Feature by Brad Balfour
Galway native Paul Finnegan, current Irish Business Organization president, has presided during the tumultuous re-opening of a seemingly post-pandemic New York. After two years of adapting to a virtual format, the organization has awakened out of its Zoom life to a re-invigorated live experience.
Among the many New York based organizations which support the Irish-American community and its expatriates, The Irish Business Organization of New York (IBO) offers a great gateway in. Whether fully Irish or not, this 50-year-old networking group’s membership includes long time veterans of New York’s vibrant social scene along with talented newcomers.
It holds over 25 events a year, including monthly evening events, monthly business breakfasts (currently via Zoom), and a quarterly women’s networking lunch. The IBO also marches in the St. Patrick’s Day parade (with a party afterwards) and an annual Christmas party. The IBO sponsors numerous other events, too, with opportunities for networking, professional development, education, inspiration and friendship among members.
In fact, as part of its renewed vigor, the group is trying something new with its Wednesday, February 8th, meeting. It will host a Poitín Summit, named for the famous Irish spirit. Hot on the heels of the Oscar nominated “Banshees of Inisherin,” the movie — where poitín is featured prominently — has prompted a tasting invite with a trio of Irish poitín manufacturers offering a sampling of their wares. The spirit’s time has finally come. And thanks to Sean O’Dowd, Maura Clare and the IBO’s Executive Board, this tasting is happening.
Register here: https://lnkd.in/eg4Yrdkt
In keeping with the IBO’s digital development, the event streams live on Facebook, as usual. Find it on the IBO page, unless you plan to attend in person.
Founded in 1973, the organization was initially named The Irish Insurance and Reinsurance Society, reflecting its founding members as insurance professionals. As early as its second meeting, the name was shortened to the Irish Insurance Society and, in 1977, was changed to the Irish Insurance Society of New York. The founding members created it to develop an information and education network that its members could contribute to and benefit from. As it grew, its wider value to the Irish and Irish-American business community became apparent so it was renamed The Irish Business Organization of New York. In 1990, the IBO was incorporated as a non-profit organization.
Besides being the IBO president for the last two years, Finnegan also does a podcast, CenterPieceNY – New York Irish Stories where he chronicles –in their own words –the lives of those with serious roots in New York’s Irish community. In addition, he’s launched a business, Shantalla (shantalla.space), which provides a storytelling service for businesses. The following Q&A came about as Finnegan was cajoled to answer a few questions about NYC, IBO and the Irish in New York.
Q: What led you to New York City and what were some of your experiences along the way?
PF: I grew up in Galway City, but when the time came to make my own way in the world, Ireland was going through a deep recession. Almost everyone I knew among my peers was leaving, so emigrating was the thing to do. There’s nothing new there in Ireland’s story. I chose New York because I had been to visit previously and thought it was amazing, and I had a lot of cousins here, which helps.
Q: And what have been your exciting moments in NYC?
PF: NYC is basically where I’ve spent almost my entire adult life, so it’s hard to narrow it down to any one thing. All I can say as a generalization is that the city continues to amaze me, with the depth and breadth of its humanity. Metaphorically and literally, it is a place of cities within cities. I have had so many different experiences here – mostly, but not all, good. There have been terrible times where I’ve seen the best in people. I lived through 911, through a blackout the following summer, Superstorm Sandy and the pandemic. And each time the spirit of the city has been restored by New Yorkers, again and again. And it is always changing. Someone remarked to me recently that New York is not what it was, and my answer is that this city is never what it was. My own personal experiences, meeting my wife Rosa and becoming a father of two, are huge exciting New York milestones for me too.
Q: How have your experiences in New York brought you to this point?
PF: I’ve tried my hand at a few things in my time in New York, which is putting it mildly. I even taught public school for a few years in my early days here, people might be surprised to know, which was a fabulous experience, and also did some adjunct teaching at third level more recently. I received a Masters Degree in information systems and that gave me a basis to work in that field in general for over a decade. And I have always found myself engaged with the Irish immigrant community on some level throughout my New York life, both as a volunteer and professionally, with a combined 15 years as a director of two well-known Irish organizations along the way. And now, it’s the IBO.
Q: How did you discover the IBO?
PF: It was sometime in the middle of the 1990s when I was Executive Director at the Emerald Isle Immigration Center. I was approached by the then president, Mike McNicholas, a very dynamic Mayo-man, who made me aware of the IBO and encouraged me to join. For a couple of years, I went to meetings regularly. But then a change in career took me to Long Island, so it was harder to get to meetings for a number of years. The meetings were held in the Shelbourne Hotel in Manhattan then, a venue which is no longer in existence. I returned to the fold later.
Q: What led you to join?
PF: The IBO has always been a great in-person networking organization, and it has always had a vibrant community around it. We are working to bring that back again, post-pandemic. We’re off to a good start in 2022, now building it more in 2023, our 50th anniversary! We’ve been around longer than most. Now, of course, we also have a virtual platform to bring people together from anywhere.
Q: What have you learned for yourself from heading IBO this year?
PF: I’ve learned in researching the IBO’s almost 50-year history, that without women the IBO would not have stood the test of time. In fact, the IBO owes its origin story to one woman in particular, back in the early 70s. And that’s a story I will be telling all throughout our 50th anniversary year, 2023. We have big plans for our 50th!
