Participants 2012

Richard E. Neal was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on February 14, 1949 and was raised and educated in the City of Springfield. He is a 1972 graduate of American International College, where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and was a member of the National Honor Society. He received his Masters Degree in Public Administration from the Barney School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Hartford in 1976.

Richard E. Neal was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1988. He represents the Second District of Massachusetts, which includes cities and towns in western and central Massachusetts. He is a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee and the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures.

Congressman Neal has been a lead sponsor of legislation to prevent American companies from moving offshore to avoid paying U.S. taxes. He continues to lead the effort to repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), a tax that penalizes many middle class Americans. He has sponsored legislation that would increase the national savings rate by encouraging the use of individual retirement accounts, and has worked to make health care and tuition expenses tax deductible for middle class people. He is also a member of the Trade Subcommittee.

Congressman Neal is an At-Large Whip for the House Democrats. He is a co-chairman of the New England Congressional Caucus, where he continues to advocate for the unique regional interests of the six New England States.

Congressman Neal serves as the Democratic Leader of the Friends of Ireland and has been recognized repeatedly by Irish America Magazine as one of the Top 100 Irish Americans. He has been honored by the Holyoke, Massachusetts Saint Patrick's Day Committee with both the John F. Kennedy Award and the Ambassador's Award, the Committee's two highest honors. In 2002, Congressman Neal received the International Leadership Award by the American Ireland Fund for his work over two decades to bring peace and reconciliation to the island of Ireland. Congressman Neal has been honored by the governments of Ireland, Israel and Italy. He has been recognized for his leadership and innovation by many civic, charitable, educational and labor organizations. He is a Trustee of Mount Holyoke College and has received honorary degrees from Springfield College, Western New England College, Elms College and Suffolk University.

Mr. Neal began his public service career in 1973 as an Assistant to Springfield Mayor William C. Sullivan. In 1978, he was elected to the Springfield City Council and served as President of the Council in 1979. As Mayor of the City of Springfield from 1984 until 1989, Richard Neal was a dynamic and determined leader who combined creativity and pragmatism in developing economic, cultural and public works projects across the community. During his tenure as Mayor, new economic development and private investment exceeded $400 million, including the $110 million 28-story Monarch Place complex and a host of other downtown rehabilitation and neighborhood revitalization projects. Recognized nationally for his accomplishments as Mayor, Boston Magazine called him a "Face to Watch" in 1986. Newsweek magazine highlighted his many accomplishments as Mayor in a 1987 feature.

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Congressman Peter T. King, a Republican, is serving his tenth term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Rep. King is Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee and also serves on the Financial Services Committee and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Congressman King has been a leader in the ongoing effort to have Homeland Security funding based on threat analysis and is a strong supporter of the war against international terrorism, both at home and abroad. As Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee he has stood up to the pressure from special interest groups and the media to hold a series of hearings on Islamic radicalization. Chairman King has led the fight to continue funding to the Secure the Cities Program to protect the New York-Long Island region from nuclear dirty bomb attacks.

Rep. King is a strong supporter of our military and has fought hard to bring veterans’ benefits into the 21st century. Congressman King has been a consistent leader in the fight against illegal immigration and a strong supporter of funding to combat deadly illnesses such as breast cancer and prostate cancer. He has also received the AARP's Legislative Leadership Award for combating elder abuse and exploitation.

During his years in Congress, Rep. King has attained a reputation for being well-informed and independent. The New York Daily News has said that "Pete King is as knowledgeable as they come about terrorism and the need for emergency preparedness," while the New York Post has credited Rep. King as being "smart and solid and a long time student of terrorism and homeland security matters." Even Newsday has admitted that Congressman King is a "stand-up guy who isn’t shy about tangling with the powerful, even those in his own party. King has become a national figure who delivers for the region and his district."

