Eileen O’Malley

Eileen has over 18 years of experience in diverse education and international development settings, primarily focused on policy development, partnership management, program management, analysis and communications.

Eileen is currently a Senior Advisor with Education.org that works directly with education leaders in low-income countries to provide independent, evidence-based guidance, bringing together the best global and local evidence from around the world to inform policies and practices to get children in school and keep them in school and learning.

She began her career at the Higher Education Authority (HEA)–the policy advisory arm for the third-level sector in Ireland and later served as Senior Manager of Fulbright US Student Programs for Europe & Eurasia at the Institute of International Education (IIE) in New York. Eileen then transitioned to the philanthropic sector with Porticus, managing global education programs aimed at fostering inclusivity in education for children facing extreme adversity.

She has also contributed to key projects with Education.org, including the High-Level Policy Guidance on Post-Covid Recovery (2021). More recently, Eileen co-authored a chapter in the NORRAG Special Issue on Foundational Learning (2024) and led the key sectoral publication of Challenging the False Dichotomy: An Evidence Synthesis (2023), emphasizing the importance of social and emotional skills in education systems.

Eileen holds an MA in Management and a BA International Degree in History and Politics from University College Dublin (UCD).