Our People

Leo Clancy is the Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Ireland, the State Agency that helps Irish companies to start, scale and grow globally. Enterprise Ireland supports over 4,000 Irish companies through over 40 offices worldwide. The Agency also invests in innovation capability in universities and regional projects throughout Ireland.

Before being appointed as CEO of Enterprise Ireland, Leo was a member of the Executive Committee of IDA Ireland, the State agency for Foreign Direct Investment. There, he led the Technology sector, working extensively at up to C-level with the top global technology and services companies.

Leo spent most of his career in the telecommunications industry, working in senior management, technical and engineering roles. His most recent role was as Service Delivery Director at e|net, a high-growth Irish wholesale broadband provider. Prior to that, he was General Manager, Service Delivery at Ericsson Ireland, having spent his early career providing global services for deployment of mobile 2G and 3G networks and prepaid systems.

Leo graduated from Dublin Institute of Technology with a First-Class Honours degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering and is a Fellow of Engineers Ireland.

Kevin is an Executive Director at Enterprise Ireland with responsibility for Investment Services, Entrepreneurship, Global Markets, Research & Innovation and Technology & Services. Prior to this role he was responsible for Global Business Development managing Enterprise Ireland’s activities with all sectors both in Ireland and Overseas.

Kevin has previously held the positions of:

• Head of Enterprise Ireland’s HPSU & Accelerated Growth Division responsible for managing the High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) team providing support and advice to entrepreneurs and early stage companies that have an innovative product, service or technology, and the potential and capability to develop internationally focused businesses of scale.
• Head of International Sales and Partnering Business Unit, responsible for managing Enterprise Ireland’s international sales and partnering activities and a global network of 32 international offices.
• Head of Enterprise Ireland’s Internationally Traded Services Business Unit responsible for the financial, business and consumer services Sectors.
• Head of Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-Up Division.
• Manager of the Investment Services Division and Manager Industrial Products Business Unit, where he was responsible for the development of the indigenous electronics and engineering sectors together with building international business linkages between OEM’s and Irish sub-supply companies.

Kevin’s private sector experience prior to Enterprise Ireland includes engineering and management positions within the electronics industry both with multinationals in Ireland and overseas. He is a member of Enterprise Ireland’s Executive Committee, Investment Committee and is Chairman of EI’s Seed & Venture Capital Committee. He is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin with a BSC in Engineering and a graduate of the Advanced Management Programme at Wharton University, USA.

Jenny has a strong track record in leadership roles within the organisation. She is passionate about helping Irish companies to innovate and grow, and supporting Ireland’s entrepreneurs to achieve their ambition.

She first joined the Research and Innovation Division as a commercialisation specialist in 1996, and managed Enterprise Ireland’s national research and technology programmes between industry and third-level research institutes. As the Irish liaison for EU nanotech and advanced materials funding programmes, Jenny was appointed by the EU Commissioner to their high-level advisory group.

She has since held a number of senior roles within the organisation across a variety of sectors, led the High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) team and was most recently the Divisional Manager for Technology and Services. She graduated from UCD with a BSc and PhD in Chemistry.

Originally from Rathangan. Co. Kildare, she continues to live nearby, in a small and scenic townland in the countryside called Knavinstown.

Paul leads a directorate which consists of the Client Services, Business Operations and People & Culture divisions. He is also the agency’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Paul joined Enterprise Ireland as CFO in 2017 and was promoted to Executive Director in 2019. Prior to joining Enterprise Ireland, Paul was Director of Finance at St. Vincent’s University Hospital. Paul started his career in KPMG and  he managed a wide portfolio of clients during his five years with the firm

A Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland, Paul also holds Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm) and Master of Accounting (M.Acc) qualifications from University College Dublin.

Gillian Brennan is the Divisional Manager for Business Operations, leading all of Enterprise Ireland’s core business support functions. Gillian is a Chartered Accountant with 20 years’ experience across a range of Business Operations, Financial Management, and Portfolio Management roles.

Prior to joining Enterprise Ireland in 2023, Gillian spent nine years with Accenture, working with clients to prioritise, plan and deliver strategically important IT and business transformation programmes. Throughout her career, she has worked with a wide variety of companies across Public Sector, Technology and Financial Services.

Gillian is passionate about mentoring young people entering STEM and business roles. She has an MBA from Smurfit Business School, a Diploma in Corporate Finance (ICAI), is a Project Management Professional (PMI), and certified in Lean Six Sigma.

