Female entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland partner with global corporations through Ulster University’s female entrepreneurship programme
Connect to Success programme launched by US Special Envoy Joe Kennedy III links Northern Irish women-owned businesses with world-leading companies
Thirteen trailblazing women entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland have been selected for a transformative opportunity to work with global corporations as part of the Connect to Success (C2S) programme.
The mentoring partnerships were publicly announced at a ceremony hosted by C2S sponsor, Cliste Hospitality, at their Voco Belfast hotel on Thursday evening.
Powered by Ulster University, this pioneering initiative was officially launched last month by Joe Kennedy III, US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs. Special Envoy Kennedy was the keynote speaker at the ceremony, which was attended by the Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, Jayne Brady and the Consul General of the United States, James Applegate.
Connect to Success pairs locally founded women-owned businesses (WOBs) in the scale-up phase with executive teams from some of the world’s most renowned multinational corporations. Starting in January 2025, the selected entrepreneurs will gain expert mentorship to shape their long-term growth strategies from industry leaders including Aflac, AIG, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, Google, Irish Life Group, Kainos, KPMG, PwC, Seagate, and Stripe.
Among the 13 successful applicants are the founder of an innovative pregnancy and breastfeeding pillow brand, the creator of a celebrated artisan gift shop in Belfast, and the visionary behind a luxury bakery. The programme showcases the diverse talent of Northern Ireland’s female entrepreneurs, united by their ambition to scale their businesses and contribute to local economic growth.
(L-R) Kim Sawyer, Executive Director, Connect to Success; Mentor Antoinette Bradley, Head of Operations & ESG, Aflac Northern Ireland; Mentee Jenny McGreevy, Managing Director, Refresh Debt Advice; US Special Envoy Joe Kennedy III; Ulster University Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Bartholomew.
Connect 2 Success participant and Founder & CEO of BellaMoon, Irene Breen commented:
“I’m incredibly honoured that BellaMoon has been selected for the Connect to Success Corporate Mentoring Programme. This opportunity to work closely with a world-class multinational team is both humbling and inspiring. I look forward to gaining strategic insights that will empower BellaMoon to reach new heights, particularly as we expand our presence in the USA. With guidance from industry leaders, I hope to refine our approach, uncover growth opportunities, and connect with audiences in new markets—all while staying true to our mission of supporting families. This mentorship is a unique chance to accelerate BellaMoon’s journey, and I’m deeply grateful for it.”
Additional supporters of the C2S initiative include AwakenAngels, Catalyst, Cliste Hospitality, Endeavor Ireland, Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, Ormeau Labs, Ulster Bank, and Women in Business.
Joe Kennedy III, US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs, announced the mentor/mentee pairings at a dedicated ceremony, stating:
"Women owned-businesses are the engine of progress. To the mentors and mentees here today: you embody the best of what this special place has to offer — incredible talent, unending generosity, and a profound belief that Northern Ireland's future and economy are well worth the investment. Thank you to Connect to Success for being a launchpad for extraordinary possibilities, and congratulations to the 2025 cohort."
Ulster University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Bartholomew, commented:
“Connect to Success plays a vital role in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in areas essential to both economic growth and gender equality - supporting female entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses. Ulster University is a committed champion of female entrepreneurship, and we are delighted to collaborate on this transformative initiative. Congratulations to the 2025 cohort, we look forward to empowering their growth and showcasing the incredible contributions of women-owned businesses to regional economic prosperity.”
Antoinette Bradley, Head of Operations & ESG, Aflac Northern Ireland said:
“At Aflac Northern Ireland, being mindful of our impact on our team, community, and environment is a core part of our values, as reflected in our Community Impact strategic pillar. We actively volunteer in various philanthropic efforts, making our involvement with the Connect to Success programme particularly appealing, given the gender imbalance in our industry. Our experienced mentors bring deep business knowledge and see this as a valuable reverse-mentoring opportunity, sharing insights with female leaders while gaining diverse perspectives to enrich our own organization.”
Meet the Connect to Success 2025 Cohort
The 2025 C2S mentee group features 13 ambitious women entrepreneurs, each striving to scale their businesses, create jobs in local communities, and introduce innovative products and services to the market.
