On September 28th we are delighted to have the following speakers
Mark Pollock
Unbroken by blindness in 1998, Mark became an adventure athlete competing in ultra-endurance races across deserts, mountains, and the polar ice caps including being the first blind person to race to the South Pole. He also won silver and bronze medals for rowing at the Commonwealth Games and set up an international motivational speaking business.
In 2010, a fall from a second story window nearly killed him. Mark broke his back and the damage to his spinal cord left him paralysed. Now he is on a new expedition, this time exploring the intersection where humans and technology collide to cure paralysis in our lifetime.
Chairman of Collaborative Cures and founder of the global running series Run in the Dark, Mark has been involved in catalysing collaborations worth over $100 million on his mission to cure paralysis. He was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, served on the Global Futures Council on Human Enhancement and the Advisory Board of Cybathlon. In addition, he is a Wings for Life Ambassador (Europe) and was on the Board of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (USA) for a decade.
Author of ‘Making It Happen’, Mark is the subject of the acclaimed documentaries’ Blind Man Walking ’and ‘Unbreakable – The Mark Pollock Story’. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and also from Queens University Belfast. Furthermore, he holds a diploma in Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century from Harvard University, degrees from Trinity College Dublin and UCD Smurfit Graduate Business School.
Bobbie Hickey
Bobbie Hickey, will share her wit and wisdom, which have both helped her navigate school, college and work, with deteriorating vision. Bobbie works as Equality, Diversity, Inclusion people officer in Mr. Price. Bobbie has written for the Irish Times, she studied in DCU, she is a great Dessage Rider and she is mad a bout horses and her Guide Dog Josie
Caoimhe Grogan
We are thrilled to announce that Caoimhe Grogan will be one of the speakers on the young adults panel for the ‘Life Through Our Eyes’ Conference! We look forward to hearing from her and learning on the 28th of September. She is a solicitor and advocate. Caoimhe, who is also a chairperson at Disability Legal Network https://www.disabilitylegalnetwork.ie/together with the team, demonstrates that ‘disability does not need to be a barrier to employment when the right supports are in place, along with hard work and a positive attitude’. As one of our fundamental values says ‘nothing about us without us’, having Caoimhe share her experience, lessons, and wisdom with us is a step toward shifting the narrative around vision impairment together.
Shane Early
Helena Mollaghan
