FEBEA Annual Conference 2024 - Strength in Unity

FRI 27th September 2024

Days

Hours

Minutes

Seconds

Community Finance Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Croke Park

FEBEA ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Strength in
Unity

The FEBEA Annual Conference brings together experts in the field of ethical finance and social economy at European and international level. The FEBEA annual event is a unique opportunity to exchange on the challenges and opportunities faced by ethical finance actors with respect to the changing social and political context.

Annual Conference

Programme

18:00 – 20:30

Reception of FEBEA members

Bank of Ireland – Colleage Green

Simultaneous interpretation EN – FR

9:15 – 9:45

Registration of participants

9:45 – 11:15

FEBEA General Assembly

Restricted for members and guests, only with invitation.

13:00 – 14:00

Netwroking lunch

14:00 – 17:00

Workshop 1: Funding and supporting instruments for financial institutions

Workshop provided by EIF, EIB, CEB and SIFTA.

FEBEA will bring representatives from the European Investment Fund, the European Investment Bank, the Central European Bank, and SIFTA to provide updates through practical examples on the new financial instruments offered by the EU.

Opportunities and practical examples in terms of guarantees, funding mechanisms, technical assistance – and not only – for social finance organisations.

This workshop is close to members of FEBEA’s network only.

14:00 – 17:00

Workshop 2: How to communicate on Social Finance

A training on communication will allow communication professionals of different ethical financiers to boost their communication in the fields of social finance, ethical finance, and social and solidarity economy.

This workshop is implemented under the Social Inclusive Finance Technical Assistance (SIFTA) managed by the EIB and funded by the European Union under the InvestEU Advisory Hub.

14:00 – 17:00

Workshop 3: Access to funding via EU Calls for Proposals

How social finance organisations can benefit from direct Funding programs such as ESF+, COSME, H2020, etc through participation to specific project proposals.

This workshop is implemented under the Social Inclusive Finance Technical Assistance (SIFTA) managed by the EIB and funded by the European Union under the InvestEU Advisory Hub.

19:00 – 23:00

Pre-conference reception

Reserved for members and guests.

Simultaneous interpretation EN – FR

9:00 – 9:20

Registration of participants

9:20 – 9:50

Welcome by

Pedro M. Sasia Santos, President of FEBEA

Catherine Blackbourne, Chair of Community Finance Ireland

Feargal McCormack, Chairperson of the GAA National Finance Management Committee

9:50 – 10:10

Jack Chambers

Minister for Finance Ireland

10:10 – 10:30

Mairead McGuinness

European Commissioner of Financial Markets, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union

10:10 – 10:30

Jim Power

Economic Analyst

11:15 – 11:45

Coffee Break

11:45 – 12:45

Panel 1: Collective Growth

During this panel, various FEBEA members will showcase their current collaborations with specific sectors or partners in their regions. They will explain how these partnerships make them stronger.

Esther Luna Navarro – Colonya Caixa Pollença [Spain]
Bogdan Merfea – AFIN [Romania]
La Nef [France]
Hefboom [Belgium]

Moderated by Anna Ghilardi, Project and Policy Officer at FEBEA.

12:45 – 13:45

Panel 2: Grassroots In Action

Barry Symes, Head of Community Finance (RoI), CFI
Padraic Fingleton, CEO of Donegal Local Development Company CLG
Mary Mullen, Director at Knockatallon Community Development CLG
Liam Devine – CEO Clanrye Group

Moderated by Phelim Sharvin, Community Finance Ireland.

13:45 – 14:00

Clossing remarks

By Donal Traynor, CEO of Community Finance Ireland and Daniel Sorrosal, Secretary General of FEBEA.

14:00

Networking lunch

Special INfo

Practical
information

Venue

Croke Park – Dublin.

Accommodation Recommendations

Our host, Community Finance Ireland, was kind enough to provide some accommodation recommendations close to the venue where the whole event took place. This is a common practice at every conference. Contact us for more information on this year’s accommodation recommendations.

Contact

For any enquiries, please contact maria.elejalde@febea.org

The speakers

Daniel Sorrosal

Daniel Sorrosal is currently the Secretary General of FEBEA, the European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks and Financiers, where he leads advocacy efforts with the European Union to promote finance that supports job creation, investment in the real economy, social cohesion, and environmental regeneration.

Catherine Blackbourne

Catherine has over 20 years’ experience as a Qualified Accountant and she currently holds consultancy positions within a Social Enterprise, Property companies and a Facilities Management company. Previous roles have been in sectors including the transport industry, mechanical and electrical contracting, property investment and development, and corporate banking. Catherine has a Master of Arts in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and is a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants Ireland. She is currently on the Board of Ark Housing and is a Parent Governor at Ballyclare High School.

Pedro M. Sasia

Pedro M. Sasia Santos has been the President of FEBEA since 2017, and re-elected during the 2023 General Assembly. During the last few years, he has been a board member of the Spanish Solidarity Economy Network and has developed an intense activity as researcher and consultant in the area of Business Ethics.

Jim Power

Economist, Author & Lecturer at UCD’s Smurfit Business School. Well-known Irish economist Jim Power is a popular speaker and an advisor to both corporates and SMEs, as well as co-hosting the popular economic podcast, ‘The Other Hand’. Jim helps people to see economics as a ‘social science’—driven more by human behavior than data—so that they can use economic trends to make better decisions and enjoy greater success.

Jack Chambers

Irish Minister for Finance. Jack Chambers (born 21 November 1990) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister for Finance since June 2024. He previously served as a Minister of State attending cabinet from July 2020 to June 2024, and served as Government Chief Whip from July 2020 to December 2022.

Mairead McGuinness

Mairead McGuinness is the European Commissioner for financial services, financial stability and Capital Markets Union. The Commissioner’s vision for the portfolio is focused on ensuring the financial sector’s strength and stability, so that it can deliver for people, society and the environment.

Our sponsors

Hosting organization

In collaboration with:

I want to be a sponsor

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

About
the event

The FEBEA Annual conference brings together practitioners and experts in the filed of ethical finance and social economy at European and international level. The FEBEA annual event is an unique opportunity to exchange on the challenges and opportunities faced by ethical finance actors with respect to the changing social and political context.

About FEBEA

Founded in Brussels in 2001, FEBEA is the European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks and Financiers, uniting 34 financial institutions from 17 European countries to champion ethical and social finance across Europe. The Federation is dedicated to fostering a fairer, more sustainable, and inclusive society by:

Facilitating the exchange of information, experiences, and cooperation among national networks and social economy and finance practitioners within Europe and the European Free Trade Area.
Representing its members at EU institutions, financial, and political organizations, and influencing various political levels and European institutions.
Actively supporting its members’ initiatives, including the creation of essential banking and financial instruments to achieve their objectives.

About the host

Community Finance Ireland (CFI) is a FEBEA member that combines aspects of charity, social enterprise, and business, all driven by the goal of establishing a world-class community finance system dedicated to translating aspirations into tangible social impact.

CFI has a strong focus on sports projects, community based initiatives and social enterprise projects.

Since their creation in 1995, they have collaborated with capital providers and clients to foster change within the Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise sector. With investments in every county across the island of Ireland, they have emerged a leading innovator in social finance provision, continually striving to push boundaries.

They speak finance but hear people.