Isabel Ryan, Co Founder
Isabel’s great interest is in music education and since 2011 she has been manager of the St. Louis Music Department, which delivers music tuition to over 150 children across 17 instruments and hosts a youth orchestra. She was involved with the Dublin Youth Orchestras for twelve years and was a director for six years. During this time she managed the DYO Concert Orchestra for five years bringing the orchestra on tour to Madrid, Spain in 2016 and again in 2019 where they performed with three other youth orchestras. This afforded the young musicians the opportunity to perform and mix with young Spanish players. In her role as manager, Isabel oversaw the orchestra’s two annual public performances in the National Concert Hall and other venues. Isabel was the Music Librarian for DYO and was involved in the setting up and running of their Gaisce programme. Isabel has been involved in Scouting Ireland as a scout leader for the past thirteen years and sat on the Musical Activities Committee of the Artane School of Music. Isabel worked in the NGO sector both in Ireland and overseas for over 28 years, working in the youth, disability and environmental protection areas. Over the past 18 years her work has been primarily in the adult mental health and disability sectors, with a focus on training programme design, delivery and evaluation. She has worked in private practice as a counsellor delivering employee assistance programmes (EAP) to business and specialising in child bereavement and acquired injury counselling. She was employed in the Irish charities sector for six years running support services, as a charities fundraiser and is a co-founder of two Irish charities and is a director of three commercial companies.
