Ronan Harrington

Ronan Harrington

• Resilience expert with an inspiring story of how to lead under pressure and overcome adversity
• One of the youngest Fellows of the Royal Society of the Arts
• Lead Futurist to the British Foreign Office at the age of 24
• Former leader of Extinct Rebellion, the global environmental movement

A gifted speaker with a remarkable life story, Ronan Harrington saw his life crumble overnight. From someone who held a senior leadership position at the British Foreign Office and Extinction Rebellion, he suddenly had to leave these positions due to being diagnosed with a debilitating, lifetime, chronic health condition.

But Ronan Harrington refused to allow a health condition to rule his life. These days an expert on the neuroscience of resilience, he is a guest teacher on the KPMG Leadership Programme and resilience expert at Tough Cookie.

His life over a decade ago was vastly different. One of the youngest Fellows of the Royal Society of the Arts, Ronan Harrington was the lead Futurist in the British Foreign Office. He was only 24 at the time. During this period, he authored a report on the world of 2030, and how the British Government should deal with it.

With regards to his education, Ronan Harrington has a Masters in Public Policy from Balliol College, Oxford University. After completing his degree, he went on to become one of the youngest executives in the City of London. He was Director of Futures, Strategy, and Animation at RPC.

Taking a sabbatical from the world of business, he became the leader of the political strategy for the global environmental movement Extinction Rebellion. His role saw him coordinate the global protest movement in more than sixty cities across the globe.

His role as a guest contributor to the KPMG Executive Leadership Programme and as a resilience specialist to Tough Cookie, the mental health company, Ronan Harrington advises large corporations on the creation of healthy, high-performance cultures.

As a speaker, Ronan Harrington counts amongst his audiences Meta (Silicon Valley HQ), Winmark Professional Services Forum, and HR TechX 2022, amongst numerous others.

Ronan Harrington – Speaker

A highly interactive keynote speaker, Ronan Harrington talks with the kind of authority that only comes from living the experience. He lives in Ireland and presents in English.

Speaking Topics

• Resilience (main topic area): Drawing on his own experience as leading a global movement and as a direct consequence, being diagnosed with a chronic health condition, Ronan will give the audience insights into the neuroscience of resilience, and how to keep going in the face of adversity
• Leadership: Drawing on his senior leadership experience at the British Foreign Office and Extinction Rebellion, Ronan will explore how to lead under pressure and what organisations can do to create healthy, high-performance cultures.
• Mental Health and Wellbeing: As a resilience specialist at the Mental Health Company Tough Cookie, Ronan will share a moving story of how he managed his own mental health having been diagnosed with a chronic health condition, and what practical tools we can all apply to be happy in mind and body.