Friends of the Earth Staff Team

Deirdre Duffy is the new Chief Executive Officer and will start her post from 25th August 2025. You can find more information about Deirdre in her own words in an interview published on our website here.

My role in Friends of the Earth is focused on ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of our operations. I support our 5 Circles with anything from project management, planning and grant oversight, to HR and wellbeing matters. I also work closely with our Board.  I feel privileged to work with such talented colleagues and dedicated supporters on the most important issue of our time.
Before joining friends of the Earth in October 2022 I worked in a variety of not-for-profit roles for over 15 years including Operations, Fundraising, Volunteer Management, Grant & Project Management, etc (Oxfam, Youth Work Ireland, Irish Girl Guides) and for 10 years before that I worked in the software industry as a consultant and project manager. I also had a parallel career as a Yoga Instructor for many years.  

Jerry Mac Evilly is Campaigns Director in Friends of the Earth where he supports the delivery of campaigns and projects on climate action, data centres, fossil fuel phase-out, and energy poverty. He helps coordinate, research, advocacy and stakeholder engagement in support of the organisation’s strategic objectives. He is a member of Ireland’s National Economic and Social Council, the EPA Advisory Committee, EirGrid’s National Advisory Committee and the Environmental Pillar Steering Committee.

Jerry has over 15 years' of experience in developing, researching and influencing policy in the government and Not For Profit sectors. Prior to joining Friends of the Earth, he held policy positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Oireachtas, the CRU, as well as Trócaire and Self Help Africa. He also ran his own consultancy specialising in policy research and communication strategies and supported a variety of NGOs including Concern Worldwide and the Mary Robinson Foundation. Jerry has a BA and Masters degree in history, with qualifications in leadership & management, EU studies, and human rights law.

My role at Friends of the Earth focuses on ensuring that our finances and governance are transparent and accurate and that we follow both legal and project-specific guidelines. I am a passionate advocate for social justice, which is why Friends of the Earth's focus on the humane impact of climate change resonates with me so well. I have previously worked with professional integration services for immigrants in Finland as well as in a variety of other industries. I am a fixer at heart, and will always seek to find ways to improve the state of things.

My role at Friends of the Earth is to engage our supporters in the work that we do and to find ways to give back to those who keep us going.

I’m passionate about community, and that’s what I get when I come to work at work at Friends of the Earth. I want our wider network of supporters to know that they are important members of our community too. A strong community is essential for building and driving a strong and lasting movement for change.

Emma Jayne Geraghty is a trainer, facilitator and a youth and community development worker with strong climate justice & feminist analysis. She is passionate about creating the necessary conditions that center and support young people and communities that have been marginalised by systemic injustices and or are facing the frontlines of climate change impacts to play a central role in the just transition. She has led and implemented innovative projects for climate justice, youth education and empowerment, human rights and Traveller rights in Ireland, at an EU level and internationally.

I lead Friends of the Earth’s Communications circle. I’m responsible for our communication with the public, our supporters and the media. I work closely with our Policy Change, Movement Building and Supporter Care & Fundraising circles - making sure that our campaigning, advocacy, movement building, supporter care and fundraising activities have the communications support they need to achieve their goals.

Before joining Friends of the Earth Ireland I worked for one of our sister organisations - Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland - as a fuel divestment campaigner and community organiser. Also in the UK, I worked for the global health charity Medact, leading its Fossil Free Health and climate campaigns.

I first got involved in activism as a student, catching the campaigning bug thanks to the fossil fuel divestment movement. I was very active with People and Planet as a postgrad and spent some time as a People and Planet Regional Organiser where I enjoyed facilitating student workshops and actions in both Ireland and the UK. I was also involved in setting up the All Ireland Student Activist Network.

My primary degree is in biochemistry and I have a PhD in cancer research. Outside of work and activism I love hiking, cycling and spending time outdoors.

Clare O'Connor is Friends of the Earth's Programme Coordinator for Heat. She works within the Policy Team to drive an energy transition that prioritises climate and social justice. She coordinates Friends of the Earth's research on energy efficiency, decarbonisation of heat, and energy poverty. Clare holds a BSc in Neuroscience from UCD and a MSc in Climate Change: Policy, Media & Society from DCU, where her dissertation focused on the energy modelling-policy interface in Irish climate policy. Prior to joining Friends of the Earth, she held roles across the environmental and cultural sector. Clare was a member of the Citizens' Assembly from 2016-18 and is a former Welfare Officer of UCD Students' Union. Outside of climate policy she loves sea swimming, yoga & her daughter Ré.

My role, as Friends of the Earth's Climate Policy Campaigner, involves conducting climate policy analysis, delivering climate policy advocacy and supporting the coordination of the Faster and Fairer Climate Action campaign. With a background in renewable energy and community development, I am passionate about ensuring that both government and wider society prioritise strong, timely and just action on climate change issues.

