Governing Body

Mr Gavin Killeen was educated at Foyle and Londonderry College and has been Managing Director of Nuprint Technologies Ltd since 2004 having joined the business in 1997 as General Manager. Specialising in supplying the Food, Beverage and Manufacturing sectors with labels and flexible packaging. Nuprint lists many Global leading companies as customers. Major investment in both people and equipment have allowed Nuprint to transform itself to become a design led producer of packaging to world-class companies internationally for which it has been awarded many local, regional and national awards.

Mr Killeen is actively involved in the Education and Skills agenda. He is a Co-Chair, along with the Mayor, of the Derry City Strabane District Council-Strategic Growth Plan since 2016. He has chaired the Council’s Education and Skills Implementation Group since 2009 and has been a member of the DfE Minister’s Expert Panel reviewing Apprenticeships and Youth Training.

Mr Killeen is Past President of both the local Rotary Club (2012-2013) and the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce (2016). He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the County Borough of Londonderry in March 2018. He is a Vice President of the City of Derry Rugby Club. He has been a member of the Governing Body since August 2011, and is currently Vice Chair. Mr Killeen does not currently hold any other public appointments.

Leo took office as Principal and Chief Executive of the North West Regional College from August, 2014.

Leo is a graduate of Economics, and holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration alongside post graduate diplomas in Education and Accounting. He is also a qualified Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Leo has more than 25 years of experience in further education in both the classroom and in a managerial capacity. Leo previously worked within the South West College, where he held a broad range of portfolios over a 14-year period at senior management level including Curriculum and Economic Development, Client Services and Strategy and International Development.

Leo has a keen interest in local history and is a qualified Tour Guide. He has also completed a number of marathons through which he has raised funds for local charities. He resides in the Waterside area of Derry with his wife Siobhan who is a Lecturer at North West Regional College.

Padraig is currently Chair of Hunter Apparel Solutions, CultureTECH and U4D (a local lobby group for the expansion of the Magee campus of the Ulster University). Padraig also serves on the boards of InvestNI, St Mary’s College and Londonderry Chamber of Commerce.

Establishing enterprise software house Singularity in Derry in 1994, he opened offices in London, New York, Singapore and India; Kofax Incorporated successfully acquiring the company in 2011. Previously an electronics engineer and software professional in London and New York, Padraig is a past president of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, served on the boards of Momentum (the NI Software Industry Federation), School Employer Connections and Oakgrove Integrated Primary School.

He is a past British Computer Society Northern Irish IT Person of the Year and received an OBE in 2009 for services to business. A past pupil of Derry’s Pennyburn Primary School and St Columb’s College, Padraig holds a 1st Class BSc in Electronic & Electrical Engineering from Manchester University and is an exec. ed. alumni of Stanford University. He is a founding member of the Derry Halo Acorn Angels and mentors innovative local companies like Quibizm.

Padraig is married to Jill he lives with his 4 children in his native Derry.

Roslyn Dougherty is a social worker by profession, with almost 38 years’ experience prior to her recent retirement. As a practitioner, she has worked across Adults and Children’s services specialising in Sensory support and Disability Services. She was employed as Assistant Director of Social Work in South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust with responsibility for providing operational and professional leadership on Social Services learning, development and research. In this role, Mrs Dougherty led the co-ordination, delivery and management of the learning and development of the Social Work and Social Care workforce within the Trust.

She also represented the Trust on a range of regional bodies and task groups, working in partnership with Social Work Education providers and other organisations, and has contributed to the development and implementation of strategies at a Northern Ireland level.

Mrs Roslyn Dougherty has been a member of the Governing Body of the North West Regional College since March 2016

Stephen Gillespie is the Director of Business and Culture at Derry City and Strabane District Council. The Business and Culture directorate encompasses a range of services the local Council provides such as economic development and job creation, business support and engagement, ICT, tourism, arts and culture, visitor services, heritage and museums and marketing and communications.

