Dara Ryder Appointed Incoming CEO of AHEAD

The board of AHEAD are delighted to announce the appointment of Dara Ryder as Chief Executive Officer of AHEAD following an open recruitment process. Dara will succeed current Executive Director Ann Heelan on her planned retirement at the end of 2019 and officially take up the position on January 2nd 2020.

Commenting on the appointment, Chair of the board of AHEAD Michael Shevlin said “We are delighted to welcome Dara to his new role as Chief Executive Officer and look forward to supporting him in implementing AHEAD’s strategy. We have no doubt that AHEAD will benefit from his experience, creativity and vision and we wish him every success.”

“The board would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Ann for her many years of leadership building AHEAD into the strong and vibrant organisation it is today. Under her stewardship, AHEAD has had a major positive impact on the systems, policy and practice that support people with disabilities to succeed in tertiary education and graduate employment, and that is no small part down to Ann’s integrity, vision and leadership. We wish her all the best with her retirement”.