Mentees and their businesses include:
• Dr Pamela McHenry, Founder & CEO, Belfast Skin Clinic
• Irene Breen, CEO, Bella Moon
• Lynsey Bleakley, Founder & Director, Bumble and Goose Ltd
• Anna Patterson, Director, Encom Energy Ltd
• Becca Hume, CEO & Cofounder, Incluetech Ltd
• Sharon Rutherford, Cofounder, Insula Wellbeing
• Louise McDonnell, Director, LMD Beauty
• Linzi Rooney, Director, Born and Bred
• Jenny McGreevy, Managing Director, Refresh Debt Advice
• Adrienne Hanna, Founder & CEO, Right Revenue
• Roisin Maguire, CEO, Seedling Education
• Leanne Jennings & Roisin Garland, Cofounders, The Grandscale
Connect to Success Mentor/Mentee Pairings include:
• Mentor: Aflac Northern Ireland / Mentee: Refresh Debt Advice
• Mentor: AIG / Mentee: Right Revenue
• Mentor: Coca-Cola / Mentee: BellaMoon
• Mentor: Goldman Sachs / Mentee: The Grandscale
• Mentor: Google / Mentee: LMD Beauty
• Mentor: Irish Life Group / Mentee: Insula Wellbeing
• Mentor: Kainos / Mentee: Incluetech Ltd
• Mentor: KPMG / Mentee: Encom Energy Ltd
• Mentor: PwC / Mentee: Bumble and Goose Ltd
• Mentor: Seagate / Mentee: Seedling Education
• Mentor: Stripe / Mentee: Needi Ltd
Connect to Success 2025 is set to drive unparalleled collaboration, equipping Northern Irish women entrepreneurs with the tools, insights, and networks they need to scale their businesses and achieve long-term success.
For more information about the programme or to follow the journeys of these remarkable entrepreneurs,visit https://www.ulster.ac.uk/connect-to-success.
Hear from the Connect 2 Success 2025 cohort
Adrienne Hanna, Founder & CEO, Right Revenue:
“I am thrilled to have been chosen to take part in the Connect to Success programme as we know our business is ready to scale and we need help to get to that point. I firmly believe that we all stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us, so I am looking forward to learning from the experience of other entrepreneurs and business leaders who have quite literally walked this path before me. I am excited to learn and excited to start!”
Anna Peterson, Director, Encom Energy:
“This program is such an incredible opportunity to gain hands-on guidance from leaders who understand the challenges of scaling a business in a rapidly changing sector. I’m particularly excited to learn how to strengthen our strategic planning and operational processes as we grow. I believe this experience will be invaluable in positioning Encom as a leader in renewable energy, helping us drive even greater impact for communities across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, making sustainable living more accessible for all.”
Becca Hume, Founder & CEO, Incluetech:
“I’m delighted to represent Inclutech in the Connect to Success Mentoring Program. As Inclutech moves quickly into our next phase of growth, this program couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m eager to work with world-class mentors to develop new strategies, tackle challenges, and build our path to long-term success. Business is about partnerships and networks, and I look forward to building valuable new connections."
Jenny McGreevy, Managing Director, Refresh Debt Advice:
“I’m thrilled to be joining the Connect to Success Programme, and I look forward to the invaluable guidance and connections this opportunity will bring. This programme, with mentors from some of the world’s most respected companies, offers a unique opportunity to gain strategic insights into scaling our business sustainably. By participating, I hope to strengthen Refresh’s impact in Northern Ireland and beyond, empowering more clients on their journey to financial stability. Working alongside other ambitious business leaders and learning from experts at companies like Google and Stripe will be incredibly inspiring and a huge asset to our growth goals. We’re excited to bring the benefits of this experience back to our clients and the wider community, ensuring our services remain personal, effective, and rooted in trust.”
Roisin Garland and Leanne Jennings, Co-founders, The Grandscale:
“We are thrilled to have been selected for the Connect to Success Corporate Mentoring Programme. This opportunity comes at a pivotal time for Grand Scale, as we seek to expand our strategic partnerships, build a scalable infrastructure, and optimise our operations to meet rising demand. Through the mentorship and insights of seasoned corporate experts, we aim to refine our growth strategy, enter new markets, and strengthen our team for business success. We believe this programme will empower us to capture high-value opportunities and extend our impact, ultimately helping thousands of early-stage ventures succeed on a global scale.”
