Adam Bradley is the Programme Manager for Role Models and is responsible for growing and managing a pool of pro-bono volunteers to support opportunity for all across Catalyst’s programmes and initiatives.

Prior to joining Catalyst, Adam worked with Arts & Business NI, where he was responsible for managing their programme of events, training & support for arts organisations. He took a particular interest in the design and delivery of professional development programmes, and in developing best practice around diversity and inclusion.

Adam is experienced in programme management and delivery, training & development, fundraising & philanthropy, and partnerships.

He is passionate about social impact, sustainability, EDI, and creativity.

Adrian Johnston joined Catalyst in January 2022 as Director of Strategic Business Development. Prior to this he was Head of Digital Catapult NI supporting businesses and the public sector to adopt emerging digital technologies. He also has 20 years technology leadership experience having previously worked for Seagate Technology in their Springtown facility heading the Data Science and Analytics team.

Adrian holds a PhD in Informatics / AI and is a member of the Open Data Institute. He leads the Open Innovation Team at Catalyst which stimulates research collaborations and provides companies with the support, expertise and community to innovate.

In 2019 Adrian was awarded the Ulster University Graduate of the year and received an MBE for services to peace-building and the community in NI. Adrian is passionate about Inclusive Innovation and is the current Chair of the Community Foundation for NI.

Anne is the Executive Assistant at Catalyst, providing efficient support to the CEO and the wider team. As an Executive Assistant, Anne embodies professionalism, discretion, and a strong work ethic. Her ability to seamlessly coordinate schedules, streamline processes, and facilitate smooth communication channels enhances productivity and effectiveness across the board.

With over 25 years of experience as an executive assistant, Anne brings a wealth of expertise from various industries, including manufacturing, hospitality, and the legal sector. Her extensive background has honed her organisational skills and ability to navigate complex professional environments.

Anne’s dedication to Catalyst shines through her unwavering passion for ensuring that everyone has a positive experience within the organisation.

Carolyn Halferty joined Catalyst as the project administrator in October 2021. She is specifically responsible for maintaining and growing the Generation Innovation partnership porfolio. Carolyn’s role also involves planning and delivering events and programmes.

Carolyn worked as a senior business executive with BMW for 15 years and now loves using her love of connecting with people to connect the next generation with world leading local innovative companies.

Carolyn is passionate about helping each and every young person gain the self belief that they can pursue any goal and also help them discover what those goals may be.

Claire is the Co-Founders Programme manager and leads the recruitment and delivery of the programme.

Prior to joining Catalyst, Claire worked with Make-A-Wish Ireland as the National Volunteer Coordinator. The volunteers played a pivotal role in helping to grant wishes for the wish children. Claire was also responsible for Make-A-Wish Ireland’s national fundraising campaign – Wish Week, which ran across the Republic of Ireland and helped to raise vital funds for the charity.

Claire has a passion for working with non-profits and over the past 18 years has worked with other charities such as Mellon Educate, Mater Foundation, and Oxfam.

Claire is experienced in event and programme management and volunteer/stakeholder engagement.

Conor is the Finance and Governance Officer at Catalyst, working within the Finance team.

Apart from when living abroad in Melbourne, Australia for 2 years, Conor has always worked in Finance after obtaining his BSc in Economics with Finance from Queens University Belfast. Conor also helps run the internal IT function within Catalyst.

Craig joined Catalyst in June 2023 as the Head of Estates and Development. He is responsible for leading the estates team to maximize and grow the property estate both in Belfast and Derry/Londonderry including existing buildings and future developments.

A member of the RICS since 2010, Craig has over 15 years of experience in the UK property industry across retail, office, industrial, and leisure sectors.  Prior to joining Catalyst, Craig worked for a Northern Ireland based property investment and development company as a Senior Asset Manager where he was responsible for the drafting and delivery of large-scale business plans and developments for private equity clients across a UK-wide portfolio.

Craig holds a Bachelor’s degree from University of Ulster in Property Investment and Development and RICS certification in Construction Project Management.