My role at Friends of the Earth is to ensure that the administration and operations side of the organisation runs smoothly. I provide support to the CEO, Deputy CEO and the Board. With a background in public health, I also have a variety of voluntary experience in NGOs and grassroots groups working on climate action and support for asylum seekers.

Cheng's role at Friends of the Earth is to ensure everything from payroll and budgeting to grant compliance and audit prep runs smoothly, contributing to strong governance and accountability across projects. She brings over a decade of experience in accounting, compliance, and internal controls from both corporate and nonprofit settings, with a background spanning China, Canada, and Ireland. She is completing her MBA at Trinity College Dublin, where she’s deepening her understanding of sustainable business, social enterprise challenges, and strategic management. When not wrangling spreadsheets, she enjoys hiking, travelling, and scuba diving. She is a pet lover and a mom of two lovely cats. She values transparency, equity, and environmental awareness, and is excited to support Friends of the Earth’s mission with her finance know-how.

Ruth Jedidja Stael is the Supporter Care and Fundraising Officer for Friends of the Earth and is here to ensure our supporters feel they are members of the community. She is passionate about engaging and sustaining the relationship between FoE and their (future) supporters as a strong community and cooperation is essential for creating positive change.

Ruth Jedidja holds an MPhil in Sociology “Race, Ethnicity and Conflict” and has a professional background in Customer Relationship building, Inside Sales and Management. Prior to joining FoE, she was involved in a number of volunteer organisations focused on social justice and climate action, including Dublin University Gender Equality Society and Dublin Friends of the Earth.

Rosi Leonard is the Network Development Coordinator with Friends of the Earth Ireland. She works as part of the Movement Building Team to support local grassroots groups in their struggle for fairer and faster climate action across Ireland - in particular supporting One Future groups. This includes supporting groups with training requests, co-operation between groups, and generally building up capacity. Her work is rooted in the aim to build power at local level and to deepen solidarity between different groups who are fighting climate change and its effects on lives and livelihoods. She has a background in youth arts and environmental design, and has worked in play and youth settings across Dublin, Glasgow and London. Outside of work she has been involved the struggle for tenants rights and public housing in Dublin, and outside of all these things she likes woodwork, history, and the radio.

Aaron is the Global Citizenship Education and Activism Support Officer for Friends of the Earth as part of the Movement Building team. This means delivering training and helping grassroots activities to grow our strength, cultivate our community, and make positive change. Aaron has a strong passion for social and environmental justice, particularly in terms of addressing inequality and poverty, and has been active in supporting struggles in the workplace and community for years. His interests include hiking, dog-minding, music, football, and mycology.

My role in Friends of the Earth is the Global Citizenship Education and Outreach Officer in the Movement building circle. I have been working and training in GCE since 2019. My role is to support people, community groups and organizations to understand and take action on environmental and social issues, and climate change, through developing and delivering educational and training opportunities. I believe in community based solutions, using creativity, participation, imagination with a healthy dose of critical thinking to meet people’s current needs as we adapt to the needs of the future. I’m particularly concerned about the disparate effects of climate change on people, and the importance of standing in solidarity with those most affected by inequality and injustice whether it’s locally or internationally. 

In my free time I enjoy music, crochet, embroidery and knitting. I am a part of a community garden and my favourite plants growing in the garden are the artichokes, tomatoes, and different types of berries.

At Friends of the Earth my role is to provide communications, logistical, technical and digital support, and feed into the design and delivery of events. My IT and social media background has given me a range of skills across many business and campaign areas. Additionally I bring my experience as a facilitator with groups and workshops into organising and collaborating. I hold a BSc in Computing from the South East Technological University (SETU). 

As a longtime campaigner I’ve worked with a range of groups in the civil society space in Ireland to date including in the areas of active travel, heritage, climate action and biodiversity. Previously I served as a volunteer director with Dublin Food Co-Op.

A staunch believer in the dictum ‘the personal is political’, I’m passionate about deploying intersectional and equitable approaches in working towards climate and social justice. I believe in the power of collective action - ‘people power’ at large - in driving systemic change as well as in dismantling deep-rooted economic models that prioritise profits and extractivism over people and sustainability. I am deeply passionate about being a crusader for human rights and social justice, and within this, in integrating a human-rights based and intersectional approach to climate action.

I started my career as a journalist with a leading financial daily in India, wherein I took concerted efforts to report on wide-ranging topics and shed light on issues of public interest; speak truth to power; amplify stifled voices; and tell people’s stories in engaging ways. I’ve reported on a slew of topics like politics, the environment, social justice, business, health etc. I thereafter pursued an MSc in International Politics from Trinity College Dublin. I’m joining FoE after having worked as Programme and Publications Officer with a Dublin-based civic and social organisation for a year.

My other interests include literature, psychology and anthropology, in addition to being an avid diarist. Inquisitive to a fault and forever in the pursuit of nuances, I've always been enamoured by the power of words and enjoyed reading and writing.