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Nina Arwitz
Chief Executive Officer
Nina joined Volunteer Ireland in November 2014. Her background is in the environmental non-profit sector where she focused on social inclusion, engaging new audiences and volunteering; as well as fundraising, campaigning and strategic development. Nina is responsible for the overall strategic direction of Volunteer Ireland, and ensuring that we deliver our mission to promote, support and advocate for excellent, accessible and inclusive volunteering in Ireland. She works to secure diverse funding, implement good governance practices and ensure that Volunteer Ireland is an effective and efficient organisation. Nina also represents Volunteer Ireland externally to raise the profile of volunteering, works with the public sector to emphasise the importance of volunteering in delivering the government’s strategic priorities, develops partnerships and explores new opportunities for growth and innovation in order to maximise our impact.
Amy joined Volunteer Ireland in August 2015 as Communications and Advocacy Officer and was promoted to the role of Manager in December 2018. In July 2023, Amy took on the role of Head of Advocacy and Engagement. Amy’s role involves overseeing Volunteer Ireland’s internal and external communications; advocacy and research outputs; and the Community Volunteers programme. Amy acts as primary spokesperson for the organisation and represents Volunteer Ireland on a number of fora. Managing a small team, Amy strives to set a culture in line with Volunteer Ireland’s values.
Emma joined Volunteer Ireland in September 2014 and was promoted to the role of Operations and Development Manager in April 2015. In July 2023, Emma took on the role of Head of People and Programmes. Emma’s role involves overseeing Volunteer Ireland’s Human Resources, Finance and Governance, working closely with the CEO and the Board to deliver on the strategic direction of Volunteer Ireland. Emma manages a staff team covering a range of programme areas; Learning and Capacity Building, Volunteering Development Programme and Development of the National Volunteering Database I-VOL. Emma’s goal is to maintain employee relations and cultivate an environment that promotes inclusion, collaboration and innovation.
Terri is the longest serving member of staff in the organisation and has worked in a variety of roles throughout her time here. She currently manages our corporate volunteering programme, managing large-scale corporate partnerships and offering a variety of networking and other supports to companies in relation to employee volunteering and our corporate volunteering calendar.
Stuart joined Volunteer Ireland in July 2014 and manages the National Volunteer Management & Leadership Training Programme. Stuart works to build the capacity of volunteer involving organisations to run quality volunteer programmes. His experience spans over 26 years working in the NFP sector. He has direct extensive volunteer management experience with managing volunteer teams and worked as a Volunteer Manager for a national homeless charity. Stuart leads our Erasmus+ EU programmes focusing on a variety of volunteer engagement topics. He is a lead trainer in the use of Volunteer Impact Assessment. He holds qualifications in Volunteer Management & Leadership, Teaching & Learning, Event Management, Human Resource Management, First Line Management and Health, Safety & Welfare.
Paul joined Volunteer Ireland (VI) in March 2015 as Outcome & Impacts manager. Paul’s background includes, working in the food industry, sport and quality management/assurance across a number of sectors. His role involves supporting Volunteer Centres (VCs) on all aspects of the Quality Standards Framework to embed a culture of continuous quality improvement across the national network VCs. He has a lead role in developing and maintaining VIs internal quality management system, research projects and VC support, including acting as chairperson for the Volunteering Infrastructure Quality Committee. He has been involved in volunteering for over 30 years in a variety of roles, with the highlight being a volunteer role at the Special Olympics world summer games in 2003.
Patricia joined Volunteer Ireland in February 2024 as the Public Affairs Manager. Patricia is an international human rights lawyer with expertise in public policy, strategic engagements, lobby and advocacy. She is also a key-note speaker, diversity, equality and inclusion advocate and an anti-racism trainer. Patricia’s education includes an LLM in International Human Rights Law from University College Dublin and a Bachelor of Laws Honors Degree from the University of Zimbabwe.
Zsé joined Volunteer Ireland in November 2019 as Volunteer Centre Development Manager and took up the role of Volunteering Development Programme Manager in 2023. Her role focuses on the delivery of actions 1, 13 and 53 of the National Volunteering Strategy. These actions look at developing a fresh ground where flexible and diverse volunteering can grow; where everyone can find a way to get involved in volunteering; and feel safe and rewarded doing so.
Zsé brings extensive experience in facilitating diverse networks and in managing volunteers. She has a background in volunteer management training and consultancy, which she practised in Ireland, in her native Hungary, and many other European countries. She also has practical skills in governance which she developed through working with Volunteer Centres and internally in Volunteer Ireland.
Zsé is passionate about volunteering and sustainable volunteer management. She is also a proud Blood Bikes East volunteer.