Craig is proudly the 5th generation of his family to work on the Belfast Titanic Quarter site with a family history in Harland and Wolff going back to the Olympic Class liners!

Danny is a Finance Assistant at Catalyst.

Danny originally began his working life as an assistant dairy farmer, but took an interest in finance after he graduated from university & believed that you can conquer the world with a well put together spreadsheet.

Danny studied Business Management at Ulster University & has decided to return to his studies by working towards his Chartered Accountancy qualification through CIMA.

At Catalyst, Danny enjoys helping to streamline procedures & providing support to other departments so they can deliver Catalyst’s mission.

Outside of work, you will find him on a football pitch or reading a comic book.

Declan is a Project Coordinator for Generation Innovation, where he assists in organising the work experience programme as well as delivering workshops and impact days to young people.

He achieved an Arkwright Engineering scholarship in school before attending Trinity College Dublin, where he obtained a degree in Engineering with Management.

After finishing a Technology Consulting internship with Deloitte, Declan moved on to work for Spark Crowdfunding as their Special Projects and Digital Marketing Manager, which gave him exposure to the Irish startup ecosystem, funding routes and supports available.

Declan McCaffrey is the Head of Facilities for Catalyst where he Works within the Property Team, working closely with the Community Team to deliver a world class service for Catalysts onsite community, partners and visitors.

With 15 years experience in Facilities Management and passionate about making the working environment an even more green and sustainable place.

Declan graduated from University of Ulster in 2008 with a degree in Building Surveying, Adv Diploma in Leadership and Management in 2012. He is an avid Life saver and achieved a Bronze Medallion and Award of Merit.

He also enjoys playing football, golf, walking his dog and hiking in his spare time.

Emma is the Project Administrator in the Open Innovation team at Catalyst.

Currently Emma is working on the Inclusive Innovation Skills Programme designed to help young people develop life skills to fulfil their potential.

Emma studied at St Mary’s University College Belfast where she earned a BA degree in Business Studies. She is passionate about inspiring young people to fulfil their potential and has various certificates on mental health and wellbeing in young people including a life coaching and mindfulness Diploma.

Emma is Catalyst’s HR Officer and works in the People & Culture team.

As HR Officer, in a small and busy team, Emma is responsible for providing expert support on daily activities and key HR projects.

Prior to joining Catalyst, Emma obtained a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management and is an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Enya is the programme manager for the Design Hub programme. Design Hub is on a mission to support underrepresented and non-technical founders with innovative ideas to validate prototypes and test their ideas with the help of mentorship and funding for prototyping.

Enya’s background is in product design and design research, having previously worked with Kenwood as a designer and researcher she has experience with front-end development and user testing. Enya also has experience teaching Design thinking at Maynooth University in their product design and innovation department. She was a finalist in the RSA Student Design Awards in 2021.

Enya is passionate about creativity and curiosity and is eager to use this passion to support the early founders of the Design Hub programme.

Fiona is Director of Entrepreneurship and Scaling at Catalyst, designing support programmes and advice for new start-ups, innovators and entrepreneurs of all kinds who wish to make their innovative ideas reality.

She is a multi award-winning product design engineer and entrepreneur with a keen interest in the power of design to improve lives. Fiona designed products for NGOs such as Oxfam; for disaster relief, animal rescue, worked with Leckey to develop products to enhance the lives of kids with special needs, and Shnuggle to create lines of products for new parents. She is the Director of Heroshield Ltd; a not-for profit consortium of over 30 cross-border companies developed to rapidly and locally produce PPE in response to the early stages of the Pandemic (awarded the WISE award by HRH Princess Margaret), launched her own product, Hug wearable heat pack to help women with period pain and runs design consultancy Nuli Design, based in Belfast.

Gianna is a Digital Marketing Executive at Catalyst. Her role involves collaborating with the marketing team and the wider Catalyst community to effectively promote and market all aspects of Catalyst, including its diverse programmes and future workspaces.

