Vice Admiral (Rtd) Mark Mellett DSM PhD
As founder and Director of Green Compass Admiral Mark Mellett is a specialist in the complexity that characterises the strategic environment of today. He has served his country for nearly forty eight years as a warrior, diplomat and scholar in Ireland’s regular and reserve forces. He was Ireland’s highest-ranking military officer, Government’s principal military adviser and member of the National Security Committee and the EU Military Committee. He has served as a specialist Naval Diving Officer, Seagoing Commander and also served in Afghanistan and Lebanon. He led the COVID-19 military response.
He is recipient of two Distinguished Service Medals and on behalf of the President of the French Republic he was appointed to the rank of Commander in the National Order of the Légion d’Honneur in 2023.
Board Chair of the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, he also serves as Board Chair of Sage Advocacy and Council Chair and Board Member of the Irish Management Institute.
Admiral Mellett is an Adjunct Professor at University College Cork holding a PhD in Ecosystem Governance.
He provides strategic advice to governments, industry and civil society institutions speaking about courageous leadership, diversity, inclusion, climate change, sustainability and security.
“Leadership is not defined by the exercise of power but by the capacity to increase the sense of power among those led. The most essential work of the leader is to create more leaders.”
— Mary Parker Follett, The Creative Experience, 1924
A decorated three-star Flag Officer, Chief of Navy and Ireland’s thirty first Chief of Defence. Mellett has brought his experience to his role as Ireland’s highest ranking military officer, the Government’s principal military adviser and member of the National Security Committee.
He is a Board Member and Chair at Sage Advocacy. Lifetime Fellow, Council Chair and Board Member of the Irish Management Institute. Chair of the Advisory Council of the Azure Forum for Contemporary Security Strategy. He Board Chair of the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority.
He holds a Doctorate in Political Science in Ecosystem Governance and a Masters of Commerce in Government & Public Policy & Sustainable Development. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at University College Cork & is a distinguished top graduate of of the US Naval War College, the Irish Military College and the UK Royal Naval Colleges in Greenwich and Dartmouth. He has a keen interest in research focused on technological innovation, climate change, ecosystems governance, sustainability and security.
Admiral Mellett advocates for networking and partnerships with state bodies, research institutes, civil society & enterprise. He was co-founder of the Irish Maritime and Energy Resources Cluster, which received the Prime Minister’s Public Service Excellence Award in 2012.
Admiral Mellett has extensive experience at home & abroad, including in Lebanon and Afghanistan where during his service in Kabul with ISAF, he proved highly effective in attaining unity of effort in complex scenarios. As a specialist Naval Diving Officer and Commanding Officer of three seagoing commands, Admiral Mellett participated in or led counter terrorism and narcotic operations. He is the recipients two Distinguished Service Medals (DSM) with honour & distinction.
A change leader who drives values in action and values based leadership, he positions organisations for a world where rule books are not always adequately codified. He is recognised for his leadership in the agile & flexible response of the Irish Defence Forces throughout the shock of the COVID_19 pandemic.