Gill Brennan has announced that she will step down from her role as CEO of the Irish ProShare Association at the end of April.
Gill informed the IPSA Council of her decision during a video conference last week. Following her departure, the responsibilities of the CEO will be shared between IPSA chair Eleanor Cunningham and vice chair Gemma Jacobsen on an interim basis.
The Council intends to commence a recruitment process for a new chief executive once the current COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, alongside a general review of IPSA’s ongoing administrative requirements.
Gill, who has been IPSA chief executive officer since 2015, said that she is leaving the organisation with a sense of sadness but a greater sense of achievement, and that she is moving on to a new adventure as CEO of the Coeliac Society of Ireland.
Under Gill’s leadership, IPSA has enjoyed membership growth of 100% and has achieved major policy progress by convincing the Government of the merits of employee share ownership and financial involvement as a viable business model for the Irish economy. This has culminated in the introduction of and subsequent amendments to the Key Employee Engagement Programme KEEP) over the last two-and-a-half years.
Additional achievements include placing IPSA on a more sustainable financial footing, introducing the annual Employee Share Ownership Day (ESOD) conference and IPSA Awards, and delivering a new IPSA website.
Speaking about her decision to leave IPSA, Gill said: “All I ever wanted as a result of my tenure with IPSA was to get the concept of employee ownership on the radar, and agenda, of the Department of Finance. We have achieved that, and are now have the department and Revenue actively working with IPSA on policy and changes to the KEEP scheme, employee ownership trusts and the SAYE scheme.
“Of course, none of this would have been possible without the collective efforts of everyone else at IPSA and I must thank the amazing council members I have worked with over the years. In particular Nigel Derrick, who as IPSA chair from 2016 to 2018, backed every idea I had to enhance and grow IPSA, and IPSA’S current chair Eleanor Cunningham and vice-chair Gemma Jacobsen. I will miss them dearly.
“I leave IPSA with a sense of sadness but also a greater sense of achievement. The organisation is in a fantastic position to drive for greater employee share ownership policy with government in the years to come.”
IPSA chair Eleanor Cunningham said that Gill had transformed IPSA over the past five years. She said: “Gill has brought energy and dynamic leadership to IPSA over the past five years. During this time, IPSA has gained the trust and respect of finance ministers, senior civil servants in the Department of Finance and key decision makers in Revenue. Our consistent growth in membership reinforces our credentials and enhances our reputation as the trusted authority on employee share ownership in Ireland.
“Gill takes enormous credit for these achievements and she leaves with our gratitude and best wishes for success in her new role at the Coeliac Society of Ireland.”
