IMAGE Businesswoman of The Year Awards 2015

Last night, we joined almost 800 other guests to celebrate the IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year Awards at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel, Dublin. The awards, now in their ninth year, honour the incredible businesswomen of Ireland and their outstanding achievements.

'The Smurfettes' putting our complimentary selfie-stick to use! — ‘The Smurfettes’ putting our complimentary selfie-stick to use!

The room was buzzing with energy as we awaited the announcements of the awards. Presenter Pat Kenny (the “thinking woman’s crumpet”) got the evening off to a great start, reflecting on his student days and gender imbalance, and miraculously somehow managed to silence a room of 750 excited women (well done, Pat!). Mary Finan, former Chair of the RTÉ Authority and one of the founding partners at Wilson Hartnell Public Relations, gave an inspirational speech when picking up her Lifetime Achievement Award.

IMAGE MBA Scholarship Winners with Melanie Morris, Editor in Chief IMAGE Magazine L-R – Aisling O’Keeffe, Grace Milton, Melissa Camargo, Melanie Morris, Paula Thomas, Davinia Anderson

L-R – Olivia Caslin, Carley Wasechek, Paula Thomas, Davinia Anderson, Aisling O’Keeffe, Melissa Camargo, Grace Milton, Orla Nugent, Lindsey Nguyen

The Smurfit MBA was represented by both our past and present IMAGE Scholarship Winners and also two of our students who promote Women in Business via the MBA Social Outreach Committee.

Orla Nugent, MBA Programme Director and member of the IMAGE BWOTY judging panel, Olivia Caslin, UCD Smurfit Marketing Manager, and myself were also present to celebrate each of the winners and enjoy a truly fabulous evening.

IMAGE Awards 1 — L-R – Olivia Caslin, Melissa Camargo, Davinia Anderson, Carley Wasechek, Aisling O’Keeffe, Avril Donohue, Lindsey Nguyen, Paula Thomas, Grace Milton, Orla Nugent

A very special congratulations to our Smurfit MBA Alumna, Niamh Gallagher, on winning the award for Social Entrepreneurship, co-founder, Women for Election, along with her business partner Michelle O’Donnell.

Women for Election provides training, support and mentoring to women, to encourage them to become more politically active. The group was 2011 winner of the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland IMPACT award, and in 2014 the Ireland Funds Flagship Programme Award. Prior to Women for Election, Michelle spent over 17 years in the financial services sector focusing primarily in the area of multinational project management and change management, while Niamh worked as a Research and Policy Analyst at the Children’s Rights Alliance in Dublin.

Thank you IMAGE for a wonderful evening, you can see some of the highlights here IMAGE Highlights.

Avril Donohue ~ MBA Alumni Relations, Marketing & Events