Ruth D’Alton’s HR career has combined over 20 years of working in the role of HR Director, initially with the US multi-national APW, where she worked as an Irish and later as an EMEA leader. After taking a year to complete an MBA in the UCD Smurfit Business School, she joined Arthur Cox in 2004, where she remained until late 2020 as HR Director. During her tenure there, the firm grew by 80% and she worked closely with three different Managing Partners. She led the Partners on a path of a people-led agenda that strategically changed the firm’s culture and contributed significantly to its corporate success. She joined Coillte in 2021 as Group HR Director, a role that involved influencing three strands of business through a decentralised HR model. This involved ensuring a consistency of approach and standards in HR operations across the Group to support the attraction, development and retention of talent.Ruth is a professional coach and Fellow of the CIPD. She is a strong believer that an open and supportive working environment, where people feel motivated and challenged, is the key organisational competitive advantage. For the past seven years as a member of the HR sub-committee of the board of the charity, Jigsaw, Ruth has been adviser to successive Chairs. In this capacity, she has assisted with high level strategic matters and has acted as a coach and liaison for the CEO and HR Director.