Inspiring Change.
Lasting Impact.
As the representative body for social enterprises and social entrepreneurs across Northern Ireland, SENI is the social value expert for Northern Ireland. Our expertise on ESG and social value procurement is trusted by many large companies in the private sector.Â
Who we are: The NI Social Enterprise Body
Formed in 2012, we have been trusted to deliver the Department for Economy’s Social Work Plan for over a decade. We are the authoritative voice for the sector. To help build the strength and resilience of social enterprises across NI, we run networking events and facilitate training. Through vetting and introductions, we also help private firms to meet their ESG and social value obligations and win public contracts. Become a member today. Â
Our Mission
Social Enterprise Northern Ireland is a small team of people who are focused on growing, transforming and enriching the local social enterprise sector. Much more than a support body, we are now a commercial necessity for any businesses that prioritises social value.Â
Our Vision
Our vision for Northern Ireland is simple. We want to help build strong businesses around social purpose so that everyone in society profits.
The Building Blocks of our Success
We ask. We demand.
Curiosity keeps us keen. Unafraid, always informed, we make it our business to ask the difficult questions, demanding better for SEs in NI.
We learn. We share
The pace of change is accelerating so we learn, we train and we share the skills that strong businesses need to thrive.
We help. We understand.
Our team is mature, skilled and experienced enough to know not to judge, always to help.
We match social value procurement partners
With SENI’s carefully planned, high profile events and our vibrant membership community, we help private companies and Social Enterprises work together better to share skills, win public sector contracts with social value procurement and lobby for government change. Members of SENI can access our Social Enterprise Directory, a comprehensive, search-ready database of fully vetted, SENI respected social enterprises and impact partners – our term for the many private and public organisations that want to collaborate with our sector.Â
We strengthen your skills
SENI shares learnings from social enterprises across the UK, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. We also create learning opportunities that are specific to the needs of Social enterprises in NI. These programmes boost leadership, marketing and social value measurement skills. Through these initiatives, SENI empowers social enterprises with the skills they need to thrive.
We tell the world
SENI is proud to promote the social value impact that NI social enterprises are having on communities across the country. We use our large social following and database of members to market the work of NI’s vibrant mix of social enterprises. As the sector spokespeople, we champion this sustainable, inclusive, pioneering backbone of the NI economy.
Our Team
Why trust us? It’s simple. We are all experts in our subjects. Togeher we have over 50 years of experience of specialised knowledge about the Social Enterprise Sector in Northern Ireland.
Colin Jess
Chief Executive
Colin Jess has been at the helm of SENI for over 20 years. In that time he has successfully elevated awareness and respect for the social enterprise sector among politicians, government department leaders and private business leaders.
Colin has an extensive network across public, private, and educational bodies as well as good relationships with government departments and politicians, presenting to Assembly Committees and also as Secretariat of the All Party Group on Social Enterprise.
Colin was appointed by the former Minister of Finance in December 2020 as an external advisor to the Procurement Board and seeks to promote the inclusion of social value in procurement at every opportunity.
Outside of work Colin enjoys time with the family and is also Chairman of Glentoran Football Club.
Amanda Johnston
Head of business development
Amanda has been an integral part of Social Enterprise NI from the inception of the organisation in 2012. Having worked in the social enterprise sector her entire life, Amanda is highly respected for her ability to help steer social enterprises towards financial sustainability. Always with her finger on the pulse of the industry, she also leading on financial management and income generation for SENI. Amanda is a qualified ‘Social Return on Investment’ practitioner.
Catherine Burns
HEAD OF EVENTS & COMMS
Catherine has a wealth of experience in business management, administration, comms and event planning across several industries, including retail, creative, and fitness. She holds a BA Hons in Fashion & Textile Design from the University of Ulster and having developed and managed her own fitness business, she has extensive experience working with the public, community groups and local government.
Catherine Minford
Maternity Cover – Head of Marketing and Design
Catherine ran a design and communications agency for 7 years before taking a detour into the world of social enterprise. She has a degree in International Business and Languages and spent over 20 years as a professional copywriter. She sits on the board of the WRDA, a women’s charity working to End Violence Against Women and Girls. She is also an artist whose work is in the collections of The Executive Office and the Arts Council of NI collections.Â
Rachel Creagh
Head of Marketing and Design – Currently on Maternity Leave
Rachel Creagh is a creative marketing professional and mum of little P-J. As Head of Marketing and Design at Social Enterprise NI, she drives brand awareness, designs engaging content, and champions the incredible impact of social enterprises across Northern Ireland.
Rachel is currently on Maternity leave and will return in 2027! Marketing queries or requests should be directed to Cath on the details below.
