Niall Mellon is an entrepreneur and philanthropist. Born in Dublin in 1967, he has a range of international business interests. From his early 20’s to mid 30’s he launched numerous successful business ventures across a number of industries including financial services, software, hotels, property development and construction. He changed his life in 2002 and exited from a number of these businesses in order to focus full time on the Niall Mellon Township Trust and satisfy his ambition to be a significant provider of housing for the poor.

The Niall Mellon Township Trust

• In 2002, at the age of 35, Niall founded the Niall Mellon Township Trust after a holiday to South Africa where he witnessed at first hand the poor conditions in which the people of the country’s townships were living.
• For the past 9 years, Niall, who is frequently cited in the South African media as an “Irish Capetonian” has been the full time CEO of the charity and has driven and implemented innovative solutions to help eradicate urban poverty. Find out more about work of the Niall Mellon Township Trust. >>
  

American Congress

• In 2007, Mellon targeted the US Administration to support the Trust. Due to the fact that housing was not a primary objective of USAID, he set about changing policy. As a result, he made history when an “Appropriations Bill” was subsequently passed in Congress on 2nd February 2009, directing USAID to consider the Niall Mellon Township Trust specifically for future funding.
• The passing of this legislation represented a milestone achievement in his drive to provide housing for the poor.

Key Awards and Qualifications

• Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy (h.c). - Dublin Institute of Technology.
  
• Honorary Doctorate of Law (h.c)- University College Cork.
• Person of the Year Award 2003.
  
• Irish International Philanthropist of the Year 2007.
  
• Cape Town Mayor’s Medal 2009 Exceptional Achievement in the area of Social Affairs and Services.
  
• Meteor Humanitarian Award 2009.

Family Man

Niall is a dedicated family man with 4 young children, who believes that all successful business people should lead a balanced existence with half of their time dedicated to making profit and half dedicated to making a difference.