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 is currently a director of Dublin Youth Orchestras (DYO) and managed the DYO Concert Orchestra for five years. During that time Isabel brought 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 has been involved in Scouting Ireland as a scout leader for the past ten 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 two commercial companies.