Past ASLFL Award Honorees at Celtic Ball
Founder, Children in Crossfire
Richard Moore’s story is an example of where triumph overcomes tragedy. In 1972, Richard, aged 10, was blinded by a rubber bullet fired by a British soldier. Richard has never harboured any anger or bitterness as a result of what happened to him and 33 years after being shot, Richard tracked down the soldier who blinded him and the two men are now good friends. Richard states, ‘I have always forgiven the soldier who blinded me and I believe if we are to have true reconciliation in our lives, it must begin in our own heart, and the gift of forgiveness is one way to do this’.
Richard was born and grew up in the Nationalist, Creggan Estate in Derry, Northern Ireland which at the time was a ‘no go’ area. He was the second youngest of a family of 12 and was a very happy go lucky child. Richard met his wife Rita when he was 17 and they married in 1984 and today have two daughters Naoimh and Enya. After qualifying with an Honours degree from university, Richard ran his own business for fourteen years as a publican.
Music has also been a big part of his life; Richard started to learn the guitar shortly after he was shot and within a very short space of time he was playing in local bands and running a church folk group, which he still does today 38 years after he set it up.
Throughout his self-employed life, Richard became aware of many issues affecting young people and communities locally and globally. He realised the reason why he was able to lead a very positive and fulfilling life, was not only due to the good family, good community and excellent support that he received but because he was lucky enough to be born in Ireland with all its excellent amenities. He realised that with all its problems Northern Ireland was not such a bad place after all. Richard felt the need to harness all that he had learned and put it at the service of humanity, particularly children around the world who have been caught in the crossfire of poverty.
Thus inspired, Richard founded Children in Crossfire in 1996, an Irish based International Charity, also registered in the USA whose vision is ‘A compassionate world where every child can reach his or her potential’. The organisation has developed a dual approach: working in Tanzania and Ethiopia to improve the lives of young children; and, in Ireland, on a cross-community, cross-border basis, to help marginalised young people gain the skills and values needed to become active citizens and peace-builders. Richard’s experience is fundamental to Children in Crossfire whose principles remain rooted in values of Compassion, Peace and Justice.
Richard’s example of forgiveness and compassion caught the attention of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet who calls Richard his ‘hero’. When the two men met in July 2007 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Children in Crossfire, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan Buddhists said, “Whether you believe it or not, you are my hero, and a wonderful son of humanity”. In May 2010 His Holiness graciously accepted Richard’s invitation to become the Patron of Children in Crossfire.
In 2009 Richard published his autobiography ‘Can I Give Him My Eyes’ which was the question Richard’s father asked doctors when they broke the news that they could not save his sight.
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Operation Smile
Dr. William P. Magee Jr. is a plastic and craniofacial surgeon who founded Operation Smile in 1982 with his wife, Kathleen S. Magee, and serves as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer.
Operation Smile, headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, is an international children’s medical charity with a presence in more than 60 countries, whose network of more than 13,000 medical volunteers from over 80 countries is dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children. Since its founding in 1982, Operation Smile has provided hundreds of thousands of free surgeries for children and young adults born with cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities. To build long-term self-sufficiency in resource poor environments, Operation Smile trains doctors and local medical professionals in its partner countries so they are empowered to treat their local communities. Operation Smile also donates medical equipment, supplies and provides year-round medical treatment through its worldwide centers.
Dr. Magee has trained and mentored thousands of physicians worldwide. A featured guest on many network television programs, Dr. Magee is also a sought-after keynote speaker for corporate and national meetings. In July 2013, he gave one of the keynote addresses to the National Speakers Association (NSA) in Philadelphia.
Dr. Magee received a D.D.S. from the University of Maryland, M.D. from George Washington University Medical School, served his general surgery residency at the University of Virginia Medical School, and received the Fulbright-Hays Scholarship Grant to study in Paris, France with Dr. Paul Tessier in 1975. He then received his plastic surgery training at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia.
Dr. Magee has been awarded honorary doctorates from some of the finest universities worldwide, including the Karolinska Instituet in Sweden in 2014. In 2016 he received the Eminent Persons Award from the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), was named a Disruptive Innovator in 2015 at the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards, was awarded the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ Honorary Citation Award in 2014, the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons’ Tagliacozzi Award in 2013, was highlighted in US News & World Report’s issue “America’s Top Leaders” in November 2009, and was given the National Medal for Peace and Friendship Among Nations in Vietnam in 2009. In 2007, UNICEF presented the Magees with a special recognition on behalf of Operation Smile and he received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
He entered into the Plastic Surgery Practice in Norfolk, VA in 1978 and became President of the group, which at the time was the largest private training program in the USA. In 2016, Dr. Magee stepped away from his private practice but continues to invest all of his effort and energy into Operation Smile.
