Áine Kerr

Technology and Digital Entrepreneur and Women’s Leadership Advocate

Helping organisations to embrace gender parity and equality, Aine is not afraid to ask brave questions about how collectively we can achieve a better future for all, whatever our gender.

Biography

Áine Kerr is co-founder and COO of Kinzen, a regular on broadcast media, a Fellow of Columbia University’s Sulzberger Leadership Programme and an award-winning journalist.  At the age of 12, as a curious yet introverted child, she knew she had something to contribute if only she had the courage to  find her voice. Today she uses her voice to encourage other women to recognise and reach for their potential. Fast becoming one of the most recognised speakers in this area, Áine believes change can only happen collectively, and that men play as much of a part in change happening as women. 

Earlier in her career Aine led global journalism partnerships at Facebook in New York. She was instrumental in creating the Facebook Journalism Project and the News Integrity Initiative (NII). She was also a key part of the leadership team at successful news agency Storyful for the five years before the company’s acquisition by News Corporation.

As a journalist Áine spent over seven years working as a political correspondent and news reporter with The Irish Times, The Irish Independent and The Irish Examiner. As of March 2021, she sits on the President’s Gaisce Council (Gaisce is the President of Ireland’s award).  

She is also on the board of the NII, an advisor to the Institute for Future of Media and Journalism (Fujo), and co-founder of Online News Association (ONA) Ireland. 

In 2018, Áine won in the media category at the Women of the Year Awards. In summer 2020, she brought her consummate skills to the radio waves as host of Reignite on Ireland’s national radio station RTÉ Radio 1, where she interviewed the likes of Gina Miller, Arianna Huffington, Jim Gavin, and Jamie Heaslip.  Áine is also a regular guest host on The Business on RTE Radio 1.

Áine, who is a fully accredited Executive Coach, is a seasoned speaker with a fresh approach and broad appeal. Her career in business, journalism and life’s lessons makes for stimulating, content-rich talks.  Some of the events she has spoken at include Web Summit, Collision and the Women in Tech Summit, as well as Inspirefest, LEO Entreprise, BUILA (British Universities International Liaison Association), CES, and IE Domain Registry CLG.  As a popular and agile MC, she has also played a key role in some of the biggest media industry events in the world.

Topics

Empowerment 

Reignite: 

We all have an inner fire that needs constant refuelling. It burns brightest when we’re playing to our strengths, living our values, having an impact, making meaningful connections. Sometimes, however, it can feel like we’re trying to strike a match to catch a flame and nothing works. So how to light it, and relight the fires within? 

Áine draws examples from her life experiences as a child finding her voice, and as a global political journalist, a leader, an entrepreneur and a citizen, to imagine a more equal world. In so doing, she inspires and motivates the audience to advance along their own path towards fulfilment. Whether you want to progress women in leadership, motivate your staff or empower your employees, this talk has something for everyone.

Society and Culture

The Beautiful Truth 

We’re living through a global pandemic and infodemic. 

The infodemic follows years of mistrust with our newsfeeds, leaving us today with the ‘wicked problem that is ‘fake news’, or what Áine prefers to call misinformation and disinformation. 

Áine discusses the social and political implications of this Wicked Problem, of this information war, and explores what everyone from platforms to policymakers needs to do to help fix it.

Diversity and Inclusion 

Closing the Gender Gap: Call to Action for men to become true allies

In 2020 a report titled ‘Diversity Wins’ concluded that companies with higher levels of ethnic and gender diversity have greater economic performance. The research of 1,000 large companies across 15 countries showed that the companies in the top quartile for gender diversity were 25 percent more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile. 

In this talk Aine delves into what she has learnt from using a more collective approach to change and shares her insights on the actions and behaviours of men and women that can either help or hinder the progression of equality.  This keynote is insightful, empathetic and useful to organisations who want to be part of the change.

Masterclasses

You may want to go deeper with your audience. Masterclasses can be tailored and developed to suit your audience needs, be it a 90-minute Masterclass, a half-day or full-day workshop or a full online or face-to-face programme. Please contact one of our expert team to discuss.

Reignite
We all have an inner fire that burns brightest when we’re playing to our strengths, living our values, having an impact and making meaningful connections. Sometimes, however, it can feel like there’s no fuel for the fire, leaving us running on empty or without focus or direction. So how to find that spark, and relight the fires within?

In this masterclass, Áine Kerr draws examples and insights from her life experiences to inspire and motivate leaders to advance along their own path towards fulfilment. Whether you want to progress women in leadership, motivate your staff or empower your employees, this talk has something for everyone.

Testimonials

“Áine is an extremely professional, engaging MC with the ability to lead the conversation and capture the audience’s attention. I would highly recommend her as an MC for any event and would be delighted to work with her in future events.”  Michelle Guthrie, Senior Enterprise Development Officer with LEO Clare

“Áine Kerr was the opening keynote address at our most recent entrepreneurship conference, attended by over 700 delegates at the Helix, DCU.  Her engaging and open manner as well as her clarity and authenticity set the tone perfectly for the entire event, capturing the audience from the moment she stepped on stage.  Both as an internationally recognised thought-leader on the future of news, journalism and content consumer behaviour and as courageous and innovative business leader, Áine was the perfect choice to inspire our audience of both established and aspiring entrepreneurs.”  Centre Director IC4

“We all thoroughly enjoyed having Áine involved in our educational programming – she was a compelling, thoughtful and dynamic interviewee, full of wisdom and unique perspective on a global scale. I think she inspired all of us in studio too!”  Reverist

“I have worked with Áine since Web Summit 2014 and she has never let us down. She’s always super enthusiastic, incredibly willing to be involved in any capacity and brings a unique spin on any session she’s involved in both as a speaker or moderator. Together with her experience across traditional and new media, she’s a wonderful addition to any talk in this area and more insightful than most when it comes to challenges and opportunities facing this industry. I’d recommend Áine for any event and look forward to having her join us again soon at future Web Summit events.” – Stephen Twomey, Speaker Director, Web Summit

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