When Éirénne Carroll first found out she would be TENI’s new CEO, it was 5:00 AM in the morning. She was living in North Carolina, and when the +353 prefix popped up on her screen, she knew Ireland was calling, and with it, news of her new position. Needless to say, Éirénne was delighted: “I smartly put myself on mute as I jumped up and down and yelled in my apartment! It was extremely exciting to get the chance to come and be a part of the team. TENI has such a track record of advocacy that it’s hard not to fall in love with the organisation.”
Before making the move to Ireland, Éirénne had worked extensively in the nonprofit sector in India, Nepal and the US. This experience off ered her some valuable insights into the role adaptability plays in leading an organisation like TENI: “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to advocacy. I don’t ever see myself as someone who can come in and know all the answers. I’m definitely someone that likes to learn about situations, to get to know the ground level community and what their needs are, and build resources to address those needs, rather than a top-down programmatic structure.”