BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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.

DENNIS J. 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 Stated 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.

JAMES CAVANAUGH

Elected in 2014 and reelected in 2018 Mr. Cavanaugh serves as Douglas County Commissioner on the Douglas  County Board. Since 2015 he has served as a Trustee on the Board of Trustees of the Douglas County Health  Center. 
Mr. Cavanaugh is a practicing attorney and founding partner of the Cavanaugh Law Firm P.C., L.L.O., and  principal of Cavanaugh and Assoc. P.C., L.L.O. in Omaha, Nebraska, specialty law firms concentrating on Social  Security Disability Law, Administrative Law, Government Relations and Environmental Advocacy. He is a  member of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives (NOSSCR) and has presented  as a speaker and expert in the area of Social Security Disability Law, environmental law, and Nebraska History at  multiple venues. He was the prevailing counsel for the appellant in two published cases in the U.S. Court of  Appeals Eighth Circuit regarding Social Security and Public Welfare. 
Mr. Cavanaugh is a former trial attorney with the Douglas County Public Defender, representing indigent clients,  a former Administrative Assistant and Grant Writer to the Mayor of Omaha, and a former administrative law  officer with the Nebraska Department of Labor. In 1987 Mr. Cavanaugh founded the oldest and largest Social  Security Disability law firm in Nebraska. From 2015 to 2020 Mr. Cavanaugh served as counsel to the Nebraska  Chapter of the Sierra Club. In 2020 Mr. Cavanaugh served as Co-Chair of BOOMERS FOR BIDEN/SAVE OUR  SOCIAL SECURITY.  
Mr. Cavanaugh has served on the Boards of Directors of the Nebraska Repertory Theater, Justice for Our  Neighbors, the Immigrant Legal Center, the Center for Missouri River Studies, the Ancient Order of Hibernians,  and on the central committee of the Nebraska Democratic Party. Mr. Cavanaugh is a member of the Sierra Club,  Rotary International, Omaha Sister Cities Association, and the Irish American Cultural Institute. He is a presenter  with the Nebraska Humanities Council Speakers Bureau. He has also served on the Mercy High School Capital  Campaign Board of Directors, the Montessori Parents' Cooperative Corporation and as Chairman of the 2000  and 2001 Omaha Irish Art Exhibitions. An Omaha Native, he and his wife, Leslie, were named Outstanding  Montessori Parents of the Year for 2009-2010. Mr. Cavanaugh has four children and three grandchildren.

CONOR CASEY

Conor Owen Casey is a city councilor in Montpelier, VT and principal at Celtic Campaigns, LLC, a political consulting firm. He spent his childhood in County Louth before moving to the States and received a B.A at Emerson College in Boston and M.A. from Dublin City University. Conor began his career in the office of Senator Ted Kennedy and has worked in the labor movement for nearly two decades. In 2013, the Irish Echo named him one of the top Irish Americans in Labor to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the Dublin Lockout. He is former executive director of the Vermont Democratic Party and lives in Montpelier with his wife, Pixie and ferocious 13-pound dog, Linus.