Board Of Directors

Croí Board Of Directors

We are governed by a Board of voluntary non-executive Directors. The Board is advised by a number of sub-committees and is responsible for the overall good governance and direction of the organisation and ensures that all income is used effectively and in support of our mission and goals.

 

Boardroom

Meet the Board

Dorothy Creaven is Vice President, Managing Director and site lead at the Rent the Runway European headquarters in Galway. She is an Electronic Engineering graduate from NUI Galway, and has 23 year’s experience in enterprise software, tech startups, management and leadership for SMEs and multinationals alike. Dorothy specialises in scaling technology companies from rapid-growth greenfield sites to global software R&D organisations.

Her corporate background also includes international corporations such as Google, Abbott Vascular, as well as EPAM Systems, a US publicly-listed Forbes Fast 25 Tech company. Listed as one of Ireland’s top 25 women in engineering, Dorothy also co-founded her own multi-award winning technology startup, an enterprise marketing automation company, Element Wave, successfully operating globally from Galway between 2010 and 2017.

Medical Director

Professor Jim Crowley is a consultant Cardiologist at University Hospital Galway. He is the current Clinical lead in Cardiology for the Saolta group in the West of Ireland.  He is a former president of the Irish Cardiac Society and former National Specialty Director of training in Cardiology. He has a particular interest in developing cardiology services in the West of Ireland. Prior to returning to Ireland in 2000 he was a consultant cardiologist at Duke University Medical Centre in North Carolina USA.

Dr Curtis is an Associate Professor of Accountancy at the University of Galway and a visiting Lecturer in Auditing at Dauphine University in Paris. She is a fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland. 

She completed her B.Comm. at University College Dublin, and her PhD at The University of Manchester in 2006.  Her PhD studies and research agenda focus on the practice and regulation of Auditing and she is currently supervising two doctoral students engaged in the study of innovation related to data analytics in auditing, and issues pertaining to identity and (de)professionalisation. She has applied her expertise on the development and implementation of innovation in the audit field to the use of control systems in managing creativity and  innovation in industry settings. 

Dr Curtis is the Associate Head of Internationalisation at the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics, and a member of Academic Council at the University of Galway. She is a non-executive director of Croí, Heart and Stroke Charity and a member of the Audit, Governance and Risk sub-committee of the Board.

Company Secretary

Marie is a Partner in RDJ LLP, a law firm with offices in Galway, Cork and Dublin and is a member of the firm’s Corporate and Commercial team. Marie’s role involves advising corporate and institutional clients on corporate transactions, company law and corporate governance matters.

She also advises participants in the research performing community in Ireland on collaborative research arrangements generally to include advices on appropriate contractual frameworks for the establishment of research centres and advices on multi-lateral collaborative research projects taking into account state aid considerations and funding party requirements. Marie has also served as Company Secretary of Croí since 2018.

Chairman

Mark Gantly spent his career in the computer industry, most recently with Hewlett Packard Enterprise where he held the position of R&D Director. He was also site leader and Managing Director of HP Galway from 2009-2015. An active board member of the American Chamber of Commerce, he served as the Chamber’s national president in 2019. Since 2017 he has been Chair of the Western Regional Skills Forum, a government initiative aimed at improving the linkages between industry and education.

Since retiring from HPE in 2020, Mark has taken up an adjunct professor role at University of Galway’s School of Business. He was the founding chair of the Greater Galway Forum, which brings together private and public sector leaders from across the city.  He also chairs the board of Music for Galway.

Mary Heffernan spent her career working in tax. She worked for fourteen years with the Revenue Commissioners before moving to KPMG where she spent another twenty years as Tax Director working with a large number of high profile international and domestic companies as well as high net worth individuals.

Mary joined the Board of CROI in March 2018 where she holds the position of chairperson of the Audit and Risk Committee. On a personal basis Mary has represented Ireland in both the Triple Crown and World Tenpin Bowling competitions. She is also a keen golfer. Mary is married with three children. 

Laurence is the partner in charge of KPMG’s Galway Office, which services the Firm’s clients across the West of Ireland. Laurence has over 21 years’ experience at KPMG working with listed entities and privately owned businesses across a wide variety of sectors, including Manufacturing, Medtech and Software/Technology.

In addition, Laurence is also an Adjunct Professor in Accounting and Finance at University of Galway. Laurence lives in The Neale in Co. Mayo with his wife and three young children, where he has a small family farm that he farms part time.

Pat is a native of Kilmeena, Westport. He spent his working life at Allergan Inc. and retired as Senior Vice President of Global Manufacturing in 2018 after over 37 years of service. While working Pat served as President of IBEC West for two years.

After retirement Pat joined the Board of CROI where he is also actively involved as a volunteer.

He is also a Board member of Global Heart Hub and Western Alzheimer’s, and in addition does volunteer work with the Irish Cancer Society and the GAA.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

  • Mr. Mark Gantly – Chairman
  • Ms. Marie Gavin – Company Secretary
  • Prof. Jim Crowley – Medical Director
  • Ms. Dorothy Creaven
  • Dr. Emer Curtis
  • Mr. Pat O’Donnell
  • Ms. Mary Heffernan
  • Mr. Laurence May

SUB-COMMITTEES

  • Medical Advisory Council
  • Audit, Risk & Governance Committee
  • Remuneration Committee
  • Strategy & Development Committee

Croí is registered with Irish Charities Regulator (20016616)

The organisation adhere’s to the Code of Governance for Charities. Each year the organisation undergoes an annual independent audit and files accounts with the Companies Registration Office.

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