Dennis Brownlee
Dennis J. Brownlee is the founder and president of African American Irish Diaspora Network. He became connected with Ireland after he began researching his family ancestry in recent years, following up on information his mother shared with him in his youth about his Scots-Irish ancestry in addition to his African American identity.
Dennis has had an extensive career as an entrepreneur and business development executive in media and entertainment. He was vice president at iHeartMedia in charge of syndicated urban radio and online networks including The Steve Harvey Morning Show, among others. Prior to that, he developed a cable TV network with Quincy Jones and David Falk that led to the launch of TVOne. He was a vice president and board member of United States Satellite Broadcasting Company, which launched the nation’s first satellite-to-home television broadcasting system in partnership with DirecTV, and he served as chairman of the Direct Broadcast Satellite Association.
Dennis is an Emmy Award winning executive producer of the documentary On Hallowed Ground: Streetball Champions of Rucker Park. He began his career in IT with IBM, and then developed an IT management firm that became one of Black Enterprise Magazine’s top 100 companies.
Dennis received his AB degree in economics from Princeton University. He is a trustee emeritus of Princeton and a trustee emeritus of Deerfield Academy.
Stella O’Leary
Stella O'Leary founded Irish American Democrats Political Action Committee in 1996, inspired by President Clinton's commitment to pursue a peace settlement in Northern Ireland. Stella continues to serve as President of the PAC raising millions of dollars in support of the campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and other candidates for State and Local elections who promote U.S. involvement in sustaining the Good Friday Peace Agreement.
President Obama appointed Stella as an Observer to the International Fund for Ireland where she served for seven years. Since 1986 the Fund has received more than a billion dollars of U.S. Congressional aid to support peace projects in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties.
A native of Dublin, Ireland, Stella graduated from the School of Library Science at University College, Dublin and emigrated to America to archive a collection of rare books and manuscripts at the Catholic University of America. She co-authored the reference volume Classical Studies: An Annotated Bibliography."
Stella was included four times in the Irish Voice newspaper listings of the 100 Top Irish Americans and twice in the recently inaugurated Irish America Magazine list of 50 Top Irish American Women.
Keith Wright
Keith L.T. Wright is the Director of Strategic Planning at Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP and works out of the firm’s New York Office. Mr. Wright’s focus is on assisting clients in their long-range strategic planning goals.
Mr. Wright joined DHC after serving 23 years in New York State Assembly, having chaired such committees as Housing, Election Law, Social Services, and Labor. His work on the Equal Economic Opportunity and Human Rights subcommittee sought protections for domestic workers and created additional benefits for senior citizens. Leading the Public Housing subcommittee, he championed the rights of public housing residents.
Also while in the Assembly, Mr. Wright chaired the Black, Puerto Rican and Hispanic Legislative Caucus and was a member of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force.
Active in his Harlem community, Mr. Wright has helped foster small business development, create affordable housing, and increase opportunities for youth. He has also served as the chairman of the Harlem Community Development Corporation.
Prior to his time in the Assembly, Mr. Wright held positions in New York City’s Human Resources Administration, the Manhattan Borough President’s Office and the New York City Transit Authority.
Miriam Nyhan Grey
Dr. Miriam Nyhan Grey is from Ireland but has been based at New York University's Glucksman Ireland House since 2008, having completed her PhD at the European University Institute in Italy. She has an interest in the intersections of migration, race and ethnicity and she focuses primarily on immigrant experiences in comparative frameworks. She is a collector of oral histories for the Archives of Irish America at New York University, and has been recording oral histories in Ireland, Britain and the United States since 2000. She hosts the weekly "This Irish American Life" radio hour on public radio in New York City on Saturdays from 9am to 10am on WNYE 91.5 FM and on www.nyuirish.net/radiohour. In spring 2019, Miriam started collecting oral histories --for a project funded by Ireland's Emigrant Support Program-- with Americans who identify as Irish and African American or West Indian American. Miriam is the author of a monograph, a collection of essays and numerous articles. Miriam is thrilled to be involved with the African American Irish Diaspora Network where she hopes to lend her expertise in the realms of education and cultural education in particular.
