Tammy founded The Shona Project and has since done amazing work with over 14,000 girls in schools across Ireland. In order to support the girls during COVID, when schools were closed, she developed SHINE Festival, which was attended by over 40,000 girls.. In October of this year, SHINE Festival won a gold award for digital innovation at the IMRO Awards. She is a published author and an accomplished public speaker, and she tells her story, and that of all the girls she has met along the way beautifully.

Catherine Corless is known for her work in compiling the information concerning the deaths of children at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Galway. After gaining an interest in local history from attending an evening course, Corless decided to write an article about the mother and baby home inspired by her own childhood memories of the institution. She spent her spare time searching records in libraries, churches and council offices, after which she uncovered that 796 children died in the home and she identified that there were death certificates but there were no burial records. She has received a number of awards in recognition of her work, including a People of the Year Award in 2018. Following the 2020 government report on deaths and abuses at Mother and Baby homes, the Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin called Corless a “tireless crusader of dignity and truth”. She is honoured with this years Lifetime Achievement Award.

Over the past 3 and a half years Saoi has been committed to the fight to save the planet from the climate crisis by bringing forward the voices of the most affected people and areas. Saoi worked with the Fridays for Future movement internationally to bring activist refugees out of Afghanistan to safety in Germany and was the founder of Fridays for Future Ireland in January 2019 when they began climate striking outside Cork city hall. Since then Saoi has organised global youth strikes, spoken all over the country, lobbied politicians and woken us all up to the crisis we are facing.

Maria Delaney and Michelle Hennessy (Noteworthy.ie) developed a groundbreaking investigative series called Tough Start. In this multi-part series, they exposed the gargantuan challenges faced by children from the Traveller community across key areas impacting their development and opportunities, including access to healthcare and education, and humane living conditions. At the core of this process was a centring of the Traveller experience and of Traveller voices.

Launched in September 2016, The Shona Project CLG aims to educate, empower and inspire today’s Irish girls to become tomorrow’s resilient, capable and confident young women. In order to ensure that all Irish girls have the skills, tools and self-esteem they need to achieve their potential, TSP has adopted a three-pronged approach which includes school workshops, the development of a positive online community and events & projects.

Digital Charity Lab is a not for profit collective that works with charities to build digital skills and innovation, increase knowledge-sharing on online technology and strategies and drive collaborative working on digital projects. Digital Charity Lab’s mission is to become the national hub for information, data and expertise on digital, for Irish charities, to help them to engage more meaningfully in evolving digital channels and realise their full potential.

“Strive to do it better, Dare to be different, Care to do it right”. This is the vision of Hotel Doolin located in Doolin, Co. Clare. In 2013, they launched their Green Team Initiative as a way to become a carbon-neutral hotel. Part of this includes planting trees after every wedding held at the hotel, hosting coastal cleanups, and growing their own fruits & vegetables. As part of their Green Program, the hotel doesn’t sell any plastic bottles on their premises.