Niamh Byrne

Profile

I am passionate about the value and importance of community engagement involvements in developing a holistic, meaningful education for students. Driven by an enthusiasm for continuous improvement, I regularly seek out innovative approaches to enhance activities in the School and the experience of volunteers on projects.

Whilst providing valuable support in the community, project experiences offered in the School of Law allow students to put their learning into practice, develop important connections with the community and advance their ability to communicate and interact with people from a wide range of backgrounds and ages. The project partnerships also allows local organisations, charities and schools to develop a close connection with the University.

Qualifications

• BMus (Hons): 1st, University College Cork

Student education

My main responsibilities include:

• Co-ordinating the Community Engagement activities run by the School of Law, comprising both internal and external project partnerships.
• Management and co-ordination of project volunteers including recruitment, training, ongoing development and support. Since 2018, the number of volunteers has continued to be over 250 each year.
• Create and maintain relationships with community partners and stakeholders internally and externally.
• Evaluate feedback and analyse for continuous improvement.
• First point of contact for all enquiries relating to Community Engagement activities.
• Work with the School and societies to devise and coordinate fundraising activities for the community, included the 'Go the Extra Mile for Justice' challenge in 2020 and 'Move in March' in 2021.
• Ex officio member of the School of Law Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

I represent the Community Engagement team in the School of Law on Twitter: @LeedsUniProBono

Awards

• Winner of the Innovation Partnership Award at University and faculty level in the Leeds Partnership Awards 2021.
• Winner of the Innovation Partnership Award at faculty level in the Leeds Partnership Awards 2020.

Networks

• Student Volunteering Network
• University of Leeds and Leeds University Union Volunteering Group
• University of Leeds Continuous Improvement Network