Meet the Staff & Board
Cara McCann
Director
Cara is from West Belfast and has a degree in Sociology and a Masters degree in Gender Studies. Cara has many years experience in the community development field and has also taught Sociology, Social Policy and Gender studies at Queens University. Cara is mum of a son, lives in Belfast with her wife, dog and cat. In her spare time she loves to play guitar, harp, sing and read.
Email: cara.mccann@hereni.org
Sophie Nelson
Sophie has spent the last three years studying Politics and History at the University of Manchester. She has a particular interest in grassroots social movements and counter-revolutionary struggles in the North of Ireland. In a voluntary capacity, she has been involved in advocacy and campaigning in the women’s sector over the past six years, working on Girlguiding UK’s Period Poverty Campaign in 2018 and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts Stop the Violence campaign. In her spare time she enjoys going to music events, travelling and gymnastics coaching.
Tracey McDowell
Finance & Admin Manager
Tracey has many years experience in finance/admin, with a background in banking and in the voluntary sector. She lives in Belfast with her wife, 2 daughters & Jack Russell Sally. Tracey also provides support and guidance to our service users who are hoping to become parents & is a member of the adoption panel for Belfast Trust
Email: tracey.mcdowell@hereni.org
Grainne Gibson
Children & Young People’s Empowerment Officer
Grainne has a BA (Hons) in Early Childhood Studies combined with almost 20 years of experience of working with children aged 0 to 11. For the past 7 years she has worked with young children & families in a family support role. Grainne has designed & delivered programmes for groups as well as one to one sessions, working in partnership with parents to help children to reach their full potential. She has delivered programmes such as “The Nurturing Programme” & “Cook it!”. Grainne has 3 fabulous children who, as she puts it, are her greatest achievement & she loves to spend time with them. Grainne also enjoys reading & baking & has recently taken up sewing.
Email: grainne.gibson@hereni.org
Mary Ellen Campbell
LGBTQIA+ Heritage Volunteer & Training Development Officer
Mary Ellen has a background in Community Development working with organisation across Belfast. In recent years she completed Genealogy courses with University of Strathclyde and University of Limerick, she ran her own family research consultancy business for 8 years, she also assisted a local historian with his Written in Stone series. She is from North Belfast and enjoys cooking, reading and making small craft items using resin and some candle making.
Email Maryellen@hereni.org
Joe Walsh
LGBTQIA+ Heritage Development Officer
Joe is from a youth and community background, working throughout Northern Ireland with various organisations over the last 25 years. He is a qualified reiki healer with an interest in positive mental health. Joe lives with his partner and 4 cats. Joe likes to go cold water swimming usually along the coast in North Down.
Email joe@hereni.org
Jennifer McKinnon
Older Women’s Engagement Officer
Jennifer is the Older Women’s Engagement officer at HEReNI. She has a degree in Sociology including research on lone mothers and benefits in Ireland. She has a background in welfare rights, advice and advocacy. In more recent years she has focused her work on women’s health and wellbeing, working with various women’s groups. She has a passion for holistic health and has trained in various therapies including Aromatherapy, Indian Head Massage, Flower essences and Herbalism. She lives in Belfast with two of her four children and her two dogs.
Email: jennifer.mckinnon@hereni.org
Amanda McGurk
LGBTQIA+ Mental Health Advocacy Officer
Amanda works between HERe NI & The Rainbow Project as LGBTQIA+ Mental Health Advocacy Officer. Amanda has a degree in Sociology. She is originally from Bellaghy but now lives in Belfast with her wife.
Email: amanda@lgbtmh.org
Sabrina Day
Early Years Worker
Sabrina is from Dunmurry where she lives with her two children and her dog.
Sabrina has over 20 years working in child care. Sabrina enjoys reading and spending time with her family and friends.
Email: earlyyears@hereni.org
Amie Martin
LGBTQIA+ Mental Health Advocacy Officer
Amie is LGBTQIA+ Health Advocate in partnership with The Rainbow Project and HERe NI. Part of Amie’s job is to promote mental and emotional health and wellbeing for LGBTQIA+ people across Northern Ireland. When they are not at work , they enjoy spending time with their partner and cat , Sage. They also like to watch movies , hang with friends and love singing and performing with their theatre group.
Board Members
Martina Hanna
Chairperson
Martina retired from the Northern Ireland Civil Service after 38 years. She worked, before retiring as a Policy Lead on Gender and Sexual Orientation as well as Disability Equality. She worked on a variety of projects including supporting an EU funded programme on Gender Equality in Macedonia. She spent eight years as a member of the Board of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful (KNIB). KNIB is an environmental charity whose mission is to inspire all sectors of society to take responsibility for creating cleaner, greener and more sustainable communities. Martina is passionate about equality for all.
Alison McDowell
Alison is a barrister specialising in family law with a particular emphasis on same sex families, surrogacy and equality issues. Alison is also a member of Lawyers with Pride. Outside of work Alison is a member of a local choral society and loves spending time with her family.
Geraldine McParland
Treasurer
Geraldine is a psychologist with extensive experience of working in the NHS and the public sector. She also has significant experience of research and has managed research projects. Geraldine has experience of serving on several boards.
Sally Bridge
Sally and her partner, Catherine, started Dykes With Babes, the first lesbian parenting group in Northern Ireland, in December 2000 and their 2 young sons were founder members. She has since worked on the Love Equality campaign and her Master’s research looked at school libraries in NI and how they support the information needs of their LGBT pupils. Sally works as a Librarian in Queen’s University Belfast and is the co-chair of the staff LGBT network, PRISM.
Keira McCormack
Keira ran the charity Gender Essence Support Services, stepping down recently to concentrate on other parts of the charity. She currently works for a Domestic Abuse charity as an IDVA, helping to set up their LGBT specific services. Keira has significant experience working in the women’s sector in particular the Rape Crisis centre and Women’s Aid on developing groups. Keira co-founded Essence Arts, delivers training and is a qualified Counsellor.
Helen Coburn
Secretary
Helen has 15 years’ experience working in the voluntary sector with a focus on youth arts, community development, building resilience and tackling prejudice. She has a professional visual arts background and is a qualified youth and community worker. Helen is passionate about equality and the transformative effect of creative expression. Areas of practice include mental health, governance and event management.