In 2019, she graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Communication, Advertising, and Marketing from Ulster University. Building on her solid foundation, she furthered her education by completing a Postgraduate Degree in the Graduate Leadership Programme at Ulster University in 2020. She is passionate about the work she does at Catalyst and is inspired by the thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem of Northern Ireland.

Gosia Karbowiak is Community Lead at Catalyst based in Titanic Quarter. She plays a central role in the Community Team to help create a collaborative community environment for the on-campus member tenants interacting with a wide variety of stakeholders.

By learning about Catalyst members’ products, teams and pain points she can tailor the experience to best serve their needs.

Prior to Catalyst, Gosia worked for Belfast’s largest membership organization – Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce – a far reaching membership organization in which she worked with the executive team delivering membership support and large-scale events including conferences and high-profile events with city’s stakeholders.

She is passionate about learning foreign languages and loves exploring the world, both the great outdoors and bustling cities.

Hannah Cummings is the Scaling Programme Manager at Catalyst, where she oversees Inbound Investors, CEOs Connect, and Way to Scale. These initiatives have a collective objective of expediting the growth trajectory of Northern Ireland’s top technology companies, supporting them to achieve a market valuation of £100 million.

Hannah joined Catalyst in 2019, initially managing operations and community at the Catalyst Belfast Fintech Hub before moving on to manage Co-Founders, a design-thinking led program that helps innovation driven start-ups get going! Designing, curating, and executing impactful strategic initiatives has been a core tenet of Hannah’s career with Catalyst.

Hannah also holds a PhD in Drama and is passionate about leveraging her background to support others in finding their pitch and public speaking confidence, as well as hosting and Mc-ing ecosystem events.

Jamie is Catalyst’s Head of Brand and Marketing, where he leads on the company’s brand and marketing strategy for its property portfolio, community, innovation and entrepreneurial support programmes.

He is a senior marketing and communications professional with more than 15 years’ marketing and consultancy experience, delivering marketing strategy, operational expertise and building brands across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. He has worked in a range of sectors activating key segments in pharmaceutical, toys and games, luxury, national tourism, FMCG, functional fitness, Computer Vision technology and Machine Learning.

Jamie is passionate about the start-up world, human performance and the maker movement. He can also be found on a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu floor being folded like origami.

Jenna White works in the finance team and is the Financial Controller at Catalyst.

Jenna studied law at Queen’s University Belfast and is a chartered certified accountant and a fellow member of ACCA.

She is responsible for preparing the management accounts at Catalyst and is the lead on the external audit.

Jenna enjoys hiking in her free time.

Jenny is a Visual Designer at Catalyst. Her role involves working closely with the Marketing team and supporting the wider Catalyst team with all things design related.

She graduated from Ulster University in 2016 with a First Class Honours in Graphic Design and Illustration and a Diploma in Industrial Studies. She has been very fortunate to have had a varied career which spans across many areas including interpretation, digital, event, exhibition and fit-out design.

Her love and passion for design and attention to detail is evident in her drive and ambition in her role. She is a strong believer that the best ideas come to life in the right culture and when working alongside other creatives to find the best solution for the brief. She is passionate about what Catalyst stands for as a company and it is for this reason alone that she strives to always deliver visually engaging designs.

Joe Wilson is the Partner Relationship Manager at Catalyst, looking after all corporate partnerships and sponsorships in line with the Entrepreneurship & Scaling team.

Joe has been at Catalyst since 2022 and prior to joining worked for the Chartered Institution of Water & Environmental Management in London where he managed all of the Institutions academic and corporate partnerships. This involved relationships throughout the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe as well as in Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and Singapore.

Joe has a masters degree in Environmental Policy from Kings College London and is passionate about sustainability. He sits on Catalyst’s sustainability and diversity and inclusion groups and enjoys getting involved in all of Catalyst’s activities and sees his role as joining the dots between corporates, academia and entrepreneurs.

Judith is the programme manager for Youth and Ambition within Catalyst. She designs and delivers the Generation Innovation programme and our Inclusive Innovation Programme. Through these programmes Judith gets to inspire, equip and encourage young people across NI to gain the skills they need that will set them up for a successful future.

