Board of Directors:
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Maria McGilly |
Paula Smyth |
Katalin Hajdu |
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Edel Cunningham
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Wendy Wigton
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Siobhan Wallace
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| Nicola Quinn Committee Member |
Sinead Taylor
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Marli Wilson
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Chairperson & Secretary, Maria McGilly. Maria has extensive experience as a lecturer with programme management and coordination within adult education through lifelong learning initiatives within the FE/HE sector. She also has a strong background in community and business teaching; leading through empowering students within cross-community bespoke programmes in diverse settings and contexts; marginalised and disenfranchised communities.
Maria has a wide range of experience and a strong ethos on continual professional development in lifelong learning. She also has a range of experience in Public Speaking, Leadership Development, Curriculum Design, Coaching. Community Development and Team Building. She currently holds office on a number community based boards reflective of widening participation and engagement, enabling fair access to development opportunities for education, supporting personal and community growth.
Vice Chairperson, Paula Smyth. Paula is a Director for a nationally recognised Awarding Organisation which specialises in the development and delivery of training courses and qualifications for the land-based sector. Paula is passionate about training and learning; “I am excited to be involved with First Steps Women’s Centre to be able to share some of the experience I have gained, with those who avail of the services offered. I see every day as a learning day and would encourage others to do the same."
Treasurer, Katalin Hajdu. Katalin is Hungarian and came to FSWC to attend an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course. She also completed a number of computer courses and now works full time for a local business.
Committee Members
Wendy Wigton - Wendy is passionate about improving women’s lives through support, education and increasing their self-confidence and social networks. She is a senior support officer within the Starfish project in C&MUWA. She is a qualified Life & Executive Coach and has a BSc Hons in Adult Nursing from QUB. She also volunteered as a bereavement support volunteer and supervisor for Cruse Bereavement Care in Moy for 18 years. “I feel delighted to have joined the Board of such a wonderful organisation. Any time I have visited First Steps Women’s Centre, I have always been met with such a lovely, relaxed atmosphere, friendly staff who are always welcoming and somewhere that women can just be themselves without judgment. I am excited to see what lies ahead for First Steps.”
Siobhan Wallace - With over 20 years experience at the helm of an eclectic mix of Projects, Siobhan is a creative thinker and enjoys finding alternative perspectives and new approaches to ensure the highest quality provision for service users. Siobhan has worked in a variety of fields from diversity training to Family Support to mental health and has developed a number of new projects from scratch. She has worked in both the community and public sector all of her working life. Currently employed as Programme Manager for Dungannon & Coalisland SureStart Siobhan has enjoyed radically reshaping services to serve the needs of local families with children under 4 and has been inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach in doing so. Siobhan is looking forward to getting more involved in improving opportunities for women in the Mid Ulster area.
Nicola Quinn - Is a Business Development & Skills Manager.in the education management industry. Skilled in Project Management, Innovation, Financial and Business Planning, Operations Management. Nicola has a MSC in Communication and is currently working as a part time lecturer at South West College.
Sinead Taylor - has a Bachelor's Degree in Community Development. She is currently working in the Southern Health and Social Care Trust as a Promoting Wellbeing Manager. Sinead is also a Volunteer Youth Worker with Armagh Consortium.
Marli Wilson - Marli currently works as a Social Worker in the Southern Trust. She is a woman with many talents and can turn her hand to anything. Her previous jobs include - Language assistant, Tutor and Translator. She is also enjoying farming!
