A J Brown – Professor of Public Policy & Law at Griffith University, Australia
Professor A J Brown AM is professor of public policy and law, and leader of the integrity, leadership and public trust program at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. He is an elected member of both the Australian and global boards of Transparency International, where in 2019-2020 he led the development of TI’s current worldwide strategy ‘Holding Power to Account, 2021-2030’. A former senior investigator for Australia’s national Ombudsman, and consultant to many Australian integrity agencies, he has led seven Australian Research Council projects into public integrity and governance reform, including two of the world’s largest empirical studies of organisational responsiveness to public interest whistleblowing (Whistling While They Work 1 and 2). Among many publications, he was lead editor of the International Handbook on Whistleblowing Research (Edward Elgar, 2014). He currently leads an AUD$1.2 million Australian Research Council project on measurement of public trust, mistrust and distrust. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, past President of the Australian Political Studies Association (2017-18), and member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Expert Advisory Panel on Whistleblower Protection (2017-2019). In 2023, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to the law and public policy, particularly through whistleblower protection.
Andrew Carroll – Assistant Commissioner at the Data Protection Commission
Andrew Carroll is an assistant commissioner at the Data Protection Commission (DPC), where he heads up the DPC’s activities in the area of law enforcement consultation and supervision. Andrew is also the DPC’s acting Data Protection Officer, as part of which he manages protected disclosures made to the DPC regarding compliance with the Data Protection Acts. Since joining the DPC in 2019, Andrew has held a variety of roles including, head of the children’s policy unit as well as case officer within the cross-border complaint handling and investigations unit. Prior to joining the DPC, Andrew worked in Brussels for five years as a research assistant on EU affairs and press officer at the Japanese Mission to the European Union and previously as a project manager at the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation.
Celine Pinzio – Integrity Manager at Transparency International
Since 2021, Celine manages the internal integrity system of Transparency International’s Secretariat which is part of a global movement working to end the injustice of corruption. Prior to her current role Celine worked in audit, risk, compliance, data protection and internal whistleblowing for MNEs for more than 10 years. She has set up internal whistleblowing channels in large structures as well as smaller ones, in Europe and abroad, in the corporate and non-profit sectors. Celine holds an MA in Politics, Governance and Corruption from the University of Sussex.
Christian Hunt – Author of ‘Humanizing Rules’ and Founder of Human Risk
Christian is the founder of Human Risk, a Behavioural Science (BeSci) led Consulting and Training Firm specialising in Ethics & Compliance and the author of a book, ‘Humanizing Rules’. He was formerly Managing Director, Head of Behavioural Science at UBS. Christian joined the Firm in Compliance & Operational Risk Control, leading the function globally for UBS Asset Management. Before joining UBS, he was COO of the UK Prudential Regulation Authority, a subsidiary of the Bank of England responsible for regulating financial services.
Damien Cahill – Assistant Principal Officer at the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commission
Damien Cahill has worked in the OPDC since the start of 2022. Prior to this, he was the head of the Support Unit for the Office of the Information Commissioner and the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information. Before joining the Organisation, Damien worked in the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of the Environment, Heritage, and Local Government. Damien was instrumental in setting up the OPDC last year. One of his key roles is to ensure that any reports of wrongdoing received by the Office are transmitted to the most appropriate body within the time as set out in the Act.”
Diarmaid O’Corrbui – CEO at Carmichael
Diarmaid Ó Corrbuí is CEO Carmichael, a registered charity that provides governance training and a range of supports to nonprofits in Ireland. He has extensive experience as a board chair and a board member in a number of private and nonprofit organisations and also with working with boards providing governance support and advice. He is a member of the Charity SORP Committee for the UK and Ireland. He is actively involved in the Good Governance Awards, Mentoring and the Board Chairs Network initiatives led by Carmichael. Previously, he worked as a management consultant for over 25 years with Prospectus Management Consultants and Accenture working with a range of organisations in the public, healthcare and nonprofit sectors on strategy and corporate governance.
