Otherwise known as my ‘Beezer Buddies’, one of the best songs from ‘Sesame Tree’, the Northern Ireland version of Sesame Street. This adventure included media relations for two series of the show, a community relations tour (always check you’ve packed all the lead character’s eyebrows!) and liaison with a host of educational, philanthropic and stakeholder partners. To make it truly global, I coordinated a study trip from a group from Bangladesh to Belfast with someone in New York while living in Norway.

While it was fun to help work for the world’s iconic brands, my favorite Coca-Cola story involves ten days hiking in the Namibian desert with a team from the local bottlers to raise funds for children with learning disabilities. An incredible combination of personnel development, team building, blood, sweat and tears – all for a great cause.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, I learned enough Norwegian to write press releases for one of Norway’s largest resale, thrift stores.! From special bridal fairs to Hallowe’en parties and ‘seeing is believing’ tours for local expat groups, we brought in a host of new customers and some cracking media coverage – all in Norwegian, of course.

Did you know that most women will keep an appointment for their haircut but happily cancel their smear test? Or that they’re more likely to know how to mix a cocktail than how to check their breasts? I didn’t either. To reinvigorate this early detection charity’s campaigns, we found new ways to get these lifesaving tests back on the news agenda and into women’s conversations.

This nonprofit proves that the ability to innovate and offer ground-breaking, world-class services isn’t determined by location but by vision and heart. They are setting the standard for care for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. I worked with them on major grant applications, donor communications, social, website and branding, and all sorts of other fun stuff.

You may not know their name but if you’ve got a toddler or young child, you probably know their shows. Proud to say that I was there in the beginning, providing essential media relations and media training when there was just a handful of people. Now they’ve won every award there is and you can watch their shows in dozens of countries around the world. The lesson? Never, ever bet against someone with a big dream and passion for showing kids a more positive world.

I could talk about volunteering for hours. I believe in it so passionately that I do it regularly. Part of that passion comes from working on three different campaigns with Volunteer Now, the volunteer development body for Northern Ireland. Over the years, I helped get under 21s, over 55s and more young men to try volunteering. Because the more of us who volunteer, the more the world changes for the better.

I’ve delivered training on social marketing, media relations, crisis management, volunteer recruitment, strategic alliances and partnerships for Arts & Business (NI), Business in the Community (NI and national UK conference), Lloyds TSB Foundation and grantees of major philanthropic foundations.