Co-Founder and President, Operation Smile
Co-founder and President Kathleen S. Magee, B.S.N., M.Ed., M.S.W., a former nurse and clinical social worker, founded Operation Smile in 1982 with her husband, William P. Magee Jr., D.D.S., M.D. Ms. Magee serves as the president of Operation Smile on a full-time, volunteer basis and is a lifetime member of the Board of Directors.
A dedicated advocate for children around the world, Ms. Magee travels overseas extensively to nurture and maintain key corporate, diplomatic and medical partnerships that enable Operation Smile to carry out its surgical missions. She has been instrumental in establishing several Operation Smile international foundations, which handle all of the logistical aspects of the medical missions and has led a majority of the organization’s fact finding missions.
Ms. Magee is deeply involved with Operation Smile’s Student Programs, which provide the opportunity for students to learn about volunteerism and support Operation Smile’s work by raising funds and awareness. Since the mid-1980s, Student Programs have grown to involve tens of thousands of students in more than 1,000 Student Associations around the world.
Ms. Magee’s work on behalf of children around the world has led to the receipt of numerous awards and honors including the first $1 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize in 1996 for “… exemplary and significant contributions to ease human suffering” and the Servants of Peace Award from the UN representative to the Vatican in 1997. In 1999, the Magees received the Golden Plate Award, “representing the many who excel in the great fields of endeavor” by the American Academy of Achievement. In February 2004, Ms. Magee was inducted into the Toledo-based Medical Mission Hall of Fame, in honor of making a difference in the health of her fellow human beings; and in 2004, the organization was awarded The Humanitarian Rose Award from The People’s Princess Charitable Foundation, Inc., London, England. In 2005 Ms. Magee was awarded the Operation Smile Lifetime Volunteer Achievement Award, and in 2007, USAID presented the Magees with the President’s Call to Service Award from President George W. Bush.
Ms. Magee is the recipient of honorary degrees from Fordham University, Mt. St. Mary’s College, Loyola College, Old Dominion University, College Misericordia and Denison University and was inducted into the Alumni Association Hall of Fame at the University of Maryland in 2000. In 2014, she received a prestigious honorary doctorate from the Karolinska Instituet in Sweden. She also serves as a member of the Executive Committee for the Hilton Laureates Collaborative.
A New Jersey native, Ms. Magee received her B.S.N. from College Misericordia in Pennsylvania, her M.Ed. from the University of Maryland and her M.S.W. from Norfolk State University in Virginia. She also completed graduate work at the University of Virginia and the Jung Institute in Switzerland. The Magees reside in Norfolk, Va., and have five grown children, all of whom have served on medical missions and are active in volunteer work for Operation Smile. In addition, the Magees have 14 grandchildren.
Chief Executive Officer, Special Olympics International
Mary Davis is the Chief Executive Officer of Special Olympics International. She has been a life-long leader within the Special Olympics movement, beginning soon after college as a local program volunteer and coach with Special Olympics Ireland. Davis has served in a series of leadership roles, helping create Special Olympics’ first-ever Regional games, the 1985 Special Olympics European Games, working to build a powerful national Program as CEO of Special Olympics Ireland, and helping globalize the movement as CEO of the first Special Olympics World Summer Games held outside the US.
Davis leads an international team of 250 professionals throughout the world who are addressing inactivity, injustice, intolerance and social isolation by encouraging and empowering people with intellectual disabilities to be productive citizens in their communities, which leads to a more welcoming and inclusive society for all. The Special Olympics movement currently serves nearly 5 million athletes with intellectual disabilities, holds nearly 100,000 competitions annually, and welcomes more than one million coaches and volunteers who help make grassroots operations possible.
Since 2009, Davis has served as the Managing Director and Regional President of Special Olympics Europe Eurasia, overseeing the growth and development of Special Olympics across 58 countries in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
She is a long-term campaigner for the rights and inclusion of children and adults with intellectual disabilities, beginning her career as a teacher at St. Michael’s House, Ireland — a leader in the development and provision of community-based services for people with intellectual disabilities in Ireland. She became National Director of Special Olympics Ireland in 1989 and served as Events Director for the 1985 European Special Olympics Games in Dublin. Davis has been appointed to many Special Olympics International Committees throughout her career and served as Chairperson of the International Advisory Committee for four years.