Judith has worked with young people in a variety of settings over the past 12 years and her passion is seeing young people thrive, grow in confidence and supporting them to make their best next step in life!

As the Head of Scaling Kieran focuses on supporting companies through their growth stages, This covers a range of programs and possible interventions. These range from supporting Executive Development for CEOs; developing programs to support to access international markets; assisting companies seeking to access growth finance through capital markets; to providing a sounding board and a strong cup of tea.

Prior to Catalyst Kieran worked in senior roles in a range of companies, both local and international. He has experience in raising venture capital and in company acquisitions and disposals.

Linda Sloan is a Visual Designer at Catalyst. She is a member of the marketing team and is responsible for developing and executing creative design ideas and visual solutions across the company brand and the Catalyst programmes, which each have their own brand.

Linda earned a BDes in Graphic Design and Illustration from Ulster University. She is passionate about the work that Catalyst does and how it is visually communicated to audiences in a range of different and engaging ways.

Louise is Community Lead based at Catalyst’s Derry-Londonderry Campus. As a member of the Community team, Louise has cross functional responsibilities that offer multi-faceted support to our on-campus members and the wider Catalyst community.

Before joining Catalyst, Louise was self employed in the hospitality sector. This was followed by a 15-year management role with Vodafone Retail across multiple locations in NI & England. Louise joined Catalyst in October 2018 as Innovation Centre Manager, before progressing into her current role of Community Lead.

Louise has an excellent customer experience skill set and is passionate about delivering high quality service that drives overall engagement with our tenant companies and partners. The community team are at the heart of the Catalyst experience. Louise and her colleagues are motivated by creating meaningful and mutually beneficial connections between members and the wider Catalyst community, so they can accelerate their businesses.

Mark McAleer is the Quality Experience Manager within the Open Innovation team at Catalyst.

He develops the business systems on that we work with making improvements on how we can better serve our members and entrepreneurs. Within the Open Innovation team, he acts as a consultant to companies providing support on their business systems with focus on Innovation Management.

Prior to working with Catalyst Mark worked as a product designer and mechanical engineer in the Life and Physical Science industries developing products for universities and research institutions.

Outside of his main career he has held roles in youth work running youth clubs in his local area and worked as a consultant supporting start-ups and small business in various areas covering engineering, design, and strategy.

During Covid he freely gave his time on various projects, the most significant being designing face masks that were used throughout Northern Ireland supporting NHS staff and key workers.

Helping people is a huge motivator for what he does and who he wants to be throughout his career.

Mark is the Project Coordinator supporting the STRYVE team. He supports the team in all of its events, mainly in its programme delivery in Innovation and Design Thinking sessions, OCNs, and the workplace. Alongside this, Mark would mentor the young people within the project.

He also a member of Catalyst’s Inclusive Innovation team supporting young people, youth workers and events.

Mark has over 12 years of working with young people. He has a degree in Youth Work and Practical Theology. Mark loves working alongside young people and seeing them being released into their true potential.

Matthew is the Programme Manager for Entrepreneurship for all, a new pilot aimed at creating more inclusive entrepreneurship opportunities locally.

Prior to joining Catalyst, Matthew was part of the Digital Inclusion team that delivered the ONSIDE (Outreach, Navigation, Social Inclusion and Digital Engagement) Project. ONSIDE was a cross-border project (2020-2022) aiming to improve the health and well-being and digital literacy of disabled people living in Northern Ireland and the border regions.

Matthew has over 7+ years experience in Project and Account Management in Marketing having worked with agencies serving clients in UK, Ireland, USA, Canada and Panama, as well as time spent in the third sector locally.

Melanie Wilson works in the finance team and is the accounts assistant at Catalyst. Melanie manages the accounts payable and receivable. In her spare time she enjoys travelling.

Melissa is a Facilities Assistant for Catalyst. Working within the Property Team, Melissa works closely with the Community Team to deliver a world-class service for Catalyst’s members, partners, and visitors.

Melissa is currently completing a Degree in Building Surveying with the University of Ulster. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys spending time with family.

