Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy, Co-Founder

Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy is Co-founder of Young Social Innovators. She is one of Ireland’s greatest social innovators and a member of the congregation of Religious Sisters of Charity since 1958.  For almost fifty years now she has pioneered, campaigned, explored and developed a range of inspiring social innovations to the benefit of thousands of people who have experienced exclusion in its many forms. Her work has included the establishment of some key services. In 1985 Sr. Stan established Focus Point which is now Focus Ireland, the largest national, voluntary organisation helping people to find, create and maintain a home. In 2000 she founded the Sanctuary, a meditation/spirituality centre in the heart of Dublin city, a place where people can find a quiet space and time for themselves to explore and develop their inner world and wisdom. In 2001 Sr. Stan, with sponsorship from Chantal McCabe, established Social Innovations Ireland (SII) out of which has grown two new initiatives: The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI), an independent national organisation working to promote the rights of immigrants through information, advocacy and legal aid and Young Social Innovators (YSI) which she set up with Rachel Collier to encourage young people to practice social innovation to help make a fairer, more just society.