Black and white Head and shoulders portrait of Tammy Darcy, in three-quarter profile, wearing a suit and smiling

Tammy Darcy

Founder and CEO of The Shona Project, Social Enterprise Champion 

Irish Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year 2021, Tammy Darcy is a multi-award winning social entrepreneur who has educated, inspired and empowered tens of thousands of young women and girls all over Ireland.

Biography

Tammy Darcy is a multi-award winning social entrepreneur, author and public speaker. She was named as the Irish Red Cross Humanitarian of The Year in 2021 for her work as the founder and CEO of The Shona Project, which aims to educate, empower and inspire today’s Irish girls to become tomorrow’s strong confident and curious young women.

The Shona Project is a tribute to her sister Shona, who was diagnosed with an acquired brain injury at 15 and passed away in February 2023 after battling illness for 30 years. Tammy’s story is one of loss and trauma, and how she used the challenges she faced to motivate her to create change.

The Shona Project has impacted almost 30,000 girls in every corner of Ireland through its school workshops, has welcomed 57,000 (digital and live) to its annual shine festival and delivered over 60,000 handbooks to 1st year girls free of charge in the last few years.

For her work in The Shona Project, Tammy and The Shona Project have received numerous additional awards including double IMRO award winners, CEO of The Year award at the Irish Womens Awards 2019, Double Social Innovation Awardee, Image Magazine Social Entrepreneur of The Year Double finalist and many more.

Topics

  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Gender Equality
  • Youth and Mental Health
  • Resilience and Mindset
  • Social Innovation, enterprise and entrepreneurship
  • Strategic social investments vs CSR
  • Influencing others, leadership and building a movement
  • Parenting
  • Imposter syndrome
  • Women in Business 

Turning negatives into positives

Tammy will speak from personal experience about how she turned the grief and trauma of her teenage years into a multiaward winning impact focused organisation

More Female Voices

How supporting women in leadership
benefits everyone, organisations, families and communities.

Empowering the Next Generation:

The very real challenges and worried of the next generation, and how we can all play a part in changing the world they will inherit.

Videos

Testimonials

“We had the honour and pleasure of having Tammy Darcy join us for an event in the new Sun Life Waterford office in early September. We were hosting a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion event for our teams and Tammy delivered a presentation that blew us away. Some of us had heard of The Shona Project before, some hadn’t, but it was equally inspiring for everyone in the room. Tammy spoke about the work that The Shona Project does, and aims to do in the future, honing in on why it’s so important for females of all ages to be supported, encouraged, and advocated for. Tammy exudes a calm presence but the power of her projection and her words is expansive. She has a depth of knowledge and experience, not just in her role as the founder of TSP, but about how we can positively impact organisations, communities, and societies through supporting young women. Tammy’s passion and determination is not only evident, but infectious! She is a natural speaker and leader, who inspires others through her actions and words.” Steph Golds, Director, Sunlife Financial

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