Board of Directors
The Charities Regulator Governance Code
YAP Ireland is a registered charity and is signed up to the Charities Regulator Governance Code. This code outlines the minimum standards we should meet to effectively manage and control the charity. Good governance ensures that systems and processes are in place so that we achieve our charitable objectives with integrity and to ensure that the organisation is managed in an effective, accountable, and transparent way. The Board of YAP Ireland is responsible for maintaining YAP’s adherence to the Charities Regulator Governance Code.
Réidín Dunne is a passionate social justice advocate. Currently she is Head of Services with SAOL, Irelands only gender specific female addiction rehabilitation and education service based in Dublin’s North inner City. For over 25 years Réidín has worked for and with marginalized people including young people, people with care experience, justice involved women and men and women impacted by addiction and domestic sexual and gender based violence. Réidin is an advocate for radical compassion and believes in rights-based participation and the inherent dignity and value of individuals exactly as they are. Réidín has been a board member of YAP for 5 years and has been Chair since 2022. Réidín is an artist, an activist and an advocate and an ardent champion of the YAP model and a believer in the ability of each young person’s ability to change the world for the better.
Nives Paic is the General Manager for IMO Financial Services (IMO FS), a retail intermediary firm that
specialises in providing financial solutions to doctors. She is a QFA qualified General Manager and Chief Operating Officer with over 25 years’ experience in the financial services sector. She has vast experience in strategic and operational development of financial services firms, company budgeting and accounts monitoring, setting up, improving and measuring operational processes, resourcing and mentoring staff, oversight of compliance and marketing and branding. Nives is also a member of the Board of Anew, a registered charity that supports women and new mothers who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness directly due to their pregnancy. Nives joined the Board of YAP Ireland on 8th March 2023.
Laura is the Child & Family Services Coordinator with Familibase in Dublin 10. Familibase operates three strands of service delivery which range from universal to intensive wrap around supports for the families and children in the community most in need.
Laura has over a decade’s experience in working with people presenting with multiple and complex needs and previous to working in Familibase has managed various Teams in Merchants Quay Ireland Homeless & Drugs Services, which included setting up the Community Recovery and Integration Supports (CRIS) Service in the East Coast Region, in conjunction with the East Coast Regional Drug & Alcohol Task Force. Before managing services, Laura had the role of case worker, directly supporting clients.
Laura holds an Honours Degree in Social Science, a Postgraduate Diploma in Addiction Studies, and a Masters Degree in Child, Family & Community Studies.
Laura’s professional interests are in the prevention of people requiring more acute services by providing robust supports in community settings. She has a particular interest in Child Protection and Support.
Danielle has worked with Mercy Law Resource Centre since 2016. In her role, Danielle looks after fundraising and communications for the Centre and also assists the solicitors with casework. MLRC is a registered charity who provide free legal advice and representation to those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
She graduated from University College Dublin in 2015 with a BA International in Politics and International Relations and a minor in Sociology and Social Justice. Following this, she served as a sabbatical officer from UCD Students Union (UCDSU), serving as Education Officer from 2015 – 2016. In this position, Danielle along with UCDSU represented over 33,000 students on a number of issues both nationally and locally.
She then undertook a Masters in Common Law in UCD, graduating in 2018. Danielle is currently a Barrister at Law Candidate at the Honourable Society of Kings Inns. Having a keen interest in both human rights and public interest law, Danielle has participated in a Model United Nations competition each year in New York, serving as the Director of the COP UNFCCC committee in 2019. Furthermore, she has an interest in education and education law and is a qualified trainer with the National Student Engagement Programme.
Tremaine “Teddy” Reese is principal owner and managing attorney of The Reese Firm, LLC. Reese’s memberships have included the American Bar Association, National Bar Association, Florida Bar, State Bar of Georgia, Fountain City Bar Association, and the Columbus Bar Association. He is a graduate of Albany State University, Georgia College and State University and he graduated Cum Laude from Florida A&M University of Law. He is a lifetime member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the NAACP, and the Albany State University National Alumni Association.
Additionally, he is a member of the Columbus Inns of Courts and was among the 2014 Columbus and the Valley Magazine Top 5 Under 40 Professionals, 2016 Rural Leader Magazine Top Professional Under 40 and 2016 Georgia Trend Magazine Top 40 Under 40. In 2018 Reese received the Urban League of Greater Columbus Trailblazer Award.
He graduated with the 2014 Class of Young Game Changers through Georgia Forward and Leadership Georgia Class of 2015. Teddy also received the Centre for Legal Education Opportunity Diversity Leadership Award and American Bar Association Law Student Division Golden Key Award. In 2011 he served as the National Chair of the American Bar Association Law Student Division.
Teddy is also Chair of the YAP Inc Board of Directors.
For more than 20 years Janet Lincoln’s professional and volunteer life has involved working with those in need, primarily children. Her main focus has been to provide support to youth in delinquency and dependency court cases. In her appointed position as Arizona’s Yavapai County Public Defender, Lincoln oversaw the defence of indigent criminal defendants, all children in delinquency court, all children with their parents in dependency court, and all persons involuntarily committed to mental institutions. She has personally served as legal counsel for hundreds of children in juvenile court. She was a supervising attorney for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), where she oversaw the legal division for litigation in the Western region of the United States. She has volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and has also donated her time with Yavapai CASA for Kids Foundation, Yavapai County Juvenile Court Advisory Board, Phoenix Youth at Risk and as a mentor for juvenile delinquency court.
