Trustees

Brenda is a freelance Third Sector Consultant. She has over 30 years’ experience of working in both the voluntary and community sector and public sector in England and Northern Ireland. She has held a number of roles including CEO. Brenda is passionate about supporting local communities and groups to build their skills, ensuring that they are able to serve future generations. Throughout her career she has worked to develop and support disadvantaged groups and communities. She has extensive experience of developing and implementing strategies to support the development of organisations and over the course of 30 years, she has developed and delivered a range of training for voluntary and community groups in areas such as governance, planning and volunteer support.

Barry Connolly is a Chartered Accountant with 20 years’ experience. He trained with KPMG in Belfast, before working with PwC for several years. He is currently Group Finance Director with Community Finance Ireland who provide social finance lending to charities, social enterprises, and third sector organisations across the island of Ireland. Barry is a native of County Fermanagh but has been living in Belfast for a number of years. Barry is also the Chair of Victim Support Northern Ireland.

Áine is the People Partner for Lloyds Banking Group in NI, she has held this role since 2003 and prior to this, worked with in both the Private and Public Sector in HR. She is a Chartered member of the Institute of Personnel and Development and a Graduate of the University of Ulster.

Niall Parfitt is a marketing professional with over 20 years of experience working with large organisations to SMEs. Niall also holds an MSc in Organisation and Management from Queen’s University, Belfast and a professional diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Niall runs his own inbound marketing agency, Atlanticus Digital. Niall also facilitates workshops and webinars across all of Ireland training on all aspects of digital marketing. Niall is currently a Trustee/Director of Headliners and was on the board of the South Eastern Regional College (SERC) as part of the Boardroom Apprentice programme in 2020. On a personal level, Niall is deeply passionate about giving back and has fundraised for a number of charities such as Children’s Heartbeat Trust, Down’s Syndrome Association and Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland. In the last 3 years, he has completed 6 marathons including Dublin, Belfast and Derry. Niall lives in Banbridge and is married with two children.