Liam Kelly Advocacy

I have been a full-time Community Adviser and Worker, having served in representative and grassroots capacities for much of the last 25 years. I have extensive experience of community and policy development and management in, and of governance in the charity, voluntary and community sectors, As an elected member of the Secretariat of the Dublin City Council Public Participation Network (PPN), co-representing the community and voluntary sectors, I work with other representatives to provide a range of supports, roles and advice to community, voluntary and charity boards and organizations. I also currently serve in capacities such as acting chairperson and director. These responsibilities include the provision of information and advice on corporate governance, board and committee governance, composition, skills gaps and how to fill them. In addition to the leadership roles I have undertaken in community development I am passionately interested in working towards social and economic justice. I work on a voluntary basis for a group that actively tackles poverty and I am very interested in community and lifelong learning, holding membership of Aontas. Having spent the previous eighteen months re-skilling I obtained the education and training needed to serve the most marginalised and vulnerable in society, especially those suffering from substance use issues, educational disadvantage and poverty. Working for clients in need of advocacy would give me the opportunity to empower such groups by applying my skills and experience to community groups, empowering them to literally represent themselves. I made the decision to develop an advocacy service not just because I greatly enjoy developing local community groups but also because I relish the strategic challenge of getting multidisciplinary stakeholders to work together, producing win-wins. I also offer experience from working with academics that will show clients how to create and maintain their own web profiles/CV and showcase research expertise and achievements to a global or local audience. From a general service point of view, I help clients apply knowledge in their communities through real learning, volunteering and researching real-world problem projects. I can hit the ground running for any client, on day one, if fortunate enough to be hired,