As the newly appointed operations manager I took up the post on the 20th July 1998. The main functions of my job are:

• To provide support and advice to the project teams including performance guidance
  
  
• To create a culture of empowerment among teams and team members
  
  
• To ensure the project services meet the needs and expectations of the community and most importantly
  
  
• To establish good communication channels between myself, the teams, from the teams to the director and vice versa.

Having worked as a Community Health Visitor with North and West Health and Social Services Trust and Opportunity Youth a local community based project for a number of years I am no stranger to the Greater Shankill area. I believe the Early Years Project has the potential to break the cycle of unemployment and under achievement which I encountered with the young people I worked with on the Shankill. I am fully committed to the principles of community development which the Early Years Project has adopted and believe that the project will create new opportunities in education, training and employment which is an exciting and optimistic future for the Shankill Community.

Yvonne Cowan
Operations Manager