Prior to serving in Congress, Pete King was elected to three terms as the Comptroller of Nassau County. Before serving in county government, Rep. King had extensive experience as a practicing attorney and civic leader. He began his political career in November 1977 by winning election to the Hempstead Town Council. Rep. King is also a member of the Knights of Pythias.
Peter T. King was born on April 5, 1944 and is a graduate of St. Francis College, Brooklyn, and the University of Notre Dame Law School. He is a lifelong resident of New York and has lived in Nassau County for more than 40 years. Rep. King and his wife, Rosemary, reside in Seaford. They have two adult children and two grandchildren.

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Enda Kenny was elected as Taoiseach on March 9th 2011. Leader of Fine Gael since June 2002, under his leadership the party won 76 seats in the 2011 general election, becoming the largest party in the Dáil.

Enda has represented the people of Mayo as a Fine Gael member of Dáil Éireann since 1975. He served as Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 – 1997, overseeing an unprecedented growth in tourism business and Ireland’s trade position internationally. He has also served as Minister for State at the Department of Education, Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Western Development, Youth Affairs and Sport.

Enda is married to Fionnuala. They have 3 teenage children: Aoibhinn, Ferdia and Naoise. A fluent Irish speaker, he enjoys hillwalking, cycling, golf, has climbed Croagh Patrick over 100 times and Kilimanjaro for charity. He played for, managed and coached his local team Islandeady GAA for many years to County Championship victories. His late father Henry Kenny won All Ireland Football honours with Mayo in 1936. He looks forward to and enjoys annual family holidays in Co Kerry.

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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 18. Ambassador Bagley is a member in good standing of the Massachusetts Bar and District of Columbia Bar.

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Joseph Petrowski is the CEO of the combined Cumberland Farms-Gulf Oil Group. The company is a $10 billion annual revenue enterprise employing over 8,000 people in 27 states. The Cumberland Farms Gulf Oil Group is the 34th largest private company on the Forbes 500 list.

Cumberland Farms is the nation’s 8th largest convenience retailer with almost 600 stores in the northeast region and Florida, and Gulf Oil delivers petroleum products to over 3,500 stations in 27 States. The company also owns and operates bulk oil terminals. Petrowski is a member of the Board of South Jersey Industries, a publically traded natural gas utility and national energy merchant (NYSE ticker symbol: SJI) and a member of the Audit, Governance and Compensation Committee. He is also the past Chairman of New England Power Pool Board of Review. Petrowski was a former President of Consolidated Natural Gas as well as Louis Dreyfus Energy. He is active in many non-profit and industry trade associations and a past member of the Chicago Board of Trade Rules Committee.

He has written numerous articles on energy, trade and public policy, regulation and market development and is a frequent guest on MSNBC, CNBC, Fox Business News and Bloomberg radio. He has been a contributing editor to the Wall Street Journal and has testified before Congress and several regulatory agencies on energy and international trade issues. Petrowski graduated with honors from Harvard University with a degree in Economics and Government.

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Chris O’Leary oversees General Mills businesses outside of the United States and is responsible for over 14,000 General Mills employees in over 100 countries.
Chris joined General Mills in December 1997 as vice president, Corporate Growth.

He was elected a General Mills senior vice president and named president of the Betty Crocker Division in July 1999. He was named president of the Meals Division in 2001and held that position until 2006.

Prior to joining General Mills, Chris spent 17 years at PepsiCo, Inc., in both marketing and general management roles in beverages and in snack foods.

Chris is a director of TDS Telecom Inc. He is also the Chairman of the World Economic Forum Consumer Steering Board Committee.

Chris is a 1981 graduate of Pace University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and completed his MBA at New York University in 1986.

Chris and his wife Julie and their four children reside in Edina, Minnesota.

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Mr. Whitney is Senior Advisor to the CEO of Covanta Holding Corporation, parent company of Covanta Energy Corporation.

