Professor Maureen Edmondson (Chairman)
Maureen has worked in the food industry for much of her career and has held a number of roles in public sector and not-for-profit organisations. She spent 20 years in International Scientific Affairs at Mars Incorporated and later held public positions at Postwatch, the Food Standards Agency and is currently Chair of the Patient and Client Council. Maureen holds a degree and PhD from Queens University of Belfast . She is Immediate Past President of the Institute of Food Science and Technology and Chair of Governors of Edgehill Theological College. She was a member of the Communications Consumer Panel between 2008 and 2012 as the member for Northern Ireland.
Fiona Boyle (Non Executive Member)
Fiona Boyle is the principal consultant with Fiona Boyle Associates. Fiona has 24 years experience of research, evaluation, lobbying and policy development in the statutory and voluntary sector. Her employment history has covered a broad range of social issues including housing and homelessness, legal studies, social security, poverty and social exclusion.
Fiona has served on the Board of Postwatch NI (2001 - 2008) and then Consumer Focus Post (NI) and Consumer Futures Post (NI) from 2008 to March 2014. During her time with Postwatch she chaired the Research sub-committee and was actively involved in looking at areas for research and policy development as well as contributing to the main Board. She was also involved with the two successor bodies at Board level, attending meetings, contributing to strategic discussions and development within the organisation and keeping abreast of communication matters relating to Royal Mail and postal services in Northern Ireland.
Fiona MacMillan (Non Executive Member)
Fiona MacMillan is a communications and public affairs consultant and has worked in the voluntary, public and private sectors. She has worked with leading children’s charity Barnardo’s and Alzheimer’s Society. Fiona has worked with many arts organisations and is a guest lecturer on lobbying and public policy on the MA in Arts Management at Queen’s University. She has a particular interest in the creative industries in Northern Ireland and their contribution to the economy and is a Board Member of Northern Ireland Screen.
Brendan Mulgrew (Non Executive Member)
Brendan Mulgrew is a graduate of Queen's University and is the Managing Partner at Belfast based communications consultancy MW Advocate. He was previously Managing Director with Stakeholder Communications Group and advised a wide range of private and public sector clients as well as voluntary organisations on their communications and political engagement; he also worked in Stormont as a Political Advisor. He is interested in developments within social and interactive media and has a strong belief in social inclusion and ensuring that everyone in Northern Ireland has access to and benefits from new technologies.
Sharon O’Connor (Non Executive Member)
Sharon is Chief Executive of Derry City Council and was the Senior Responsible Owner for the acclaimed Derry ~ Londonderry UK City of Culture project 2013. As part of her role in the Council she was active in the creation of a City landscape which was supportive of new and existing businesses and prioritising digital services in the City and Derry-the first City in the UK to be fully fibred for superfast broadband.
Sharon previously worked for BBC NI where she was involved in discussions about spectrum and the impact on regional operations. Prior to her career in local government she ran a business in the creative industries sector which developed digital solutions for learning resources used in schools, universities and by the private sector.
Paul Wilson (Non Executive Member)
Paul is an Electronic Engineer, with over 20 years experience in the private sector, working with BT and ICL CFM. In his role with BT he was responsible for various stages and partnership arrangements for significant services delivered into the public sector across Northern Ireland, GB and Republic of Ireland. He was part of the leadership team in BT Ireland, involved in partnerships in different guises including sales, delivery and overall management.
He specialised in communications, specifically data communications, and latterly the merging of technology delivered over IP platforms. Currently Paul is leading the procurement of a Shared Network for the NI Public Sector.
Richard Hill (Non Executive Member)
Following degrees in Applied Maths and Church History, Rick worked as a parish minister for 17 years. He left church work in 2007 to develop a portfolio career. He is Owner/Director of Titanic Gap Ltd, Media Consultancy. Board member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
He has previously been Chair of Northern Ireland Screen Commission, Chair of the General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland, Chair of Consumer Focus Post and member of the Consumer Focus UK Board, a member of the BBC Audience Council for Northern Ireland and BBC Broadcasting Council for Northern Ireland. He was made MBE for services to Broadcast Media 2014
