SOLAS Wins Public Sector Organisation of the Year at National Diversity & Inclusion Awards

SOLAS/08.02.2025

SOLAS has won Public Sector Organisation of the Year at the National Diversity & Inclusion Awards which recognises and celebrates excellence in Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) in workplaces across Ireland.

The awards were hosted by the Irish Centre for Diversity and took place on Friday evening (7.02.25) in the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road, Dublin. Judged by a panel of leading experts in Diversity and Inclusion (D&I), the awards acknowledge organisations that are creating positive change through D&I initiatives.

SOLAS was awarded for their positive action on a range of D&I initiatives including staff training in Irish Sign Language, mental health, neurodiversity and unconscious bias, a volunteering initiative with The Cavan Centre, and a positive action recruitment programme.

In addition to this award, SOLAS colleague Gay O’Connor won the ‘Employee of the Year’ award. Gay was recognised for her outstanding contribution towards creating a meaningful diverse and inclusive workplace culture in SOLAS.

Andrew Brownlee, CEO of SOLAS said:

“We are absolutely thrilled to receive this award and it is real recognition of the unwavering commitment and passion of our team to create real change in SOLAS. Our ambition is to become one of the most progressive public sector bodies in Ireland and winning ‘Public Sector Organisation of the Year’ brings us one step closer to making this a reality.

"We are really proud especially of our People Team who have shown great leadership in developing and rolling out an exciting range of initiatives that are supporting us to create a truly meaningful diverse and inclusive workplace culture in SOLAS.

"As an organisation we are responsible for driving transformation, growth, and reform within FET, as well as ensuring important progress for the FET sector - including how FET is delivered and widening participation to those most marginalised in our communities – making sure we have a diverse and inclusive workplace is vital to this success.

"By creating an inclusive and positive workplace environment, it has a knock on effect on how we deliver our strategy, innovate for the future, and serve learners - who are at the heart of everything we do."

Speaking about SOLAS’ achievements Caroline Jones, People Engagement Manager said:

“Our commitment to both the Public Sector Duty and the Equality and Human Rights Act has encouraged us to take positive action on how we deliver on our learning and development within SOLAS, and making important policy changes including our ‘Speaking Up’ policy.

"Our Diversity and Inclusion work is underpinned by an important set of Organisational values – our SOLAS TRIBE (transparent respectful, innovative, brave, effective), this has ensured that our D&I initiatives are not a ‘tick box exercise’, they are deeply embedded in everything we do, from our procurement, finance, funding, equality, and recruitment policies.”

Diversity and Inclusion at SOLAS

SOLAS’ ambition is to become one of the most progressive public sector bodies in Ireland and we are working towards creating a diverse and inclusive workplace culture and supporting employee wellbeing through a range of initiatives.

Recent key achievements include:

  • Shortlisted for two awards in the National Diversity and Inclusion Awards 2025 – one for Public Sector Organisation of the Year and another for Employee of the Year.

  • Placed on IBEC’s ‘Ireland’s Leading in Wellbeing Top 100 Index’ 2024 - recognising the top 100 Irish employers of all sizes who have demonstrated an exceptional contribution to workplace social, mental, and physical wellbeing.

  • Fully in compliance with The Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty (‘the Duty’), a statutory obligation for public bodies in Section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014. Section 42(1).

  • Won a highly commended award for Advancing Social Inclusion at the National Diversity & Inclusion Awards in 2024 - recognises and celebrates progress on Diversity & Inclusion in Ireland.   

  • Achieved an Investors in Diversity Silver Accreditation from the Irish Centre for Diversity in 2024 - recognises SOLAS’ actions, policies and processes which look to embed equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the values of the organisation.  

  • Awarded with Ibec’s KeepWell Mark in 2024, a national accreditation that recognises and celebrates organisations that put the health and wellbeing of employees at the centre of company policy. 

  • Won a HR Champions CSR Strategy Award 2024 for our important collaboration with the Irish Prison Service that's helping to support inclusion and widen access to education.