UCD EDI Conference: 20 March 2024

Siobhán McKenna is the Head of ED&I at Publicjobs where she works to ensure that the Irish public sector workforce reflects the diversity of the community it serves. Siobhán returned to Dublin in 2021 after 20 years in the non-profit and public sectors in London. In 2009 she joined Greater London Authority where she developed and delivered programmes for disadvantaged young Londoners and later was a senior advisor on social policy. Siobhán also developed and delivered the workplace equality, diversity and inclusion priorities for the Mayor of London, including the development of a sponsorship programme for women, helping to reduce City Hall’s gender pay gap in 2020 to less than 1%. A board member of Black & Irish, an organisation dedicated to amplifying and empowering the voice and lived experience of the black and mixed-race Irish community. She holds a Batchelors degree in International Social Science from UCD and a Masters in Ethnic and Racial Studies, from Trinity College.

Prospera Tedam is Professor of Social Work in the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice. She has held positions at Universities in England and the United Arab Emirates University. Her research interests are in the areas of culturally sensitive social work, anti-oppression and anti-racism in social work, school social work, as well as decolonising social work research, education and practice.

Pierre Yimbog is a Co-founder and Managing Director of Black and Irish established in June 2020 to advocate for and make Ireland an inclusive society for the black and mixed race Irish community. Pierre is also Co-Founder & CEO of SoloBook; an early stage travel start up and President for the young professional network; Junior Chambers International Dublin. He graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Law from DIT, and stayed on to become Vice President for Education and President for DIT Students’ Union, and the first President of Technological University Dublin Students’ Union in 2019. He previously worked for Engineers Ireland as Community Engagement Executive for two years. He has a Diploma in Technology and Intellectual Property Law from the Law Society and is currently undertaking a Masters in Corporate Governance at the University of Law.

Kensika Monshengwo was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and holds a postgraduate degree from the Sorbonne in Paris (1995); his research focused on “The Americanisation of young people of African descent in the Parisian suburbs”. He worked with the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, under the aegis of the Department of Justice, as Training and Resources Officer; he has extensive experience in Intercultural Training and has worked primarily with decision-makers from government departments, service providers, private sector employers, media organisations and non-governmental organisations in Ireland and abroad. He has also written and disseminated a wide range of advocacy and training materials.

Amanda McCabe

Amanda McCabe is originally from the island of St.Lucia in the Caribbean. She has lived in Ireland for the past 11 years. Presently, she is a final year student on the Professional Masters in Social Work program, at the School of Policy, Social Work, and Social Justice at UCD.
She also holds a level 8 Bachelor of Arts degree and a Higher National Diploma in Social Care practice. She is a qualified social Care Worker and has worked within the disability sector for the past 10 years. She decided to pursue a career in Social work because she is passionate about supporting marginalised groups and advocating for cultural representation at all levels of leadership