W A Y 2 W O R K
ABOUT US
Way 2 Work Ireland (W2W) is a not for profit organisation fully funded by Tusla the Child and Family Agency offering supports such as individual and tailored assistance through a mentor / mentee, training, and employment programme. W2W Ireland deals specifically with young people (aged 16-21) who have been referred by Tusla. W2W was established on the 1st of January 2019 to work in partnership with Tusla Child and Family Agency and private enterprises nationwide.
Mission
To support young people’s ambitions and create opportunities for all young people irrespective of privilege or background.
Vision
To create a sustainable solution for the provision of apprenticeships and employment by facilitating engagement between state agencies and the private sector. This is fully supported by our mentorship and training programmes for successful outcomes.
Our Values
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Professional: Committed to excellence, integrity, and professionalism in the services we provide.
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Inclusive: Considerate of the views and opinions of all Stakeholders, TUSLA, young people, employers, and employees.
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Enterprising: Continually seeking to improve the apprenticeship Programme with a view to maximizing successful outcomes.
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Energetic: With enthusiasm and high levels of activity, Committed, dynamic and modern
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Open & Honest: Frank and communicative, receptive and accessible, Truthful and sincere.
What We Do
Way 2 Work Ireland (W2W) provides a mentor/mentee-based support service on behalf of Tusla. The mentor’s role is unique to each individual. Our aim is to encourage and motivate all young people we work with, while supporting the young person’s ambitions of securing training and employment across the various sectors. W2W offers a one-to-one service, solely designed to create opportunities for employment for motivated young people with a care-experienced background.
The W2W team build transparent and trusting relationships between the mentor/mentee and the employer. This relationship is fundamental in achieving working, trusting, and most importantly, lasting partnership to achieve the best outcomes for all young people.
BOARD
John Killeen
Dr John Killeen is an engineer by profession and a native of Co Roscommon, he became an Honorary Freeman of Galway City in 2012. During a long and diverse career, he has worked on significant Local Government projects and worked with large engineering firms internationally. Dr Killeen was President of Engineers Ireland from 1995-1996 and founding President of the Academy of Engineering in Ireland in 1996-1998. He received an outstanding Lifetime Award for his contribution to Irish Engineering in 2013. He is a retired CEO of Colas Group in Ireland and a retired managing director of Cold Chon Galway Ltd. Dr Killeen was appointed to the West Northwest Hospital Group Board in 2013 and is currently the Chair of the Saolta University Healthcare Group. In 2009 he was chairman of the Volvo Ocean Race event in Galway and in 2012 was president of the Volvo Ocean Race finale and festival. Dr Killeen is also President of the Timoney Leadership Institute - a charity which promotes International leadership training for Irish CEO's in conjunction with IESE University, Barcelona and visiting professors from Harvard, Notre Dame and IPADE. He is also currently serving on the UK and Irish Councils of the RNLI.
Director with The Cruthu Foundation Ltd T/a Way 2 Work Ireland since 2019.
John Osborne
John graduated from Veterinary College of Ireland (UCD) in 1987. Worked in equine hospitals in Kentucky, The Curragh and Wiltshire before embarking on a career in bloodstock management and trading. Developed a sales agency based at Tipper House Naas which grew to a sixty yearling consignment at its height.
In 1996 he was appointed to the Board of Doncaster Bloodstock Sales (now Goffs UK) and in 1997 he was appointed to the Board of the Irish National Stud.
Director with The Cruthu Foundation Ltd T/a Way 2 Work Ireland since 2019.
Gerard Stenson
Gerard (Gerry) Stenson was born and raised in Carrick-on-Shannon and has lived with his family in County Meath for the past 30 years. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer by profession, having graduated in University College Galway in 1975.
Gerry worked with different Irish local authorities during his early career. He subsequently worked with Irish and International engineering companies in senior management positions on innovative and solutions-based construction and maintenance projects, in Ireland, the UK, France and the Middle East.
Gerry has a broad range of technical, management and administrative skills which have been finely honed over a career spanning more than 40 years. During that time, he took a particular interest in mentoring young employees. Using his excellent people management skills, he guided many young engineers through their career development to subsequently achieve senior management positions.
Outside of work Gerry has continued a strong family tradition of active engagement in, and the promotion of charitable and non-profit, vocational, sporting, and cultural organisations.
He is delighted to join the board of The Cruthu Foundation Ltd T/a Way 2 Work Ireland.
Glenn Cronin
Glenn is passionate about Way 2 Work Ireland because he believes it empowers young people who face systemic barriers in life to access education, training and employment opportunities that can transform their lives. He knows too well how challenging it can be to overcome obstacles and achieve greater success through education and training. When he was younger, he didn’t reach his full potential in school, but managed to start an apprenticeship and make the most of more training opportunities which equipped him with the skills to work in the construction industry, but he always felt that he had more to offer and wanted to pursue his dream to become an engineer. As a mature student, he made a bold decision to return to education and enrolled in a degree program in engineering at Technological University Dublin (TUD). It was not easy to balance study, and life in general, but he was determined to achieve his goals. He graduated with an honours degree in engineering from TUD and continued to further his education with two postgraduate qualifications from TUD and NUI Galway.
Since then, Glenn has worked in senior positions on some high-profile projects within Ireland and across Europe, working now as a senior programme manager in a world class company and he is very proud of his achievements which he strongly believes is down to hard work, education and the support of some great people along the way.
He joined Way 2 Work Ireland as a voluntary director because he wants to give back to the community and help others who are facing similar challenges as he did. He believes that everyone deserves a chance to learn new skills, find meaningful work and improve their circumstances. He hopes that through his involvement with Way 2 Work Ireland, he can inspire and support people to pursue their dreams and reach their full potential no matter their personal situation or environment.
Donal Mc Cormack
Donal Mc Cormack is the former national director of children’s residential services in Tusla Child & Family Agency with over 30 years of residential childcare experience as a practitioner and manager. He has worked in community child care, in patient child psychiatry, youth detention, Mainstream residential and managed the very first special care centre for children detained on welfare grounds (1995-2000). Over 15 of his 30+ years were at senior operational management level in public childcare service delivery. He was responsible for the operational management of Tusla’s children’s residential services which included managing a team of over 1,000 staff and caring for approximately 600 young people across the statutory, voluntary and private sectors.
One of his many achievements was the setting up of the Way 2 Work Ireland apprentice and job seeker programme (in 2019) which collaborates with private industry in securing job and apprenticeship opportunities for young people in care and after care. He lectures part time on the Masters programme in professional management of complex behaviour (PMCB) in Dundalk Institute of Technology. Donal has been in a training role over 20 years teaching C.P.I., T.C.I, PMAV and more recently PMCB, to a range of health and social care professionals.