Executive Artistic Director

Galway native Aislinn was appointed Executive Artistic Director of Baboró in 2015. In this broad role she oversees all aspects of the organisation as well as curating the annual international festival in October - a multi-disciplinary festival of Irish and international theatre, dance, music and visual art in theatres, schools and galleries across Galway City and county. Baboró's year round arts in education and artist support programmes have expanded significantly under her stewardship.

Prior to joining Baboró, Aislinn spent several years working across programming, management and marketing in regional arts centres throughout Ireland. Her passion for performing arts for children was ignited back in 2001 when she worked with Baboró's festival team on the delivery of the festival.

Aislinn is on the Committee of Theatre for Young Audiences Ireland (TYAI), a voluntary organisation which supports artists and advocates for the performance arts for children sector in Ireland. She was Chair of TYAI from 2018 to 2023.

Executive Producer

A native of Co. Limerick, Jennifer first encountered Baboró when she helped out as a festival volunteer. She has worked with Baboró since 2012, first as Festival Administrator, then as Acting General Manager and was appointed Producer in 2016. Jennifer is a member of Baboró’s core team with responsibility for producing the festival, liaising with visiting companies and filling in endless funding application forms!

Marketing Manager

Thomas joined Baboró in 2019 to manage the marketing of the annual festival and communicate the year round work Baboró does to support and nurture educators and artists working with children. He is a Galway native who worked in the hospitality industry in the West of Ireland before taking up a marketing role with Irish product design agency, Design Partners, who he represented during Irish Design 2015. Thomas returned to Galway as a freelance marketer and copywriter working with technology enterprises, creative entrepreneurs and community organisations such as Architecture at the Edge, The Vault, The PorterShed and Galway Technology Centre.

Development Manager

Aileen worked in the schools box office for the 2023 festival and returned in February 2024 to join the team as Development Manager. She is passionate about making the arts accessible for every child and enjoys attending the festival with her own two children.

As a chartered accountant Aileen spent most of her career in the corporate sector. After spending 11 years in England, she returned to Galway in 2021. Back in her hometown she rediscovered her love of the arts and in 2023, completed an MA in Creative Writing at University of Galway. Aileen is very excited to be working closely with Baboró's philanthropic partners and friends.

Artist & Programme Coordinator

Originally from New Mexico, Rachel joined Baboró in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, initially starting as an intern, then fulfilling the role of administrator, and finally becoming the organisation's first Artist & Programme Coordinator. In this role, she manages Baboró's year-round artist development programmes and supports Aislinn and Jennifer with festival production. 

Outside of Baboró, she works as an independent performer, devisor, and director. In both her role with Baboró and as a freelancer, she places authentic relationality at the heart of her work. 

Rachel holds an MA in Theatre Practice & Production (NUI Galway, 2020), a BFA in Writing, Literature, & Publishing: Poetry with a minor in Psychology (Emerson College, 2018), and pre-professional arts certification in Theatre with a minor in Creative Writing (New Mexico School for the Arts, 2014). 

Digital Marketing Coordinator
 

Erin works as Baboró’s Digital Marketing Coordinator, collaborating with Tom  and the team to share compelling stories about Baboró’s year-round mission and work. Erin has an MA in Gender, Globalisation and Rights from University of Galway and this background informs her projects and creative practice. 

Outside of Baboró, Erin is a founder and creative who supports festivals, community organisations and artists through mentorship, marketing and much more. She is passionate about diversity in the arts, sustainability and storytelling, spending most of her time in nature or between the pages of a good book.
 

Schools Project Manager

Andrew first joined the Baboró team in 2024 as the Festival Team Coordinator, and in January 2025 returned to take up the role of Schools Project Manager. In this role Andrew manages Baboró's year-round schools outreach projects, and oversees the Schools Box Office during the festival period.

Outside of Baboró, Andrew is involved in education and volunteer development. Since 2022, he has been a Board Member of EIL Intercultural Learning, an Irish charity providing intercultural learning opportunities through cultural immersion experiences. He has over a decade of experience volunteering at a national and international level in the educational sector, facilitating cultural education workshops for hundreds of exchange students each year, and training future volunteers in a variety of educational practices. He worked as an ESL and Spanish teacher before joining Baboró, and is passionate about bringing creative educational experiences to children and adults from all backgrounds in his work.

Finance

As a freelance accountant, Sinéad is an important member of the Baboró team, where she works one day per week. Sinéad also assists a number of other well-known organisations across Galway city, including; the Galway Arts Centre, and McCambridges. She received her CPA in the USA, and now has over thirty years’ experience in finance and accounting, and is very familiar with the particular needs of arts organisations, having specialised in the area since 2001.