Dr Lauren Kierans BL – Assistant Professor of Law at Maynooth University
Dr Lauren Kierans lectures in Whistleblowing Law at undergraduate level and as a Professional Certificate at Maynooth University. She is also a qualified barrister specialising in Whistleblowing Law. Lauren holds a PhD on Protected Disclosures and has published articles, book chapters and national reports on whistleblowing law. She co-authored ‘Protected Disclosures Act 2014 – Annotated Legislation’ with Anthony Kerr (published by Round Hall). Lauren was awarded the governmental project for the drafting of the protected disclosures procedures guidance for public bodies on behalf of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
Dr Vigjilenca Abazi – Co-Founder & Executive Director, European Whistleblowing Institute
Dr. Vigjilenca Abazi is a legal scholar renowned for her expertise in whistleblowing. She is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the European Whistleblowing Institute. Dr. Abazi has spearheaded significant projects on whistleblowing in Europe, including receiving the esteemed VENI grant from the Dutch Research Council and collaborating with EUROCADRES. A trusted voice in policy-making, her contributions include co-drafting the model EU whistleblower law for the European Parliament, authoring reports for the Council of Europe, and overseeing compliance monitoring for the European Commission. Further, Dr Abazi co-created the ‘Whistleblowing Now and Then’ podcast with the Whistleblowing International Network and serves as an Honorary Senior Fellow at the globally recognized Government Accountability Project in D.C. Dr. Abazi’s academic contributions include five books and over 30 articles in leading scientific journals. She is often invited to give talks or trainings for companies, organizations, and public institutions, and to deliver lectures at esteemed institutions such as Harvard Law School, University of Tokyo, and Sciences Po Paris. Dr. Abazi has held Fellowships at Yale Law School, NYU School of Law, and Oxford University. In recognition of her impactful work, she received the Early Career Award from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020.
Elizabeth Gardiner – CEO at Protect
Elizabeth has been Protect’s Chief Executive since March 2020. She joined the UK’s whistleblowing charity in 2018 as a qualified solicitor advising whistleblowers on Protect’s free legal Advice Line, and providing consultancy on best practice for employers. Elizabeth has extensive experience in Parliament and policy work. She is also a member of the Whistleblowing International Network board of trustees.
Emmet Whelan – Partner at ByrneWallace LLP
Emmet Whelan is a partner at ByrneWallace LLP, specialising in employment law. He advises on a broad range of contentious and non-contentious matters including employment litigation before the Rights Commissioner, Employment Appeals Tribunal, Equality Tribunal, Labour Court, Circuit Court and High Court. He has lectured on the Employment Law course at Griffith College Dublin and tutored on the Law Society Professional Course. He also regularly provides employment law training and seminars to clients and professional bodies. Emmet has published employment law articles in the Irish Employment Law Journal, Employment Law Review and the Journal of Public Affairs Ireland and is a co-author of the text book, Employment Law, and the Law Society Employment Law.
Gráinne Madden – Founder and Senior Consultant, GMJ Associates
Gráinne Madden is the founder and senior consultant of GMJ Associates, which provides guidance to Irish businesses on responsible business practice. Gráinne’s work includes development of corporate responsibility/ESG strategy, non-financial reporting, governance reviews, development and implementation of ethical compliance programmes and protected disclosure policies. Gráinne also lectures on Corporate Responsibility to MSc and MBA students.
Hugh Hume – Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission
Hugh Hume was appointed to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission in February 2021. Prior to this appointment, Mr Hume served as a Deputy Chief Inspector of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate from November 2017. In this role he participated in a number of reviews of the Garda Síochána. He personally led systemic Inspections Public Order Policing in Ireland and Counter Corruption strategies and processes in the Garda Síochána. Before joining the Inspectorate, Mr Hume served as a police officer in the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) for almost 3I years. During his career, he performed a variety of different policing roles including training, community policing, public order and crime investigation. He was the District Commander in Strabane, Co Tyrone and served as a D/Superintendent in the Border area. In March 2011, he was appointed as a Detective Chief Superintendent to PSNI’s Crime Operations Department and lead on specialist operations and intelligence collection. He was awarded a BSc (hons) Degree in Policing and Police Studies and studied leadership through programmes managed by Harvard and St Andrews University. He was awarded the Queens Police Medal in 2016 for distinguished police service.
