We are delighted to announce this year’s judges for Irish Business Design Challenge 2025.

The DCCI Irish Business Design Challenge seeks to reward and promote sustainable Irish businesses. The Irish Business Design Challenge has a total prize fund of €50,000 to share among the winners.

Meet the Judges

Sophie Reynolds

Sophie is Circular Economy Policy and Innovation Lead with Irish Manufacturing Research, where she delivers CIRCULÉIRE – a cross-sectoral industry-led innovation network dedicated to accelerating Irish businesses’ transition to the net-zero carbon circular economy. An innovative and strategic thinker, Sophie is a multi-disciplinary practitioner with 10 years+ experience delivering strategic design and policy research, and practical interventions for government, civil society and industry (e.g. Nesta UK; Rethink Ireland; Innovate Communities; EU Policy Lab; UNDG; OECD; UK & Irish Government, etc.). Her work explores how participatory, design-led innovation can lead to better products, services and systems, while addressing some of the greatest challenges of our time.

Simon Dennehy – CEO at Perch

Simon Dennehy is a graduate of the National College of Art and Design. He later founded Perch Dynamic Solutions, focusing on ‘–research-led design for applied human movement’.

Currently, Perch collaborates with prominent EU manufacturers and brands, like Orangebox & Steelcase, BladeBridge, GreyFox, Holmris & Labofa, to bring research-led design to life.

Simon has worked as adjunct lecturer at the National College of Art and Design, and NUI Maynooth and has lectured in many institutes nationally and internationally. He’s served as an External Examiner at institutions like the Cork Institute of Technology, Galway and Mayo Institute of Technology, TUDubljn and ATU Sligo. For the past 12 years, Simon has worked as an expert contributor to the WG6 TC207 European Standards for Furniture, and is now helping to spearhead a new endeavour to bring new thinkjng to the educational furniture standards.

Perch’s innovations have been exhibited globally, from London to New York. Notably, the RAY chair has been proudly displayed at the Copenhagen Design Museum.

Lara Hanlon

Lara is a design strategist, sustainability advocate, and community builder. She is the founder of Portion Collaborative, a design-led consultancy using creative disruption to drive innovation in the food system.

Lara is also the Project Director at 100 Archive and a Founding Member of Design Declares Ireland—two leading platforms advocating for the role of design in shaping a more sustainable, inclusive future. As an educator, she has taught design thinking, UX, and graphic design at the Institute of Art, Design, and Technology Dún Laoghaire (IADT), and has guest lectured at institutions such as the School of Visual Arts, NYC.

With a background in visual communication and experience working in multidisciplinary teams at IBM in Ireland and New York, Lara’s portfolio spans digital design, sustainable business transformation, and food systems innovation. She frequently collaborates with international organisations and Irish community initiatives to address complex local and global challenges.

Lara regularly contributes to Ireland’s design culture through talks, panels, and public engagements—including TEDx, CreativeMornings, and Milan Design Week. Her work has been featured in FastCompany, Dezeen, and Offscreen Magazine, and published by Bloomsbury Publishing.

She is passionate about making complex ideas simple, and believes that design—when used intentionally—can unlock better futures for people, communities, and the planet.