Who we are 

The Meitheal is at the core of Grow Remote, meaning we were built by many hands over the past few years. In 2019, we raised government funding so that we could dedicate a team to continuing the community’s good work. Today, the board and executive team make up Grow Remote Ireland, a Company Limited By Guarantee.

John Evoy

General Manager

John was most recently a Senior Fund Manager at Rethink Ireland. Prior to this he was the founder of the Irish Men’s Sheds Association. Set up in 2011 it now has 420 member sheds with 10,000 participating men each week. John has won a number of awards for his work with Men’s Sheds, and for his previous work in men’s well-being and social entrepreneurship, including an Irish People of the Year Award in 2015. 

He sits on a number of non-profit boards.

John lives on a farm in Wexford with his wife Sarah and a fluffy cat.

The Board Of Directors

Liz McCarthy

Liz is passionate about sustainable economic development and is currently leading the development of Scale Ireland, the voice for innovation-driven enterprise. Most recently Liz held a variety of roles at Dogpatch Labs, and previously worked with Kerry-based Fexco and fintech startups. Liz is an Economics and Policy graduate with an MSc in Local Economic Development (summa cum laude) from the LSE and has lots of volunteering experience centred around economic and community development and sustainability.

Tomás Ó Síocháin

Tomás is CEO of the Western Development Commission www.westerndevelopment.ie. The WDC is a state agency, established under statute to promote economic and social development in the Western Region through, promotion, policy analysis, regional leadership, equity investment and lending via the €72m WDC Investment Fund. Tomás was previously External Engagement Programme Manager for NUI Galway where he led the integration of Shannon College of Hotel Management into NUI Galway. Prior to joining NUI Galway, he spent fourteen years as a journalist, editor and producer with RTÉ and TG4, working at home and abroad covering news, business and sport on television, radio and online. 

He is a law graduate of NUI Galway, holds a H. Dip in Applied Communications, an MBA and is a doctoral researcher in Information Systems. He is as an External Assessor for the Broadcast Authority of Ireland’s Sound and Vision Fund, a board member of Future Mobility Campus Ireland, Galway Chamber, Gnó Mhaigh Eo and was the inaugural Chair of the Regional Skills Forum West. 

Tracy Keogh

Tracy is a co-founder of Grow Remote. Having 10+ years experience in technology startups, Tracy spent the last few years in community development in regional and rural Ireland. A graduate of economics and finance from the University of Limerick, Tracy currently works in Bank of Ireland having set up their innovation programmes in the west.

John Riordan

John is Director of Support for Shopify. He also serves as Chairman of Shopify International Ltd. and serves on the board of Sanctuary Runners. John leads a variety of different customer support teams for Shopify, including groups in Ireland, Lithuania, Sweden, Canada as well as the Philippines, Japan and China. All of John’s teams work from home, a business model he has been an evangelist for over the last 18 years in the US, UK and Ireland. John has spent much of his career in the US – working for Apple, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Arise Virtual Solutions and US Airways. In 2010 John and his family returned to his hometown of Cork, Ireland where he now resides with his wife and two teenagers.

Renate Kohlmann

With over 25 years in leadership roles, Renate Kohlmann embarked on the world of remote working as Senior Manager with Dell in 2004. Having lived and worked in Dublin, Bratislava and now Ballinasloe Galway, Renate has unique insights into the challenges for dwellers of both cities and rural towns. Founder of RK Consulting, Renate specialises in management support and mentoring. Renate sits on the steering group of The Pulse Club, a local network to support entrepreneurs, the Sales Professional Network, an industry partnership with Regional Skills West and leads the local Grow Remote chapter. While Director at Wayfair, Renate led the strategy for remote working culminating in the successful 2018 launch.

Laura Hanlon

Laura Hanlon is a Product Offer Manager for Dell. She is a co-founder of Grow Remote from its initial formation in 2018 and passionate about helping people to achieve their career goals from any location. Laura previously worked in community at Techstars Startup Weekend as well as founding her own company in Galway city.

Laura is currently studying an MSc in Electronic and Computer Technology from DCU and a previous graduate of Sports and Exercise Engineering from NUI Galway.