Louise Doyle, Co-founder, Needi Ltd:
“I’m over the moon to be part of the C2S Corporate Mentoring Program. This opportunity couldn’t have come at a better time for us at needi as we’re on an exciting growth journey to transform corporate gifting into something genuinely thoughtful and sustainable. The chance to learn directly from industry experts is incredible, and I can’t wait to absorb their insights and guidance. This mentorship will be a game-changer, helping us refine our growth strategies, improve operations, and connect with more global businesses.”
Sharon Rutherford and Jessica Melville, Co-founders, Insula Wellbeing:
“We are very excited to have been selected for the CS2 Corporate Mentoring Program. As the founders of Insula Wellbeing, a private mental health business with a focus on staff supports, we have grown rapidly in just over two years. We have had to learn about running a business from scratch and this opportunity comes at a critical time for us. Having access to experienced corporate leaders is truly invaluable in both the strategic guidance we need to scale the impact of our unique staff wellbeing clinics, but also to help us with aspects of our business we are finding particularly challenging. The chance to network and connect with other like-minded entrepreneurs will be equally important and exciting. We’re eager to learn, grow, and continue building a company that redefines the landscape of mental health support and we need help to do that! Let the next stage of our journey begin.”
Lynsey Bleakley, Founder and Director, Bumble & Goose:
“We specialise in luxury branded biscuits and brownies and a key part of our role is to help companies showcase their own brand to clients. After 4 years of sustained organic growth, this programme will provide an excellent opportunity for us to put the accelerator on that growth and allow us to claim a larger market share in the luxury branded and corporate biscuit market, with a particular emphasis on growth within Europe. Women are still underrepresented in business in the UK, particularly in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland had the lowest percentage of newly incorporated female-led companies in the UK, at 17%, and just 26% of NI entrepreneurs are female. I see the C2S Corporate Mentoring Programme as an opportunity to work with market leaders to strengthen both my position and that of my fellow cohort in the business market.”
Roisin Maguire, CEO, Seedling Education:
“I am honoured to be selected for C2S’s Corporate Mentoring Program. It’s such a privilege for an SME Director to get input and assistance from a much larger, global company. This program will provide me opportunity to step away from the continual multi-tasking that running a business requires and allow me allocated time to focus on fine tuning our strategic direction. That I can do this with a mentor from a successful and prestigious business fills me with confidence that my company will see real and positive outcomes from my participation on the program. I am a strong believer in lifelong learning, and I step into this mentee mentor relationship fully receptive to gaining new perspectives and stress testing my business assumptions with a trusted mentor.”
C2S is supported by global organisations that champion female entrepreneurship. Here’s what they have to say:
Agnese Filippi, Country Manager of Coca-Cola Ireland said:
“Coca-Cola is delighted to join C2S. This programme supports our broader commitment to empower women entrepreneurs, foster economic growth, and promote a more inclusive business environment. By sharing our industry knowledge and expertise, we hope to spur the development and success of more women-led enterprises, inspire innovation, and create valuable networking opportunities.”
Jennifer Liddle, Head of Mid-Market Customer Success, Google commented:
“Google is committed to developing the local start-up ecosystem on the island of Ireland. Over the last decade Google has run multiple small business engagement programs with a diverse range of small businesses and entrepreneurs, including collaborating with government agencies and with accelerators. We are thrilled to partner with Connect to Success on this exciting mentoring initiative, empowering female entrepreneurs to grow and scale their businesses.”
Oisin O’Shaughnessy, MD Irish Life Employer Solutions, commented:
“Irish Life is one of Ireland’s leading financial services groups, taking care of over 1.5 million customers. We help people to improve their financial, physical and mental wellbeing – helping to build better lives today and better futures. Diversity and inclusion is at the heart of all we do and partnering with C2S’s Corporate Mentoring Program enables us to play an important role in empowering women founders and business owners to secure their futures while contributing to shaping a more diverse and inclusive business landscape. We look forward to being involved in this partnership, and believe that our leader mentors will learn from and be inspired by these women owned businesses.”