Christian Bolden
Hailing from New Orleans, Louisiana, Christian Bolden now resides of Washington D.C. due to the catastrophic events of Hurricane Katrina.
Since his arrival, Christian has been involved with numerous efforts positively impacting the community; most notably the "Steel Sharpens Steel Summit"; a panel discussion committed to the enlightenment and enrichment of the Urban African-American Male Teen. Other efforts include participation in mentorship programs and volunteer efforts with various charities in the DC metro area.
Christian also organized the "Re-New Orleans" event which commemorated the 5-Year Hurricane Katrina Anniversary and raised funding and awareness for the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Relief effort. With art donated by renowned New Orleans artist J'Renee, proceeds from the event were donated to the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Additionally, Christian developed “netWORKnola”; a one-stop source for New Orleans area professionals to network, promote employment opportunities, and exchange business contacts among other progressive individuals via Facebook.
Christian is a member of Washington, D.C.'s Urban League "Young Professionals" chapter, a graduate of the University of Mobile (AL.), and obtained his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) at Syracuse University during which time he visited Dublin and Cork, Irealnd as a student. A former Professional Staff Member in the U.S. House of Representatives, Bolden is now a small business owner in the information technology and project management space.
Christine Kinealy
Now a resident of Connecticut, Professor Christine Kinealy has lived and worked in Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool and New Jersey.
Since completing her PhD at Trinity College in Dublin, Christine has published extensively on modern Ireland, with a focus on the Great Hunger and on the Abolition movement. In 1997, she was invited to speak to invited audiences in both in the British Houses of Parliament and in the American Congress on the Great Hunger in Ireland. Christine’s award-winning publications include, This Great Calamity. The Great Famine in Ireland (1994 and 2007) and a graphic novel based on the experiences of children during the Great Hunger, entitled, ‘The Bad Times’ or, in its Irish language version, ‘A Droch Shaol’ (2016). During the last decade, her research has explored the experiences of abolitionists who visited Ireland in the 19th century, including Frederick Douglass, leading to the publication, Frederick Douglass and Ireland. In his own words (2018).
Christine moved to the United States in 2007 to develop the Irish Studies Graduate program at Drew University. In 2013, she was appointed the founding Director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University. Through a vibrant series of conferences, exhibitions, publications and lectures, the Institute provides a forum for understanding the perennial problems of hunger, food security and economic inequalities in society, both historically and today.
Christine is a champion of using education, particularly history, as a way of informing young people about issues relating to social justice. Since 2011, she has volunteered annually at a weekend Gael Scoil in New Jersey, which provides an immersion in Irish history and culture for 4 to 17-year-olds.
Since 2013, Christine has been named one of the top 100 educators in Irish America. In 2014, she was inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame and named one of the most influential women in Irish America. In 2017, Christine received an Emmy for her contribution to the documentary, “The Great Hunger and the Irish Diaspora.” In 2018, she was named a Belfast International Homecoming Ambassador, in recognition of her continuing close ties with the city where she lived between 1987 and 1992.
In 2019, Christine was one of five Famine historians who undertook a 100-mile walk from Roscommon in the west of Ireland to Dublin, following in the footsteps of 1,490 poor tenants who were sent to Canada in 1847. Over 600 on them died on the journey. This route is now officially recognized as The National Famine Way.
Michael Carroll
Michael Carroll joined O’Dwyer & Bernstien in 1999 and became Of Counsel to the firm in 2004. He specializes in all aspects of Personal Injury and Real Estate Law.
Mr. Carroll brings a diverse body of experience to his work at the firm. Prior to joining O’Dwyer & Bernstien, he was President of a real estate title insurance company. He is also an active lobbyist on the federal, state and city levels and serves on the Board of Directors of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA) Institute.
Additionally, Mr. Carroll is an officer of the NYSTLA’s Labor Law Committee and is a member of the Brehon Law Society, an Irish-American Bar Association of attorneys whose objective is to achieve peace and unity in Northern Ireland through the legal process.