Scott joined Covanta in 1987 as a Senior Marketing Representative. He has served in a number of positions with the company including, most recently as President of Covanta Europe with responsibility for the start up, growth and operation of Covanta’s European energy from waste business. He has substantial experience in the development and implementation of renewable energy facilities including coordination of competitive bid preparation, government relations, public/media relations, operation & maintenance/construction contract negotiation, permitting/planning and financing.

He has previously had responsibility for Covanta’s business development efforts in waste-to-energy, independent power and water and wastewater treatment in North and South America, Europe and the Middle East.

Mr. Whitney is a member of the board of directors of WRSCompass, Inc, a private equity owned civil construction and environmental remediation company based in Tampa, FL.

Prior to joining Covanta, Mr. Whitney served as an officer in the United States Navy for eight years in a variety of roles including shipboard and shore-based assignments.

Mr. Whitney earned a B.S. degree in Marine Engineering from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

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Denis O'Brien is Chairman and principal shareholder of the privately-owned Digicel Group, one of the fastest growing cellular companies in the world.

Mr. O’Brien founded Digicel in 2001 when the company launched a GSM cellular phone service in the Caribbean. The Digicel Group has extended its operations to 32 markets with over 11.9 million subscribers in the Caribbean, Central America and South Pacific regions, including Jamaica, Haiti, Panama and Papua New Guinea

Mr. O’Brien is one of Ireland’s leading entrepreneurs with extensive investments across several sectors including international telecoms, radio, media, property, aircraft leasing, golf recruitment and other interests. He also founded Communicorp Group which owns and manages a portfolio of media and broadcasting-related companies in Ireland and seven other European countries.

Denis O’Brien founded the Esat Telecom Group plc and built it throughout the 1990’s until its sale to British Telecom plc for € 2.4 billion.

Outside of his extensive business interests, Denis chaired the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Ireland. It was the first time the Summer Games were staged outside the US with teams from 160 countries and over 30,000 volunteers, the 2003 Summer Games were the most successful ever.

Denis is a Director on the US Board of Concern Worldwide.

In addition, he is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Frontline, the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. Based in Dublin, Frontline is working to ensure that the standards set out in the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted in 1998, are known, respected and adhered to worldwide. Frontline’s work consists of research, advocacy, communications/technical assistance and emergency evacuation of human rights activists.

In 2000 he established The Iris O’Brien Foundation to identify and assist projects in Ireland and internationally which aim to alleviate disadvantaged communities.

Denis holds a BA degree from University College Dublin and an MBA from Boston College.

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Jim Williams is responsible for Global Business Development at Daon. After serving the U.S. Government for over thirty years, Jim retired as the Commissioner of the GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service.

Jim was also the acting GSA Administrator at the end of the George W. Bush administration, Director of US-VISIT at DHS and held several executive leadership positions at the IRS. Throughout his career Jim has consistently led programs of national significance and built high quality relationships within government and the systems integration community.

Jim was awarded two Presidential Rank Awards as well as the 2010 American Council for Technology John J. Franke Award.

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Geoff MacKay has held his current leadership role at Organogenesis Inc. since Dec. 2003. Mr. MacKay provides Organogenesis Inc. with global, commercial experience spanning the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.

Mr MacKay has held numerous leadership positions within Novartis AG in roles such as Vice-President & Business Unit Head, Transplantation & Immunology at Novartis Canada, Vice-President of Tissue-Engineering in Novartis USA, Head of Global Sales Immunology & Transplantation based in Basel, Switzerland, and prior to that as Sales & Marketing Manager of Novartis Biotech Europe.

Mr MacKay currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Stem Cell Network and as Vice Chairman of the Board of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.

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As President and CEO of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, Bob’s mission is to foster a positive environment that enables each biotechnology company to achieve its full potential in Massachusetts, making the state a world center for biotechnology. He is very familiar with all areas of the Massachusetts life sciences super cluster and is a passionate advocate for research and the biotechnology community.
Bob has spent his career in both the public and private sectors, most recently serving as Undersecretary of Economic Development within Governor Deval Patrick's administration. Prior to that, he was elected as State Representative to the 11th Norfolk district for three terms. In the legislature both healthcare and economic development were his priorities.