Ida Nowers – Knowledge and Policy Manager at TI Ireland
Ida oversees the development of TI Ireland’s whistleblowing resources, including the Integrity at Work programme tools and guidance. Ida is a recognised specialist on whistleblower protection law and policy. She was previously global coordinator at the Whistleblowing International Network where she continues to manage the EU Whistleblowing Monitor project. Ida has several years’ experience working directly with whistleblowers as a senior advisor on the UK whistleblowing charity Protect’s advice line, as well as providing support and consultancy to employers on implementing whistleblowing management systems. She holds a Bachelor of Laws from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
James Hamilton – Chair of Ireland’s Advisory Council against Economic Crime and Corruption
James Hamilton was appointed chair of Ireland’s Advisory Council against Economic Crime and Corruption in May 2022. He was Director of Public Prosecutions of Ireland (head of the Irish prosecution service) from 1999 to 2011. Before that he was a legal adviser in the Office of the Attorney General for 18 years, the final period as head of office. This covered the time leading up to the Good Friday Agreement with which he was actively involved. His principal current areas of interest are the Rule of Law, Human Rights, Public Law, Judicial and Prosecutorial Systems, Constitutional Justice, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice and Anti-Corruption.
Jennifer Gibson – Legal Director of the Whistleblower Protection Program at The Signals Network
Jennifer Gibson is the Legal Director of the Whistleblower Protection Program at The Signals Network. Jennifer is a US lawyer with over fifteen years’ experience investigating, litigating, and advocating on human rights. Most recently, she worked for Reprieve, where she led the organization’s work on extrajudicial killings carried out under the guise of national security. She worked closely with civilian victims of drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, and elsewhere, investigating their cases to secure accountability. Her work involved litigation before both domestic and international courts, as well as public and political advocacy aimed at holding powerful governments and corporations accountable for their roles in the abuses.
John Devitt – Chief Executive, Transparency International Ireland
John is an ethics and communications specialist by training. He holds a first-class Masters degree in Ethics from Dublin City University, is a graduate of European Studies at the University of Limerick and the Public Relations Institute of Ireland. John founded TI Ireland in 2004 and has led TI Ireland’s whistleblowing research and support programme since 2009. He is author or researcher on numerous reports and guidance on the topic of whistleblower protection, ethics and anti-corruption standards, and has advised the Irish Government, United Nations, Council of Europe, and European Commission amongst others on whistleblowing legislation and procedures.
John O’Mahoney – Director Behaviour & Attitudes
John has twenty years’ experience in market research and designs and manages both qualitative and quantitative research for clients. He specialises in complex quantitative research with large samples and the application of a range of statistical analysis techniques. His work has encompassed the broadest range of client categories and research types, including brand, business and corporate strategy. He has worked particularly extensively in the areas of public service and the environment.
Karol Balfe – CEO at Action Aid Ireland
Karol Balfe joined ActionAid as CEO in September 2021 and oversees the organisation’s work. Karol has worked for over 20 years in the fields of international human rights, development and peacebuilding and has published policy and learning papers on a range of human rights and development issues. Karol has a Masters in Globalisation and has worked extensively with a range of civil society partners and communities in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
Kate Kenny – Professor of Business and Society at University of Galway
Kate Kenny is full Professor of Business and Society at University of Galway. She has held research fellowships at the Edmond J. Safra Lab at Harvard University and Cambridge’s Judge Business School and researched whistleblowing in organisations since 2010. Along with numerous articles in peer review journals on this topic, she has published two books on whistleblowing: Whistleblowing: Toward a new theory (Harvard University Press, 2019) and The Whistleblowing Guide (Wiley Business, 2019, with Wim Vandekerckhove and Marianna Fotaki). Her work has been cited in the UK House of Commons, and in EU policy documents. She has written and contributed to articles in the Financial Times, the Irish Times, the Guardian and contributed to programmes on Ireland’s RTÉ (radio and television) and TG4.
