Four years ago, Rachel joined Aer Lingus as the first female executive board member and only the second woman at executive level in 83 years. She is responsible not only for all areas of Finance including actionable financial insight to drive business performance, but also for the technology functions, covering day to day operations across all systems, cyber security and development of new technology solutions. Rachel acts as a powerful and visible role model for women in the sector. She has developed diversity from an initially uncomfortable conversation to a regular point of discussion. She sponsors the LIFT (Let’s Inspire Female Talent) network, enabling a 9% improvement in women at senior management level in the last three years. As a result of Rachel’s commitment to diversity, a number of positive changes have been introduced, including annual International Women’s Day all female flights; and the engagement of the company’s first female engineering apprentices. Rachel allocates time to act as a mentor and sponsor to women at all levels across Aer Lingus and the IAG Group. She also participates in panels at events and conferences, such as Hackathon – The Levers of Change, the 2018 Women in Tech conference and the 2019 Dublin Tech Summit. Furthermore, Rachel has supported the launch of the first Irish Girl Guides Aviation badge.