Dr Eílis Flanagan is the Head of Membership (Ireland) for Advance HE. Having worked in the education sector for the past 17 years, Eílis is passionate about strengthening the pivotal societal role of higher education through supporting professional growth opportunities for all staff as well as widening access and participation in higher education. She was previously employed in Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT) as a senior researcher leading and managing numerous strategic research projects with significant regional and national impact. Her prior employment experience includes lecturing in Initial Teacher Education, Research Supervisor and Research Fellow in Education at NUI Galway as well as post-primary teacher and Head of English Faculty. Eílis holds a PhD (Education), a Postgraduate Diploma in Education, a Masters of English (Literature and Publishing) and a Bachelor of Arts (English and Classics). She has extensive experience of creating sustainable networks with Higher Education Institutions, government bodies and education organisations nationally and internationally. She has been a keynote speaker for the Department of Education and Skills Inspectorate and is an invited guest speaker at the World Congress of Education 2021. Eilis’ research interests include educational policy, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), teacher professional development, English education, Discourse Analysis and Video Methods. She has presented her research at wide-ranging national and international educational conferences and her research has been funded by the Galway Doctoral Scholarship, Higher Education Authority, Irish Research Council, COST, and the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.