Janet is also a member of the YAP Inc. Board of Directors and Chair of the YAP Inc. Audit Committee.
Eva joined Boardmatch Ireland in 2011 as the services officer. Boardmatch Ireland is the National and leading charity for independent and transparent board recruitment processes. Boardmatch has a website that offers charities a free online recruitment service.
Eva was promoted to CEO in 2018 having held the position of Director since 2015. Eva is responsible for the overall strategic direction of Boardmatch, ensuring it achieves its objectives and continues to strengthen boards and make them more diverse. Eva is passionate about how boards recruit, engaging new audiences to volunteer on boards and innovative in the ways it can be done. She works with charities and not for profits of all sizes from all over Ireland assisting them improve their board composition, skills and the effectiveness of the board.
She introduced Ireland’s first Charity Trustee Speed dating event in 2018, a new and innovative way of facilitating the introduction of those wanting to join charity boards and the charities themselves. Eva is a strong believer in everyone having equal opportunity to access not for profit and charity board. In Boardmatch, the aim is to continue to break down the barriers between individuals and boards and change what a Trustee looks like. All this adds to boards being more diversity and more reflective of our communities to say leading to further impact in society. Eva has been involved at Committee level of the implementation of the National Volunteering Strategy and the Advisor Committee if the CRA governance Code.
Melissa is a highly qualified and dedicated educator, holding a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Education and Training from Dublin City University, where she graduated with a first class honours and ranked third in her programme. Currently pursuing a PhD in education at the Institute of Education with the school of Policy and Practice in DCU, Melissa’s research interests lie in promoting educational equality, inclusion, and equal opportunities for all. Her research focuses on exploring the impact of social and cultural capital on participation and progression pathways for students from low socio-economic backgrounds in post-primary DEIS schools in Ireland.
With extensive experience working in low socio-economic communities, Melissa is a qualified Universal Design for Learning Facilitator who has worked with a diverse range of learners, including those with special educational needs, learning difficulties, and those experiencing educational disadvantage. Overcoming her own experience with educational disadvantage has given Melissa a unique perspective on education, teaching, and learning. She is passionate about creating equal educational opportunities and life-changing pathways for everyone, especially those who face social, cultural, and economic barriers. Melissa seeks to influence and implement change within the community and education sector to ensure that everyone has a choice, opportunity, and voice.
Brendan joined the Board of YAP Ireland in March 2023. He teaches accounting, business, economics, and religious education in St Mary’s College C.S.Sp., Rathmines. Previously Brendan was President and Principal of Cistercian College O.C.S.O., a seven-day boarding school in Co Offaly. He has a degree in accounting & economics, a higher diploma in education, a higher diploma in educational management, a masters in education and a doctorate in education. His doctoral thesis explored the role that the founding charisms of religious orders play in the operations of Catholic trust bodies for secondary schools in Ireland.
Brendan is passionate about the impact that education has on changing the lives of young people within society, both in Ireland and internationally and has led immersion projects to West Africa. He has a keen interest in organisational change and good governance. In recent years Brendan has acted as an educational consultant regarding recruitment, teacher education and policy development within the education sector. Brendan’s other interests include rugby, hurling, reading, philosophy, politics, and international affairs.
Thomas joined the Board of YAP Ireland in June 2023. He has over 12 years’ experience in audit and accounting and is an audit director at Deloitte. He is passionate about wellbeing and inclusion and has a particular interest in mental health advocacy.
Declan is a retired Chief Financial Officer who held senior leadership positions in the retail financial services industry working for Permanent TSB (ptsb), a leading provider of Retail and SME banking in the Irish market.
He operated at Board level as part of the bank’s Executive Committee and provided stable leadership during a period of intense change, restructuring and regulatory engagement overcoming legacy challenges resulting from the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. His roles included adapting the business to a wider operating landscape (shift towards new online banking and FinTech propositions) and acting as a company figurehead on managing wider investor relations, industry and regulatory relationships, whilst overseeing bank reputation, regulatory standards and board-level governance. His remit included the acquisition of deposit and lending assets within the Irish market and the deleveraging of mortgage businesses in the UK. As the Head of ERM he was instrumental in the development of the bank’s risk management framework and systems.
Declan is a member of the Citizens Information Board’s (CIB) Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and has been actively involved on School Boards for 15+ years.
Declan is also a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FCPA) and of the UK Association of Corporate Treasurers (AMCT); he holds a BA in Management and has completed the Institute of Directors Chartered Director (Dip IoD).
Ronan serves as the Partnership Director at Generation Ireland, a globally recognized nonprofit network dedicated to empowering individuals to attain economic mobility and improve their lives through interactive boot camp courses centered on the tech sector.
With nine years of experience in the HR/Recruitment sector, Ronan has played a pivotal role in establishing, expanding, and leading various tech recruitment teams in Ireland, with a particular emphasis on software development roles and supporting leading global tech firms in growing their Irish presence.
Throughout his career, Ronan has been deeply committed to enhancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the Irish workforce, a cause that is close to his heart. He is a respected figure in this domain and consistently contributes to initiatives aimed at addressing disparities in employment and promoting access to ongoing education.
Proud of his roots in Dublin’s Palmerstown, he generously devotes his time to youth initiatives in the city, including the NEIC Flash Mentoring Programme, which provides valuable employment skills and career guidance to DEIS schools in Dublin’s Inner City.