Mark Christal is the manager of the Regions and Entrepreneurship division in Enterprise Ireland responsible for working with Irish owned companies to support them in key business areas including Competitiveness, Innovation, Leadership and Management development.

Prior to this role, Mark held numerous management positions in Enterprise Ireland. He has previously managed the Primary Meats and Food Technology department responsible for working with client companies in the sector. Additionally, he led the Client Management Development & Client Skills department responsible for driving the leadership and management capabilities within Irish-owned companies, to help them compete for, and win, global sales.

Mark previously had responsibility for eight years for Human Resource Management within Enterprise Ireland. In this role, in addition to his HR responsibilities, Mark led the review and development of several major change programmes within Enterprise Ireland. Mark is a member of the Enterprise Ireland Senior Leadership Executive team.

Mark is a Masters graduate of University College Dublin and also holds an MBS in Human Resource Management from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.

Mark is from Dublin and is married with two young children.

Carol Gibbons is Divisional Manager and Head of Regions and Local Enterprise, for Enterprise Ireland, a Government Agency responsible for the growth of Irish-owned businesses in global markets.

Prior to this, Carol held a number of senior sector positions, spanning a 20-year career across Government Agencies. Before her time in Ireland Carol spent a number of years working in Research and Development in London and the U.S. with a view to commercialising research.

Carol has considerable experience in a variety of industry sectors, most notably the ICT sector, where she has worked directly with some of Ireland's best-known ICT brands, from very early stage startup companies, right through to globally trading multi-national ICT businesses.

Carol was a Senior Investment Advisor and has managed a portfolio of clients in Enterprise Ireland's commercial evaluation division and Enterprise Ireland's equity department, one of the largest equity portfolios in Europe, in terms of deal flow.

Joe joined Enterprise Ireland in 1997. Currently, he is the Divisional Manager of Client Services. During his time with Enterprise Ireland he has worked in a number of senior roles. He was appointed Secretary to the board from 2013 to 2017 and reappointed to the role from 2020 to 2022. In his recent roles, he has been the Divisional Manager with responsibilities of Corporate Services, Brexit Contingency and the High Potential Start Up Divisions.

Prior to that, Joe was the Manager of the Equity and Legal Department in the Investment Services Division from 2011 to 2013 and the Manager of the Dairy, Beverages, Food Technology and Foreign Direct Investment Departments with the Food Division from 2007 to 2011. During this time, Joe was also the Manager of the Employment Subsidy Scheme and responsible for implementing the National support scheme to support employment in all Irish industry on behalf of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for a one-off measure in response to the financial crisis in 2009.

Joe was awarded a PhD in Materials Science from the University of Birmingham and holds a Masters Degree in Technology Management from the National Institute of Technology Management, UCD. More recently, in 2015 he was awarded a Diploma in Company Direction by the Institute of Directors.

Marina Donohoe is a Divisional Manager responsible for Research & Innovation within Enterprise Ireland. She joined Enterprise Ireland HQ in 1995 following several years in private sector tech industry.

Marina Donohoe has led Enterprise Ireland teams in Ireland and overseas delivering strong export results globally across ICT, Services, Construction, Cleantech and Education sectors. Marina has worked with businesses across these sectors from start-up to Plc.
In 1998 she moved to Silicon Valley establishing a new office presence in California and Ireland’s first International Incubation Centre for the agency. In 2002, Marina was appointed as Director Americas based in New York leading export development the Americas and establishing new offices in the US, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. Returning to HQ in 2007 Marina led various Sector teams across LifeSciences, Cleantech & Internationally Traded Services. Marina also served as Head of Education in Ireland from 2012-2014, a Government wide initiative to promote Ireland as a destination for 3rd level education in key markets US, China, India & Brazil.

In 2014 Marina moved to London office as Regional Director UK & Northern Europe. She led the development and early implementation of the agencies Eurozone Strategy and the implementation of key market initiatives to drive diversification across Europe and scaled growth in the UK post Brexit.

Marina is a Business graduate of TCD and UCC and has completed executive education programs at Stanford, Columbia and London School of Economics

Kathryn Whyte joined EI in February 2022 as Chief People Officer and Head of Corporate Services, where her responsibility includes HR, Organisation Development, Corporate Governance, Legal, Government Relations, Audit & Risk and Facilities. Kathryn has responsibility for leading on the development and implementation of an EI People Strategy for Ireland, as well as our 40 overseas offices.

