AAIDN Announces 5th Anniversary Gala Honorees: Philanthropist Loretta Brennan Glucksman and Howard University President Ben Vinson III

By Miriam Nyhan Grey

October 12th, 2024

The African American Irish Diaspora Network (AAIDN) will hold its 5th Anniversary Diaspora Leadership Awards Gala on Thursday, Nov. 7, at 6:30 p.m. (EST) at the Harvard Club of New York, 35 W 44th Street, New York. This year’s gala will honor two leaders of international renown: Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Chair Emerita of The Ireland Funds America and Ben Vinson III, President of Howard University.

Gala Honorees; Loretta Brennan Glucksman & Ben Vinson III

Loretta Brennan Glucksman has been involved in philanthropic endeavors in Ireland and in the United States for over three decades. Ben Vinson III is the 18th president of Howard University who was most recently Provost and Executive Vice President at Case Western Reserve University.

This year’s gala follows on from a very successful inaugural event in 2022 at which honorees included Ireland’s President Mary McAleese and Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., most known for his PBS hit series “Finding Your Roots”. Professor Gates recently observed: “No matter how different we are phenotypically, or our religious traditions, or our geographic origins, we are 99.99 percent identical at the level of the genome.”

Founded in 2019, the African American Irish Diaspora Network is a 501(c)(3) organization that fosters African American and Irish connections in cultural, educational and business settings. The board of directors is led by founder and president Mr. Dennis J. Brownlee.

This year’s gala is co-chaired by board members Christian Bolden and Fionnghuala “Fig” O’Reilly, who also was an AAIDN gala honoree in 2022. Funds from the gala support initiatives such as summer internships and scholarship opportunities, as well as the US-Ireland Research and Investment Consortium and the emerging AAIDN Institute led by renowned scholars Kim DaCosta, Christine Kinealy and Miriam Nyhan Grey. Join us in celebrating the achievements of our inspiring honorees on what promises to be another memorable New York evening. For more information on tickets and packages, contact Carla Capone at carla@carlacapone.com