Vicki is the Community Volunteers Programme Manager with Volunteer Ireland. She previously held the position of Learning and Capacity Building Officer where she supported volunteer involving organisations in all aspects of volunteer engagement through training and capacity building. She has also worked in a local Volunteer Centre and supported volunteers for a number of years in both ALONE and the Irish Wheelchair Association. Vicki has extensive experience in all aspects of training including the design, development and execution of training courses.
She has enjoyed many different volunteer roles over the years and is currently a support line volunteer with Aware and enjoys a bit of beach cleaning when she can.
Vicki’s education includes an HDip in Applied Social Studies, a Diploma in Psychology and Criminology, and Certificates in both Addiction Studies and most recently, Building Capacity and Enhancing Leadership in Intercultural Understanding and Diversity.
Darren joined Volunteer Ireland as a Corporate Accounts Officer in September 2016. His role involves supporting and engaging corporate employees through organising Team Impact Days; where corporate employees are matched with a non-profit organisation project to deliver one-off practical volunteering. Darren has a background in IT but made the transition into the not-for-profit sector in 2013 by volunteering with his Local Employment Service. He has since worked with other not-for-profit organisations as a volunteer and project manager.
Jenny joined Volunteer Ireland in June 2021 as the Volunteer Network Support Officer, where she provides support and co-ordination to the national volunteer infrastructure network. Jenny’s professional background is mainly in the non-profit sector, working as a project/programme manager, workshop facilitator, and educator in the US, the UK, and Ireland. Jenny is passionate about supporting the missions of non-profits and charities and feels that volunteering is an invaluable way to serve the community. She has spent much time volunteering as a youth mentor, museum educator, and board member at various non-profit organisations.
Amy joined Volunteer Ireland in February 2022 as Corporate Programmes Officer. Her role involves supporting and engaging corporate employees through organising large scale volunteering projects; where corporate employees are matched with a non-profit organisation project to deliver one-off practical volunteering. Amy has worked in the non-profit sector since 2011, leading a small team in a busy Community Centre and she continues to volunteer with her local youth club. Amy is passionate about the importance of volunteering and the part it plays in in local grass roots community organisations.
Lauren recently graduated from UCD with a MSc in Management in 2023. Prior to that she completed a BSocSc in Social Policy and Sociology and always hoped to be part of an organisation that makes a positive difference. She is the Finance and Administration officer and oversees the day-to-day financing within Volunteer Ireland. She works closely with all departments in the organisation on multiple large-scale projects. Lauren is passionate about the importance of volunteering and hopes to be a part of larger social change through the implementation of Volunteer Ireland’s Strategic Plan.
Kathleen comes to Volunteer Ireland from an arts background. Proud native of Cleveland, Ohio, Kathleen received her BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Chicago and her MA from NUIG in Drama and Theatre Studies. She is currently writing a PhD on social change onstage in contemporary Ireland. She has worked as a theatre producer and dramaturg both here and back in the States. Kathleen loves volunteering for events and festivals, and there are no shortage of those in Dublin!
When not working or avoiding her dissertation, she loves cats, people watching, and ag foghlaim Gaeilge.
Aoife joins Volunteer Ireland fresh from completing her Social Science degree at UCD where she studied Politics, International relations, and Economics. She was first introduced to Volunteer Ireland as an Intern in 2021 and has since worked with the corporate team on various projects whilst finishing her studies. Aoife is passionate about CSR and employee volunteering, which is perfect for her role on the corporate team where she supports and engages corporate employees through the planning and execution of large-scale volunteering projects across Ireland. Overall, Aoife has personally completed over 450+ hours of volunteering and is determined to keep building on this number!
Fiona joined the VI Corporate Partnerships team in March 2022. Her role involves supporting and engaging corporate employees through organising large scale volunteering projects where corporate employees are matched with a non-profit organisation project to deliver one-off practical volunteering.
Prior to this, Fiona worked in Corporate Social Responsibility & HR roles for O2 & Three managing a variety of programmes over 17 years including charity partnerships, employee volunteering, employee wellbeing, diversity & inclusion and employee engagement. She strongly believes in the positive impact of employee volunteering for everyone involved and in 2019 she completed a psychology degree, with her thesis focusing on the impact of employee volunteering on overall wellbeing. She is an active volunteer outside of work, previously volunteering for the Aware support line and currently as a Community Volunteer.
Mariana joined Volunteer Ireland in 2024 as Learning and Capacity Building Specialist but has been supporting the organisation in different capacities since 2021.
Mariana, originally from Portugal, started volunteering when she was 7 years old and has been involved in volunteering ever since. She worked in Volunteering, Civic Engagement and Higher Education for the past 11 years and has always enjoyed volunteering her time to support different organisations. She was the national Chair for the Student Volunteering Network in the UK, and has also been a Co-editor for the “Voices” Team at the Engage Journal Volunteer Management website. She is a non-formal education training facilitator and is highly involved with a variety of Erasmus+ programmes.
In her free time she travels, reads, volunteers and watches a lot of videos of baby goats.