In the world of business he specialized in the environmental services industry and moved on to capital management and venture capital. He has held senior executive positions in both fields
He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy where he majored in Marine Engineering, and is a Lieutenant in the United States Naval Reserve.

Coughlin has also been active in the community, having served on the boards of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. He has served as the honorary chairman of the Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis Walk since 1996 and is a past co-chair of the Children’s Hospital Boston signature event, Champions for Children’s.

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Dave McLaughlin is CEO and Co-Founder of Vsnap, a web & mobile platform that makes it easy for customer-centered businesses to record and send short video messages as a more personal alternative to email.

Previously, Mr. McLaughlin co-founded Fig Card, a mobile payments startup acquired by PayPal in April 2011. Mr. McLaughlin was the founding Executive Director of Boston World Partnerships and he continues to serve alongside Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and others on BWP's Board of Directors. He is also an award-winning filmmaker and playwright and serves as a board member for the Irish Film Festival of Boston. Mr. McLaughlin is a 1995 graduate of Boston College and lives in the Boston area with his wife and two sons.

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Wilbur Ross, CEO of WL Ross & Co. LLC, may be one of the best known private equity investors in the U.S. His private equity funds bought Bethlehem Steel and several other bankrupt producers and revitalized them into the largest U.S. producer before merging them into Mittal Steel for $4.5 billion.

Mr. Ross remains a Director of what is now ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel company. He also created and chairs International Textile Group, the most global American company in that industry; and International Auto Components Group, a $4.5 billion producer of instrument panels and other interior components, operating in 17 countries; Compagnie Europeenne de Wagons Sarl, the largest rail car leasing company in Europe, and American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc., the second largest servicer of subprime mortgages. He also chaired International Coal Group which was recently sold to Arch Coal for $3.4 billion. He is a member of the Boards of AirLease Corp., Assured Guaranty, BankUnited and Greenbrier Companies, all NYSE-listed, of PLASCAR listed in Brazil, and Sun Bancorp which is traded over the counter. He recently became Chairman of Diamond S Shipping which has committed to a 38 vessel tanker fleet.

Mr. Ross was Executive Managing Director of Rothschild Inc. for 24 years before acquiring that firm’s private equity partnerships in 2000. He is a Board Member of Yale University School of Management, Partnership for New York City, Palm Beach Civic Association, Business Roundtable, The Dean’s Advisory Board of Harvard Business School, The Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, The Harvard University Committee on University Resources, BritishAmerican Business, The Blenheim American Foundation, Palm Beach Preservation Foundation and the Chairman’s Council of the U.S./India Business Council. He is Chairman of the Japan Society and Chairman of Palm Beach Firefighters Retirement Fund. President Kim Dae Jung awarded him a medal for his assistance in Korea’s financial crisis, President Clinton appointed him to the Board of the U.S.-Russia Investment Fund and he served as Privatization Advisor to New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. China Institute has presented him with its Blue Cloud Award. Mr. Ross formerly served as Chairman of the Smithsonian Institution National Board. Bloomberg Business Week recently designated him one of the 50 most influential people in Global Finance.

Mr. Ross is a graduate of Yale University and of Harvard Business School (with distinction). He is the only person elected both to the Private Equity Hall of Fame and the Turnaround Management Association Hall of Fame.

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Melanie Hughes serves as Chief Administrative Officer of . In this role, Ms. Hughes oversees creative services, customer service, facilities, human resources, sales operations and offshoring services.

