Meet the team

David Smyth is head of Northern Ireland and coordinates the Public Leader: Northern Ireland course. He is a former solicitor and represents the Evangelical Alliance on a range of government, civic and charitable forums. He serves in the space where faith, law, politics and culture intersect.

Dawn keeps the office and team in order. She also heads up Both Lives Matter, of which the Evangelical Alliance Northern Ireland is a founding partner. Dawn lives and worships on the Ards peninsula, with her husband Peter and their three daughters.

In this role, Donna seeks to resource the church to be strategic, creative and bold as we proclaim, enact and embody the good news of Jesus in our context. She is passionate about equipping the church to be both biblically faithful and culturally relevant as we stand at the interface between gospel and culture. Donna's heart and voice for church and mission have been formed by her Masters in Missiology, several years of church planting work in Bangladesh followed by developing church engagement with mission through her OMF role in Ireland. Donna lives in Belfast with her husband Nathaniel and children Micah and Tabitha. Some of life’s good gifts for Donna include a morning coffee, shared laughter with friends, a long run out in nature, and a good crime drama.

Danielle lives on the north coast of Northern Ireland with husband Graham and three teenage kids. She joined the team in Northern Ireland in October 2020 and has become part of the team through the wonders of online connection. Previously, Danielle worked in administration and finance in retail and local church, but after completing a masters in communication and PR, she was keen to pursue a role in political engagement.

In her role as public policy officer she hopes to highlight a broad range of issues that matter to the church and christians in Northern Ireland and to encourage Christians to engage in these issues with a voice of hope that reflects the good news message of Jesus.