Mary Davis was the driving force behind the hugely successful Special Olympics World Summer Games when they were held in Ireland in 2003. She served as CEO of those Games, which were the first World Summer Games held outside the United States since Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded the movement in 1968. It was the largest sporting event in the world that year. Davis was awarded Ireland’s Person of the Year in 2003 for her work on the Games, and in honor of her dedicated years of service to Special Olympics Ireland. In 2004, then-President of Ireland Mary McAleese appointed Davis to her Council of State [advisory body to the President on legislative matters], where she remained until 2011.
Davis has many and varied interests, including golf, running and other outdoor pursuits such as canoeing and parachuting. She completed the Puma Marathon series, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, ran the New York Marathon, and represented the Irish Government in a 2008 summit of Mont Blanc to celebrate the start of the EU Presidency in France. She also has a keen interest in antiques.
Davis is married to Julian Davis and has four children: Jonathan, Rebecca, Emma and Patrick.
Comptroller of the State of New York
Thomas P. DiNapoli is the 54th Comptroller of the State of New York who’s known for his integrity, independence and steadfast leadership.
Since taking office in 2007, Tom DiNapoli has aggressively fought misuse of public resources, strengthened one of the nation’s top public pension funds, and consistently spoken out against fiscal gimmicks, imprudent actions and government inefficiency.
His life of public service started when he was elected as a trustee of the Mineola Board of Education, becoming the first 18-year-old in New York State to hold public office. He’s been making government more accountable and transparent to the people for more than 35 years.
The New York State Comptroller manages the State’s $178.6 billion pension fund, audits the spending practices of all State agencies and local governments, oversees the New York State and Local Retirement System, critically reviews the New York State and City budgets, and approves billions in State contracts and spending.
A diligent fiduciary of the State pension fund, Comptroller DiNapoli continues changing the way the fund operates to increase transparency and establish strong internal controls, ensuring the strongest investment performance and ethical operations. He instituted the most stringent reporting requirements on investments, fees and other information, he barred investment firms contributing to his campaign from doing business with the State pension fund and provided a leading voice in getting the Securities and Exchange Commission to impose tough new rules on “pay to play” to prevent improper influence on investment decisions.
Under the Comptroller’s leadership, the pension fund has increased opportunities for women and minority firms throughout its portfolio of investments by expanding the pension fund’s Emerging Manager program into each of the fund’s main asset classes and accelerating capital to new programs within these asset classes.
Tom DiNapoli also protects public funds from waste, fraud and abuse. Since 2007, he’s identified billions in misuse, waste and savings. He completed a five-year school accountability project that audited all 733 school districts and BOCES in the State. In 2012, he launched a series of audits that found widespread abuse of public funds by special education contractors, resulting in several criminal referrals, felony arrests and restitution. And as an Assemblyman, he helped draft and pass stronger school district accountability laws in response to the scandals that exposed the theft of millions of taxpayer dollars on Long Island.
Comptroller DiNapoli examines State, city and local finances and provides an independent, credible analysis of government finances. In January 2013, he launched a Fiscal Monitoring System to rate communities on their fiscal condition, sending an early warning to those in trouble. He also sheds light on the issues that cause communities to face fiscal stress in today’s tough economy. Tom also consistently advocates for budget and debt reform to give New York State a more secure fiscal future.
Prior to becoming Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli represented the 16th Assembly District in northwestern Nassau County for two decades. During his tenure, he chaired the Local Governments Committee, the Consumer Affairs Committee, the Ethics Committee, the Governmental Operations Committee and the Environmental Conservation Committee, he sponsored legislation that helped Nassau County to emerge from serious fiscal distress and restore fiscal responsibility and earned a reputation as one of the State’s leading voices on environmental issues.
Prior to his election to the Assembly, he was a manager in the telecommunications industry. He holds a master’s degree from The New School University’s Graduate School of Management and Urban Professions. A lifelong resident of Nassau County, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history magna cum laude from Hofstra University in Hempstead.
Chairman – Ireland West Airport Knock
Joe’s story starts here in Manhattan in 1936, where he was born to Irish emigrant parents, Patrick and Catherine. In 1940 the Second World War turned a Kennedy family holiday to Ireland into a life changing voyage as they found themselves stranded in Ireland without a safe ship passage back to America, so set up home in County Mayo. To help keep the family business and siblings afloat, at just 16 Joe joined thousands before him and became an economic emigrant and sought his fortune across the Irish Sea in the United Kingdom.
It was in England that he met his wife, fellow Irish emigrant Kathleen Keaveney from County Roscommon. After marrying in 1960 they were blessed with 7 children, 13 grandchildren and one great grandchild.
