Paul O’Brien
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Paul O’Brien is CEO of Plan International Ireland. With a career spanning almost 40 years in development and humanitarian work, he has lived and worked in a number of developing countries, including Kenya, Sudan, Liberia, Bangladesh and Tanzania. Paul travels extensively in his work with Plan International Ireland.
Paul has served on the Board of ICVA, (the International Council for Voluntary Agencies) the global network of non-governmental organisations whose mission is to make humanitarian action more principled and effective by working collectively and independently to influence policy and practice. He is a senior leader in Ireland’s NGO sector for the last 20 years, a former Board member of Dóchas, the Irish Association of NGOs and a founding member of the Irish Emergency Alliance (IEA).
Paul has studied agriculture, development and leadership and holds an MBA from University College Dublin; he is based in Dublin, Ireland. During his spare time, he is a volunteer mentor with the Naomh Olaf’s GAA Camogie teams.
He is married with two children.