Mr. Steve Killelea is an accomplished entrepreneur in high technology business development and at the forefront of philanthropic activities focused on sustainable development and peace.
After successfully building two international software companies, Mr. Killelea decided to dedicate most of his time and fortune to sustainable development and peace.
Mr. Killelea founded Integrated Research LTD. (IR), an Australian publicly-listed company with a 25-year heritage of providing performance management and payments software for business-critical computing and Unified Communications environments. Through Mr. Killelea’s direction as CEO and now as Chairman, IR has built an impressive, world-class customer base to make it one of Australia’s leading software companies. He was recognised as AIIA Australian Exporter of the Year in 1998 and 2003, amongst numerous other business awards.
Mr. Killelea has always had a strong passion for sustainable development, and in 2000 established The Charitable Foundation (TCF), which specialises in working with the poorest communities of the world. TCF is one of the largest private overseas aid organisations in Australia. It aims to provide life-changing interventions reaching as many people as possible with special emphasis on targeting the poorest of the poor. TCF is active in East and Central Africa and parts of Asia and has substantially impacted the lives of over 2.3 million people.
In 2007, Mr. Killelea founded the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), an international think tank dedicated to building a greater understanding of the interconnection between business, peace and economics with particular emphasis on the economic benefits of peace. IEP’s ground-breaking research includes the Global Peace Index, the world’s leading measure of peacefulness. Mr. Killelea’s founding of IEP was recognised as one of the 50 most impactful philanthropic gifts in Australia’s history.
Mr. Killelea currently serves on a number of influential Company Boards, Advisory Boards and President Councils. In 2010, he was honored as Member of the Order of Australia for his service to the global peace movement and the provision of humanitarian aid to the developing world. In 2013, Mr. Killelea was nominated one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People in Armed Violence Reduction” by the UK group Action on Armed Violence.
