Michael O’Hara

• Michael O'Hara grew up in rural Ireland, working in his family's pub. This gave him experience interacting with customers and taught him to treat people with respect.
• He qualified as an accountant and worked in finance before joining an IT company called Data Solutions. He and his business partner grew Data Solutions over 25+ years, expanding recently into the UK market.
• In 2020 during lockdown, Michael started thinking more about sustainability and climate change. He co-founded a non-profit called Techies Go Green to help businesses adopt more sustainable practices.
• On a personal level, Michael is most proud of his three grown children. He enjoys spending time with them now as adults.
• Looking ahead, Michael is excited about Techies Go Green's sustainability charter to provide businesses a roadmap to reach net zero emissions.
• For young people starting careers, his advice is to work hard, become an expert in your field, and treat everyone with respect.
• Michael climbed Mount Kilimanjaro about 12 years ago, which was an amazing experience but also showed him firsthand how the glaciers are melting due to climate change. This was an early motivator for his sustainability work.
• He emphasizes the importance of measuring your carbon footprint so you can understand where emissions are coming from and create a reduction plan.
• Some helpful sustainability actions for businesses include allowing remote work to reduce commuting, cutting back on business travel in favor of video calls, switching to renewable energy, and electrifying vehicles/machinery.
• Michael enjoys regular exercise like going to the gym as well as evening walks to unwind. He believes routine is important when managing a busy workload.
• If he could make any subject mandatory in schools, it would be sustainability education to change mindsets and culture around consumption, business practices, etc.
• When asked how he'd like to be remembered, Michael said as a good family man who raised a happy family, a successful business leader who took care of employees and stakeholders, and someone who contributed to sustainability.