Jimmy Laverty
RiSE Project Officer
Jimmy is a well known and highly respected member of the Community and Voluntary Sector. As a grants specialist, he has worked in a variety of organisations giving him the empathy and intelligence needed to make a real difference.
His wealth of knowledge about the sector, funding and grants will be put to good use on the Rural innovation and Social Enterprise scheme, a 4 year project that will increase the capacity, capability and confidence of rural groups who could benefit from social enterprise activities. With his feet firmly on the ground, he is also a skilled communicator with a natural ability to make the team laugh on a Monday morning. Â
SENI Ambassador
Cate Conway
Ambassador
Cate Conway is a radio presenter and brand ambassador for Social Enterprise Northern Ireland. Her role involves hosting our annual sector awards and the #WISE Podcast to share the stories and impact tales of those organisations doing amazing things.
An excellent host that lights up the room when she’s there and a true advocate of social enterprise.
Board Members
Gavin Annon
(Chairman)
Gavin Annon is Chief Strategy Officer of Mount Charles Group, ex President of Belfast Chamber, winner of countless impressive business awards and now the Chair of Social Enterprise NI. As a strong advocate of businesses across all sectors including those with a social purpose, Gavin will work with the CEO and Board of SENI to set the tone for ambition and governance, implementing strategy and amplifying the voice of the social enterprise sector.Â
David Hunter
Former CEO of Access Employment Limited (AEL) for 11 years, David developed 5 new social enterprise businesses in parallel with a number of training programmes and targeted interventions to assist adults and young people with disability into employment.
During his role, employment within the organisation increased from 13 to 52 and income increased from £272k to over £1.3million with some 70% being self-generated income.
David is a strategic leader with extensive expertise in developing and implementing long term organisational/business strategies within both the private and social sectors. He consults for DFC to support local economic recovery in Northern Ireland.
Sharron Russell
A Public Policy and Management graduate (Magee), Sharron joins SENI with over 30 years’ experience in the public sector, most recently as Director in the Department for Communities responsible for community sector support, charities policy and legislation and strategic oversight of governance and control in four Arm’s Length Bodies. She initiated a refresh of policy and funding frameworks to support longer term investment in the community sector in NI and directed work to develop a new Partnership Agreement between the Sector and Government, as co-chair of the Joint Forum.
Sharron has a particular interest in contributing to SENI’s long term strategic planning. She is most happy when making connections and being creative and collaborative. Sharron also serves on the Board of Governors of Whiteabbey Primary School and The Over 50s Council for Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.
Dave Linton
Dave is an innovator, social entrepreneur, motivational speaker and founder of multi- award-winning Madlug C.I.C which achieved B-Corp certification in 2022. He is extremely passionate about using Madlug to influence a new young generation of social entrepreneurs.
What is Social Value?
Social Value is a measurement of positive impact on society – on people’s lives, the places they live and the planet around us. It adds morality and ethics to financial transactions in an effort to make life more fair for more people.Â
Why is Social Value Important for Northern Ireland?
Public procurement is the process by which the government and public bodies in NI spend upwards of £3billion on goods and services. Procurement in NI is now focused on much more than price, it’s about ensuring that the maximum benefit for people, communities and the planet – social value – is baked into every tender request.
Is Social Value at the core of public procurement in NI?
Yes. On the 24th February 2025, a new procurement act embedded social value into every procurement decision made by the Department of Finance. PPN01/21 dictates that services and goods tenders must allocate a minimum of 10% of the total value to score social value. Other departments in the executive will soon announce their own social value commitments. This is a wave of change that will only get bigger.Â
Why is Social Value important for private companies?
Social Value is not a nice to have, it is rapidly becoming a must have, especially if you want to win large public contracts. Private companies can partner with social enterprises to win tenders for the public sector or to boost their ESG credentials. The opportunities to have a positive impact on your people, place and planet are immense.Â
How does SENI help with social value procurement?
SENI has a large directory of fully vetted social enterprises, many of whom we know well and can introduce you to. We also run over 30 events every year. Each is designed to bring social enterprises and social value partners together to help them communicate, collaborate and improve their chances of success.
SENI’s members directory also allows business owners to search for social enterprises in their area.
SENI runs various training opportunities to help social enterprises to track and monitor their impact in the local community so they can more easily communicate with potential private partners.
SENI has excellent relationships with key stakeholders like the Strategic Investment Board, the Department for the Economy and The Department for Finance our CEO Colin Jess is secretariat for the All-Party Group on Social Enterprise which is working to get Social Value Legislation passed through the NI Executive.Â