Although originally from Belfast, Stephen has spent all of his working life in Derry, initially qualifying as an accountant with Desmond and Sons before becoming the Financial Controller of Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners.

Married with two children, when not working or with his family, Stephen would devote a lot of his spare time to playing and coaching both football and badminton. On a personal level the development of youth through sport has always been very important.

Mr Samuel McGregor is a former director of Development Services, Leisure and Tourism at Limavady Borough Council. In this role he had responsibility for policy formation and corporate planning. He is a member of the Governing Body of St Finlough’s Primary School in Ballykelly and Limavady/Vigneux-sur-Seine Twinning Committee. He was appointed to the Causeway Coast & Glens Policing & Community Safety Partnership in June 2020.

Dr Malachy Ó Néill completed his BA and PhD at Ulster University and was Head of Irish in St Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt before returning to the University in 2008 as Lecturer in modern Irish. He was appointed as the inaugural Head of School of Irish Language and Literature in 2012 and has led the subject in achieving 100% overall satisfaction in the NSS in recent years. He has also played a key role across the University in developing employability as a key component of the student experience and was awarded the Students’ Union prize for excellence in Employability and Placement Support earlier this year.

Malachy has an excellent track record in community engagement and leads a number of widening access programmes including ‘Irish in the Club’ (with Ulster GAA) and ‘Irish for All’ (with East Belfast Mission). He has played a pivotal role in establishing an Irish Studies Summer School for international students since 2013, developing the provision to incorporate International Business and Engineering in recent years.

Malachy is a member of the Review Board of the Irish Language Standard (Irish Government), a former editor of the An tUltach journal and was founding chairperson of Gaelscoil Eoghain, Cookstown. He enjoys close ties with the Donegal Gaeltacht and spent many years in Machaire Rabhartaigh and Gaoth Dobhair facilitating courses for teenagers and adult learners of Irish.

Mr Quinn is a chartered architect with over 25 years’ experience in the construction industry. Since August 2014 he has been senior architect in the Property Services Division of the Education Authority – North Eastern Region, formerly the North Eastern Education and Library Board. He was previously director of his own architectural practice for three years and a partner in a private architectural practice for 20 years. He is chairman of the Advisory Committee on Art and Architecture to the Irish Bishops’ Conference in Maynooth.

Mr Quinn is also a member of the Department of Education Armagh Diocesan Education Committee. He has been a member of the NWRC Governing Body since August 2015. Mr Quinn does not currently hold any other public appointments.

Michelle was appointed into the Governing Body in July 2020 after being successfully elected to represent College Support Staff in March 2020.

Michelle has been employed with the College since 2008 and has gained valuable experience across various support Departments. Michelle began her NWRC career within the Student Services Department as a Student Finance Administrator working closely with and supporting students with financial assistance. In 2016 Michelle moved into the Administration Department, as the Administration Manager, and more recently took up the additional responsibility of compliance within the Training Support Dept. and is now the Administration and Training Support Manager. Michelle led on the implementation of GDPR within the College and is the current Chair of the Equality Working Group.

Michelle was a former student at NWRC having studied a HND in Business before progressing onto UU to complete a BA (Hons) in Business with Marketing. Michelle actively supports and encourages a culture where behaviours support equality, diversity and inclusion for everyone and is delighted to represent support staff within the Governing Body.

Diane is a self-employed consultant while also holding non-executive director roles for SME's.  She is currently Chair of the Board of Age NI Enterprises Limited.

She is FCCA qualified, holds an Honours degree in Economics and a Masters in Finance from Queens University, Belfast.

Diane has over 20 years’ experience in strategic senior management roles within the public and private sector, industries included manufacturing, financial services and auditing.  Diane was previously the Finance and Personnel Director for Waterways Ireland, the largest of the North South Bodies.  This role also covered areas of ICT and Corporate Services and she was the lead officer responsible for corporate governance in the Body.

