Our people

Our values

• We are Christian
• We are committed to the poor
• We value people
• We are stewards  
• We are partners
• We are responsive

World Vision Ireland is a child-focused overseas aid agency. We are part of World Vision International, the largest privately funded NGO in the world. With the help of over 4.7 million supporters worldwide we deliver clean water, education, healthcare and sanitation to over 120 million children in nearly 100 countries worldwide.

We work with people of all cultures, faiths and genders to achieve transformation. We do this through development, relief, advocacy and always through collaboration.

Our strategy is directly working to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in 6 crucial areas; mother and child health, economic empowerment, water, education, child protection, and food and agriculture. 

Gillian Barnett

Gillian joined World Vision Ireland as Chief Executive in May 2021. She has nearly 20 years of experience in the charity sector, with a specialism in fundraising and communications. Throughout her career, she has significantly grown income in a number of small, medium and large organisations, to fund vital work. This has involved developing meaningful partnerships with supporters, and ensuring maximum impact for beneficiaries. She has a keen interest in supporting vulnerable children,  and has held a number of voluntary roles including counselling, and working with children with physical and learning difficulties.

Prior to joining World Vision Ireland, Gillian was at World Vision UK and has held a number of senior positions at the MS Society, ChildLine and Rennie Grove Hospice Care. She has a BA hons degree, and holds the Professional Diploma in Marketing.

Maurice Sadlier

Maurice Sadlier is World Vision Ireland’s Programmes and Policy Director and has overall responsibility of WV’s development and humanitarian Programmes. He is a development specialist with a background in programme management including climate justice, health, nutrition and livelihoods programmes. Maurice has worked at senior management level for the last 13 years managing both Non-governmental and government development programmes in Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania.

Prior to joining World Vision Ireland, he was Deputy Director of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Studies from NUIG and a Masters in Development Studies from UCD. 

Thahsin Ali

Thahsin Ali joined World Vision Ireland in June 2022. He is an experienced professional with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit organization management industry. He is skilled in Fundraising, Project Management, Team Building and Business Development.

Thahsin has worked in various fundraising roles within the Irish and International not for profit sector. This includes Concern Worldwide, Oxfam Ireland and ISPCC Childline. His primary focus with these organisations has been on acquisition and cultivation of committed cash givers through In-House Face-to-Face, Tele fundraising, Direct Marketing and Major donor programmes, with the successful establishment of campaigns, training, and performance management of fundraising teams and channels.

Ali’s most recent experience was with Saint John of God Foundation as the Head of Individual Giving, where he developed and implemented an individual donor acquisition and retention strategy through multiple channels, by ensuring the delivery of continued growth in a supporter database in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Thahsin holds an MBA degree in Project Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.

Dean Parkinson

Dean Parkinson is World Vision Ireland’s Finance Director.  He joined World Vision Ireland in December 2018 as the Finance Manager and has been recently promoted to his new role.  He is a Finance enthusiast with a background in developing strong business partnerships and attention to detail.

As a CPA Qualified Accountant, he gained his Finance experience prior to joining World Vision Ireland in several countries and industries.  These included Ireland, Australia and the UK within the IT, Retail and Sporting sectors.

Tara Doyle

Tara is the Chair of World Vision Ireland, having served on the board since 2008.  She is also a member of the World Vision International board and its People Committee.

She is a partner in the Asset Management and Investment Funds Department at Matheson. She became head of Matheson’s Asset Management and Investment Funds Department in 2016. Tara was the first female head of an Irish asset management practice and in 2016 and 2017 was named Europe’s Best in Investment Funds at the Euromoney Women in Business Law Awards, the first Irish woman to receive that award. Tara was included in The Hedge Fund Journal’s 50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds in 2017.

Tara is a member of Matheson’s Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee. She is also a member of the IFSC Funds Group established by the Department of An Taoiseach to consider and advise on legislative and other changes which are necessary or desirable to facilitate the continued growth of the Irish investment funds industry.

Johnny O'Rourke

Johnny O'Rourke joined the World Vision Ireland Board in 2020.

Johnny is passionate about creating value driven organisations focused on harnessing technology to drive innovation in the public, private and charitable sectors. Johnny has expertise in governance structures, and adds value at the Board level on issues related to HR, Organisation Design and Performance and Quality Improvement Planning. Specifically, his area of expertise is risk management. He is Director of Operations for Home Again.

Johnny is Chair of the WVIRE Governance and Selection Committee.

Frank Dunne

Daniela (Dana) Buzducea

For more than 25 years Dana has worked to change the systems that keep some of the world’s most vulnerable children living in degrading, de-humanising conditions. Graduating in the first generation of Romanian social workers after the fall of the communist regime, Dana started her career working with HIV-infected children, and at-risk families to prevent child abuse, neglect and abandonment to institutions.