Melanie joined Gilt Groupe in 2009 as Chief Human Resource Officer with more than 20 years of experience in human resources, organizational development and change management in the technology, retail, finance and consumer goods sectors. Prior to Gilt Groupe Melanie was the President of Org4Change, and prior to that, she was the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Coach. Melanie has also served as the Senior Vice President of Global Human Resources at DoubleClick, and she set up the European recruitment programs for Guinness PLC and Swiss Bank Corporation.

Melanie holds a BSc. Honors from Brunel University, London, and an M.B.A. from INSEAD in France. In her spare time, she dedicates herself to not-for-profit education and health programs in developing countries.

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Robert C. Pozen is currently a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Most recently, he was the Chairman of MFS Investment Management®, which manages over $230 billion in assets for over five million investors worldwide. He has a distinguished career in business, government, and academia.

In the business world, Bob was vice chairman of Fidelity Investments and president of Fidelity Management & Research Company. During Bob’s five years as president, Fidelity’s assets increased from $500 billion to $900 billion. He moved on to MFS in 2004, where he was named Chairman; during his tenure as Chairman of MFS, assets under management increased by over 75%.

In late 2001 and 2002, Bob served on President Bush’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security, where he developed a progressive plan to make the system solvent. His plan was endorsed by President Bush, and was included in a series of memoranda to President Obama from the Progressive Policy Institute. In 2003, Bob served as Secretary of Economic Affairs for Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. In 2007, Bob served as chairman of the SEC's Financial Reporting committee.

Beside his current position at Harvard, Bob has taught at MIT, NYU and Georgetown Universities. He frequently writes articles for the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Harvard Business Review. He has published a book on the recent financial crisis, Too Big To Save? How to Fix the US Financial System, and a guide for investors entitled The Fund Industry: How Your Money is Managed.

Bob graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and holds a law degree from Yale where he was a member of the Yale Law Journal.

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Philip Nolan, Partner, Head of Commercial Department, Mason Hayes & Curran. Philip is a leading lawyer in Ireland for technology law, telecommunications law and is one of Europe’s top cloud computing lawyers. Philip advises an impressive range of public and private clients in relation to communications, information technology, intellectual property and competition law. On the regulatory side his practice includes public procurement law, data protection law and regulated industries. Philip has published extensively on business law and information technology, and is a regular speaker on cutting edge technology law issues. He is a lecturer at the Law Society of Ireland in data protection, technology and commercial law.

Philip studied at University College Dublin, DePaul College of Law, Chicago and University of Oxford. He is a member of the International Technology Law Association and former President of the Technology, Media and Intellectual Property Commission of AIJA. Philip is also a founding member of EuroCloud Ireland, a trade association formed to promote Ireland as a global hub for cloud computing.

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Since her election as City Council Speaker, Christine C. Quinn has established herself as a champion for working families, fighting for policies and services that are critical to the lives of real New Yorkers. She has worked to make the Council more responsive to the needs of all New Yorkers, and dramatically increased transparency and accountability. Quinn has developed a reputation for finding innovative solutions, and furthering policies that are both creative and fiscally responsible.

Speaker Quinn has been a leader in the fight to eliminate unfair taxes on the business community, particularly the double taxation of freelancers and sole proprietors. Quinn and the Council recently passed a bill to create a penalty forgiveness period this fall, during which the city will waive late fees and penalties for businesses with outstanding violations. They also passed legislation creating a Regulatory Review Panel to find and help eliminate outdated rules that interfere with business operations.

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Soraya Darabi is an internationally known expert strategist on emerging media. She advises leading companies and startups on business development, partnership strategy and operations in the digital space, with a particular focus on building robust platforms as a way of forging deep connections with consumers. In addition to her work with companies, she reports on new media and technology on the news.

Soraya is a cofounder and lead advisor of Foodspotting, a company providing real-time dining advice to consumers. At Foodspotting, Soraya created the core marketing and partnership strategy for the company, grew its user base from 0 – 2 million. Foodspotting was named by BusinessWeek as one of "America's Most Promising Startups" in 2011. It was also a TIME Top 50 Website and an “App of the Year” by both WIRED magazine and Apple in 2010.