Prior to this, Kathryn was Head of People and Culture in the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) since 2017. During that time she led her team to win two CIPD National HR Awards, as well as certification as a Great Place to Work. Kathryn joined the OGP from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, where she worked in HR Change management and HR Strategy from 2013.

After graduating in Political Science from Trinity College, Kathryn worked overseas in the USA and Australia, before spending 14 years in Chase Manhattan and J.P.Morgan. As a Client Service Manager, Kathryn worked with key institutional clients across overseas markets, before taking up a number of management roles in HR, moving to the Civil Service in 2013.

A Chartered Fellow of the CIPD, Kathryn holds an MBS in HR Strategies from DCU and a CIPD Advanced Award in Organisation Design and Development. A Leadership Coach, Kathryn is a member of EMCC and is certified in a range of behavioural insight tools, including Emotional Intelligence and Psychological Safety facilitation, as well as Agile HR.

Kathryn is a qualified Mediator, serving on the Civil and Public Service panel of Mediators, undertaking workplace mediations. Kathryn lives in Hollystown, on the Dublin/Meath border, with her husband David and their three children. She is passionate about making work more human and connecting people to purpose at work, to make a difference on behalf of the Irish State.

Leo McAdams joined Enterprise Ireland in 1996 as a Marketing Advisor with the Paris office. Prior to joining Enterprise Ireland, he worked for a number of technology companies based in Paris, including a role as Export Manager for a French SME. From 1999-2007 he held Management positions in Enterprise Ireland offices in Spain and Italy before joining Investment Services Division in 2007 based in Dublin.

As Manager of the Equity Department from 2008 to 2012, Leo was responsible for the management of Enterprise Ireland's equity portfolio.
In March 2012, he became Manager of the Financial Services & BPO Department responsible for supporting both start-ups and established Fintech companies and established BPO companies. In July 2015 he was appointed Divisional Manager ICT & ITS extending his responsibilities to all Services and Technology client companies and in 2017 was appointed Divisional Manager for the International Sales & Partnering Division.

Leo now leads the Investment Services Division. Leo is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin where he studied Business Studies. He also completed an MBA with the Open University.

Anne Lanigan is Enterprise Ireland’s Divisional Manager for Technology and Services.

Prior to this, Anne spent five years as Enterprise Ireland’s Director of Eurozone & Central, Eastern Europe where she led on our highly successful Eurozone strategy.

Anne joined Enterprise Ireland in 2003 and her distinguished career in the organisation has included a number of leadership roles and senior positions in our head office in Ireland, as well as across our network of international offices. She previously served as Enterprise Ireland’s Director in Japan, before going on to hold a role in the Enterprise Software Solutions Department. She also worked as a Client Engagement Advisor before managing the HPSU Start team for a period.

Anne led the organisation’s response to our changed trading relationship with the UK as the head of Enterprise Ireland’s Brexit Unit, before moving to her most recent role where she was responsible for the organisation’s activities across our 11 offices in Europe, which are focused on increasing export growth into the single market.

Anne studied in UCD where she trained as a mechanical engineer. Prior to joining Enterprise Ireland she spent 18 years working in the private sector, including 5 years in Japan as well as a number of  years running her own business.

In her role as a Divisional Manager, Anne is a key member of Enterprise Ireland’s Senior Leadership team and has responsibility for a wide portfolio in the Technology and Services division, including Digital Technologies; Fintech, Financial and Business Services; ICT HPSU; International Education, EdTech and Professional Services; and Retail, Consumer and Online.

Tom has responsibility for the Global Markets Division at Enterprise Ireland with 40 international offices across 5 Geographical regions and a global team of market advisors supporting Irish companies on their internationalisation journey.

Tom’s early career was with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva before moving to the private sector in Paris where he headed up a team involved in US foreign direct investment. He joined Enterprise Ireland as a market advisor in the Paris office in 1998 before going on to manage the Benelux region from Amsterdam in 2000.

In 2005, Tom joined the team in New York as Head of Industrial Markets and was appointed Regional Director in 2007 with overall responsibility for the regions in America.

Tom returned to Ireland in 2010 where he headed up a number of HQ departments across HPSU, Scaling and the Food Division.

In 2015, Tom was appointed as Regional Director Asia Pacific and relocated to Shanghai to manage 9 offices across this fast-growing region. In 2020, Tom returned to Dublin to take up the position of Divisional Manager for Global Markets.

Tom holds a degree in International Marketing and French and completed a diploma in strategic growth at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.

Tom is originally from Co. Mayo and is married with three children.