Profile: Angela Kerins, chief executive of Rehab

Ambitious and tenacious, disability advocate and perennial board member, Angela Kerins broke through the glass ceiling.

Politically astute and practically skilled, this former nurse has applied all the good practices of midwifery she learnt on the wards to bring a number of personal and corporate projects to full health.

Born in Waterford, she grew up between Cashel and Tramore. Kerins has been appointed to more boards than most upwardly mobile female execs could ever dream of.

Her monthly pay cheque from the not-for-profit- Rehab Group may not be precisely known, but the extent of Kerins's corporate DNA is crystal clear from her CV, which makes lengthy reading.

In addition to her role as chief executive of Rehab, the mother of two is a visible powerhouse in the corporate environment.

She has been chairperson of the National Disability Authority and the Disability Legislation Consultation Group. She was a member of the Department of Foreign Affairs/NGO Joint Committee on Human Rights and was appointed to the board of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland.

She's served on the board of the European Platform for Rehabilitation and the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).

Kerins was appointed a member of the National Executive of the Irish Business Employers Confederation (IBEC) and the Advisory Committee of ComReg. She has been a permanent representative to the Economic and Social Council of the UN and in recent weeks accompanied Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Enterprise Ireland on an extensive trade mission in the Gulf.

Driven and direct, when the pressure piled on earlier this month to come clean about the size of her current salary, she sidestepped the pressure to clarify how much she earns.

There are few signs of ostentatious wealth. She lives in Temple Hill, an area in the southside suburb of Blackrock, and she is regularly seen shopping in local shops, dropping in to have her hair done, courteous and friendly to the other clients in Aidan Fitzgerald's salon.

She dresses well and confidently and has featured on RTE talking about shopping for a fuller figure.