Join us as we honor Irish-American professionals in business, arts & culture, and public service. Enjoy an afternoon of music, dance, and great food as we honor those who represent our Irish heritage so well.
We will recognize the following Irish-American professionals in Business, Arts & Culture, and Public Service:
Father Flanagan & Mother McAuley Lifetime Achievement Award: Archbishop Michael McGovern
The Most Reverend Michael McGovern was born on July 1, 1964, in Evergreen Park, Illinois.
Bishop McGovern attended Loyola University in Chicago (1982-86). At Loyola University, he was invited to participate in the Honors Program and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy in 1986.
After graduating from Loyola University, Bishop McGovern worked for four years before applying for admission as a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Chicago at Mundelein Seminary. He was awarded a Baccalaureate degree in Theology in 1993 and a Master of Divinity in 1994.
On May 21, 1994, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin ordained Father Michael McGovern to the priesthood in Holy Name Cathedral. He served as an Associate Pastor at Queen of the Universe Parish, St. Mary in Lake Forest, and St. Juliana in Chicago.
On December 15, 2004, Cardinal Francis George appointed Father McGovern Pastor of St. Mary in Lake Forest.
On July 1, 2016, Cardinal Blase Cupich appointed Father McGovern Pastor of St. Raphael the Archangel Parish in Old Mill Creek, Illinois.
On July 22, 2020, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago ordained and installed Bishop McGovern as the Ninth Bishop of the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois in the Cathedral of St. Peter.
On March 31, 2025, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop-designate Michael McGovern the sixth Archbishop of Omaha. He was installed as Archbishop of Omaha on May 7, 2025, at the Cathedral of St. Cecilia, Omaha, Nebraska.
Kathleen & Jack Cavanaugh Outstanding Public Service Award: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has served with distinction in both the private and public arenas including in areas as diverse as AI, crime, faith, finance, workforce development, women’s rights, service.
She was Maryland’s first woman Lt Governor where she developed the Hot Spots initiative which reduced crime 33% in three years in the highest crime communities. As Lt Gov she Chaired HIDTA, (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas) Task Force, The Office of Crime Control and Prevention, The Governor’s Office of Workforce Development, the Governor’s Office of Children, Youth and Families, and the Task Force on Drug Treatment. Among her many initiatives, she led the effort to require all state employees to take domestic violence training, launched Character Education in public schools, and initiated micro finance lending.
She also served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States where helped organize the training of 100,000 community police officers and the initiation of the Police Corps
Prior to serving in the Attorney Generals’ Office, she founded the Maryland Student Service Alliance where she successfully led the effort to have Maryland be the first state to make Service-Learning a high school graduation requirement. She developed curriculum for grades K through 12, and Special Ed, and educated over 2,000 teachers in service learning techniques. She also Co-Founded Civic Works—an urban service corps in Baltimore.
After her term as Lt Governor, she focused on finance and became a Managing Director of Rock Creek, one of the largest women owned asset management firm in the US, with states, foundation, unions and corporate pension funds for clients.
That experience led her to see the need for retirement reform as half of all Americans had nothing saved for Retirement. She Chaired the Marland Task Force on Retirement which led to the creation of Maryland Saves (where she is now the vice chair), and Co-founded the Center for Retirement Initiatives at Georgetown to help states enact auto-IRA legislation. When the Center opened not a single state has passed that legislation. Now 18 states have enacted retirement reform. As the Secretary’s Representative on Pensions and Retirement at the Labor under President Biden, she led the retirement reform campaign for Secretary Marty Walsh.
She has also served as the Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Navy, where she focused her efforts on shipbuilding and the upgrading of shipyards. In conjunction with the Project Improvement Office she founded, the No Shipyard Left Behind Initiative.
She has been a Special Advisor at the Department of State under Secretary Hillary Clinton where she helped launch 100,000 Strong, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, taught foreign policy at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maryland and has been a visiting Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
In the mid-1980s, she founded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award which honored Lech Walesa, Bishop Tuto and Co-Madres from El Salvador among many others.
She Chaired the Institute of Human Virology founded by Dr. Robert Gallo, which treats over one million patients in Africa as part of the PEPFAR program, Chaired the Global Virus Network, Chaired the Robert Kennedy Memorial, Chaired the Innovation in Government Awards, at the Kennedy School, Harvard University and served on the Board of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
She was the Vice-Chair of the Future of Science conference held in Venice Italy for over a decade which was part of the effort to make stem cell acceptable in Italy.
She was the Audit Chair, when she served on the Board of Lightbridge, a nuclear fuels company. She also served on the boards of CanAlaska, uranium mining, NewTowerTrust Company, an investment company. Currenty, she serves on SurX, an exploratory oil and gas mining company.
An honors graduate of Harvard University, Ms. Townsend received her law degree from the University of New Mexico where she was a member of the law review. She has received fourteen honorary degrees.
Ms. Townsend’s book, Failing America’s Faithful: How Today’s Churches Mixed God with Politics and Lost Their Way has been published by Warner Books in March 2007.
Ms. Townsend is also a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and the Inter-American Dialogue
She Co-Chaired the Board of the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. She has served on a number of boards including the Export-Import Bank, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the Wilderness Society, YMCA, the Points of Light Foundation, the National Catholic Reporter and the Women’s Policy Research, the Baltimore Urban League, Sheppard Pratt Health System Pension Rights Center, Center for American Progress, Why We Vac. She Chaired the Center for Popular Democracy.
John & Ed Creighton Brothers Excellence Award: Ed & Joni Fogarty
Joni McCarthy Fogarty and Ed Fogarty’s Omaha roots date back to the late 1800’s. Joni has been a scholar, teacher, writer, and volunteer. In addition to involvement in the Omaha Irish Cultural Center, Joni’s resume is long and impressive. After a career in the Omaha Public School system, she turned to writing, most notably biographies on the works of John and Alan McDonald “Building Omaha” followed by a biography of architect Thomas Rogers Kimball. Joni has also been an active volunteer with many organizations including The Cathedral Arts Project, where she served 2 terms as President. Joni led the events for the 100th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of St. Cecelia’s Cathedral in 2007.
Joni was named “Woman of the Year” by the Douglas County Historical Society in 2013. In 2015, The Women’s Center for Advancement named her “Woman of the Year.”
Ed Fogarty has been a trial attorney since 1965, beginning with the Marine Corps. He followed his service to our country as a federal prosecutor in Omaha. He has been involved in significant public policy, public interest, and criminal cases. Ed served on the Douglas County Board of Mental Health for 23 years.