Q: How do you decide who you want to invite to speak at your various events?
PF: We focus on the following criteria: will the membership benefit from the speaker in terms of 1) the story of the speaker’s experience 2) business advice and/or education on business matters and 3) getting to know community leaders and what they do. Our Board gives our potential invitee choices of a regular discussion. Due to scheduling conflicts, we don’t always get our first choice each time. But we can always revisit an invitation down the road, and we always have a great list to work off of.
Q: What were your most exciting moments with the IBO?
PF: It was exciting to become President for 2022, and to work hard throughout the year, and to be reelected for 2023. It was also exciting to be given the Sean McNeill Award in 2021. Sean was a remarkable leader and a friend, and I miss not having him in my life to seek advice from.
Q: What direction are you going with the IBO and what do you see as the direction for the IBO in general?
PF: Since we cannot foresee the future, the best we can do is imagine where we’d like to be, and push off from the present in that general direction. The IBO is 50 years in existence in 2023, which is a remarkable achievement. There are a lot of organizations in the community that have come and gone in the last half-century, or exist only in name at this stage. So in 2023, the direction I would like to go with the IBO is to begin to make it relevant for another decade or so, at least. Of course, I would want it to be around and strong for another 50 years, but that’s hard to plan for. Let’s bite off a stretch that we can visualize better, and seven to 10 years is good. My tenure as President will end long before that so my goal is to point the IBO in that direction this year as we mark our 50th year. This will include fundraising – it’s hard to do anything without a war-chest – whilst building up the community that is our membership. Also making the organization relevant to them through reviving some old programs and introducing new ones that are timely and creative. I have put in place a great team – our 50th anniversary steering committee – who will help me and my wonderful Executive Board make 2023 a year to remember.
Q: In building a digital audience, that inevitably leads to an international one.
PF: Talking about the IBO here, I will take ‘digital audience’ to mean leveraging the various social media platforms -– Facebook, LinkedIn and the like –- which are very powerful ways to build followings and update our community. I have a great Executive Board. And our Communications Officer, Noreen, does a great job getting the word out about our activities – both via email and social media – along with other IBO volunteers. We are actually seeking a Director of Social Media to help because we recognize the great potential of social media to help us achieve our goals in 2023. This is voluntary work, and we remain a 100% voluntary organization. So dedication, commitment and a belief in the work of the IBO is a requirement. I am fortunate in that I am surrounded by a number of such volunteers, including my fellow Board members and those adding their great talents to the IBO Women’s Networking Committee.
Q: How has turning to Zoom events been incorporated in the mission of the IBO?
PF: When the pandemic hit, the IBO really had to come up with a new model to keep its membership connected. Under our previous president, John Lee, the IBO was quick to move everything online which, naturally, the entire world was doing [as well]. In a way, we were fortunate that the world didn’t have to lock down 20, or even 10 years ago, when broadband and WiFi were nothing like they are now. That would have meant real isolation for everyone. In the last year we have brought back our in-person membership meetings, but retained the monthly virtual breakfast, which allows for people from far and wide, nationally and internationally, to continue to be part of our community.
Q: You have quite a database of events and talks — they are quite an asset for the IBO.
PF: The three words that inform the IBO are Network, Communicate and Reciprocate. Our events are currently our main value-added [element] for our membership, and that’s likely to remain the case. In bringing people together, they can live these three imperatives … these commandments of the IBO. And of them, to reciprocate is quintessentially Irish. Business is not all about survival of the fittest and rewarding the individual, although those are key components of America’s success. But being part of a broader community is part and parcel of success, and giving back is essential for the general health of that community. The Irish have that tendency in their Celtic DNA, thus we remind our members to “reciprocate.” We also like to have our members come away from our meetings a little bit richer, professionally. To that end, we try to source a high quality guest each time, those that can teach us something new and get us thinking.
Q: In what ways do you plan to expand the outreach for IBO?
PF: I would like to bring back some programs that the IBO had going in the years leading up to the pandemic. In particular those which were of service to professionals at the beginning of their careers. Also programs specifically tailored to passionate small business owners. We have so many in our community that fall into these categories.
Q: And for yourself, professionally where are you going now that the world is returning to pre-pandemic conditions?
PF: Professionally, as I enter into a new chapter in my career, I will be putting all my effort into my company, Shantalla, which I launched recently. It’s named for a neighborhood in Galway City, where I spent several formative years of my childhood. Developing my business is a conscious decision on my part because, in terms of direction, I believe it can place me on a stronger platform in the next decade than other options I may have.
Shantalla is focused on strategic planning for small- and medium-sized companies, drawing on my experience in bringing more than one entity to a better level, and my strengths in crafting organizational narratives. Shantalla’s services include a cloud-based software application for creating strategic plans, with DIY and coached service offerings. And I will continue with my podcast CenterPieceNY, which draws on the stories of my tribe, those of us that left Ireland to make a life for ourselves in New York, because this form of podcasting – a documentary long-form journalistic style – had always ignited a passion in me.
Q: And how do you see your life developing on a personal level?
PF: On a personal level? My kids are bigger but still need their parents. So we are not done, my wife and I, with our responsibilities there just yet. I think it’s harder for young people to strike out on their own these days overall, than it was for us, for many reasons. Yet it has us thinking about what might come next, in another five to 10 years. But no definite plans just yet, since we are still in the thick of the action, so to speak.