Don Mullan
Don Mullan is a bestselling author, filmmaker, photographer, concept developer and humanitarian. Amongst the several books are three politically influential investigative books that led to various inquiries. These include 'Eyewitness Bloody Sunday' (1997), a primary catalyst for the new Bloody Sunday Inquiry, the longest running and most expensive Public Inquiry in British legal history. 'Eyewitness Bloody Sunday' inspired the movie 'Bloody Sunday' directed by Paul Greengrass.
Don produced a trilogy of award-winning movies on the beginning ('Bloody Sunday', 2002), end ('Omagh', 2004), and aftermath ('Five Minutes of Heaven', 2009), of the modern Irish 'Troubles'. They won top awards at international film festivals including Sundance, Berlin, Rio and Toronto.
Mullan is the recipient of several international awards including The Defender of Human Dignity Award, 2002, from the International League for Human Rights; and is the first non-American recipient of the Race Amity Medal of Honor (2015), awarded by the National Centre for Race Amity, Boston. In 1994 he attended the inauguration of President Nelson Mandela as the guest of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in recognition of his contribution to the anti-apartheid movement.
Mullan worked with his friend, Anglo-Irish sculptor, Andrew Edwards, in the creation of the Frederick Douglass Ireland Monument which was unveiled by Douglass's great great granddaughter, Nettie Douglass, at the University of Maryland in 2015. A resin copy of the monument, which is on display at Quinnipiac University, Connecticut, was viewed by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, during their visit to Ireland in 2011. Mullan also published a special edition of 'The Narrative of Frederick Douglass' to commemorate the visit of President Obama, with a foreword by the then President of Ireland, Mary McAleese.
Mullan features in Yan Arthus-Bertrand's epic movie 'HUMAN' (2015). He is an Executive Producer on the multi award-winning feature documentary 'The Great Green Wall' (2019), and is a consultant to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). He is the Founder and CEO of Hope Initiatives International.
Kimberly McClain DaCosta
Kimberly McClain DaCosta is a sociologist interested in racial inequality and, in particular, the contemporary production of racial boundaries. Her book, Making Multiracials: State, Family, and Market in the Redrawing of the Color Line (Stanford University Press, 2007), explores the cultural and social underpinnings of the movement to create multiracial collective identity in the United States. Kim is currently writing on how genealogy and interracial extended kin relationships speak to questions of interracial empathy, care and politics. She teaches courses on race in different societies, social mobility, consumerism, and the commercialization of intimate life. DaCosta has held several administrative posts including both the Associate Dean of Students and the Associate Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs at NYU's Gallatin School. She has been involved in NYU’s Prison Education Program since its inception in 2013, most recently as its Faculty Director. Kim is an Associate Faculty member in the NYU Department of Sociology. A native of Boston, she received a B.A. in Sociology magna cum laude from Harvard University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. Kim is the mother of three adult children and lives with her husband, Richard, in NYC and Berkshire County, MA.
Brian M.P. McGlinchey
Brian M.P. McGlinchey is a founding partner of The Westport Maven Group, a boutique public affairs strategy and consulting firm headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware with offices in Washington , D.C. and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
A dual citizen, Brian is Honorary Consul General of Ireland for the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs (DE), managing the consulate office on the Wilmington Riverfront. Brian is a Co-Chair of the 2024 Ireland Funds National Gala whose global philanthropic network supports peace, culture, education and community development throughout the island of Ireland.
Marty Fahey
Marty Fahey is the Curator for The O’Brien Collection, a unique assembly of Irish art, sculpture, furniture outside of Chicago. As a composer and also as an Irish traditional musician, Marty brings both a curatorial and a musical perspective to the appreciation of exploration of Irish art and culture. These dual passions find monthly expression in Notre Dame’s Keough-Naughton Institute’s website series ”Irish Art- Amplified”. https://irishstudies.nd.edu/initiatives/special-projects/irish-art-amplified/.
The child of Irish immigrants, Marty was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago in the late 1960s and 70s and, as such, has an awareness of and sensitivity towards some of the challenges -and opportunities- that are expressed in the mission of AAIDN. He is looking forward to exploring the rich cultural heritage shared -historically and currently- by both the Irish and Irish-American communities alongside their African and African-American brothers and sisters.