Amber’s Management Team

Lisa Morris, Manager and Company Secretary

Lisa has over 18 years’ experience working in the Domestic Violence sector. She brings a wealth of
experience in areas including operational development, organisational and people management,
change management, strategic planning, human resources, finance and corporate governance. Lisa
was appointed Manager of Amber in 2015. She has a BA (Hons) in Applied Social Studies in Social
Care from Cork Institute of Technology. Lisa is Company Secretary and sits on all Amber’s Board Sub
Committees. She is also the Company Secretary on the Board of Safe Ireland and the Social Inclusion
Rep for the PPN on the Special Policy Committee for Housing.

Jean Murphy, Assistant Manager

Jean has 27 years’ experience working in the Social Care Sector. Prior to joining Amber in 2015, she worked in Dublin with adults with intellectual disability, with children and young people in long-term residential care and with children, young people and families as an Educational Welfare Officer. Jean was a Project Leader in a Family Resource Centre in Kilkenny and has also worked in youth justice.    She brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her role as Assistant Manager. Jean’s particular focus, in conjunction with supporting Amber’s Manager, is in guiding best practise and in the strategic development and delivery of policy, operations and services to support Amber’s front-line teams working with women and children. She has a BSc in Social Science from UCD and a Certificate in Addiction Studies from NUI Maynooth.

Bernadette Hickey, Senior Project Worker

Ber has 16 years’ experience working in front line services with women and children who are victim-
survivors of domestic violence and abuse. She joined Amber in 2023. Based at the refuge, Ber’s role
involves working with the team to ensure we continue to provide high standards of service delivery
to the increasing numbers of women and children we support and protect. Ber also provides support
and advocacy for the women who use our services.

Margaret Newport

Margaret is a retired Senior Social Worker with over 40 years’ experience working in Child Protection, Mental Health & Homelessness. She is Chair of our Services Development Sub Committee. Margaret joined the Board as our values align with the strengths based, human rights & task centred theoretical approaches that underpinned her career.

Amber’s Trustees

Katherine Byrne, Chairperson

Katherine works as a development co-ordinator in a large funding agency. She has over 17 years’
experience in social inclusion, governance, funding and programme oversight. Her motivation for
joining Amber’s board stems from her beliefs about social justice and equality. She is committed to
ending gender-based violence in all its forms.

Clare Allen

Clare is a Fund Manager at Rethink Ireland. With a strong and varied background in Marketing, for
both large multinational organisations and small business owners, Clare is passionate about social
impact, sustainability and green communications. She sits on our PR and Fundraising Sub Committee
and joined the Board to help maintain and grow the services we provide to women and children.

Shelagh Butler

Shelagh is a Chartered Accountant working in practice in Kilkenny. She is Treasurer and Chair of our
Finance Sub Committee, where her background in finance and ability to think analytically provide
much value to Amber. Shelagh joined the Board to contribute to and support the work that we do.

Ken Byrne

Ken is the founder and CEO of RedSky Europe and founder of Taxmatic. He sits on our Services
Development Sub Committee, where his experience in strategy and innovation is valued as we continue to evolve and grow. Ken believes that people in business should allocate a portion of their
time to organisations like Amber which support vulnerable families and individuals.

Kathleen Cass

A qualified Irish lawyer with experience in the International non-Governmental sector, Kathleen
supports Irish and UK NGOs on good governance and sits on our Governance Sub Committee.
Kathleen joined the board to contribute her vast experience and valuable skill set to Amber’s work.

Dee Clune

Dee is a qualified Psychotherapist with over 30 years’ experience in the areas of HR, Employment
Law, Learning and Development, Coaching and Business Strategy. She is Chair of our Human
Resources Sub Committee. Dee is passionate about Human Rights and Child Protection.

Michelle Walshe

Michelle is a Director of a management consultancy company. She is Amber’s Vice Chairperson,
Chair of our Governance Sub Committee and also sits on our Finance Sub Committee. Michelle has a
wealth of expertise in strategic planning, financial oversight and corporate governance. With a
strong personal ethos of giving back, Michelle joined the board as Amber’s values align with her
own.