Mervyn Watley is the Director of Property & Community at Catalyst. Mervyn has been in this role since 2007 and over this period has overseen extensive capital development and tremendous growth in on-campus company numbers.

Prior to Catalyst Mervyn managed real estate and large capital programmes for Ulster University and Northern (now Danske) Bank. Mervyn is a graduate from Ulster University

Mervyn was previously a Non-Executive director of the UK Science Park Association

Mia is a Digital Marketing Executive at Catalyst. She is a member of the marketing team where she works creatively and collaboratively with multiple teams at Catalyst.

In 2023, she graduated from Ulster University with a First Class Honours in Interactive Media and a Diploma in Professional Practice. She has also obtained her Level 3 CIM qualification in Digital Fundamentals. She has worked on a number of local and international projects within the education and charity sectors.

In her spare time, she passionately works on her own startup, which earned her a spot on the Belfast Telegraph’s 30 Under 30 List in 2024.

Working alongside a creative team allows her to produce exciting work that aligns with Catalyst’s core values as she is passionate about the work that they do and their support for entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland.

Natasha O’Hea is Innovation Lead for the North West Region in the Open Innovation Team. Her role is pivotal in driving innovation and fostering collaboration in the region.

In her role, Natasha leads the Corporate Innovation Services offered by the Open Innovation Team. She works closely with organisations to define their innovation goals and then collaborates with them to develop and implement the most effective strategies to achieving these goals. Her focus spans across 3 key areas: Innovation Culture, Innovation Practice, Innovation Strategy. Addressing these critical aspects, Natasha helps organisations foster a thriving innovation ecosystem.

Passionate about supporting the growth and economic development of the North West Region, Natasha is an advocate for collaboration and knowledge sharing. She actively promotes partnerships among businesses, public sector and academia to foster cross-pollination of ideas and drive collective progress in the North West Region.

Niamh Griffin is the Head of Community at Catalyst responsible for leading a team supporting and enabling the Catalyst on Campus Community of entrepreneurs and innovators, from start-ups to multi-nationals making it easier for them to flourish and thrive. Whereby being a part of Catalyst actively contributes to their business success.

Before joining Catalyst in April 2022, Niamh held senior roles in financial services in UK, NI and Republic of Ireland with responsibility for strategy, growth & development, technology migration, product design and management, marketing, and the design and implementation of customer, sector and market engagement strategies for business growth.

A passionate advocate for Diversity, Equality and Inclusion she is an active founder of a LeanIn Circle, fundraiser for NIPANC, Alzheimer’s and is a Mental Health First Aider.

Niamh is a graduate of Ulster University business school from the Digital Ready Leaders Programme, Technological University Dublin in Rural Tourism, Marketing & Management and UCD with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and German.

Nicole is the Community Assistant for Catalyst. Nicole plays a central role in our on-site Community team to help create a collaborative community environment at Catalyst’s Derry-Londonderry campus amongst our members and the wider stakeholders.

Before joining the Catalyst team, Nicole previously worked in retail and the hospitality sector as well as running her own fashion & textile design business. Based in The Fashion & Textile Design Centre Derry, a ‘not for profit’ social initiative, which supports newly graduated designers and start up brands, providing mentoring and facilities.

Nicole had the opportunity to receive mentoring from the likes of Eddie Shanahan; Irish based consultant who developed the CREATE Project with Brown Thomas, to identify Irish design talent with the potential to sell in Ireland’s premier store.

Her business was nominated for ‘Northwest Craft Industry of the Year’ at the NW Business Awards and won ‘Best Newcomer’ Award at the DCSDC Craft Awards and has taken part in several of Derry’s successful Fashion Fest’s.

Patrick McIlveen is Catalyst’s Innovation Lead for Belfast, focused on CR&D within the Open Innovation team.

His core responsibility is identifying and managing opportunities for the industrial and commercial exploitation of research focused on creating meaningful outputs and significant regional economic impact. This includes brokering relationships between industry and academic partners, devising new strategies and consortia, and identifying revenue opportunities.

