Ciara has spent 10 years in international education roles, with her recent career focused on international student recruitment and progression at Queen’s University Belfast and coordinating an international student work exchange programme at the British Council. She holds a degree in French and Spanish as well as professional qualifications in teaching, project management and intercultural fluency, and has spoken at sector events such as the British Council’s Services for International Education Marketing conference.
Having lived abroad and travelled extensively throughout her career, Ciara has a strong passion for internationalisation and cultural relations, demonstrated through volunteering roles teaching English as a Second or Other Language to improve equality of opportunity for migrants accessing the labour market, and supporting reunited refugee families to integrate into their new communities as Host Buddy for the Red Cross Family Reunion Integration Service in Belfast.
In her spare time, Ciara continues with her language learning (her most recent endeavour is Irish) and can normally be found testing out new recipes with her home-grown vegetables, or cycling to her local theatre or independent cinema showing.