The board of the Irish social finance organisation, Social Finance Foundation, has appointed three new directors – Karen Broderick, Siobhán Dooley and Eithne Manning.
Established at the initiative of the Irish Government in 2007, Social Finance Foundation sources finance to fund social lending organisations who, in turn, provide social finance directly to community and voluntary organisations including social enterprises who may have difficultly accessing finance from mainstream financial providers. Social Finance Foundation has to date facilitated over €225m in loan finance to be provided to over 2,000 community and voluntary groups and social enterprises across Ireland. In 2023 it lent €25.5 million to 253 community groups across all 26 counties in Ireland.
Commenting on the appointments, Chairperson of the Board Michael McLoughlin said: “We are delighted to welcome Karen Broderick, Siobhán Dooley, and Eithne Manning to the board of Social Finance Foundation. Each of these individuals brings a wealth of experience and expertise that will be invaluable as we continue to support community and voluntary organizations across Ireland.”
He added: “Their diverse backgrounds in financial services, banking, and corporate governance will strengthen our ability to provide social finance to those who need it most. We look forward to their contributions and are confident that their leadership will help us achieve our mission of facilitating social development through finance and financial expertise.“
Karen Broderick is an ACCA Accountant with 19 years’ experience in the financial services and banking industry. Karen currently works as Senior Programme Lead in PTSB and is accountable for successful delivery of a number of Regulatory and Compliance programmes. Prior to her role in PTSB, Karen spent 18 years in KBC Bank Ireland Plc and, during that time, she held a number of senior leadership roles across a wide range of areas including Retail, Business Banking, Risk and Credit. Most recently she held roles of Head of Credit Risk & Credit Quality Assurance and Head of Current Account Off Boarding as part of KBC’s exit from the Irish market. In addition to a B.Comm from NUIG, Karen holds a Professional Diploma in Advanced Banking Risk Management and a Qualified Financial Advisor Designation.
Siobhán Dooley is the Group Chief Financial Officer for FRS, a farmer owned co-operative organisation established in 1980. Through growth and diversification the group now comprises co-ops and companies that provide a range of services to the public and private sectors. Siobhán has over thirty-five years’ experience having trained and worked as an accountant with Irish Life, followed by roles in the pharmaceutical and public sectors before joining FRS as Financial Controller in 2004. She has experience of significant growth, transformation and change in her career. She is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and holds a MSc in Business (Leadership and Management Practice) from UCD Smurfit Business School.
Eithne Manning is a qualified finance and tax professional with over 30 years of experience working in the aircraft leasing, structured finance and banking sectors. She currently works as a Non-Executive Director. She has extensive experience on both the commercial and liability management sides of the business having held a variety of roles including, interim Chief Financial Officer, Head of Integration Management Office for a $6.7bn acquisition, Head of Funding, Finance and Tax, and Senior Vice President of Aircraft Trading at SMBC Aviation Capital. Prior to joining SMBC Aviation Capital, Eithne held a variety of roles in structured finance and corporate banking. Eithne holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) and a Masters in Accounting (Hons), both from University College Dublin and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and the Irish Tax Institute. She has completed the Higher Diploma in Corporate Governance at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.
