​Ruairí McKiernan is an award-winning social innovator, campaigner, writer and speaker and is the European Director of Narrative 4, which is a global non-profit promoting empathy among young people and wider society. In 2012 was appointed to the Council of State by President Michael D Higgins, where he served a 7-year term. Ruairí is a Fulbright scholar, the founder of the pioneering SpunOut.ie youth organisation, a founding member of the the Uplift campaigning organisation, and part of the founding team behind Gaelic Voices For Change. He is also the host of the chart-topping Love and Courage podcast a regular contributor to the media on social justice, youth and community issues, civic leadership and wellbeing. His new book Hitching for Hope - a Journey into the Heart and Soul of Ireland will be published internationally by Chelsea Green in March 2020.