Prior to joining the Open Innovation team Patrick was part of the Co-Founders team at Catalyst and was responsible for co-ordinating stakeholders, recruitment, coaching provision and assisting in delivery of the innovation programme.

Patrick’s background includes being a co-founder in a startup and a range of business development focused positions. He earned a BA in English with Creative Writing from Queen’s University Belfast.

Pauline is the Head of Entrepreneurship at Catalyst, responsible for the successful delivery of programmes focused on creating opportunities for new entrepreneurs and supporting the growth and success of start-ups. Pauline is a champion of innovation, committed to providing opportunities for all, regardless of background.

As a seasoned COO with over 18 years’ experience in IT Operations and Leadership with a background in Quality Assurance Engineering, she excels in operational effectiveness and driving extensive, sustainable business growth.

Beyond her professional achievements, Pauline actively advocates for Women in STEM, mentoring through Women in Business, and earning ‘C-Level Woman of the Year’ shortlisting’s in 2022 and 2023. Her commitment to diversity and innovation aligns seamlessly with what Catalyst has set out to achieve.

As a passionate advocate for women in STEM, Pauline recognises the crucial role of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in fostering true innovation. Her advocacy positions her perfectly to contribute to Catalyst’s vision of creating opportunity for all from world-leading innovation.

Roberta is the Community Assistant for Catalyst. She plays a central role in our on-site Community team to help create a collaborative community environment at Catalyst’s Titanic Quarter.

Roberta has been part of the Catalyst team for over 16 years supporting with the changing community environment.

Roberta has a passion for helping others and is a welcome smile in the morning for all our community members.

Ruairi assists in the management of Catalyst’s estate and facilities. He passionate about enabling our wide range of onsite members to be innovative in their fields.

Ryan is the Building Officer for Catalyst. Working within the Property Team, Ryan works closely with the Catalyst Community to deliver a world-class service for Catalyst’s members, partners, and visitors.

Shauna McPeake is the Director of People & Culture at Catalyst. A graduate of the Chartered Institute of Professional Development, Shauna leads the People Strategy on company culture, talent acquisition, and performance management with a deep passion for enhancing the employee experience and developing positive workplace cultures. Shauna also provides strategic direction and operational oversight for the Marketing team at Catalyst.

Shauna is passionate about inclusivity and community initiatives that provide support for individuals to reach their full potential. Shauna currently serves as a Non-Executive Director for Work West Enterprise Agency.

Steve Orr is Chief Executive Officer of Catalyst and serves on the Board of Directors.

Before being named CEO in November 2018, Steve was Director and Co-founder of Connect, Catalyst’s not-for-profit network of experienced entrepreneurs, business professionals and top research talent dedicated to the creation and scaling of innovation companies in NI.

Prior to Connect, Steve co-founded Kineticom, Inc a California based technical talent firm in 2000. In 2006 Kineticom was ranked #33 on the Inc 500, the list of the fastest growing privately held companies in the US. Steve has also worked in Buckinghamshire, UK and San Diego and San Francisco, California for S.Com Ltd and S.Com Inc. Steve earned a BSc in Business Information Technology from University of Northumbria.

Steve is a Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering and was awarded an OBE in 2022 for services to innovation.

Tomas has centred his professional development on making the communities in which we live and work more enjoyable, to inspire positive social, economic, and ecological change. He is passionate about taking this ethos to an international stage and before coming to Catalyst he worked on 9 events for the Dubai Expo covering a broad range of subjects with expert speakers from all over the world.

This included specialist programming on space exploration with multiple astronauts, TV presenter Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, and videos with the international space station. It also included wildlife conservation with Jane Goodall, climate scientists, and technology experts exploring how tech innovation is shaping our new normal in industry 4.0.

Tomas enjoys doing a deep dive into specialist subjects, finding experts who are world leaders in their field, and hosting programmes that share this knowledge with an audience who will benefit most from the content.

He brings 15 years’ worth of relevant expertise to Catalyst and oversees the Basecamp Boston programme which has been designed to connect NI companies with established experts and experienced executives in the US market – providing the insights they need to scale their business in America.