EMPLOYER BRANDING SUMMIT

Elevate your employer brand to attract and retain the best talent

We were thrilled to welcome you to the 7th edition of the Employer Branding Summit, held at Windmill QTR in Dublin. This summit featured insightful talks from experienced speakers, covering key topics such as storytelling and cultivating brand champions to strengthen your employer brand.

At this event, you will have the opportunity to:

• Gain insights from top Irish and global organizations and experts on strategies for retaining and attracting talent, and enhancing both your internal and external employer brand.
• Learn how to develop your Employee Value Proposition to align with talent needs.
• Hear about how to support employees in cultivating their personal brands and storytelling skills while creating a network of brand ambassadors. 
• Explore successful examples of Graduate Programs and discover ways to engage students and attract early talent.
• Network with professionals and experts in Employer Branding, HR, and Marketing.
• Enjoy complimentary Breakfast and Lunch.

We’re excited to welcome confirmed speakers from organisations including: LEGO Group, SMRS, ServiceNow, Skillstack, TU Dublin, Tourism Ireland, BT, Hilti, Atomic, The Dublin Story Slam — with more to be announced soon!

Charlotte Peacock

Client Partner

SMRS

Charlotte has been a part of the SMRS team for seven years immersing herself in Talent Attraction and Employer Branding, partnering with global clients to deliver Employer Brand projects from initial concept to activation. Her expertise focuses on campaign planning and activation, media management and content curation. She is working closely with a range of high profile clients such as the LEGO Group, Pandora, IHG and Yodel on the creation and deployment of their employer brand attraction campaigns for both high volume and niche skills.

Kwame Asare 

Global Employer Brand & Talent Attraction Manager 

The LEGO Group

Kwame brings over 17 years of experience in employer branding and talent attraction, spanning publisher, agency, RPO/MSP, and in-house roles. At the LEGO Group, he leads global talent attraction and employer branding for the Product & Marketing Development (PMD) and CFO teams. He has been instrumental in shaping the Target Value Proposition for LEGO® Digital Technology and Consumer & Shopper Engagement, while also launching the company’s first colleague advocacy programs. Passionate about storytelling, Kwame focuses on building strong employer brands that inspire and attract diverse, top-tier talent.

What early talent want 

Led by Dr. Colin Hughes, Head of the Graduate Business School at TU Dublin, this discussion brings together students to share their views on what makes an organisation attractive to them. The session will uncover the priorities, expectations, and motivations of early talent, offering valuable insights into how organisations can better connect with and engage student communities. It will also highlight the long-term benefits of building relationships with emerging talent early in their careers.

Colin Hughes

Head of Graduate Business School

TU Dublin

Colin is Head of TU Dublin’s Graduate Business School, which is home to a large portfolio of postgraduate and executive education offerings. He is passionate about talent development and has developed customised programmes for leading Irish and international organisations, including Workday, Version 1, Musgrave, Oracle, Ibec, Enterprise Ireland and Sky, to name a few.

Colin’s research focuses on trust, leadership and hybrid working. He has published numerous book chapters, articles and blogs on these topics and regularly delivers specialist workshops and seminars within organisations.

Colin holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham (Trust and Leadership in Virtual teams) along with an MPhil (Training and Development in Financial Services), a PgDiploma Third Level Learning and Teaching and a BSc. Marketing from TU Dublin. Colin is an experienced non-executive director and currently sits on the board of LIA.

Employee Experience & Employee Engagement 

Gráinne Earley 

Director of Employee Experience Solutions 

FUEL

As employee experience partners for companies with over 250,000 employees in 55 cities worldwide, FUEL is a global leader in employee experience, with global clients including Paypal, Meta, Coca-Cola and many more. FUEL is the first and only agency in Ireland that are experts in all three key focus areas of employee experience - shaping reputation, crafting culture and creating experiences.

Gráinne and her team pride themselves on building standout employer reputation, by creating positive employee experiences that inspire pride, satisfaction and commitment.

Madga Egan

Head of HR & People

FBD Hotels & Resorts (Killashee Hotel)

Magda Egan has been Head of HR and People at Killashee Hotel since 2022, bringing over 20 years of extensive experience in the hospitality industry. Prior to joining Killashee, Magda held key HR roles with leading hotel groups including Dalata Hotel Group, Gibson Hotel, Fitzpatrick Lifestyle, and Talbot Hotel. She specialises in all aspects of people management, with a proven track record of successfully aligning business objectives with employee engagement and development to drive organisational success.

