July 2017 NUI Galway Announce Winner of 30% Club MBA Scholarship

Scholarship to Advance Female Leadership in Business Organisations

Galway businesswoman Sandra Divilly fought off tough competition to win a scholarship worth in excess of €13,000 for the NUI Galway Exective MBA (Master of Business Administration) programme announced today by NUI Galway in conjunction with the 30% Club.

The 30% Club Ireland was officially launched in January 2015, with a goal to achieve better gender balance at all levels of business in Ireland. The 30% Club believes that gender balance on boards and executive leadership not only encourages better leadership and governance, but further contributes to better all-round board performance, and ultimately increased corporate performance for both companies and their shareholders. 

Application numbers for the 30% Club Scholarship exceeded expectation with a very high calibre of strong female applicants. The judging panel noted that while most had enormous career potential and would have been worthy recipients, ultimately the award could be made to only one individual. 

Reacting to the announcement Ms Divilly commented: “I am greatly honoured to be chosen to receive the 30% Club Scholarship for an Executive MBA at NUI Galway. The 30% Club is an inspiring initiative to address global gender imbalance issues in organisations. I commend NUI Galway for joining the list of successful universities, across the world, that support and drive the 30% Club goals. Having graduated from NUI Galway in 1996 with a degree in Industrial Engineering and Information Systems, I have since enjoyed a varied and challenging career in private industry and as a self-employed businesswoman. I am very grateful to NUI Galway and the 30% Club for providing me with this exciting opportunity to undertake the Executive MBA.”

The Executive MBA at the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, NUI Galway joined the 30% Club in promoting gender balance in business by awarding a scholarship toward half of the cost of an Executive MBA. 

Bríd Horan, Steering Committee member, congratulated Sandra on behalf of the 30% Club: “We greatly appreciate NUI Galway’s generous support for this valuable scholarship which encourages women to invest in their career development through executive education.  We are particularly pleased that this opportunity is being made available to women in Galway in 2017.”

The NUI Galway Executive MBA has attained AMBA accreditation which is the global mark of excellence for MBA education. An MBA is one of the world’s most recognised and respected business and management qualifications. Pursuing an MBA is about positioning yourself for further success. Critical to this is choosing an MBA programme with a proven track record that meets the highest international standards for MBA education.

NUI Galway looks forward to collaborating with the 30% Club in the future and welcomes Sandra Divilly to its new cycle of Executive MBA students.

Professor Breda Sweeney, J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, NUI Galway, said: “We were delighted with the level of interest and very impressed with the calibre of applicants for this scholarship. We look forward to welcoming Sandra and all of our Executive MBA participants to the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics in September.  The Executive MBA can transform career opportunities as it equips graduates with important leadership skills, business acumen and a network of talented executives from diverse professional backgrounds.”

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