Southeast Region Diaspora Conference
The Consulate General of Ireland, Atlanta was thrilled to host a Diaspora Conference for community organizations across our region.
The Consulate General of Ireland, Atlanta, with thanks to Irish Abroad Unit (IAU) for support from the Strategic Diaspora Fund, hosted diaspora and community organizations from across our region for a 1.5 day Diaspora Conference, held at the Consulate. Almost 40 representatives from each of the five states we cover, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky attended. We were also delighted to host colleagues from Washington DC, Austin CG, Los Angeles CG and Miami CG as well as Fiona Penollar, Director General for Citizen Services and Julie Connell, Director for US & Canada.
There were four key objectives of the conference:
- To build capacity among ESP recipient and other established Irish organizations in the Southeast region of the United States;
- To encourage peer-learning and the development of region-wide networks and collaboration;
- To provide an opportunity for DG Penollar, IAU and Embassy colleagues to meet with a broad range of organizations in this region;
- To provide a platform to think strategically about next steps for our engagement with the Diaspora in the region.
Capacity building in our ESP organizations is key to future-proofing and ensuring sustainability of these organizations, and Ireland’s soft power in the region, and as a result, professional capacity-building training made up the main sessions in the conference. Three 1.5 hour sessions were delivered by professional trainers from the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, each one focusing on different aspects of organizational development which had been identified as critical skills gaps:
- Volunteer Leadership & Leading Volunteers aimed to enhance participants’ skills in creating a positive volunteer culture and effectively motivate volunteers.
- Board Governance & Structures, focused on the roles and responsibilities of non-profit boards, board leadership, and strategies for empowering the board.
- Fundraising Strategies, explored approaches to fundraising events, grant proposals, and donor engagement.
In addition to the training sessions, the Consulate team delivered informational sessions that outlined Culture Ireland supports and the application process and provided guidance on the Emigrant Support Programme (ESP) application process, with thanks to Aidan Cronin and Ciara McGaughey for delivering this session. A reception where participants could network with representatives from various organizations, promoting collaboration and support of each other’s initiatives, as well as with the Consulate team and HQ colleagues concluded day one of the conference. The conference closed on day two with an open session, led by the Consul General, with input from Director General Penollar and Director Connell, which gave participants the opportunity to share ideas, look ahead, identify challenges and opportunities for Irish organizations in the US Southeast, and propose what’s next for the Irish diaspora in the region.
This conference was instrumental in enhancing the skills of ESP recipient organizations while also providing an excellent opportunity for these organizations to connect with one another, encouraging them to work together and share ideas. Our thanks again to IAU for the support as well as colleagues in CG Chicago for the IP! Many wonderful ideas were generated during the conference as well as captured subsequently via survey. Our average rating from attendees when asked how useful they found the conference overall was 4.6 out of 5.
Annex A
- Phoenix School of Irish Arts
- Irish Chamber
- IrishFest Atlanta
- Arís
- The Film Collaborative - The Scots-Irish a Musical Journey, Chris Moser'
- Memphis GAA
- Memphis Irish Society
- Memphis Irish Network
- USGAA Southeast Division
- Savannah Celtic Heritage Festival
- Savannah Irish Festival
- Irish American Heritage Society, Augusta
- Northside Parade
- The Fáilte Center for Irish Culture and Sport
- Hibernian Benevolent Society of Atlanta
- Ancient Order of Hibernians
- Charlotte Irish Connection
- Charlotte Saint Patrick’s Day Parade
- Nashville Irish Network
- The Irish Apostolate USA
- Georgia Southern University
- Louisville Metro Government