Meet the team

Peter is passionate about faith in the public square and works as the UK director for the Evangelical Alliance. He previously worked as a barrister in Belfast before studying theology at Regent College in Vancouver, where he serves on the board. Peter is a regular media commentator, is married to Rose, has two daughters, and loves running.

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 serves on the board of New Horizon and the operations team of Ards and North Down Street Pastors. Dawn is also a deacon in Kircubbin Community Church and lives 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.

Ryan joined the Evangelical Alliance in 2020 as a graduate researcher for the Being Human project. Originally from the US, he had spent a decade working as a worship music director while obtaining an MDiv and ThM in worship and theology before he moved to Northern Ireland for doctoral research in history. The unifying theme in Ryan’s research is how big and abstract ideas are tangibly lived out in the experiences of individual people and worshipping communities.