Karlin Lillington – Journalist at The Irish Times
Karlin is a technology and business journalist and has written for The Irish Times, as their technology correspondent, and for The Guardian. She has written on topics such as the interface of technology with society and business. Karlin has spoken at conferences including the Government of Ireland’s Digital Summit, has appeared numerous times on TV and radio, and has produced her own series of podcasts ‘technoculture’. Her work also grounded the Digital Rights Ireland appeal to the European Court of Justice which resulted in the voiding of the EU Data Retention Directive, and she was one of the expert witnesses called before the Grand International Committee on Disinformation, and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment, speaking about security and privacy risks.
Katherine Bradshaw – National Lead for Communications & Engagement at National Guardian’s Office
Katherine joined the National Guardian’s Office in October 2019, from the Institute of Business Ethics and leads the Communications and Engagement for the office, including the annual Speak Up Month awareness campaign.She has been writing and researching on the subject of effective speaking up arrangements for over 15 years. Katherine is the author of five Good Practice Guides, offering practical insights into how to establish ethical working cultures, including Encouraging a Speak Up Culture and Communicating Ethical Values. As the IBE’s communications and ethics expert, she supported some of the world’s biggest businesses in the development of their organisational cultures. She is a Chartered Public Relations professional and an advocate for responsible corporate communications, having written and presented on the subject for professional bodies including CIPR, IABC and PRCA. She has thirty years experience in communications, beginning her career in the music and comedy industry, promoting artists such as Eddie Izzard, Robert Newman, James, Adamski and Kula Shaker.
Lorraine Heffernan – Solicitor at ByrneWallace LLP
Lorraine is a Solicitor on the employment law team at ByrneWallace. She has extensive experience advising in the area of protected disclosures. She has delivered nationwide training on the recent changes to the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 to both public and private clients across various industry sectors. She regularly advises clients on all aspects of the protected disclosures process from advising on new policies and procedures to advising on managing and investigating complex protected disclosures. Lorraine also has extensive experience advising individuals in this complex area of law.
Marie Terracol – Whistleblower Protection Lead at Transparency International
Marie Terracol is the Whistleblower protection Lead at Transparency International, a global movement working in over 100 countries to end the injustice of corruption. She leads Transparency International’s policy work on whistleblowing and coordinate the movement’ advocacy efforts to improve the protection of whistleblowers across the world, so that they can safely speak up about corruption and other wrongdoing. Marie participated in the working group that developed the ISO 37002:2021 Whistleblowing management systems — Guidelines and is the author of Transparency International Internal Whistleblowing Systems – Best Practice Principles for Public and Private Organisations (2022). She authored several other Transparency International publications on whistleblowing, including A Best Practice Guide for Whistleblowing Legislation (2018), Building on the EU Directive for Whistleblower Protection – Analysis and Recommendations (2019).
Mark MacGann – Uber Lobbyist and Whistleblower
Mark MacGann, at the nexus of the tech, finance and policy worlds for decades, is the whistleblower behind the Uber Files, describing how the company muscled its way into markets, reportedly to the detriment of driver’s rights and physical safety. He was until recently a Commissioner of the United Nations Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. He founded and runs Moonshot Strategies, which advises technology companies and venture capital firms on public policy, regulatory and reputational challenges, primarily across European Union, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA), and Moonshot Ventures, a fund that invests in promising European technology start-ups. Mark was previously a member of the global management team of Uber, serving as Head of Public Policy for Europe, Middle East & Africa (he also led the communications function for part of his tenure). He built and led Uber’s public policy organization across EMEA and made a major contribution to Uber’s pioneering development in dozens of countries and hundreds of cities. He subsequently served as a Senior Adviser to the board of Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber) in San Francisco.
