EDI is delighted to invite you to the EDI Annual Event, focus on EDI in a Changing Environment and shaping the EDI Action Plan 2025 - 2030.
The purpose of this discussion is to explore how we sustain equality, diversity and inclusion efforts in a challenging environment and remain steadfast to the strategies put in place over the years. The discussion will look at the positive impacts of EDI in organisations, the challenges being experienced in the current climate and the future path for EDI. It will provide the opportunity to rethink and refresh our approaches to EDI and contribute to a collective discussion about how we are shaping the future of EDI in higher education in Ireland and more broadly.
A consultation session will follow the panel discussion to help shape the EDI action plan for the next 5 years.
The Panel will be discussing the challenges that are being experienced in the current climate and strategies and fresh approaches as regards the future of EDI. Panel members:
Kara McGann, Head of Skills and Social Policy, IBEC
Laura O'Donovan, Head of Business Development, Irish Centre for Diversity
Mark Pollock (keynote speaker)
Dr Ernesto Vasquez Del Aguila, Vice Principal for EDI, College of Social Sciences and Law
Dr Michelle Cullen, MD at Accenture in Ireland, and executive sponsor for inclusion and diversity.
Consultation on EDI Action Plan 12:00 – 13:00
Lunch: 13:00 - 14:00
Keynote Speaker
Everything (opens in a new window)Mark Pollock does is about inspiring leaders and their teams to build resilience, optimise performance and collaborate with others so that they achieve more than they thought possible.
Unbroken by blindness in 1998, Mark became an adventure athlete competing in ultra-endurance races across deserts, mountains, and the polar ice caps including being the first blind person to race to the South Pole. He also won silver and bronze medals for rowing at the Commonwealth Games and set up an international motivational speaking business.
In 2010, a fall from a second story window nearly killed him. Mark broke his back and the damage to his spinal cord left him paralysed. Now he is on a new expedition, this time exploring the intersection where humans and technology collide to cure paralysis in our lifetime.
Chairman of Collaborative Cures and founder of the global running series Run in the Dark, Mark has been involved in catalysing collaborations worth over $100 million on his mission to cure paralysis. He was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, served on the Global Futures Council on Human Enhancement and the Advisory Board of Cybathlon. In addition, he is a Wings for Life Ambassador (Europe) and was on the Board of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (USA) for a decade.
Currently Mark is pursuing a Professional Doctorate in Elite Performance (Sport) at Dublin City University, he is author of ‘Making It Happen’ and is the subject of the acclaimed documentaries' Blind Man Walking ’and ‘Unbreakable – The Mark Pollock Story’. Mark has been awarded honorary doctorates by The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and also from Queens University Belfast. Furthermore, he holds a diploma in Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century from Harvard University, degrees from Trinity College Dublin and UCD Smurfit Graduate Business School.
Dr Kara McGann is Head of Skills & Social Policy at Ibec. Her role involves regular analysis of social and educational policy issues for a business audience, and as a strategic advisor to employers providing support on skills, labour market, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and social sustainability policy and practice.
She is a member of the National Skills Council, a board member of the Open Doors Initiative, represents Irish business on the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee of Business at the OECD (BIAC), Chair of the Employment Working Group at Business Europe, and a member of the Labour Market Advisory Council.
Dr. Ernesto Vasquez del Aguila is an Associate Professor at the UCD School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice University College Dublin, and the Vice Principal of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion / Widening Participation, College of Social Sciences and Law. By background he is a medical anthropologist with a PhD from Columbia University, New York. He has published on areas of masculinities, sexual and reproductive rights, transnational migration, and global health. He has received several awards, including the "European Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Social Sciences and Humanities" (2023); UCD "University Level Teaching Excellence Award' (2023); the "Foy Justice Award for Exceptional Activism and Community Work" (2025).
Laura O’Donovan Calvert is the Head of Business Development in the Irish Centre for Diversity. Laura brings a wealth of knowledge and skills to her role and her most recent experience comes from running her own consultancy and training business. This gave valuable insights on partnering with both Public and Private sector organisations to guide and support them on the FREDIE™ (Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Engagement) journey. Laura has worked alongside LGBTQ+ organisations for over 10 years to de-stigmatise issues around sexual orientation and has delivered numerous workshops to young people in schools, as well as working alongside several community projects and not-for-profit organisations. She is also passionate about FREDIE work to address physical and mental disabilities as she grew up with an amazing brother who had many complicated disabilities, so progress in this area holds a special place in her heart.
Dr Michelle Cullen is a managing director at Accenture in Ireland, and executive sponsor for inclusion and diversity. For over 30 years, Michelle has worked at the intersection of technology and humanities. She drives Accenture’s ambition and actions across enablement, LGBTQ+ inclusion, ethnicity, social mobility, and gender equality. She is a strong advocate for diversity in leadership and co-founder of Accenture’s Women on Walls initiative with the Royal Irish Academy, RCSI, DCU and UCC, which seeks to make women leaders visible through a series of commissioned portraits to inspire future generations. She serves on the Board of Governors and Guardians, National Gallery of Ireland. Michelle was named Woman of the Year at the 2018 Women in IT Awards and is a DCU Alumni Achievement honouree.
Contact UCD Equality Diversity and Inclusion
University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
E: edi@ucd.ie
