Team"If you had told me when I first arrived in KL that I would be Chair of this dynamic and thriving group. I would have been incredibly surprised and somewhat daunted. Let me introduce myself for those who do not know me. My name is Debbie O’Neill, I am originally from Dublin, Ireland. I began my career working in administration for an Insurance Company in Dublin before following my passion and graduating as a Sports and Fitness Consultant. I worked in the Health and Fitness industry for 10+ years in a variety of roles. I also taught Swimming and Aqua aerobics for many years and played Water Polo at national level. I transferred back into an office environment working in the Sales and marketing Office of a large Hotel group in Dublin after spending a year out in the middle east with my husband before getting married. I moved to KL with my husband, and two children from Bangalore, India just over 5 years ago. While I was in India I was involved in the Overseas Women’sFoundation of Bangalore. Initially as Secretary, then as VP Advertising and Communications and then President before moving to KL. After joining ABWM, I took a short break from volunteering and spent time settling in before joining the Committee as Secretary for 2 years before becoming Chair. We have been expats now for over 17 years. We have one grown up daughter living in Ireland and our son is with us here in KL. I look forward to working together this year to reach our goals: to contribute to our charities and to promote sociability amongst our members”.

Meet theTeam

Our members are very active and fun loving, so it takes quite a bit of organisation to keep the events fresh and interesting.

We have a small, but perfectly formed committee of volunteers who give up their time to make this happen.
But don't be fooled into thinking we do all the work!

This is a self-organising community that thrives only because every one of its members play their part.

We are blessed with hundreds of ladies who contribute generously, whether it's as a Link Lady running local coffee mornings, baking cakes for the Christmas Bazaar or volunteering to work in one of our supported charities.

Debbie O'Neill

Chair

"If you had told me when I first arrived that I would be Chair of this dynamic and thriving group...

Renae O'Connell

Secretary

Hi, I’m Renae O’Connell and I am excited to join the ABWM committee...

Clare Harraghy

Senior Charties Coordinator

Clare was born in Liverpool, England, and trained as a nurse in Addenbrookes, Cambridge

Heather McWilliam

Events & Sponsorship Coordinator

My name is Heather McWilliam and I am so excited to be given the opportunity to join the

Lynette Rock

Vice Chair & House Manager

Lynette is British and after 14 years in Singapore, moved to Kuala Lumpur, where she has lived...

Alia Dada

Magazine Editor

Hi, I’m Alia. I’ve been Editor for the ABWM magazine since it went digital...

Deirdre Davies

Charities Coordinator

Dee was born in Australia and grew up on a Sheep Station not far from Canberra...

Alison Rooney

Treasurer

I arrived in KL in August 2022 with my husband on our first expat foray and settled in Bangsar...

Alissa Nelson

Events Manager

My name is Alissa Nelson, I'm American born, from Texas. Finding a home on the ABWM Committee...

Annie Nguyen

Assistant House Manager

Annie recently moved from Charities Coordinator to Assistant House Manager...