Before joining Waterways Ireland, she held roles in PwC and the former Quinn Group.  During her many varied roles Diane has delivered strategic projects, supported restructuring of businesses, while ensuring governance is maintained throughout.  She has also focused on driving process improvement, efficiencies and introducing change management programmes.

Diane does not hold any other public appointments.

Mary is a qualified Chartered Accountant, who has over 30 years’ experience working in the private and public sectors, predominantly in economic development, job creation, business support and engagement.

A member of Invest NI’s senior management team, she is currently the investment agency’s Regional Development Manager. She has previously held a number of roles across the organisation including in Corporate Finance, Regional Office Management (North West region & Western region), European Regional Development Funding and more recently as its Operational Lead for the delivery of a number of the Department of the Economy’s Covid Emergency Schemes.

Mary holds a BA in Business Studies and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management Studies and has previously served as a member of the Board of Governors of 2 local primary schools.

Mary does not hold any other public appointments.

Sian is a practising lawyer and a member of the Bar of Northern Ireland, having been called to the Bar in 2008. In her 13 years as a lawyer, Sian has gained a broad range of experience across many practice areas, with a particular focus on civil litigation and public law. During this time, Sian has advised and represented private individuals, companies and local authorities in a range of legal disputes.

She was awarded a Master’s in Human Rights Law in 2007, with a particular focus on issues relevant to Northern Ireland and transitional justice. During her Master’s degree Sian’s thesis was awarded a prize from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.

Sian is a PhD candidate at Queen’s University Belfast.

Sian does not hold any other public appointments.

Charlene has over 10 years’ experience working within Strategic Management, Commercial and Marketing roles within the Aviation industry.  Charlene was employed as Airport General Manager & Accountable Manager at City of Derry Airport before taking up a leadership role within the Healthcare sector, as Emergency Planner.  Charlene has extensive experience working at a strategic level, with excellent leadership skills and experience of strategic oversight and governance.  

  Charlene graduated with a BSc (Hons) Degree before completing a Master’s of Science degree in Communication, specialising in Strategic Management and Marketing from Queens University Belfast in 2004.  Charlene obtained a First-Class (Hons) in Business Management from Michael Smurfit School of Business, UCD in 2009.  In 2015, she attended the William J Clinton Leadership Institute at Queens University Belfast where she successfully completed the Emerging Leaders Programme.  In 2020, Charlene completed the Boardroom Apprentice Programme which enabled her to gain skills and experience to serve on a public or third sector board.  

Charlene is also a voluntary member of the Board of Directors on Developing Healthy Communities since September 2021.  

Jennifer is the Managing Director in the Airporter coach service based in Derry/Londonderry since starting the business 25 years ago. She held the role of President of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce in 2018 and has served on the Board of Londonderry Chamber since 2013 (non-remunerated).

She has been involved in Economic Development in her work with Chamber of Commerce and in the development of skills for the Tourism and Hospitality industry in her own role in Airporter, including as Chair of Tourism & Hospitality Skills as part of the Education and Skills Delivery Partnership with Derry & Strabane District Council (non-remunerated).

In addition she is a Visiting Professor at Ulster University (non-remunerated).

Jennifer has a BA from Carleton University, Ottawa.

Jennifer does not hold any other public appointments.

Peter has worked in a public sector role for the past 25 years and prior to that spent 4 years working in the Further Education sector.  He currently works for Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and is responsible for the tourism development and destination management remit, including the areas of marketing, product development, trade engagement and business support.  This service also provides a balanced portfolio of major events across the borough and facilitates partnership with other event promoters.

In addition, Peter is responsible for the Council’s outdoor recreational spaces and the service manages six Holiday and Leisure Parks across the Borough.

His role prioritises economic development and the need to develop and sustain the region as a high quality recreational and visitor destination for the benefit of the area’s residents, the business sector and visitors hosted within our community

Peter does not hold any other public appointments.