Northern Ireland Co-operation Overseas is a not for profit, public body owned by Invest NI, part of the Department for the Economy NI, dedicated to the pursuit of building efficient, accountable and sustainable public sector institutions capable of managing donor aid effectively and implementing positive change.

Bringing a Unique Approach to Sustainable Development

Direct links with Government departments and public sector institutions across the UK and Ireland allow NI-CO to offer its client base a unique mix of practical training, institutional capacity building and consultancy in a diverse range of areas from Governance and Accessible Justice to Healthcare and Agriculture.

Unlike the classic consultancy model, NI-CO choose to deploy experienced ‘practitioners’ – as opposed to ‘consultants’ – who can work alongside their direct counterparts overseas in a co-operative and mutually rewarding environment. With first hand experience of translating theory into practice against a demanding public sector environment, our technical resource promises targeted implementation, accountability, participation, consistency and transparency.

Board Members:

Board Members Appointment Details

Ken Nelson (Chair) has extensive and proven experience in local, regional and cross-border economic development, through various executive and non-executive positions over the last 30 plus years.  As CEO of LEDCOM he has significant experience working with entrepreneurs, start-up and scale-up SMEs, micro enterprises and social enterprises.

A former Chairman of Enterprise Northern Ireland, he was a board member of Invest NI between 2012 and 2020.

Appointed in 2016 he is the Chairman of InterTradeIreland, the Cross-Border Trade and Business Development Body.

Ken is a member of the board of Governors of Stranmillis University College.

In 2010 he was the sole Northern Ireland recipient of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion.

In July 2021 Ken was appointed as chair of the governing body of Northern Regional College (NRC).

Ken was appointed MBE for services to local economic development and the voluntary sector in the Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours List. He has a BA in Business Studies, MBA and MSc in Human Resource Management, as well as being a Chartered Manager (CMgr) and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI).

Dr Colin Sullivan  – Chief Executive of the UK Human Tissue Authority, the health regulator for the use of humans tissue, cells and organs.  The HTA is an arms-length public body sponsored by the Department of Health & Social Care.  Colin was previously the Chief Operating Officer at the Food Standards Agency.

Colin is an optometrist who has more than 20 years of experience within the health and social care sector. He has also worked on international health management consultancy in over 30 countries for Department for International Development, the EU and the World Bank.

He joined the Senior Civil Service in 2008 as Operations Director of the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency, before moving on to be the Director for Universal Credit in Northern Ireland in 2011. In 2013, he was promoted to Director of Strategic Policy & Reform within the Northern Ireland Department of Finance where his duties included being Senior Responsible Officer for the devolution of Corporation Tax and NI lead for Public Sector Reform. In 2014, he created the NI Innovation Lab. In 2017 he was the lead civil servant in the establishment of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) public inquiry.

Brona Brennan – Brona is an experienced leader in finance, business transformation and corporate governance.

Brona has over 30 years’ business experience both locally and internationally: in America; and Australia. Currently working as a self-employed business consultant and executive coach, Brona has served on panels for Invest NI, Catalyst and Women in Business.  She has delivered significant organisational change and contributed to strategy formulation across a range of businesses. Brona has a BSC in Economics and an MBA from Queens University Belfast and is also a member of the Institute of Directors. She has completed the Leaders for Tomorrow programme at Harvard along with National Australia Bank’s Transformational Leadership programme. Brona is well versed in corporate governance with extensive experience of the highly regulated banking industry. She also previously served as a non-executive director on boards in Pensions, Health and Education.

Dr Siobhán Fitzpatrick MBA. MSc, CBE, Chief Executive of Early Years – the organisation for young children, was in post from 1989,-2019 having worked previously for the statutory sector within Health and Social Services in Northern Ireland.

In her role as Chief Executive, Siobhán had responsibility for policy and strategic development, relationships with the Stakeholder Group on Early Years, Childcare Partnerships and Pre-school Education Advisory Groups. She was Chair of Southern Education and Library Board Pre School Advisory Group from 1998-2006 and Vice Chair of the Southern Child Care Partnership 1998-2019   She also managed cross border relationships and international partnerships. She had responsibility for developing and managing international projects in 50 countries.

Siobhán was the European representative on the World Forum Foundation for Early Years Care and Education (2001-2009) and President of ISSA, the International Step by Step Association for Eastern Europe and the former Commonwealth of Independent Soviet States (2006-2011). She currently chairs the International Network on Peace Building with Young Children (2004-NOW) which is bringing the learning from the work in Early Years on inclusion, respecting difference and peace building to areas affected by conflict around the world. She is a founder and Executive Board member of the Early Childhood Peace Consortia, an initiative led by UNICEF and Yale. She is An International Board Member of the Palestinian Child Institute. She is currently supporting a Global Health Initiative Project led by Queens University Belfast and Lancaster University  in Africa, South East and Central Asia.

Siobhán has written extensively on issues of inclusion and peace building and has spoken at many local, national and international conferences on the subject. Publications include From Conflict to Peace Building, The Power of Early Childhood Services, Education and Social Change, the International Journal of Early Education. She has been responsible for the development of a new Masters Programme in Applied Peace Building and Early Education in partnership with the INCORE at the University of Ulster.

Siobhán was awarded a CBE for services to Education and Community Development in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2010. She was awarded a Doctorate in Laws by Queens University in 2018 for services to public policy. She received a Lifetime Leadership Award in 2017 from the Chief Officers of the Third Sector.

NI-CO’s Senior Management Team:

Graeme McCammon – Chief Executive
Gráinne Quinn – Projects Director
Melanie Maxwell – Marketing Director
David Morrissey – Financial Director