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Quick Fire Five
Jen Doran, Communications Project Officer, works with IGNITE, an incubation programme for founders working full-time on their start-up. The programme is open to recent graduates in any discipline from any third level institution in Ireland. Jen who is from Texas, USA came to Ireland to work and live. We recently caught up with Jen to ask her more about her work and what she likes about Cork and Ireland.
Tell us about what you do at IGNITE
IGNITE is a start-up incubation programme for recent graduate entrepreneurs and the programme accepts new entrants every quarter.
Participants come from a variety of academic background from business or science to architecture and they all have different skill sets. IGNITE fills in the skills they need to help them become a successful entrepreneur.
My job is quite varied and includes planning and scheduling workshops and speaker sessions for participants, working with our marketing intern on social media and web updates, organising the two IGNITE awards and showcase events during the year, working on and promoting participant recruitment and communicating with and organising monthly events for UCC students who may be interested in participating in IGNITE in the future.
What does your typical day look like?
No day is the same! I work in the office at WGB with the team including Eamon Curtin, IGNITE Programme Director. When I organise the speakers and workshops, I make sure that each participant is briefed on upcoming events so they can do their research in advance and make the most of these valuable sessions. I also brief speakers on the participants so they can tailor their content to their audience.
As we recruit four times a year; promoting the programme and interviewing candidates takes a lot of my time alongside organising the awards events. This year for the first time we have a solid database of UCC students interested in IGNITE in the future. I communicate with this group on a weekly basis and organise monthly events to nurture their interest and increase their knowledge of start-ups.
We are just coming off a really busy few months of work including the IGNITE Awards & Showcase, which has been very enjoyable!
What aspect of your work do you enjoy the most?
I love meeting so many ambitious young people and learning more about their entrepreneurial ideas. I have an MBA and a business background, but in this role, I am constantly learning about entrepreneurship. I enjoy being part of the founders journey to realise their ambitions and it’s great to see what interests the next generation of entrepreneurs.
I worked for Walt Disney Studios in Texas as an Account Manager. I got to see movies before general release which was pretty cool.
Would you like to share something about yourself?
I’ve lived in Cork for almost 3 years now. Having travelled a lot, I had been to Ireland and thought it would be a great place to work and so I moved here! I have a broad marketing, PR, Project Management background and I’ve worked in the higher education, non-profit and entertainment industries.
What do you like to do in Cork?
I love getting out and about. I know it’s a cliché, but I love the greenness and beauty of Cork and Ireland. The weather can be a bit grey, but in Texas it is 35 degrees for most of the year!
IGNITE
IGNITE is part of UCC Innovation which sits within the office of the Vice-President for Research & Innovation, with overall responsibility for supporting research and the commercialisation of new science and technologies
Learn more about IGNITE by visiting the website.