Our vision is an Ireland where everyone’s skills and potential are recognised by a society that champions workplace equality and fair remuneration.
Our mission is to provide innovative, targeted services and programmes to help people (re)entering the workplace to reach sustained economic independence. Our goals include:
The goal of our advocacy work is to achieve full gender equality in the workplace through meaningful engagement with Government, business and civil society leaders. For more info on our advocacy and campaigning work, go to our campaigns page.
Chief Executive Officer
Project Manager
Client Coordinator
Our organisation was founded in 2011 by TV presenter, designer and social entrepreneur Sonya Lennon to provide professional workplace styling and career consulting to women in the Dublin region.
Since then, we have evolved into a national organisation, providing our services to women across Ireland, partnering with relevant networks, agencies and employers nationwide. We have grown into a team of around 40 highly skilled volunteers.
These partnerships, together with public donations and our fundraising initiatives, have supported us in delivering our services to thousands of women across the country.
Advocating for workplace equality and fair remuneration is an integral and urgent part of our work today. We engage with Government and elected representatives at local, national and EU level, policy makers, employers and civil society leaders to shape legislation, public policy, employment policy and societal attitudes to achieve gender parity in the Irish workplace.
Aideen is an experienced director and business leader who has operated at senior management levels in three of the world’s leading technology companies. She was listed in the top 30 most influential female channel leaders in Europe. Aideen has been a chairperson at WorkEqual since 2023.
Shane specialises in working in trade organisations where he helps create industry propositions and deliver communications strategies. He is the secretary general of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland. Shane has over a decade of experience in communications and has been a WorkEqual chairperson since 2020.
Dr Louise Gorman is an Assistant Professor in Trinity College Dublin. She has lectured and researched in the areas of accounting, finance, corporate governance and sustainability reporting. Louise regularly contributes to national and international publications and events in these areas throughout the academic and professional communities. She works also with professional accounting bodies and academic associations in a governance and advisory capacity.
Leon is a social activist and community builder. He is also a social entrepreneur and he founded the company Black and Irish where he is also the CEO. He is an award-winning author for his book Black & Irish. Leon is a global DEI speaker.
Tristan runs EMEA Sales at Fairmarkit. He has over 5 years of experience in enterprise sales, customer success, and value engineering. He has been a board member at WorkEqual since early 2023.
Sonya is the founder of WorkEqual. She started this company over a decade ago and has helped allow it to grow into what it is today. She is an entrepreneur, founder, board director, and public keynote speaker. She is the founder of Lennon Courtney womenswear where female empowerment, equitable society, and positive social impact is emphasised.
Patrick is a global technology and transformation leader at Onesto Consulting Limited. He has worked in a wide range of business sectors including public sector, pharma and finance, and brings his knowledge of strategy development and governance to WorkEqual. He has been a board member of WorkEqual since 2023.
Chryssa is an experienced leader who specialises in business transformation with specialties in organisational health, programme management, diversity and inclusion, as well as data analytics, to name a few. A long time volunteer and chair of the Dress for Success Cork board of directors, Chryssa became a director of Work Equal in 2022.
Su spent her formative career as a retail buyer before moving into marketing, media and advertising for over 20 years. She has a long history in using her skills in leadership and for cross-industry projects as she loves the sense of achievement from helping make great things happen! Su joined WorkEqual as Chief Executive Officer in January 2024.
Gabriel joined as Company Secretary in 2025. Gabriel held senior commercial positions in finance for over 25 years in sectors; manufacturing, distribution and services. In 2020, Gabriel was named ACCA Ireland Advocate of the Year and later nominated and achieved runner up for the Europe and Americas Regional Advocate Awards. A qualified accountant and a true champion of his profession. Gabriel currently has his own practice offering a range of client services specialising in forensics.
We are a Registered Charity and a member of the Charity Institute of Ireland. We adhere to the Charity Regulator Code and Audit our accounts to SORP standard.
The majority of our fundraising has a corporate focus although individual donors do kindly provide us with donations through our website and donation platforms. We treat all donors, sponsors, fundraisers, and corporate partners with the utmost respect. We meet our corporate partners regularly and provide updates on our operations. Where we are provided with funds from a foundation or grant, we submit reports according to the agreed schedule.