Claire Ferris

Claire Ferris is the Chief Executive of Work West, a West Belfast based enterprise centre which promotes entrepreneurship and innovation both locally and across the North. Over the past 22 years at Work West, Claire has led on the development of a number of flagship projects including the construction of the Social Economy Village which opened its doors in 2008 and was the first of its kind in Northern Ireland. The bespoke space where social entrepreneurs co-locate to start up and grow has played a crucial role in Work West's recognition regionally as a market leader for the provision of social enterprise support. In 2016, Work West opened the thincLAB in the Social Economy Village, a bespoke design thinking and creative problem solving space where innovation training is delivered. Claire holds a BA hons in Spanish, German and Business Studies and a Masters Degree in European Business. Claire is a certified Foursight facilitator and she uses the creative preference profiling tool to help individuals and teams foster innovation across their work. Claire has also undertaken training in USA in creative problem solving tools and techniques which she applies to her work. Claire's work was recognised in 2012 when she was the first woman from Northern Ireland to be awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion and in 2017 she was awarded the Social Innovation Leader of the Year in the CO3 leadership awards. Claire is a board member and former treasurer of West Belfast Partnership board and a former board member of Footprints Women's Centre.