It was a humble business start-up for Joe in 1959 with only 3 shovels and a wheelbarrow. But from his first successful business deal worth £30 he’d hit the road running and there was no stopping him. And as they say…the rest is history! Having enormous success with Kennedy Construction Group, he expanded the workforce nationally and internationally, notably throughout the Middle East and America.
A committed philanthropist, to support this work Joe set up a registered Charity in 1975 and later in 1995 established ‘The Kennedy Charitable Foundation’. These contributions have seen more than 2 million devoted to charities in the West of Ireland.
Throughout the Northern Ireland Peace Process Joe worked alongside Dr Martin McAleese, the husband of former Irish President Mary McAleese financing many community based projects to help bring young people together whatever their politics or religion.
Joe has also played a significant role in establishing Ireland’s first Catholic University called the Newman Institute in County Mayo.
Joe now serves as Chairman of Ireland West Airport Knock where he gives his services for free. Since 2002 Joe has been involved in helping the airport enter a new era of success with passenger numbers increasing from 100,000 to over 700,000. In 2009 the airport named its new airport terminal the ‘Kennedy Terminal’ in recognition of his significant contribution to the growth and development of the airport.
Joe has been the recipient of many honours for his charitable work. In 1999 he was awarded by the Manchester Mayo Association, was named Mayo Man of the Year in 2010 and in 2011 Joe received an Honorary Masters of Commerce Degree from Galway University.
Joe is a Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great, and is extremely proud to have received not one, but two papal honours – the first in 2002 from His Holiness Pope John Paul II and the second in 2013 from His Holiness Pope Benedict in 2013.
Two of his most recent charitable endeavours include the writing of his acclaimed biography ´On the Strength of a Ten Bob Note´ which raised a substantial amount for charity and helping his beloved Knock Shrine in County Mayo with the installation of a magnificent stained glass window in the new Basilica.
Founder – Christina Noble Children’s Foundation
Christina Noble OBE, is an exceptional, inspiring person. She has, by her own effort and example and with an unselfish willingness to serve, shown the world that street children are a vital part of humanity – that the abuse and maltreatment suffered by children can be stopped. By providing love, and by giving back dignity to over 700,000 disadvantaged and destitute children and their families in Mongolia and Vietnam, she has shown us that they can be empowered to fulfill their proper role in society. Since 1991 Christina Noble and her Foundation have established over 120 projects and programmes in Vietnam & Mongolia. Today the work of the Foundation continues to impacts the lives of over 20,000 children and their families annually.
Christina Noble is a child of the impoverished Liberties of Dublin during the 1940’s – 1950’s. Christina endured a childhood of loss, isolation & tragedy. After the early death of her mother, Christina was separated from her five siblings and committed to an abusive state institution. Christina escaped several times, ending up living in the streets and parks of Dublin. Christina knows first hand of the pain and betrayal of a lost childhood.
A biopic feature film ‘NOBLE’ has been made on Christina and will be released in September 2014- NOBLE.
Chairman and CEO – PACCAR Inc
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
– W.B. Yeats
Mr. Mark Pigott, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PACCAR Inc, is an international corporate leader and passionate philanthropist whose vibrant enthusiasm, generous financial support, and strategic insight have strengthened the ICCUSA and Albert Schweitzer Leadership for Life educational programs. Mr. Pigott leads a Fortune 150 technology company that specializes in the design, development and production of the world’s leading commercial vehicles, under the brand names, Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF.
The Pigott family has a strong Irish heritage with their roots being in County Kerry and County Cork. The family has a 108-year tradition of supporting global educational excellence. Mark’s unwavering commitment to education is evidenced by the Trinity College Dublin Science Gallery (PACCAR Theater) and several endowed Professorships at Trinity College.
Mr. Pigott has been honored for his contributions to education, the arts and social services, with the Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE – UK), the Commander of the Order of the Crown (Belgium), the Officer of the Orange-Nassau (Netherlands), and the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit (Hungary).
“My small runny pen keeps going, through books, through thick and thin, to enrich the scholars’ holdings – penwork that cramps my hand.” – Seamus Heaney, Human Chain
Special Advisor to the President on Niger Delta
Chairman – Presidential Amnesty Programme
Kingsley Kemebradigha Kuku, born on 14 February 1970, hails from Arogbo, a town in Ese Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State and the traditional headquarters of the ljaw people in the state.
He obtained a Bachelor of Education (English Language) from the then Ondo State University in 1995. As early as his university days, he was already showing good promise of leadership. He was a student leader, specifically the National Mobilization Officer of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).
On graduation, Kuku performed the one-year mandatory National Youth Service from 1995 to 1996. Thereafter, he became the state Administrative Secretary of the defunct United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) in Ondo State. From 1997 to 1998, he was a Compensation Clerk with Western Geophysical Seismic Company. From 1999 to 2001, Kuku served as Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, to the Ese Edo Local Government Council.