She led various national coalitions of NGOs working on children’s rights, the protection of people with disabilities and poverty reduction, and had served in several international consultations on improving the national systems for human capital development. In the nine years Dana worked with USAID in Romania, she contributed to de-institutionalisation, the development of community-based services, and mainstreaming education solutions for vulnerable children. As a National Director of World Vision Romania, Dana focused on increasing World Vision's visibility, programme quality and sustainability. In her current role as World Vision International’s Partnership Leader for Advocacy and External Engagement, Dana leads the organisation’s work to advocate for an end to violence against children, for strong child sensitive social protection policies and investments by governments and multilaterals, and towards the fulfilment of the SDGs and the Convention on the Rights of Children.

Dana is a passionate advocate for children’s right to participate, and to help shift the lack of political will or leadership. “It is our duty as adults to keep children high on the political and the public agenda so that no child is left behind in the development race, assuming full responsibility for our legacy to the next generation.”

Dana serves on the WVIRE Governance and Selection Committee. 

Maria Flannery

Maria is a Partner in KPMG’s Financial Services Audit group and a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland. She has experience providing audit and advisory services to asset managers and investment vehicles in multiple jurisdictions, and also assists clients in risk, governance & regulatory reviews. Prior to joining KPMG, Maria spent a number of months working within the finance team of a humanitarian agency based in Dublin, and she also completed a secondment to the internal audit department of an Irish aid agency in Haiti. She is a member of KPMG Ireland’s Inclusion Diversity & Equity committee.

Maria has a BSc in Applied Computational Linguistics and a Professional Diploma in Accounting, both from Dublin City University. Maria joined the Board of World Vision Ireland in 2022, and also serves as a member of the FARCOM, WVIRE Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.

Barry Dunning

Barry is Head of External Communications at Ernst & Young Ireland and is a strategic communications, advisory, and public affairs professional with over 15 years of experience in the corporate, political and not-for-profit sectors. This includes over two years working as Chief of Operations at a not-for-profit providing palliative care to children in Jakarta, Indonesia.

He holds an MBA from Smurfit Graduate Business School as well as a MA in Politics and International Relations from University College Dublin.

Barry joined the World Vision Ireland Board in March 2023. He serves on the WVIRE Ministry Committee. 

Maria Jansson

Maria retired as Church of Ireland Dean of Waterford in 2021, having previously ministered in Howth, Galway and Wexford.

Prior to ordained ministry she was a secondary school teacher, an adult religious educator and taught in University College Dublin and Mater Dei Institute, which is now part of Dublin City University, where she was especially interested in the development of religious literacy skills.

She has led retreats, given conference papers and has published in a range of theological journals and newspapers.

She has served on a diverse range of NGO boards - Christian Media Trust; the Hugh Gore Institute, which provides independent living accommodation for older persons in Waterford; and as Chair of the Wexford Rape Crisis Centre.

She is presently researching ethical governance and religion.

Maria serves on the WVIRE Ministry Committee. 

Joe Hayes

Joe Hayes is a Tipperary-born retired Irish diplomat, lawyer, journalist and consultant with a distinguished career in public service and international relations. He has served as Ireland's ambassador to several countries including China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Singapore and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

He worked in Armagh as Joint Secretary of the North South Ministerial Council, and was Ireland's representative on the Board of the Asia Europe Foundation, an intergovernmental organisation that promotes dialogue and cooperation between Asia and Europe on various topics such as culture, education and human rights. He also served in Irish Embassies in Bonn, Moscow and London, as Deputy Head of Mission and as Press Spokesperson.

He retired from DFA in 2014 after more than four decades of distinguished service.

Since his retirement, he has been involved in various consultancy projects. He has also been active in the education and health sectors, serving as a board member of the International School Dublin and the Tallaght University Hospital Foundation. He is currently the chair of the National Council for Special Education. 

Joe Hayes joined the World Vision Ireland Board in 2023. He serves on the WVIRE Ministry Committee. 

David Eastment

David was born in Dublin. He spent 42 years in the public service - 9 years in the health sector and the remainder in a semi-state commercial organisation. Over the course of his career he has worked in the areas of finance, HR, IT, project management, and line management.

He has been involved with the voluntary sector as a volunteer worker and volunteer board director over a period of 35 years. Most of this was with the credit union movement and community groups.

David joined the World Vision Ireland Board in 2023. He serves on the FARCOM, WVIRE Finance, Audit and Risk Committee. 

Robert Flood

Robert has over 20 years’ experience in technology, insurance & management consulting and currently works as an Account Director for a global technology organisation, serving clients in Ireland & the UK.

He holds a BBS degree from Trinity College, an MBS from the Michael Smurfit School of Business, UCD and a Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors. He is a member of the Institute of Directors in Ireland.

Robert Flood joined the Board of World Vision Ireland in 2023. He serves on the WVIRE Governance and Selection Committee. 

Andrew Morley, President of World Vision International

Andrew became President in early 2019, but had been working for World Vision for many years before.

He joined World Vision after leading and building successful international organisations. He has worked for brands such as Google Mobility Motorola Mobile, Sky Television, Harrods Group and Ford Motor Company and was the CEO of Clear Channel UK. 

Andrew has a BA Honours degrees in Marketing and Theology. He is a member of a long-distance cycling team and enjoys running.

Andrew is married to Vanessa and they have two teenage children, Lewis and James.