Meet Tammy Darcy, Founder of The Shona Project

permanent tsb is proud to celebrate courage and champion entrepreneurship as a supporter of ‘Changing Ireland: My Big Idea’, a six-part docuseries produced for RTÉ One, in association with our community partner Social Entrepreneurs (SEI). The documentary follows some of the most successful social entrepreneurs from the SEI Alumni Network, showcasing the positive impact that their work is having across the country and detailing their journey from start-up to scale-up.

Today, we want to introduce you to Tammy Darcy, Founder of The Shona Project and one of the entrepreneurs featured in the series.

Being a young girl in Ireland can be very tough…

Figuring out who we are, and where we fit into this world is hard, and there are so many different challenges that young girls face that make them feel like they don’t fit in.

The Shona Project aims to educate, empower, and inspire today’s Irish girls to become tomorrow’s strong, resilient and confident young women. Through their workshops, events and online platforms, the Shona Project wants to ensure that every girl has access to:

• Information and advice on all the challenges they face such as relationships, body image, bullying, social media, school and exam stress, mental health, sexuality or gender identity.
• Positive female role models across all sectors, but specifically in the areas of sports, STEAM, business, the arts and social activism.
• An online community which encourages and celebrates difference and diversity, and a safe place to share their own personal stories.

The Shona Project is named after Founder Tammy’s sister Shona, who at the age of 15 was diagnosed with Ateriovenous Malformations (a type of acquired brain injury). Shona’s health deteriorated quickly and her family was told that she would not survive a year. Today Shona is 38, and despite needing 24 hour nursing care is still with us.

By naming the project The Shona Project, Tammy feels that despite her illness, Shona is creating an impact on the world.

The Shona Project celebrates women all over the world and is a programme that really is #ChangingIreland.

‘Changing Ireland: My Big Idea’ is now showing on Monday evenings, from 7.30-8.00pm on RTÉ One. The docuseries originally aired in March/April 2020.

To learn more about the Bank’s partnership with SEI and our continued commitment to having a positive and meaningful impact on communities across Ireland, please visit our Responsible Business Website.