She began her career as Manager of Digital Partnerships and Social-Media at The New York Times, where she successfully led the drive to syndicate The Times’s news and video across multiple new media platforms. Her NYT multimedia Inauguration Day campaign on Facebook won first prize at the INMA awards for excellence in marketing.

Soraya frequently speaks at tech and media events in the U.S. and abroad, and she has been featured in numerous publications as a representative of the new generation of digital thought-leaders. She appeared on the June 2010 cover of Fast Company’s annual “Most Creative People in Business” issue. She was also featured on the cover of Brandweek's annual "Digital" issue in October 2010, and in Inc. magazine’s "30 Under 30" issue in June 2011.

In 2011, Soraya became the first ambassador to The United Nation's group "Global Pulse,” which aims to communicate the work of UN agencies through data visualization. She has provided services to NGOs, including Charity: Water, The Robin Hood Foundation. She sits on the digital advisory board for General Electric, and recently became a mentor for Tech Stars.

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Margaret Brennan is the anchor of “InBusiness with Margaret Brennan” (10 AM-12 PM ET), Bloomberg Television's weekday global business program that covers the world of business and investing as well as the top political, economic and consumer news impacting the global marketplace. Based in New York City, Brennan brings together interviews, analysis and perspective as the U.S. trading day gains momentum and European markets close.

Brennan's reporting at Bloomberg Television has brought her around the world for interviews with leading CEOs, investors and heads of state. In January 2010, she hosted a live broadcast from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she interviewed Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim bin Abdul Aziz al-Assaf and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair. Brennan has also reported from Cairo, the Gulf Coast and the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She was the only journalist to participate in and report on the Global Irish Economic Forum in September 2009.
Brennan joined Bloomberg Television in 2009 from CNBC, where she served as a general assignment reporter and contributed to MSNBC and NBC’s “Today Show” and “Nightly News.” She began her business news career in 2002 as a producer for financial news legend Louis Rukeyser.

Graduating with highest distinction from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in foreign affairs and Middle East studies and a minor in Arabic language, Margaret Brennan was named an Emmerich-Wright Scholar for an outstanding thesis. As a Fulbright-Hays Scholar, she studied Arabic at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan.
Margaret Brennan is a Whitehead Fellow with the Foreign Policy Association and serves on the Advisory Board of the Smurfit School of Business at the University College Dublin. She speaks Arabic.

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Tim is a partner in the Corporate and Commercial Department at Matheson Ormsby Prentice and is Head of the firm's Financial Institutions Group.

Tim is a highly experienced lawyer who has advised on many of the largest transactions which have taken place in Ireland.  In particular, he has advised on public takeovers, private acquisitions and disposals and the restructuring and reorganisation of Irish and international corporates (including leading financial institutions).

Tim has advised on the redomiciliation of a number of large US corporates to Ireland and has advised leading financial institutions operating in and through Ireland on a variety of strategically significant corporate transactions undertaken by them. Tim has lectured extensively on corporate finance and securities law.

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Ailish Finnerty is a partner in the New York office of Arthur Cox where she specialises in Irish tax.  She has a particular focus on international tax planning and has extensive experience is advising US corporates on establishing operations in Ireland and doing business in and through Ireland. 

Ailish acts for a broad range of international clients including multi-national corporations, private equity houses, hedge funds and financial institutions as well as emerging companies across a variety of sectors looking to Ireland as a platform for international expansion. Ailish’s tax planning work includes the tax aspects of leasing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, disposals, reorganisations and corporate restructurings, inward investment projects, securitisations and all forms of structured financing.

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David joined Bridgewater Associates, LP, a global macro investment firm and the world’s largest hedge fund, in 2009. He serves as Co–CEO and is on the firm’s Management Committee. Prior to joining Bridgewater, David was US Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs in the Bush Administration and prior to that worked in the White House as Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Policy.

