Role: Co-Founder
David was one of the co-founders of New Beginning in 2010. In July 2012, David and other concerned citizens established the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation (IMHO) to help consumers tackle the increasing burden of Mortgage and personal debt. In addition to IMHO, David owns and runs Lifeline Ambulance Service. David founded the Make-A-Wish Foundation in 1992 and was its voluntary CEO for 10 years. David was president of the international organisation of Make-A-Wish from 1999 to 2001. David also chaired the Board of the Marie Keating Foundation from 2001 to 2011 and is a current Board member of the Beaumont Hospital Foundation.
Over the past 8 years David has been to the forefront on a national basis in advocating on behalf of those in mortgage and personal debt. David has significant experience and success in negotiating deals with banks on behalf of debtors.
David was appointed interim CEO of disgraced charity Console to help protect the services it provided and arrange for an orderly transfer of services to alternative well respected organisations.
Role: Director
Constantin Gurdgiev teaches investments, impact finance, corporate finance, and risk and VUCA analysis at the North-eastern University (Boston, USA), Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) and the Presidio Graduate School (San Francisco, USA). His expertise and academic research are concentrated in the fields of investment markets, geopolitical and macroeconomic risk, uncertainty, and complexity analysis, and Environmental, Social and Governance impact finance.
Professor Gurdgiev advises a range of institutional and professional investors through his consulting practice, www.macroview.eu.
In the past, Professor Gurdgiev served as Associate Professor of Finance with Middlebury College (USA), Head of Macroeconomics with the Institute for Business Value, IBM (USA), and Director of Research with NCB Stockbrokers, Ltd (Ireland).
He splits his working and personal life between Ireland and California and is an avid mountaineer, fly fisherman and forager in his free time.
Role: Chairperson
Professor Paddy Gray is an Emeritus Professor at the School of the Built Environment at Ulster University and Managing Director of PPG Consultancy.
He is a Director of Tuath Housing Association, Threshold Ireland, The Wheatley Group, Glasgow Housing Association, Connswater Homes, First Housing Aid and Support Services, North West Citizens Advice, the National Approved Letting Scheme, Atlantic Quay Management Company and a Board Member at the Residential Tenancies Board
Role: Director
Anita recently retired as a partner in PwC after more than 20 years with the firm.
She was the leader of the tax practice in both the Limerick and Galway offices and specialised in advising both indigenous business and a broad range of public sector clients
Anita’s former roles include an auditor with the Revenue Commissioners and with KPMG US in Atlanta.
She co -authored the annual Tolley’s Irish Tax Guide and is a Chartered Tax Advisor of the Institute of Taxation of Ireland.
She worked in a voluntary capacity for 10 years as a business advisor to the Board of Directors of the Hunt Museum and also advised the Board of the Marie Keating Foundation.
Anita currently acts as a consultant to several Irish companies.
Role: Director
Martin Hayden SC has a broad practice covering areas of Aviation Law, Banking Law, Tax Law, Commercial Law, Employment Law, Public Procurement Law and Competition Law. Martin has a detailed and specialist knowledge of e-contracts in general, and particularly in the context of the Aviation industry; and regularly acts for the largest airline in Europe. Martin has recently appeared for Ryanair in litigation against Google relating to the use of the adword system. He regularly acts for one of the largest Banks in Ireland and has also been heavily involved in financial litigation arising out of the economic collapse suffered in Ireland post-2008. In addition, Martin frequently acts in ligation involving the waste industry.
Martin was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2014 and is a member of The 36 Group Chambers in London. He also has rights of audience before the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts.
Role: Director
Francis is a communications and housing expert who is the current Head of Communications at Peter McVerry Trust, the national housing and homeless charity, where he has worked since 2012. Francis has over 10 years’ experience working in the political and NGO sectors.
Prior to his work at Peter McVerry Trust he spent a number of years working with a Global Trade Union Federation in the textile and garment sector, working to boost the capacity of unions in Asia, Africa and Latin America. He has also worked for a number of years in the European Parliament in Brussels specialising in the areas of Regional Development and Transport and Tourism. He is also the current PRO for the Donegal Association Dublin.