John Loftus

BT?

John is a passionate communicator especially when it comes to employee engagement. A veteran of over 27 years in BT Ireland, with the last ten being focused on cultivating an inclusive culture that saw the organisation recognised as a Healthy Place to Work in six consecutive years. He has managed, delivered, and hosted numerous employee events, programmes and activities, always with an eye on the creative. Deeply involved in the national treasure that is the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, particularly as the facilitator of the BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp. John has also been at the forefront of BT Ireland’s fundraising and volunteering efforts which has seen over €2 million raised for countless charities including the Irish Cancer Society, MNDA and Bumbleance. John is also ardent supporter of Irish music and has hosted Sounds from a Green World on 8radio.com for over 10 years and writes regularly for Goldenplec.com

Fania Stoney

Business Developement Strategist

Great Place to Work® Ireland

 Fania Stoney is the Business Development Strategist with Great Place to Work. She is an experienced B2B strategist, leader and founder.
She works closely with organisations from a range of industries, maintaining collaborative relationships across multiple stakeholders to create Great Workplaces and high performing environments for employees.
Having recently returned from Maternity Leave, she is an advocate for the workplace experience for women and female leadership. She has spearheaded Ireland’s Best Workplace for Women for the past six years. This premium recognition awards organisations who, while creating a Great Place to Work For All, are focused on delivering for their female employees so they can build long lasting, fulfilling careers.

Damien Schmutz

General Manager

Hilti

Damien Schmutz is the General Manager of Hilti Ireland, where he has led the business for nearly four years. With a strong international career spanning Switzerland, Australia, and Denmark, Damien has held senior leadership roles at both Geberit and Hilti, driving growth and people development. Passionate about performance, care, and collaboration, he brings over two decades of global leadership experience to his role.

Cathal Divilly

Business Partner

Great Place to Work® Ireland

Cathal Divilly is the CEO of the Great Place to Work® Institute and has been with the organisation since it first launched into the Irish market over twenty years ago. This year in Ireland, over 65,000 responses were received to the Great Place to Work® survey.  
Cathal has been fortunate enough to work with many different leaders from a multiplicity of industries in supporting them in building and sustaining a high-trust workplace. He spends a lot of his time out with leadership teams advising them on how to make improvements to their culture and attract the best talent.
Part of his role is also building partnerships for his organisation along with growing a community of practice and developing a knowledge exchange between clients.
Before joining the Institute, Cathal earned a degree in Marketing and went on to obtain a Masters in Strategic Management from DIT.
Cathal is a sporting fanatic. Hurling is his number one game, followed closely by a developing obsession with golf.

How to Build a Storytelling Culture 

Stories are one of the most powerful ways to bring an employer brand to life—but creating a culture where people feel safe and inspired to share them takes intention. In this interactive session, Julien Clancy, Story Coach & Founder of The Dublin Story Slam, will guide participants through the art of unlocking employee stories by asking the right questions, listening with curiosity, and leading by example. We’ll explore how leaders can share their own stories to build trust, and how everyday experiences across the organisation can be transformed into authentic narratives that connect, inspire, and engage. Come ready to reflect, share, and discover new opportunities to embed storytelling into your culture. 

Julien Clancy

Founder

Dublin Story Slam

Julien Clancy has been helping people tell their stories for over 20 years. He's a multi award winning radio producer and his documentaries have been broadcast on BBC4, RTE Radio 1, 2FM & Lyric FM. In 2017 Julien set up The Dublin Story Slam to give ordinary people a chance to share their personal true stories in front of a live audience. Since then he has hosted close to 1,000 storytellers onstage at monthly sold out shows at The Sugar Club and annually at The Abbey Theatre. Since 2020 Julien has also been working with large organisations like Deloitte, Dublin City Council and St. James's Hospital to introduce the power of personal storytelling at work through storytelling workshops, coaching and storytelling events. 

Stay Tuned! We'll be revealing our agenda and speakers soon!

This event is sponsored by FUEL

Previous Employer Branding Summits 

For our first edition in 2019, 2023, January 2024, and November 2024, the summit was in person. In November 2025, we are coming back face-to-face!