From 1999–2005 David was an entrepreneur, serving as CEO of Freemarkets and President of Ariba, two publicly traded software companies. David was also a consultant at McKinsey & Co. He is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point and has a Ph.D. from Princeton. He is a former Army officer and a veteran of the first Gulf War.

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Sinead joined the Audit and Assurance department of Grant Thornton in 2002 and was admitted to the partnership in 2005.

She is a member of Public Interest department in Grant Thornton which specialises in offering audit and assurance services to public companies, larger private companies and international groups.  In this regard she is very experienced in co-ordinating international teams, with particular emphasis on central reporting for multiple jurisdictions to Irish headquarters and / or Shared Service Centres.

Up to recently Sinead was the Director of our International Business Centre which acted as the contact point for all international referrals in and out of the firm. As such she is well versed in the Grant Thornton international community and works extensively with other member firms which is crucial to ensure the seamless provision of international services to clients.

Sinead has extensive knowledge of Irish/UK GAAP, IFRS and a working knowledge of US GAAP. Sinead previously spent four years in the Group Reporting function of Elan Corporation plc, an Irish registered public company with listings on the Irish, US and London stock exchanges. She was involved in the preparation of the 20-F and the Irish Annual Report.

Sinead’s client portfolio includes listed companies and mid-corporate clients spanning a range of sectors. She has significant knowledge of the telecoms and technology sector. In addition to audit services for clients, Sinead acts as the primary advisor to non-audit clients on technical accounting and disclosure issues. Typically this service is provided to large listed companies who request technical advice and papers on complex accounting issues, or assistance with the drafting of annual report disclosure notes.  For such assignments she also coordinates other Grant Thornton offices so as to offer a one point of contact for global technical advice on accounting or regulatory issues. 

She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI). Until recently Sinead was a member of the Council of the ICAI and the chairman of the Education and Lifelong Learning committee.

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Kelly Martin was appointed a member of the Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer of Elan Corporation, plc in February 2003. Prior to joining Elan, Mr. Martin dedicated more than 20 years at Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. and had a number of senior executive responsibilities around the world. Mr. Martin spent several years living in Tokyo, working in Japan and throughout the Pacific Rim; as well as living eight years in London, working throughout the UK, EU, Middle East and Africa. Mr. Martin holds an undergraduate degree from Princeton University.

Under the guidance of Mr. Martin and the leadership of his senior executive team, Elan has broadened and further strengthened its science leadership in the field of neuro-degeneration and neuroinflammation.

In addition, the company has created and continues to build its unique capability to
translate scientific discoveries into a broad array of therapeutic applications to the ultimate benefit of millions of patients around the world.

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Joan Burton was appointed Minister for Social Protection in March 2011. She was the first TD to be re-elected in the general election after topping the poll in Dublin West.

Her main priority is to transform the system of social protection to encourage unemployed people back to work, education or training.

One of her key initiatives is the launch of JobBridge, an internship programme, which enables the unemployed to obtain quality work experience.

She has also launched a major crackdown on fraud to ensure that the resources of her Department are spent on the people who most need them.

Joan Burton is Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and a former Finance spokesman for the party.

She was first elected to the Dáil in 1992. In the 1992-97 Government she was Minister of State for Development Cooperation and Overseas Aid (‘94 to ’97). As Minister of State in Foreign Affairs, she initiated a dramatic expansion ofIreland’s Aid Programme inAfrica. As Minister of State in Social Welfare (’92 to ’95) she initiated a series of Welfare to Work and Education initiatives for lone parents and families on Social Welfare.

Joan Burton is a chartered accountant by profession. She trained and worked with PriceWaterhouse in Dublin prior to becoming a Senior Lecturer in the Dublin Institute of Technology. She is married to Pat Carroll, a Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at the DIT Bolton St. They have one daughter Aoife, law graduate of TCD, who now works as a barrister in Dublin.

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