Our Team
Laurence Knell, MSc (Mgmt) BA (Hons)
Director
Laurence Knell has over 20 years’ experience working in the consultancy, technology and transportation sectors in Ireland, Europe and Australia with companies such as Maersk, Microsoft and Insights, delivering organizational change, strategic realignment and innovation. He is a director of Strategic Innovation Partners, a Dublin-based consultancy, and a co-founder of Brain for Business, an initiative bringing together practical insights from the world of behavioural and brain science to deliver better business practice and outcomes.
Laurie has worked internationally with leaders and executives in a wide-range of sectors including technology, transportation, finance, pharmaceutical, FMCG, and agri-business. He has worked in an advisory capacity with organisations ranging from Irish SMEs and multinationals through to semi-state and statutory bodies.
Laurie is an Associate Lecturer on the Open University Business School’s Triple-Accredited MBA program, teaching in the areas creativity, innovation and management. He also works closely with the OU’s Executive Education team and Centre for Police Research and Learning.
Laurie is an Adjunct Lecturer with Trinity Business School and Associate with the Irish Management Institute teaching.
Laurie is accredited in the use of a number of leading psychometrics including Insights Discovery and the Thomas PPA and has used these extensively in his work with leaders and teams.
In his spare time, Laurie is the host of the popular Brain for Business, Brain for Life podcast: https://brainforbusiness.ie/podcasts
Gráinne Millar, MBS BA (Hons)
Director
Grainne is an expert in the area of strategy, innovation and evaluation where she has over 20 years’ experience. She has worked with public sector organisations including Enterprise Ireland, Fáilte Ireland, Design and Crafts Council of Ireland, Dun Laoghaire Local Enterprise Office, Waterford Enterprise Office, European Commission. She has also worked with a wide range of SMEs and micro enterprise and more recently has consulted to clients in the areas of LEAN/Agile leading to the successful reimagination of multiple businesses.
Gráinne is an experienced communicator and has worked on numerous advocacy and policy platforms and campaigns which have encompassed presentations to Government Oireachtas Committees, representation on EU Commission DG working groups, government departments, boards, industry and media. Gráinne has written articles for The Irish Times and specialist publications relating to culture, innovation and clusters.
Gráinne holds an MBS in Management from the Irish Management Institute, (IMI) graduating with distinction in 2013 with a focus on the areas of strategy, leadership and innovation. As part of her Masters, she completed her Thesis on Cultural Clusters and Creative Cities. She qualified as an EU Benchmarking Expert on Clusters in July 2017. She is a qualified Project Manager with the Irish Institute of Project Management (IPM) and an associate lecturer with the IPM. She is a business growth advisor and mentor with Enterprise Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. Gráinne is Council Member of the Irish Film Institute and steering group for Ireland’s first National Tourism Day 2020.