About

My name is Mary Kirwan. I help organisations fight financial crime. It is not an easy job. It requires resilience, tenacity and the ability to pivot on the fly. The enemy is well resourced and has no scruples. It is always probing and learning how to exploit our weaknesses. Sometimes it feels like shooting fish in a barrel, but it is rewarding when we hold the line. I learn quickly and adapt, as we must, to face a redoubtable adversary. (No, I don’t mean AI. Although AI is as useful to bad people as good!).

I have 15+ years’ experience across global financial institutions fighting financial crime. I am a former Canadian federal drug prosecutor and a proud Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. I am a multi disciplinarian with experience and qualifications in many fields, such as law, business, IT and cyber security.

I have a proven track record of developing and executing multi-year strategies to combat emerging financial crime threats and helping senior management sleep at night. I have expertise in digital forensics, cyber risk, and regulatory engagement. I am recognized for building and leading high-performing teams, driving innovation, and delivering operational excellence across complex, multi-jurisdictional environments.

My lifelong passion is ensuring that complex technologies serve everyone – not just a privileged few. I have a proven record of translating technical jargon into plain language, empowering decision-makers and the public alike. My Globe and Mail column and frequent media commentary was an example of my advocacy for clear, honest communication in the tech sector and not blaming tough problems on the Dummies (general public).

In my thesis for my MSc, I wrote about my concern that geneticists and eminent scientists are splicing genetic code and fusing human and animal DNA and potentially paying scant respect to the law of unintended consequences. All the while the public remains generally oblivious to what is being done in their name. The science is complex but the basic premise underpinning it is not. We must do better to ensure that all stakeholders are invested in our collective future.

My lifelong passion is ensuring that complex technologies serve everyone – not just a privileged few. I have a proven record of translating technical jargon into plain language, empowering decision-makers and the public alike. My Globe and Mail column and frequent media commentary was an example of my advocacy for clear, honest communication in the tech sector and not blaming tough problems on the (general public).

In my thesis for my MSc, I wrote about my concern that geneticists and eminent scientists are splicing genetic code and fusing human and animal DNA and potentially paying scant respect to the law of unintended consequences. All the while the public remains generally oblivious to what is being done in their name. The science is complex but the basic premise underpinning it is not. We must do better to ensure that all stakeholders are invested in our collective future.

Interests

All work and no play makes a dull girl.

When my head isn’t in a book, it’s obsessively watching K dramas. I have huge respect for Koreans – their fierce resolve to protect their young democracy and the extraordinary talent of their writers and illustrators – K dramas and movies that tackle uncomfortable topics that rarely see the light of day in the West; their integrity, their ferocity, humour and their huge heart:” the Irish of Asia” I’ve heard them described and they’ve certainly hit a chord with this Celt.

I also love art – medieval to graffiti. Great graffiti art has the power to transcend and transform the blandness of grey neighbourhoods and lift the human spirit.