Geoff O’Donoghue started his career in social work, in the north of England and Scotland and then spent 7 years working in Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia.
He returned to the UK in 1998, took a Master's degree in Change Management and was self-employed for nine years before coming to CAFOD. He had worked with CAFOD occasionally before then – first in Darfur on the humanitarian side, and later supporting different CAFOD teams and leadership groups.
In 2001 Geoff co-founded a Community Interest Company called Mango Communities. It was one of the first 'CICs' in the UK. Geoff really enjoyed being self-employed and taking up the role of International Director at CAFOD in 2007 was for him a big step. Geoff says: “There weren't other jobs over the years that did that for me, but I found that I really wanted to work for CAFOD. It's a part of my community and to work within my community with my faith and my skill set brought together – there aren't many places you can do that”.
Geoff’s role is to ensure that CAFOD adheres to its strategic direction in ways that offer the greatest benefit to the poorest and most disadvantaged people we work for and that reflect our Catholic ethos and identity.