Meet the team
Shane Cogan is the founder of Rethinking Rural Ireland. He has almost 20 years experience as a human rights worker in the development sector overseas, with a sharp focus on community empowerment, creative thinking and project development.
Maeve Keane is the Communications Officer with Rethinking Rural Ireland. She has experience creating marketing solutions for an array of clients across the commercial and non-profit sectors.
Christopher Murnaghan is our communications expert and is passionate about digital media and artistic expression. He started out as a painter and narrative film maker. And then transferred these skills to commercial work and corporate communications, which was the focus in the first decade of his career. Christopher also works on communications for a range of EU projects in environment and climate action, social affairs and rural development.
Vinicius Verza is our Product Designer and Data Analyst expert with over ten years of experience working for big IT companies such as Activision, Google, Facebook and TikTok. His expertise is in working for the Trust and Safety environment, user experience and design. He is enthusiastic and curious about life, always exploring different ways to do things and learning along the way. In his free time he loves to travel, cook and play video games.
Board of Advisors
Susan Burke has joined the RRI Board of Advisors with a strong professional background in legal affairs. For the last 10 years, she has worked as a self-employed IT professional, working as a mentor and provider of support services to a range of legal and para medical practices throughout Ireland. Her role has been to augment the online presence of their practices across all social media channels and to showcase their skills and abilities online, as well as providing ongoing technical support.
Susan works extensively as a mentor and business coach, working with SMEs and entrepreneurs in setting up and building new businesses. She also works as a lecturer providing CPD training for professionals as well as a conference and seminar speaker, with a focus on ITC and digital media strategies.
Susan works extensively as a mentor and business coach, working with SMEs and entrepreneurs in setting up and building new businesses. She also works as a lecturer providing CPD training for professionals as well as a conference and seminar speaker, with a focus on ITC and digital media strategies.
Síne Nic an Ailí is another key RRI advisor to the board. She divides her time between creating spaces for Irish-speaking professionals, facilitating strategic conversations, supporting social enterprises, and advocating for diversity of thought in policy making. Garden wildlife is her reason for getting up in the morning. She is an inspiring public speaker and loves to learn – attempting to study Italian. From Abu Dhabi to Vancouver, her passion for education, Irish culture, and lesser spoken languages has taken her to work with communities and grassroots organisations around the world. She and her team have won awards for their creativity and design thinking, and she leads with empathy and honesty. She believes in multilingualism as a means to promote social cohesion and inclusion. She has qualifications in transformative leadership, innovation, project management, and entrepreneurship, but surviving winter in Montana and canyon-swinging across New Zealand are some of her most gratifying achievements.
Rethinking Rural Ireland is a Private Limited Company. Registered in May 2021. No. 695619