Gaining Ground profiles women making their mark across Northern Irelands business, creative and civic sectors. Host Aly McElroy sits down with entrepreneurs, artists and community workers for candid conversations about their careers and ambitions.

The series spans diverse fields: Jill O’Neill runs Refound, a furniture‑art fusion business after working in the USA; Susan Picken leads Queen’s Film Theatre; Brenda Shankey shares her business success and mindfulness writing; Sandara Kelso Robb discusses philanthropy and her Hope For More Foundation. Creative voices include milliners Gráinne Maher and Leonora Ferguson, jeweller Julia Cameron (great‑great‑granddaughter of pioneering photographer Julia Margaret Cameron), and designer Jenny Simon balancing creative work with family life. Community figures like Eva Grosman (Centre for Democracy & Peace Building), Callie Persic (Peas Park interface project) and Ciara Faloona (Playball Belfast sports programmes) round out the roster.