Muel Kaptein – Professor in Business Ethics and Integrity at the RSM Erasmus University
Muel Kaptein is a Professor in Business Ethics and Integrity at the RSM Erasmus University, The Netherlands. Since joining Erasmus University in 1991, he has authored eight books and more than 60 peer-reviewed scientific articles about, for example, whistleblowing. He is also equity partner at KPMG where he supports clients in developing and assessing their ethics, integrity and compliance. Muel has developed different models and tools to measure and manage the integrity of organisations.
Nadia Taylor – Integrity at Work Programme Manager
Nadia manages the Integrity at Work (IAW) Programme together with Ida Nowers. Before coming to TI, Nadia spent a number of years working for non-profit organisations in London. She ran the learning and training programmes at community organising charity, Citizens UK and prior to that, she worked at a prison rehabilitation charity and a cultural education charity where she gained broad experience in operations, finance, fundraising and event management. Her interests lie in cultivating strong stakeholder relationships and organising meaningful and informative events. Nadia holds a BA (Hons) in Drama and Theatre studies from University College Cork as well as a Diploma in Event Management and a Certificate in Entrepreneurship.
Ray McMahon – Chief Superintendent, Longford/Roscommon Garda Division
Chief Superintendent Ray McMahon has the responsibility for the Mayo Roscommon Longford Division. He has 33 years service at all ranks in both urban and rural areas in both plain clothes investigative duties and uniformed policing duties. He has an honor’s degree in Leadership and Governance from Smurfit Business school and has successfully completed the Garda Executive Leadership Programme. He has been actively involved in the Garda Change and Renewal Programme since becoming Superintendent in 2013. Since his promotion to Chief Superintendent over three years ago, he has acted as a Protected Disclosures Manager for An Garda Siochana on behalf of the Garda Commissioner.
Rory Treanor – Barrister specialising in Employment Law and Workplace Investigations
Rory Treanor is a barrister specialising in Employment litigation and the conduct of sensitive workplace investigations, disciplinary hearings and appeals. Rory has taught for the Law Society and CIPD. He has written policy papers for political parties and non-governmental organisations in the areas of transparency, anti-corruption and employee rights. In addition, Rory has provided training to employers, employees and their representatives regarding practice and procedure before the Workplace Relations Commission and Labour Court. He has also advised legislators on the implementation of the Whistleblower’s Directive.
Dr Simon Gerdermann – Principle Investigator of the ‘Impact Analysis of German and European Whistleblowing Law’, University of Göttingen
Simon is the Principle Investigator of the ‘Impact Analysis of German and European Whistleblowing Law’, at the University of Göttingen. He has extensive experience as a Research Associate and a Legal Advisor and has contributed to papers such as ‘Europe’s New Whistleblowing Laws’, the ‘European Labour Law Journal’ and ‘Confidentiality in a Digital World – A Contradiction in Terms?’, which is soon to be published. Simon has appeared in numerous TV and radio interviews on the topic of Whistleblowing and has presented at the European Conference on Whistleblowing Legislation and for Transparency International, among many others.
Susanna Ferro – Project Manager at GlobaLeaks
Susanna has been working on transparency and anticorruption since 2013. She worked for Transparency International Italia for 9 years mainly following advocacy and data analysis activities. During that time she had a long-standing collaboration with GlobaLeaks on whistleblowing projects for citizens and the public sector. In 20Z22 she joined the GlobaLeaks team as Project Manager.
Zuzana Dlugošová – President of the Whistleblower Protection Office and Vice Chair of Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities
Zuzana Dlugošová is the President of the Whistleblower Protection Office – the central state agency to protect whistleblowers in Slovakia and the Vice-chair of the Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowering Authorities (NEIWA). Zuzana is a human rights lawyer. For more than 9 years she represented cases of human rights violations at all levels of jurisdiction, including before the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights. She worked as a legal advisor for several human rights organisations. She trained judges, prosecutors and senior judicial officials at the Judicial Academy in anti-discrimination, international human rights protection mechanisms and principles of judicial ethics. Zuzana also worked as a lawyer of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In 2015 she co-started first legal ethics course at the Facultry of Law of Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia and since then she has been teaching legal ethics.