and has served on numerous boards of directors. He has a B.Sc. in Management from [Trinity College](/org/trinity-college).

Dominic Layden

Stephen Crowley is currently the Secretary at Aware. Prior to this, they worked as IT Systems Engineer II from March 2013 to May 2020 at Abiomed. Stephen's responsibilities included administering and supporting core IT systems, including Windows Server 2016, DNS, DHCP and AD, Palo Alto 3260 and 850 firewalls, Cluster and Hyper- V environments, EMC CX-4, Cisco Call Manager, Aruba Wireless , Clearpass, Palo Alto, Silver-Peak, [Commvault](/org/commvault) backup software, and antivirus services. Stephen was also responsible for level 1 support for CISCO switches and routers and AZURE. Stephen implemented and assisted on the install of Silver Peak SDWAN solution, Camera security systems, HVAC systems, Palo Alto 3020's and 850's , ZOHO Log Analyzer, AlienVault SIEM and FlowPro network traffic analyzer. Stephen was responsible for level2 firewall, switch and wireless support for offices in Tokyo, Berlin and Aachen Germany. 

Stephen proactively monitored systems and resolved reported issues as quickly as possible working with [Carousel](/org/carousel). Stephen also worked to enhance systems, policies, and procedures related to the integrity, availability, and performance of the IT environment, as well as maintain documentation and changes of processes, systems, and networks. Stephen responded to issues within published service level agreement thresholds and provided support to local and remote users as necessary. Stephen executed projects as assigned and mentors Help Desk employees. Lastly, they maintained compliance

Stephen Crowley

Keith Gaynor is the current Director at Aware. Keith has previous experience as an editor and digital host, most notably with TheGrio. Keith has also worked as an entertainment editor and news & views editor for BET, and as an associate editor for VIBE Media. In addition, they have been a contributor for EBONY Media.

Keith Gaynor completed a B.A. in English at [Morehouse College](/org/morehouse-college), where they studied English Literature (British and Commonwealth). Keith then went on to complete an M.S. in Magazine Journalism at [Columbia University](/org/columbia-university)'s Graduate School of Journalism.

Keith Gaynor

Mary is a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist working in private practice in Tullamore. She specializes in working primarily with clients with both mood and anxiety disorders. She completed her post-graduate training in C.B.T. at The University of Durham, Newcastle, U.K., and her advanced training in Mindfulness Integrated C.B.T. with the M.i.C.B.T. Institute. Mary has a background in both mental health and general nursing. She has vast experience in the area of mental health working for many years as a Clinical Nurse Specialist on a mood disorders program in St. Patrick’s Mental Health Services. This involved providing both individual and group psychotherapy and running psychoeducational and support groups for patients with Bipolar Disorder. She was an integral member of the multidisciplinary team specializing in this area and provided expertise to a variety of disciplines. She also worked on a genetic research project on Bipolar Disorders. Mary is passionate about promoting mental health and strives to enable people to become the architect of their own lives.

Mary McAuliffe

Pat is a founding member of Aware and a Consultant Psychiatrist. He was Medical Director at St Patrick’s Hospital, Dublin and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin and specializes in the management of depression and bipolar moods. He actively promotes the role of those with lived experience of mood problems as being ‘experts by experience’ who are uniquely placed to both raise public awareness and understanding of mood problems and provide support and knowledge to peers and their families who are on a similar journey. He has a wealth of experience as a member of boards, particularly in the area of corporate governance, management of charities, and fundraising. He has researched, written, and broadcasted extensively on depression and bipolar and is currently researching the benefits of mood monitoring apps in the management of bipolar spectrum moods and difficult-to-treat depressions.

Patrick McKeon

Simon is Executive Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development at ICON plc, one of the world’s leading contract research organizations helping to bring new medical treatments to market. He is responsible for the company’s investor relations function and for the proactive identification and evaluation of potential acquisition candidates. Prior to this role, Simon was Group Director of Marketing, a position he assumed on joining ICON in July 2005. A graduate of the [University of East Anglia](/org/university-of-east-anglia) and Cambridge University, Simon holds an MBA from the UCD Smurfit Business School and previously held senior positions with Microsoft, LogicaCMG, and Cable and Wireless, Marketing Institute of Ireland, and the [Digital Marketing Institute](/org/digital-marketing-institute).

Simon Holmes

Sarah is a Commerce graduate from UCD and holds a post-graduate diploma in professional accounting from the UCD Smurfit Business School. She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. Sarah commenced her career with PWC where she worked on various financial services clients, spending time both in Ireland and the US. She held various financial and risk management roles with [UniCredit Group](/org/unicredit-group), BOI Group, and Bank of New York. Sarah currently heads up the Finance function for [Scotiabank](/org/scotiabank) in Ireland where she has responsibility for all financial and regulatory reporting.

Sarah Watson

Joan worked in various Government Departments prior to her marriage and joined Aware in 1990, training as a Support Group facilitator.  Along the way she volunteered at fundraising, and other, events and was part of the editorial team of the organization’s quarterly magazine Aware. She returned to employment as an Office Manager at a consultancy company. Joan became a Member of Aware in 2014 and continues in the role of Support Self Care Group Facilitator.

Joan Butler

Piaras is a Partner with global law firm Eversheds Sutherland in Ireland, heading up the Firm’s Banking & Financial Services practice group. Piaras has responsibility for advising both Irish and international clients on all aspects of banking law. In his role as practice group head, Piaras sits on the Firm’s Executive Management Committee in addition to various sub-committee’s covering key areas such as business strategy and diversity & inclusion. Piaras is a graduate of UCD and a member of the Law Society of Ireland. 

Piaras Power

Sinéad Brennan joined the NTMA in March 2014 as Head of Human Resources and was subsequently appointed Director, HR before becoming Chief People Officer. Prior to joining the NTMA, she was Head of Human Resources with KBC Bank Ireland and previously HR Director with BDO Ireland. Sinéad has also worked in HR roles in the software sector and in HR consultancy services. Sinéad is Chair of the Gender Matters initiative in the NTMA and is an advocate for Inclusion and Diversity across the Agency. Her professional passion is to create work cultures where people can thrive, develop and bring their authentic selves to work. She holds a PhD from Dublin City University (DCU) and her research topic was leadership development. She was announced as the 2019 Pearse Walsh Medal Award winner for her research. Sinéad also holds an Masters in Business Studies from DCU. Sinéad is the Mum of two very active boys and spends quite a bit of time on the side-lines of (often soggy) GAA and Rugby pitches.

Sinéad Brennan

Peter is the Managing Director of Futurewise, a future of work insights company that explores the latest trends that are shaping the future of work and the world. He has experience in the fields of banking, management consultancy, and the staffing sectors. Peter is on the steering committee of the 30% club and is Chair of Brain Tumour Ireland. He is the former Chair of Junior Achievement Ireland, Blackrock Athletic club, and the National Recruitment Federation. He has written two books Fun Unplugged and Family Fun Unplugged.

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