On Saturday, July 19, 2014, The American Ireland Fund hosted over 150 people at its annual Nantucket Celebration, held at the home of Bart & AIF National Director Lesley Grenier.
Co-chaired by Chris and Ann Quick, Bob and Laura Reynolds and Jack and Suzy Welch, the evening’s highlight was the remarks of Honoree Anne Finucane of Bank of America who spoke about her Irish roots, good Nantucket friends and the pleasure and satisfaction she has received from her involvement through the years in several non-profit undertakings in Ireland.
Among the guests attending were Senator Ed Markey; Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”; Vanity Fair feature writer Maureen Orth and her son Luke Russert of MSNBC; Jack Manning (Boston Capital Corporation) and his wife Lyle Howland; Chairman of The American Ireland Fund John Fitzpatrick; Irish Consul General in Boston Breandan O’Caollai and his wife Carmel; Chad Gifford, former Chairman, Bank of America, and his wife Anne; and Nantucket Committee Members George Albrecht, Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, Ben Barnes, Stephen & Susan Burbage, Kevin Callahan, Bob Crowe, Chris Drake, Jack & Lisa Dunfey, Jim & Susan Geraghty, Mike & Rebecca Greeley, Linda Holliday, Natalie Jacobson, Scott & Sheila Knight, Kathleen Matthews, Brian & Kelly McKernan, Bob & Laurie Monahan, Bob Mooney, Bruce & Elisabeth Percelay, Bill & Beth Scannell, Wendy Schmidt and Guy &DeDe Snowden.
Past honorees of the Nantucket Celebration include, among others, Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Nobel Peace Prize Winner John Hume, Special Olympics President and CEO Tim Shriver, the late author Frank McCourt, the late broadcast journalist Tim Russert and print and broadcast journalist Mike Barnicle, husband of this year’s Honoree Anne Finucane who also attended the Celebration.
The quintessential Nantucket summer home of the Greniers and their warm welcome provided the perfect setting for a night of old and new friends gathering on a calm Nantucket evening sharing stories, laughter, hearty hors d’oeuvres and a wee bit of spirits.
About Anne Finucane, 2014 Nantucket Celebration Honoree
Anne Finucane is global chief strategy and marketing officer at Bank of America, and a member of the company’s executive management team. She chairs the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, overseeing a 10-year, $2 billion charitable giving goal, and also serves as president of the Northeast region. In addition, Finucane leads Bank of America’s corporate social responsibility program, which leverages the unmatched capabilities of the company and power of its global platform to help partners, people, communities and a broad client and customer base more effectively address a wide range of social issues.
Under Finucane’s leadership, Bank of America has made significant contributions to Irish arts and culture over the past few years. Through its Art Conservation Project, the company worked with the National Gallery of Ireland to restore the iconic painting The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife by Maclise; in addition, Bank of America partnered with the Abbey Theatre to conserve four portraits by John Butler Yeats, and loaned approximately 100 photographs from its corporate art collection to the Irish Museum of Modern Art. In 2013 Bank of America awarded a $1 million grant to Music Generation – Ireland’s National Music Education Programme – which will help build a national framework to deliver local, performance-based music education opportunities to complement the teaching and learning of music for children and young people in Ireland’s public schools, with a focus on those most in need.
