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.
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.
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.
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.
Siobhán Laffey is the National Child Protection Programme Manager for the youth work sector in Ireland and a professionally qualified social worker since 2008. She has worked across statutory and voluntary services with a strong focus on safeguarding and supporting young people, and experience in governance, policy and practice development. She is committed to a rights-based and participatory approach, with a belief in empowering children and young people to have a voice in decisions that affect their lives. Alongside her professional role, she volunteers with forensic accompaniment services providing support to children and families affected by sexual abuse, and contributes in an advisory capacity to safeguarding committees in the youth work sector.
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.
With over 13 years of academic experience, Dr Sonam Banka-Cullen specialises in digital health, health informatics, health innovation, psychology, mental health, child health, and substance use.
In research, Sonam has secured over €7.3 million in funding and led impactful projects on digital health, child health and wellbeing, community and mental health, and addiction. She has directed multiple mixed-methods research studies, disseminated findings widely at national and international levels. Her research has contributed directly to policy development, informed evidence reviews, and facilitated the acquisition of further national and international funding for initiatives addressing pressing health and social challenges.
Sonam is currently an Ad Astra Fellow and Assistant Professor in Digital Health and Health Informatics at University College Dublin. She holds a BA (Hons) in Psychology, a PhD in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin focused on child health, a Postgraduate Certificate in Statistics, a Postgraduate Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and a Higher Diploma in Data Analytics in Science.