Moninne Griffith, CEO

Pronouns: she/her

Who inspires you?

My partner Clodagh, my daughter Edie, and Brene Brown. They all teach me to dare greatly, embrace my imperfections and be creative.

What are your hobbies?

I like to listen to podcasts on my commute, I practice mindful meditation and at the weekends I love to have friends over for lunch, walks, and ice-cream on Bray promenade.

What is your favourite animal?

I would love to have a dog, but we have a goldfish instead……. Edie and I are working on Clodagh.

Where would you like to travel?

I would love to go to Alaska in the Summer. It looks so beautiful. Iceland and Canada are also on my bucket list.

What do you love about BeLonG To?

The optimism. We dream big. The young people, staff, volunteers and board members all absolutely believe that we can change Ireland to make sure LGBTI+ young people are safe, healthy and equal. This is despite all the anti-LGBTI+ bullying, stigma, violence and prejudice we witness every day. It helps that we can laugh, cry, and support each other and that we share a common vision of the kind of Ireland we want to help shape for this generation and future generations.

How do you support LGBTI+ young people? 

I support young LGBTI+ people in many different ways. I work directly with some young people in advocacy, lobbying and public speaking settings. We share our stories and experience to change laws, policies, attitudes and behaviour. I also support them indirectly by ensuring that the youth services we provide meet their needs. I do this by recruiting and motivating a skilled, experienced, passionate team of experts who are constantly working to improve the lives of young LGBTI+ people. Lastly I make sure that we have enough resources to run our services and work with the team to share what we have learnt over the past 16+ years with young people, parents, carers and professionals all over Ireland.

Twitter: @Moninne