 Chief Executive
Equality Commission for Northern Ireland
On leaving grammar school in Belfast in 1977, Evelyn Collins studied at Sheffield University, graduating in 1980 with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. On receipt of a Connaught Scholarship from the University of Toronto Evelyn attained her MA in Criminology in 1982. She then studied part-time for a Master of Laws in Human Rights and Discrimination Law at Queen’s University, Belfast. She also has a Post-Graduate Certificate in Management Studies from the University of Ulster.
After living in Canada, Evelyn was appointed as Research Officer to the then Equal Opportunities Commission for Northern Ireland in 1982 and undertook a range of positions with the EOC NI before being appointed as its Chief Executive in 1998. Following the establishment of the Equality Commission in 1999, which has a remit spanning all equality and anti-discrimination legislation in Northern Ireland, she was appointed its first Chief Executive in 2000.
From 1990-1992, Evelyn was on secondment as a National Expert in the Equal Opportunities Unit, DGV (Directorate-General for Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs), at the European Commission in Brussels. This post had responsibility for European Union initiatives on employment equality. Since the end of the secondment she has been associated with the European Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities, including as President in 2005, and a range of other European related activities on equal opportunities.
Evelyn was awarded the CBE in the New Years Honours in 2008, for public service in Northern Ireland.
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