About Us
Boardmatch is the only Irish charity that specialises in charity board recruitment.
We match individuals that are looking to volunteer their time and skills at board level, with charities and not-for-profits that have board and committee vacancies.
We believe the right balance of skilled voluntary trustees provides a not-for-profit with the necessary skills to respond to changes, meet the challenges of the sector and to achieve their strategic objectives.
Boardmatch does this primarily through:
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A FREE online matching service matching individuals from the corporate/public sectors to Not-For-Profit boards.
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A bespoke Premium Board Search service for not-for-profit organisations.
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Developing and providing training packages and other supports for boards.
Our core objective is building the governance capacity of not-for-profit boards. We have over 1,000 not-for-profits registered with us.
Boardmatch Ireland was established in 2005 to address the skills needs of the governing bodies of Not-For-Profits. It was established by a strong board including Mary Redmond of Arthur Cox, Siobhan Toale of Bank of Ireland, Roger Acton of ACCA, Kieran Loughran of the Disability Federation of Ireland and Mary Davis of Special Olympics.
To date, Boardmatch Ireland has facilitated the appointment of over 3,500 individuals to the boards of Not-For-Profits.
Our Team
Eva Gurn,
Chief Executive Officer
Eva joined Boardmatch in 2011 and is our longest serving employee. Eva was promoted to CEO in 2018 having held the position of Director since 2015. Eva is responsible for the overall strategic direction of Boardmatch, ensuring it achieves its objectives and continues to strengthen boards and make them more diverse. Eva is passionate about how boards recruit, engaging new audiences to volunteer on boards and innovative in the ways we can do it.
Hannah Coleman,
Communications & Education Manager
Hannah joined the Boardmatch Ireland team in March 2017. Hannah oversees all aspects of Boardmatch’s marketing and communication, as well as the free matching website for candidates and charities, board training, and board effectiveness reviews.
Caradh O'Donovan,
Premium Search Manager
Caradh joined the organisation in 2021 and leads the Premium Search team within Boardmatch. Her day-to-day work focuses on supporting not-for-profits with their board recruitment and with building the governance capacity of their boards. Caradh has 15 years’ experience working in the not-for-profit space and she is a passionate advocate for good governance. She was awarded the 30% Club Ireland scholarship to undertake the Professional Diploma in Corporate Governance in Smurfit Graduate Business School in 2022.
Michelle Staunton,
Leadership Development Programme Manager
Michelle joined the team in March 2021. With expertise in HR, organisation behaviour, and programme development, she oversees the Boardmatch Leadership Development Programme. Supporting participants, understanding their interests and motivations, Michelle engages with leadership teams in non-profit organisations to identify the best Board opportunities for each participant.
Andy McManagan,
Website & Member Support Officer
Andy joined the Boardmatch Ireland team in January 2023. Andy is a recently graduated MTU marketing student with experience in Community Development and Engagement across the innovation & tech sector. He is responsible for supporting and connecting charities, not-for-profits and candidates using the Boardmatch board recruitment platform.
Susan Colgan,
Communications Officer
Susan joined the team in November 2022. She creates communications content on behalf of Boardmatch, helps manage our social media presence, and supports the facilitation of our events and training.
Ruth Bruton,
Leadership Development Programme Officer
With extensive experience across the not-for-profit, voluntary and commercial sector, Ruth joined the Boardmatch team in February 2022. She is our Leadership Development Programme Officer, connecting programme participants with not-for-profits across Ireland. Ruth is passionate about the impact the not-for-profit sector has on our communities.
Lydia Kelly,
Premium Search Officer
Lydia joined the Boardmatch team in July 2022. She has over 10 years' experience in the Higher Education and Non-profit sectors, particularly in the areas of training & learning and volunteer support. Lydia works on the Premium Search team and is enthusiastic about strengthening the Non-profit sector through supporting volunteer boards.
Niamh Foxe,
Premium Search Officer
Niamh joined the Boardmatch Team in March 2023. She has over 10 years’ experience in Healthcare Administration, Education, and Employability support. She is new to the NGO sector and looks forward to progressing and developing in her new role.
Our Board
Fred Karlsson, Chair
David Owens
Felicity McGrath
Martina Maher
Michael McDonagh
Maura McLaughlin
Liz Roche
Paul Quinn
Chris Hanlon
Our Governance
Boardmatch Ireland is a company limited by guarantee not having a share capital, registered in Dublin, Ireland (company number 400151).
Boardmatch Ireland is registered with the Charities Regulatory Authority, Registered Charity Number (RCN): 20058968.
Boardmatch Ireland is also a registered charity with Revenue (CHY number 16398).
It is Boardmatch Ireland’s policy to promote openness and transparency.
Boardmatch Ireland is currently funded by:
- funding from the Department of Rural and Community Development (25% of total income)
- revenue from the provision of matching services, training, and consultancy to both the commercial and voluntary sector (75% of total income)
Boardmatch are compliant with the Charities' Regulator's Code of Governance for Charities.
We have also adopted the use of Charities SORP (FRS102) in our financial statements.
Finance, Audit, and Risk Committee (meet bimonthly)
Members:
Michael McDonagh, David Owens and Chris Hanlon.
Governance Committee (meet quarterly)
Members:
Maura McLaughlin, Fred Karlsson and Martina Maher.
Our Values
INTEGRITY - We conduct ourselves to the highest professional standards. We work supportively and engage openly, honestly,
and transparently with all our stakeholders.
TRUST – As the foundation of all strong organisations, we pride ourselves on believing in each other and gaining the trust of our
stakeholders.
LEADERSHIP – We are the leaders in promoting transparent and independent board and committee recruitment. We pride
ourselves on leading from the front and encouraging other organisations to follow best practice.
VIBRANCY – We are an organisation of vibrant leaders; we are innovative problem solvers working towards a culture of openness
and inclusivity in the Not-for-Profit and Charity sector.
VOICE – We deliver the vision of Boardmatch through our voice, showing our ideas and personality and who we are as a charity.
We believe this shows that we are a fun, creative and energetic charity, which are important aspects of our culture.
Data Protection & Privacy
Once an individual candidate or not-for-profit organisation registers on our Free Matching website, they fall under the terms and conditions of said website. Both candidates and organisations have the ability and right to notify Boardmatch at any time, by phone (01-6715005) or email (hello@boardmatch.ie), should they wish to have their profile deleted from the Boardmatch database. By registering with Boardmatch Ireland, the user consents to receive information from Boardmatch with regards to the management of their account, and the services Boardmatch offers to assist candidates and organisations with good governance, i.e. our board training. Boardmatch will not contact any website users about anything other than relevant information about boards and voluntary directorships.
Boardmatch has the right to remove candidates’ information from the website if they are no longer active on the service. If a candidate has not logged in to the Boardmatch platform in in 24 months or more, for data accuracy reasons, Boardmatch will delete the candidate’s details from the website. Any inactive candidates will receive a 30-day and 7-day email notice prior to the deletion of their account.
Boardmatch also has the right to remove board vacancies from the website if we deem the information to be no longer accurate or the organisation ceases communication.
To ensure accuracy and consistency of information, if you wish to DELETE your Boardmatch Profile, please contact the Boardmatch Ireland team at hello@boardmatch.ie. If you wish to change your login details, please contact the Boardmatch Ireland team.
Should an individual wish to submit a Subject Access Request, they can do so in writing by post or email.
For further information on our Governance, GDPR, Policies & Procedures, please visit contact the Boardmatch Ireland team at hello@boardmatch.ie.