Artist-in-Residence

Lindsay Deely is an art and science educator and researcher whose work is focussed on science communication, public engagement and arts education. With a strong commitment to expanding access to both art and science, particularly for underserved communities, her work aims to inspire young people to explore the world around them through creative, hands-on experiences that boost confidence and curiosity. 

Currently Artist in Residence for the Baboro International Arts Festival for Children, Lindsay is working with young people to co-create new work that will explore local biodiversity with young participants promoting continuous engagement with the arts and sciences. She is also a postgraduate researcher at the Unesco Child and Family Research Centre at the University of Galway.

Appointed to the Board in 2024

Dani Gill is a writer, artist, and producer, based in the west of Ireland. Dani served as Director of Cúirt International Festival of Literature (2010-2016), Ennis Book Club Festival (2020-2022) and has held production and creative roles in theatre, film, circus and public art. Dani is the Performing Arts Curator for the Bealtaine Festival, Director of the site specific landscape art initiative The Lighthouse Project, and Co-Director of Match in the Dark. Her written work includes After Love (2017, Salmon Poetry) and Lessons in Kindness (2023, Salmon Poetry). After Love was made into a short film and a full stage show that premiered at Galway International Arts Festival in 2021 and the Galway Film Fleadh. She holds a Diploma in Community Development and Youth Work and is passionate about supporting the creative vision of young people.

Appointed to the Board in 2019

Charlotte is Head of the School of English and Creative Arts at the University of Galway. She has authored and edited multiple publications and her specialisms include contemporary Irish performance, interculturalism, migration, race, gender, sexuality and practice-as-research. She is a theatre and creative arts practitioner whose most recent work is through NUI Galway’s Active Consent Research programme. In 2019, she directed and produced the inaugural national third-level theatre tour of 'The Kinds of Sex You Might Have in College', an original play devised with over 30 current or former Drama and Theatre Studies studies featuring a company of professional alumni actors which has been seen by over 2500 third-level students and counting.

Appointed to the Board in 2020

Niamh has twenty year’s experience as a primary school teacher. She has spent most of her career teaching in Dublin and moved back to Galway in 2019. Niamh is a strong advocate for arts in education and has completed Baboró's CPD - Drama Tools in the Classroom. She was a member of the Teacher's Musical Society and performed in some amateur productions. In 2018 Niamh completed an Improvisational Drama course with the Gaiety School of Acting.

Appointed to the Board in 2023

Aleksandra is an arts manager and curator with over 16 years’ experience in arts organisations, festivals, community projects and arts publishing. As Acting Director and Programme Manager at Riverbank Arts Centre she developed a successful and ambitious programme of events with focus on children and young audiences, local and migrant communities and a strong outreach and education programme. Aleksandra is also an experienced arts educator and facilitator with as strong focus on youth theatre practice. She studied English Literature, Cultural Studies and Arts Management in Poland and Community Arts and Conflict Resolution in Ireland.

Appointed to the Board in 2024

Marie is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland with over 15 years financial leadership experience both domestically and internationally. She is a Director at EY serving a range of multinational and indigenous assurance clients. She leads the EY Entrepreneur of the Year programme for the west of Ireland region championing entrepreneurship and innovation and working directly with business leaders to achieve their strategic objectives. Marie is a qualified Business and Leadership Coach along with being a member of Project Management Institute. She is involved in a wide range of charitable and community initiatives throughout the region and is very passionate about working with causes close to her heart.
 

Appointed to the Board in 2024

Naturalist Eoin Warner is a wildlife documentary presenter in both the Irish and English languages and has presented some of Ireland’s foremost nature documentaries in recent years. In 2017 he was awarded two national media prizes for his work on “Éire Fhiáin”. He has co-presented on the English language documentary “A wild Irish Year” and recently completed an internationally broadcast three-hour series titled “Ireland’s Wild Islands”. Eoin is currently working on a natural history documentary on the Burren.

Eoin grew up by the Atlantic Ocean outside Bantry in West Cork and now lives in Galway. He is an avid free-diver and loves nothing more than to be in, on or under the sea. Eoin has travelled extensively to explore our wildest places from Botswana to Antarctica and has a keen sense of our ecological responsibilities.
 

Appointed to the Board in 2025

Kate Costello is a Marketing Director who runs her own business Narrator & Co. Based on the west coast of Ireland, Narrator & Co is a creative consultancy telling stories for independent brands. Kate has always had a passion for the arts and originally trained as a theatre director and she now brings this unique sensibility to creative brands. She has worked on innovative digital campaigns for some of the world’s leading luxury brands, including Burberry, Augustinus Bader, Ermenegildo Zegna and Hunter Boots. 

Over the past few years, she has worked with some of Ireland’s foremost independent lifestyle brands and creative organisations to tell the story of their unique creative heritage and identity.