Mr. Paul O’Brien is CEO of Plan International Ireland. With a career spanning 30+ 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 still travels extensively (COVID permitting) in his work with Plan International Ireland and is currently Co-Chair of the Plan International National Directors Team. 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 was elected Chair of the ICVA Board by membership from March 2009 to March 2012. He is a senior leader in Ireland’s NGO sector for the last 20 years, a 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 a number of the Naomh Olaf’s GAA juvenile Camogie teams. He is married with two children.