Aileen O’Toole – entrepreneur specialising in internet strategies

Aileen O’Toole, Managing Director of AMAS, is an entrepreneur who devises internet strategies for corporate and government clients

The founder of two businesses, she has been a senior media executive in Ireland for more than 20 years. Her experience spans strategy, communications, marketing, advocacy and entrepreneurship. In 2009, she conceived and led the Ideas Campaign, the independent citizens’ initiative which sought ideas for Irish economic recovery and renewal.

She is a co-founder of The Sunday Business Post newspaper and was a leading member of the team responsible for building one of Ireland’s most successful media brands.

Internet strategy

Since 2001, when she founded AMAS, Aileen has led a series of challenging projects for business and public sector clients. This has involved:

• Facilitating senior management teams to identify how the internet can deliver business opportunities
• Identifying commercial, marketing, organisational and other benefits through greater use of the internet
• Leading client teams to launch or relaunch significant digital projects

Business experience

Aileen O’Toole was a shareholder in The Sunday Business Post from its inception in 1989 until 1997, when it was sold to Trinity Mirror plc. She was a Director and Deputy Editor of the newspaper.

Previously, she was Editor of Business & Finance magazine and was the first woman to edit a national business title in Ireland. She is the recipient of two national media awards:

• The premier award for outstanding work in Irish journalism
• The Young Journalist of the Year award

Aileen has served on several policy and not-for-profit boards. She is currently a Director of Business in the Community, the non-profit organisation which promotes corporate responsibility and corporate community involvement.  She is a former Director of:

• Chambers Ireland the country’s largest business network, with 60 affiliated chambers and 13,000 members. She also served on Chambers Ireland’s Digital Policy Council.
• ASH Ireland, which campaigns to reduce the impact of smoking in Ireland

A member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland, she has provided strategic advice to a number of industry, governmental and not-for-profitorganisations.

In 2004, she was appointed by the then Tánaiste Mary Harney as a member of the Consumer Strategy Group, which reported to government on consumer issues. In 2009, she served on a government taskforce the Procurement Innovation Group which reviewed access to public sector contracts for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Aileen is a regular contributor to media in Ireland and overseas, and speaks frequently at conferences and events, on themes such as internet strategy, digital marketing and entrepreneurship.

Go to Aileen O’Toole’s LinkedIn profile