Dublin, Thursday, 25th January, 2018: The Ireland United States Alumni Association named John O’ Loughlin Kennedy, co-founder of the international humanitarian agency Concern Worldwide and director of WINI Technologies as the recipient of its annual Distinguished Alumni Award.
The award for Emerging Leader was presented to Amr Dawood, Co–Founder & CEO of The Good Summit. The two awards were presented at the association’s annual conference and dinner in Dublin by the US Chargé d’Affaires Reece Smyth, who also addressed those in attendance.
Speaking on the conference and awards in the Westbury Hotel, incoming President Vincent Mc Carthy said “The IUSA Conference & Alumni Awards 2018 provided us an opportunity to hear insights from leaders in Irish society across a broad range of areas, including cybersecurity, and also to celebrate the leadership of John O’Loughlin Kennedy and Amr Dawood in our community. It was especially powerful to hear about John’s life and work in setting up Concern and he truly is an inspiration to all of us in the IUSA as we look ahead to 2018 with confidence and positivity.”
The IUSA conference was addressed by a panel of speakers which included, Prof. Mark Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland, Áine Kerr, Co-founder and COO of Neva Labs, Simon Carswell, Public Affairs Correspondent with The Irish Times, Edward Burke, Assistant Professor in International Relations at the University of Nottingham and Ciaran O Cuinn, Centre Director of the MEDRC, an International Organisation established as part of the Middle East Peace Process to use water for peace. The conference was Moderated by Dearbhail McDonald, Group Business Editor of Independent News and Media. Those in attendance were also treated to a performance by the Notablelles, a ladies a cappella barbershop chorus formed in 2013, the first of its kind in the city of Dublin.
The association draws its membership from a broad cross section of those who have participated in US Government student exchange programmes and J1 visa participants. The association’s objectives are to mobilise and utilise the power, talents, experience and leadership of its alumni in order to make a beneficial contribution to Ireland as a whole and nurturing and promoting closer ties between Ireland and the United States.
In 2017, the IUSA scheduled in excess of a dozen events and there are many more to come in 2018. Please keep an eye on the ‘News’ section of this website or on our twitter and facebook feeds.