Governing
Board
OUR Board
Self Help Africa US is governed by an independent Board of Directors. This board directs policy and strategy for the organization, as well as providing operational and financial oversight.
Chair: Norman D Sheehan
International Development Consultant
Working alongside the United Nations, NATO, European Union, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), international and national non-governmental organizations (NGO) and national governmental military structures. his experience also includes negotiations with diverse elements and warlords in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Somalia and Iraq and local militias throughout central and east Africa such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, the Darfur region, borders areas of Chad, Central African Republic and Uganda.
In 1985 he joined the humanitarian and development organization GOAL, leading emergency response deployments for prolonged periods in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Sudan, Bosnia, Rwanda, Burundi, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, East Timor, Kosovo and Albania.
Between 2003-2006, he served as CEO of WarChild, an organization dedicated to assisting children affected by war. Since then, he has worked with a variety of international NGOs, including the Academy for Educational Development, FHI360 and Chemonics.
He currently serves on the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) as a council member. He also serves on the boards of the International NGO Safety and Security Association, and Hostage USA.
Liam McClennon
Kettle Cuisine
Liam has over 25 years’ experience in the food industry, having previously worked with Hazlewood Foods plc (later acquired by Greencore Group), Chase Food Service, Geest South Africa and John Rannoch Foods.
Liam has extensive experience of fruit sourcing and processing in Africa.
Megan Fairlie
Florida International University
Tom Corcoran
Farmer & Agribusiness Consultant
He was Vice President of the Irish Co-operative Organization Society, which coordinates the cooperative movement in Ireland, and has also served on the National Dairy Council and Bord Bia, the Irish food board. He is the former Chairman of the board of Gorta-Self Help Africa in Ireland.
He operates a family dairy farm with his two sons in Waterford County, Ireland.
Susan A Davis
Susan Davis International
A lifelong advocate for social entrepreneurship, democracy building and leadership development for women, she is the Chair of the Board of Vital Voices Global Partnership, the NGO that trains and empowers emerging women leaders in 125 countries. She was the first International President of the International Women’s Forum, the global leadership organization now representing more than 3000 women of achievement.
Ms. Davis chaired the landmark U.S. Ireland Business Summit which created the groundbreaking U.S.- Ireland R&D Partnership; and has been recognized for her leadership in Ireland and Northern Ireland by Irish America Magazine (“Top 100 Irish Americans and 75 Most Influential Irish American Women”) and The Flax Trust “For Service to Northern Ireland”. She is Board Chair of The Irish Breakfast Club; Board Chair for Razia’s Ray of Hope Foundation, member of University College Dublin Graduate School of Business Board; Co-Chair of the Washington Ireland Program Trustees Council, and a board member of Medical Missions for Children; St. Judes Hospital’s Professional Board and the US-Panama Business Council.
Jim Galvin
Lakeview Energy
John Dardis
Glanbia
John previously served as Ireland’s First Secretary for Agriculture, Food and the Marine at the Irish Embassy in Washington DC where he managed Irish agri food trade interests, as well as policy issues of interest to Irish agri food, and agricultural development. He was chair of the World Bank’s Global Food Safety Partnership Communications Group.
John has previously held senior positions in the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, including managing animal nutrition policy and enforcement and Ireland’s engagement in European research policy and foresight for Agriculture, Food, Biotechnology and Fisheries.
John holds an honors degree in agricultural science from University College Dublin, and a Ph.D. in wheat breeding and agronomy from UCD. His studies, for which he received the National University of Ireland bursary for agricultural science and the agricultural trust fund scholarship, saw John study at North Carolina State University in 1998. In 2014 he completed the Harvard Agri Business course. John is a 4th generation farmer with a cereal farm in County Kildare.
OUR Advisory Board
In addition, there are Self Help Africa Inc advisory boards in both New York and Boston. The memberships of those boards are listed here