Bank of Ireland

Prior to joining Bank of Ireland, Francesca served with HSBC for 20 years, holding a number of senior leadership roles across seven different countries.

As Bank of Ireland CEO Francesca has instituted widespread cultural reform, insisting that a good culture is not a ‘nice to have,’ it’s a ‘must have.’ Passionate about customers and colleagues, she has constantly led front line focused innovation and has a powerful and ongoing commitment to inclusion and diversity. This passion was recognized in 2017 when Francesca was awarded an OBE for services to banking. She has regularly appeared in the top 20 HERoes Women Role Model lists and was ranked second in the 2021 OUTstanding LGBT+ Ally list.

Francesca is the Chair of Open Doors, which provides opportunities to some of the marginalized members of society in Ireland. Francesca also sits on the board of Ibec, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation. Francesca has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University. McDonagh was born in London, to an Irish father and Egyptian mother. Her paternal grandfather comes from the village of Carraroe in County Galway and her paternal grandmother is from Laois.