The annual "Extraordinary Lives" event in Trinity College Dublin is an opportunity to hear from those who are making a real difference in Ireland and overseas. It is a platform for leaders from all walks of life to share their personal experiences, reflect on the journey they have taken in their lives and the challenges they have faced along the way in their effort to make a difference.
Ordinary People - Extraordinary Lives
Here at Suas we believe that all of us have the ability to make a difference where our skills and talents meet the needs of others. We believe that Education is about developing the commitment, the capacity and collective will to effect long-term positive change. In our most recent event, we were delighted to welcome Philip Berber, Tina Roche and Dr. Steve Collins to speak about their remarkable achievements.
Philip Berber studied Commerce in UCD and after graduating in 1979 relocated to London, where he worked in a number of companies including Ford and Avon Cosmetics. Philip founded Financia in 1988, a company providing advanced financial market analysis and predictive technologies. After the sale of Financia in 1991, he joined GK capital in 1993. Having relocated to Austin, Texas, he formed CyBerCorp in 1995, an electronic brokerage group which provided trading and execution technology to day-traders using the Internet. In 2000, Philip sold CyBerCorp for $488 million, to Charles Schwab. That same year, he was named Ernst & Young Entrepeneur of the Year in Austin, and was nominated for National Entrepeneur of the Year for the U.S. The sale of CyBerCorp allowed Philip to develop his ideas of a new model for philanthropy and international aid. Along with his wife Donna, he formed "A Glimmer of Hope" Foundation which has projects in Ethiopia, U.K. and the U.S. Since 2000, the foundation has completed over 2500 projects, positively impacting the lives of more than 1 million people.
Tina Roche began volunteering at the age of 17 inspired by the influence of her father who was involved in setting up James' Street Credit Union. This commitment to serve others has been a constant theme throughout her career. Tina obtained an MBA from the Irish Management Institute, and worked for the Sunday Tribune for 11 years as Financial Controller and Company Secretary. She then worked for 5 years as the Head of Development for the National Art Gallery of Ireland. She is currently CEO of two organisations: Business in the Community and The Community Foundation for Ireland. Through her work with Business in the Community she has been at the forefront of Corporate Social Responsibility in Ireland, overseeing the development of programmes such as "Ready for Work", an employment and training programme for homeless people. Through the Community Foundation she has ambitious plans to disburse €100 million to projects in Ireland operating at a local grassroots level. She has also volunteered and served on the board of Amnesty International Ireland, as well as a number of other charitable organisations. In June 2008, she was named in the Top 50 of Women in Business in Ireland
Steve Collins studied Medicine in England and has a doctorate in Nutrition. While on holidays from his studies in 1985 he found himself in Sudan during the famine, and volunteered as an aid worker. He volunteered again with Concern in 1992 in Somalia when famine broke out. Using research he had obtained while on an internship in Jamaica, he reduced the death rate by 75%. While in Liberia with Oxfam he was given charge of a feeding centre. It was his experience in Liberia that led him to develop Community-based Therapeutic Care in 1998, an approach which mobilised communities by giving them food to bring back to their local communities and reduced the need for costly in-patient feeding centres. Ready-to-Use Foods, highly-fortified nutrient enriched pastes were developed locally using local crops and distributed to those suffering from Malnutrition. In 2000, he travelled to Ethiopia where feeding centres were banned and tested his alternative approach. The results were impressive and with the backing of Concern and funding from Irish Aid they researched 23,000 cases and the mortality rate was under 5%. They took their research to the UN and WHO, and it was recognised in 2005 and endorsed as international protocol in 2007.
Nearly 1,000 young people have had the opportunity to listen and learn from local, national and international leaders over the past five years including:
- Caroline Casey, founder of Kanchi and founder of the O2 Ability Awards
- Danuta Gray, CEO of O2
- John Hume, former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize with David Trimble
- Mary Lawlor, founder and Director of Front Line, the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
- Betty Nyaghoa, principal of Gatoto Community School in the Mukuru kwa Reuben slum in Nairobi, Kenya.
- Peter Sutherland, UN Special Representative for Migration and Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization
- Melanie Verwoerd, former South Africa Ambassador to Ireland and UNICEF Ireland Executive Director
- Tara Cunningham, founder of Release speech therapy
- Colm O'Gorman, founder of One in Four and head of Amnesty International Ireland
- John R. Healy, Centre for non-profit management, former CEO of the Atlantic Philanthropies
- Liz O'Donnell, advocate, broadcaster and former minister for Overseas Development and Human Rights
