IEEC2024 SPEAKERS

IEEC2024 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Professor Colette Henry, PhD

Professor Colette Henry, PhD, is Head of Department of Business Studies at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT), and Adjunct Professor (Business Strategy & Innovation) at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. She is also an Affiliated Researcher with Jönköping University, Sweden. Her previous roles include Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at UiT-The Arctic University of Norway; Norbrook Professor of Business & Enterprise at the Royal Veterinary College, London, and President of the Institute for Small Business & Entrepreneurship, UK.

She is the Founding Chair of the Global Women’s Entrepreneurship Research Network (Global WEP) and Founding Editor (and former Editor in Chief) of the International Journal of Gender & Entrepreneurship.

She has extensive experience of designing and managing international education and training programmes focusing on entrepreneurship, and currently leads a series of EU-funded entrepreneurship programmes for DkIT. She has published widely on entrepreneurship education, gender, the creative industries, and veterinary/rural business, with over 7,000 citations to her work.

In 2015 she received the Diana International Research Project Trailblazer Award, and in 2017 received the Sten K Johnson European Entrepreneurship Education Award from Lund University, Sweden. Colette is a fellow of the Royal Society, the Higher Education Academy, the Academy of Social Sciences, and the Institute for Small Business & Entrepreneurship. She has led a series of GWEP publications including, with the OECD, “Entrepreneurship Policies Through a Gender Lens” (OECD, 2021).

Her current interests have taken her into the world of creative writing. One of her short crime stories, Betrayal, was recently broadcast by BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Sounds.

https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=tv_OE5QAAAAJ
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4172-5695

Maura is smiling at the camera. She is wearing a black blouse with pink stripes, and has long brown hair.Professor Maura McAdam FRSA

Maura McAdam is Professor of Management & Director of Entrepreneurship at DCU Dublin.

Internationally renowned, Prof Maura McAdam is a trailblazer in the field of entrepreneurship, having dedicated over two decades to exploring the intricate interplay of gender and diversity in shaping entrepreneurial behaviour. An extensive background in industry prior to entering academia has augmented her capacity to navigate complex professional landscapes. Simultaneously, her diverse teaching engagements spanning nearly 25 years which includes more recently in Saudi Arabia, have equipped her with a nuanced understanding of interdisciplinary pedagogical approaches. Her use of innovative teaching practices have been recognised in her receipt of a Queen’s Teaching Award (2006), DCU President’s Teaching Award (2018) and President’s Teaching Award Nomination (2023). Furthermore, in 2019, she won an Irish Women’s Award for her Services to Education.

Her illustrious career is marked by the adept leadership and construction of international research teams, fostering successful engagements within both regional and global entrepreneurial ecosystems. With established research networks spanning the UK, Ireland, EU, New Zealand, the US, and the Middle East, she has consistently demonstrated an unwavering commitment to advancing the discourse on women’s entrepreneurship. Prof Maura McAdam has made serious and lasting theoretical and methodological contributions to the area of entrepreneurship, with her research published in FT Top 50 US journals and other top-rated US and UK journals across a range of theoretical disciplines. Ranked amongst the top 2% of scientists in the world for research for the last three consecutive years, she continues to shape the trajectory of scholarly conversations in the field of entrepreneurship. She has received several research awards for her work including most recently the 2023 DCU President’s Award for Research, underscoring her unwavering dedication to advancing the frontiers of knowledge in women’s entrepreneurship.

 

Spinder is wearing a white dress and laughing.Dr Spinder Dhaliwal

Dr Spinder Dhaliwal is a Reader in Entrepreneurship at Westminster University Business School where she leads the Entrepreneurship Research Group. 

Spinder has written extensively about entrepreneurship and the business community and her latest book which she edited, Cases on Entrepreneurship and Diversity (Edward Elgar Publishing) has just been released. She is the author of The Millennial Millionaire, how young entrepreneurs turn their dreams into business (Palgrave). She compiled Britain’s Richest Asians reflecting her long held interest in the field. Her previous book, Making a Fortune – Learning from the Asian Phenomenon (Capstone) has been noted widely. Her study ‘Silent Contributors – Asian Female Entrepreneurs and Women in Business’ highlights the neglected issue of the contribution of Asian women to both entrepreneurship and the management of family businesses.  

Spinder has developed what the Daily Mail described as a “high flying career” which spans academia, writing and the media. Spinder has lead Entrepreneurship programmes both in the UK and overseas. She has run workshops in Barbados, Mauritius, Hong Kong, Athens and China.

Avoiding the insularity of many in her profession, Spinder’s work targets, and hits, a much wider audience than just students and other academics. She has been a regular contributor to the media and, in the past few years, has become an increasingly influential figure in more mainstream circles. Spinder, and her work, have been profiled in The Independent, The Daily Mirror and The Daily Mail and she has appeared on the BBC’s flagship breakfast news programme. 

Spinder is invited to address audiences as a speaker and is a freelance writer.