Board & Governance

Ken was employed in various roles within Short Brothers plc since joining in 1973 both in Operational Research and project management roles in military aircraft.  Following the Bombardier acquisition of Shorts in 1989, Ken was appointed to lead the fabrications activity at Belfast and his responsibilities were later widened to cover Aero structure Assembly. With the formation in 1996 of Bombardier Aerospace, he was appointed to Vice President and General Manager and was responsible for aerospace operational activity at Belfast, including Belfast City Airport. In May 2000, Ken was appointed Executive Vice President Operations at Bombardier Aerospace and was responsible for all aerospace operational activity in Montreal, Toronto, Wichita and Belfast until his return to Belfast in 2004 to take up the role of Vice Chairman. He was appointed Chairman in 2012.

Ken is a former Chairman of both Maydown Precision Engineering and Belfast City Airport and is currently a Director of The Cancer Fund for Children, Honorary Chairman of Bombardier Aerospace Belfast and Chairman of Ulster Wildlife. Additionally he Chairs all of Bombardier defined benefits pension schemes in the UK with combined assets of over £3 billion. Ken is also the Canadian Honorary Consul for Northern Ireland.

Ken was appointed Chair of the Praxis Care Board in October 2011.

John spent most of his career in the Construction Industry, Business to Business Support and Third Sector Engagement. Prior to his retirement, he worked for HBE as a Buildings Asbestos Surveyor, providing advice on Health and Safety.

John has been a volunteer on many organisations which include: Volunteer Reader Cliftonville PS, Chairman Lisburn Institute, PSNI College Advisory Board Chairman of Strategy Group, Chairman Prison Fellowship, Chairman Laganview Enterprises, West Belfast Employment Services Board and Belfast Health Action Zone Council.

John is the current Vice Chairman for Praxis Care and Chairman of the Finance Committee. He has been a member of the Praxis Care Board since 1998.

Tim is a Chartered Valuation Surveyor with extensive experience in Dispute Resolution. He is a Director at Hopkins Chartered Surveyors Limited and his specialist field is the valuation of land and property throughout Northern Ireland. Tim was appointed as a Board Member in 2017 and is Chair of the Property Committee.

Dr Christine Kennedy has been a consultant forensic psychiatrist in NHS practice for more than 15 years. Prior to employment in the Shannon Clinic Regional Secure Unit in Belfast, she worked in a range of low, medium and high secure mental health services in England. She worked for a 2 year period on the National Treatment Resistant Schizophrenia Research Project analysing trajectories to violence in mental illness. She provides consultant input to the Northern Trust Forensic Mental Health Team. Her interest is in the creative resourcing of care for people with complex needs, identifying areas of unmet need and developing services accordingly.

Christine joined the Praxis Care Board in October 2012.

Oswyn was the first Head of the Government Legal Service of Northern Ireland retiring recently after a career of 39 years as a solicitor in the Civil Service. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of Wellington College Belfast. Oswyn joined the Board of Praxis Care in 2016 and is Chair of the Governance Committee.

Noreen Roche is the founder of Noreen Roche Consultants. She is a registered general nurse both in Ireland and the UK. In addition she is qualified in areas of nursing management, legal and ethical aspects of nursing, psychology, safety health and welfare at work, and also holds a Master’s of Science in Health Ergonomics. Together with her qualifications and experience in the nursing, medical and legal consultancy fields, Noreen offers a nationwide professional and informed service in the provision of comprehensive nursing care reports and costings in catastrophic personal injury cases, in preparation for High Court, mediation and tribunal hearings in accordance with the Irish health sector. She also investigates occupational injuries within the health sector.

Noreen was appointed to the Praxis Care Board in October 2015.

Ambrose McLoughlin retired in July 2015 after 40 years of service at a senior level in Ireland’s health and social services, having served as Chairperson of the Health Service Executive and Secretary General of the Department of Health from 2012 until his retirement.

Ambrose is the current Chairperson of the Heartbeat Trust and has been a member of the Praxis Care ROI Advisory Group and Praxis Housing Association, where he chairs the Audit and Risk Committee, since 2016. He was appointed to the Board of Praxis Care in September 2019.

Mike Dawson joined Dale Farm as Group HR and Corporate Services Director in June 2013 and is responsible for Group Human Resource and Corporate Services Strategy including legal, health and safety and IT. Mike holds an LLB Honours degree in Law from the University of Liverpool, a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management from Queen’s University Belfast and an MBA. Mike is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and holds SHRM-SCP status from the Society for Human Resource Management. Mike has over 16 years’ experience working in manufacturing having worked previously with the Glen Dimplex Group and Schrader Electronics; he is also a non-executive director with Food and Drink Sector Skills.

Mike was appointed to the Praxis Care Board in October 2020 and is a member of the Governance Committee.

Andrew is a Chartered Management Accountant and qualified Financial Adviser with over 25 years' experience in Financial Services. Andrew has worked in a residential service for adults with additional needs and he chaired the Board of Management of a special school for over 10 years. Andrew has also been successful in completing a number of social support service establishment projects in Ireland and he has chaired a long established and successful social club that is enjoyed by many people with special needs in his local community.

Andrew has lived and worked in North County Dublin for the last 25 years and he is married with two sons. He is an avid golfer and fisherman and loves spending time with his family and friends.

Andrew was appointed to the Praxis Care Board in October 2020 and is a member of the Finance Committee.

Alyson made a huge contribution as Director of Care in Praxis for 13 years, before leaving to take up a senior managerial position in disability services in the Northern Trust. She returned to Praxis Care as a member of the Board in October 2020 and is a member of the Care Committee.

Yvonne Cooke is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist with Human Resource experience spanning over two decades. She has a track record of designing and delivering work based solutions internationally, tailored to individual, team and organisational development and change. Yvonne has worked across a diverse range of organisations spanning across the public, private and not for profit sectors.

Yvonne is an Eisenhower Fellow, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and a graduate of Queens University Belfast, holding a BSc in Psychology and MSc in Occupational Psychology. She is past Chair and current Treasurer of the Northern Ireland British Psychological Society. Yvonne was appointed to the Praxis Care Board in October 2020 and currently performs the role of Chair of the HR Committee.