He was also a senior and active member of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), an ethnic rights group. As pioneer spokesman of the Council, he is said to have demonstrated unusual capacity in the face of many challenges, particularly while working on several peace efforts in the Niger Delta.
In 2003, Kuku took the bold step of contesting for election into the Ondo State House of Assembly – and he won. He served in the State legislature, also as chairman of the House Committee on Information, till 2007.
On leaving the House, Kuku was appointed Special Assistant/Head of Conflict Management Unit, at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. In the same year, he was also appointed Secretary of the Presidential Committee on Peace and Conflict Resolution in the Niger Delta, a position he held till 2009, when he was appointed a Member of the Presidential Committee on Amnesty.
In January 2011, he was first appointed Special Adviser to the President on the Niger Delta. In July, after President Goodluck Jonathan was sworn into office, he was re-appointed to that same strategic post.
Hon Kuku holds a Certificate in Conflict Resolution from the University of Cambridge, and is also a Member of the International Dispute Resolution Institute. He has also served as a member of the board of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).
Kuku is married and has children. His hobbies include reading, writing, swimming and engaging in debates.
Senior Advisor for Special Initiatives, Office of the Secretary of State
Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley rejoined the U.S. Department of State as Special Representative to the Secretary of State for Global Partnerships on June 1, 2009. On October 1, 2010 she assumed the position of Senior Advisor for Special Initiatives to the Secretary. Prior to her appointment Ambassador Bagley served as Vice Chair of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, a Presidential appointment with Senate confirmation, on which she served from 2003 – 2009. She also served as a Senior Advisor for Manatt Jones Global Strategies, and Associate Director of the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on Democracy. Her extra-curricular activities included serving as Chair of the National Advisory Board for the Democratic National Committee and Chair of the Clinton Library Board of Trustees. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, Vital Voices International, the American Ireland Fund, Refugees International, and the French American Foundation. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Global Irish Forum.
Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State from 1997 – 2001, where she established and headed the Office of Media Programming Acquisition for the newly independent Balkan states. She also served as a Senate liaison for NATO Enlargement. Prior to her position at the State Department, Ambassador Bagley served as the U.S. Ambassador to Portugal from 1994 to 1997. Upon her departure from Portugal, she received meritorious awards from the Portuguese Navy and Air Force, as well as the “Grand Cross of Prince Henry the Navigator,” the President of Portugal’s highest civilian commendation.
She has also received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Regis College in 2003 and the “Global Democracy Award” from the International Women’s Democracy Center in March, 2005, and was also the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in May, 2005.
An attorney specializing in trade and international law, she was Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University in Washington until January 1993. She has held several positions in the Department of State: Congressional Liaison Officer for the Panama Canal Treaties during the Carter Administration (1977 – 1979); Special Assistant to Ambassador Sol Linowitz for the Camp David Accords, (1979- 1980); and Congressional Liaison to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (1980 – 1981).
Ambassador Frawley Bagley is a 1974 graduate of Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, where she graduated cum laude with a B.A. degree in French and Spanish. She is a 1987 graduate of the Georgetown University Law School, where she obtained a J.D. Degree in International law. She also attended university and law school in France, Spain, and Austria, where she studied international trade law and public international law.
She is the mother of two children, a daughter, Vaughan, age 22, and son Conor, age 19. Ambassador Bagley is a member in good standing of the Massachusetts Bar and District of Columbia Bar.
JP McManus is one of Ireland’s notable successful businessmen. He is also one of National Hunts Racing’s largest owners with many horses in training.
He has been the leading racehorse owner in Ireland and the UK on several occasions. Most recently, JP won the English Grand National in Aintree in 2010 with his horse “Don’t Push It”.
Despite his many business accomplishments, Mr McManus never seems to stray too far from his roots. He is dedicated and committed to his philanthropic foundations. The JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am has become a renowned event where most of the world’s top golfers attend. The event has raised over 95million since 1990 to assist deserving charities in the Mid West of Ireland.
On an annual basis, JP provides 125 All Ireland Scholarships to students from each of the 32 Counties and in addition, 8 scholarships to students from his Alma Mater, Limerick CBS, to assist in their pursuit of third level education. His contribution to the establishment of the Kemmy Business School at the University of Limerick was another indication of his support to education in Ireland.
His many honours include Freeman of Limerick City & County, Irish Business Person of the Year, Irish Philanthropist of the Year and an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the University of Limerick. JP and his wife Noreen exemplify success with a philanthropic spirit in a very private and humble way.