Russell Sloan, CEO, Kainos added:
“Connect to Success is an exciting new program in Northern Ireland and we are delighted to have the opportunity to be able to support local woman entrepreneurs. The Mentoring Program combines two important themes for Kainos – helping women to be successful and helping local businesses to scale based on our experience. This is a unique opportunity to help support these businesses on the next stage of their journey while challenging our people, in a mentoring capacity, to help overcome the real demands facing a scaling business.”
Johnny Hanna, Partner in Charge at KPMG in Northern Ireland, said:
“KPMG has always championed domestic entrepreneurship in Northern Ireland and has a proven track record of commitment to diversity so our support for the Connect to Success Programme is aligned. We want to help forward thinking and ambitious female entrepreneurs, who have potential and lots of innovative ideas to accelerate their growth. We also have a genuine enthusiasm for nurturing exciting and innovative growth businesses founded by women, as evidenced by our involvement with Enterprise Ireland in Going for Growth, the award-winning programme for ambitious female entrepreneurs in the Republic of Ireland, that has seen more than 900 businesswomen participate since 2008.”
Caitroina McCusker, Regional Market Leader, Northern Ireland and Education Consulting Lead, PwC United Kingdom, said:
“At PwC we provide our own people with the purpose, mindset and meaningful opportunities that advance careers at the pace our people want them to go. Taking part in the C2S’s Corporate Mentoring Programme will allow us to help women entrepreneurs to build their skills at an important time in their careers and provide an environment where they have the opportunity to reach their full potential. There are so many exciting new businesses in Northern Ireland that are led by women and we want to support the next generation of exceptional talent.”
Beverley McConnell, Senior Engineering Manager, Seagate, commented:
“Seagate chose to sponsor the C2S Corporate Mentoring Program to support the growth of women entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland, aligning with our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. By partnering with C2S, we aim to share our expertise and resources to help women-owned businesses thrive, while fostering innovation and entrepreneurial thinking. This collaboration not only empowers local businesses but also provides Seagate with fresh perspectives and opportunities to build lasting relationships within the community, benefiting both the entrepreneurs and our leadership team.”
Clare Doran, Operations & Human Resource Director, Belfast Skin Clinic, commented:
“Belfast Skin Clinic is honoured to be selected to participate in the Connect to Success Corporate Mentoring Program supported by Ulster University. We are aware of the very fierce competition for selection and we are excited to take part in such an incredible opportunity to connect directly with world-class experts to support the strategic development of our Clinic. Belfast Skin Clinic has operated successfully for over 8 years and this program offers mentoring support from a global corporation to achieve sustainable growth, while building meaningful connections with leaders from top multinational corporations. We cannot wait to get started and we believe the Program will offer the scalability support to advance our growth to new levels.”
About Ulster University
Ulster University is a forward-looking institution, uniquely placed to drive economic, social and cultural development through our three campuses at Derry~Londonderry, Coleraine and Belfast.
Student experience is at the very heart of everything we do and our high-quality teaching, informed by world-leading research across key sectors, boosts the economy and makes a positive impact on the lives of people around the world.
• Ulster University is shortlisted for University of the Year UK and Ireland (Times Higher Education)
• Ulster University is ranked Best UK University for careers services and job prospects, as voted upon by students. It is also ranked in the top five for value for money, course content, campus and facilities, personal tutors and teaching quality. (StudentCrowd, 2024).
• Ulster University is ranked in the top 25 universities in the UK (Guardian University Guide 2025)
• Ulster University is in the top 10 for course quality rankings across the UK (University Compare 2023).
• 93% of Ulster University students are in employment or further study 15 months after graduating (Student Outcomes 2020/21)
Research and innovation at Ulster University:
Ulster University was ranked in the top 10% of UK universities for research impact in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework. Headline results for Ulster University include:
• In the top 10% of UK universities for research impact
• 97 % of Ulster University’s research impact having outstanding or very considerable impacts in reach and significance
• 80.1% of Ulster University’s research outputs have been assessed as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.
For more information, please visit www.ulster.ac.uk or follow us on Twitter @ulsteruni
Connect to Success Program launched by US Special Envoy Joe Kennedy
