Leadership team

Danny McQuillan

Chief Executive Officer (interim)

For over twenty years Danny has worked in the community and voluntary sector holding a variety of positions both voluntarily and in paid capacities.

In his role as Director of Services, Danny draws on his particular areas of expertise which include service development and delivery, service commissioning and quality assurance, policy development, public relations, fundraising and social media development.

Danny oversees the delivery of a range of services to people who are homeless, people leaving prison, those living with an addiction and providing support to refugees.

As the Director of Services on an all-Ireland basis, he is responsible for providing leadership to the directorate, ensuring a long-term strategy is in place and that it is achieving its objectives in full, as well as maintaining and substantially growing service provision across all-Ireland and assessing potential for growth into other geographic areas.

In November 2020, Danny was appointed interim Chief Executive of Extern Group.

Dr Gavin Adams
Director of Business Development

Gavin joined Extern in April 2014 as Director of Business Development. Gavin was formerly Senior Manager for Business Development with the Royal National Institute of Blind People, where he led on the organisation’s fundraising, finance, public affairs, retail and communications/marketing activities across Northern Ireland.

Previously he was a Programme Manager and Head of Programmes with the Big Lottery Fund where he managed the assessment of funding applications, existing grants and developed new funding programmes.

Gavin has a passion for the voluntary sector and is currently a non-executive Director of Ulster Supported Employment Limited - which provides employment and training opportunities for people with disabilities.

In his role as Director of Business Development Gavin is responsible for providing leadership to Extern’s income generation, communications and marketing and public affairs activity.

Jonathan Carroll
Director of People and Organisational Development

Jonathan was appointed as Extern’s first Director of People and Organisational Development in 2019.

He has worked in senior HR leadership roles for over 25 years in the retail, media and construction sectors for local, national and global organisations.

Jonathan brings a wealth of expertise and experience to Extern of managing teams and change, creating and implementing HR strategies and people development initiatives which support organisational growth and transformation.

Jonathan holds an MBA and is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development.

Pauline Flynn

Director of Finance and Corporate Services

Pauline, who is from Belfast, is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. She attended Queens University Belfast and has a 1^st Class honours degree in Accounting and Economics, and a postgraduate diploma in accounting.

Pauline has held senior finance roles across a variety of sectors, managing a range of multi-disciplinary teams. For the last 17 years, she worked in two large charities, Director of Finance for Praxis Care, and Group Director of Finance & Corporate Services for Inspire Wellbeing.

Leslie Ann Scott

Interim Director of Services ROI

Leslie Ann Scott was appointed as interim Director of Services for the Republic of Ireland in November 2020.

Leslie Ann has worked with Extern in various roles both through direct employment and secondment since 2002. She has extensive experience of service design, development, delivery and reporting against key performance indicators aligned to core Government Strategies and targets.  

Leslie Ann is a qualified Social Worker registered with CORU and currently acts as Safeguarding Champion for Extern across the island of Ireland.

Thelma Abernethy

Interim Director of Services NI

Thelma has over 20 years’ experience working in the Voluntary and Community sector developing and delivering responsive services to meet the needs of individuals, families and communities affected by homelessness, alcohol and drug issues, mental health, and dementia.

Thelma started her career in youth work supporting young people across Europe to develop/maintain their skills and abilities for life at a time of major reform across eastern Europe.

She then moved into the area of homelessness and developed a range of services to enable individuals to develop their confidence and skills, and to obtain and secure accommodation.

Following this she worked as area manager  for the Alzheimer’s Society, developing services across Northern Ireland to enable people affected by dementia to live well with the condition.

Following this, she became Director of Addiction NI, developing the organisation’s reach across NI and diversifying the range of services provided.

Mal Byrne

Assistant Director of Drug and Alcohol services

Mal has worked in the homeless and addiction field since 1999 with Extern. As a student, Mal worked in the Ormeau Centre, initially on placement and then as a bank worker for two years. Mal worked as an Addictions Social Work practitioner from 1999 – 2005 in Extern’s Homeless Support Team.

Moving to Senior Social Worker in 2005, Mal oversaw the development of two PHA funded projects addressing chronic drug and alcohol issues within the homeless setting, including the innovative multi-agency partnership for the Drugs Accommodation Support Project aimed at housing opiate drug users in the homeless sector.

In 2019, Mal became the interim Assistant Director in Extern overseeing all of their communities’ portfolio incorporating homeless hostels, criminal justice projects and 15 drug and alcohol services both in Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Currently, Mal holds the post of Assistant Director of Drug and Alcohol services in Extern. Mal is also a member of Belfast Drug and Alcohol Co-ordination Team and was a founding member of Northern Ireland Alcohol and Drug Alliance.  

Mal is also on the Board of The Council for the Homeless.

Emma Purdon

Assistant Director of Communities

Emma currently holds the post of Interim Assistant Director for Communities.  She has worked for Extern for over ten years.   Emma provides leadership and direction to Programme Managers within the homelessness, refugee, criminal justice and the education and learning programmes within Extern.  She ensures a long-term strategy is in place and that each sector is achieving their objectives in full.

Emma has developed the service provision across each programme area by developing and growing effective networks with all principal supporters and stakeholders and by proactively seeking out opportunities to expand and promote service delivery.

Prior to joining Extern, Emma worked for various private and public organisations in a management capacity.  These included Capita HR Solutions, Halifax Bank of Scotland and the Belfast Trust, where she managed various operational teams.

Emma is a graduate of Ulster University, holding a master’s degree in Human Resource Management.