Washington, D.C.  – On Tuesday November 19th, friends and supporters of the Washington Ireland Program gathered LiUNA’s DC headquarters to celebrate the annual WIP Autumn Reception.

WIP was proud to honor WIP Leadership Council member, Mike Hanrahan, with the Spirit of WIP Award. This award was presented in recognition of Mike’s example of service and leadership both in his professional endeavors, and through his personal commitment to supporting people with Angelman Syndrome.

During the award presentation, WIP Director of Engagement, Claire Rumpsa remarked, “Mike has been a key figure in WIP’s expansion and engagement with the New York community.  Always generous with his time to meet the WIP students, Mike challenged their frames of reference by his capacity to think at scale. Throughout the pandemic, Mike brough to WIP a capacity to challenge our thinking, guidance on how our impact could be scaled in a time of crisis, and practical support on making those changes a reality. But in all his conversations, I think what has inspired students most has been Mike’s passion around his work on Angelman Syndrome. It is a tangible example, and an exemplar for WIP students, of how you can use your resources, networks, and way of thinking to drive change.”

In his acceptance speech, Mike Hanrahan said, “[WIP] is an organization that has the preservation of peace as a core part of its mission.  Not only that, it is doing so in the most worthy and valuable way that I can think of, which is to bring extraordinary students from both sides together and work with them to teach the skills of leadership, establish relationships, build empathy and have shared experiences, all in the name of building peace and prosperity for Northern Ireland.  In a world where opposing sides communicate with memes, often have no shared reality and unfortunately are quick to denigrate and vilify one another, the WIP model really stands out and would be a wonderful template for other conflicts and an antidote for our broken political discourse.”

We were delighted to be joined by representatives from two of WIP’s most generous supporters from Northern Ireland and Ireland. Professor Duncan Morrow spoke on behalf of Ulster University which was our Leadership Sponsor for the event. Ian Hyland, Founder and President of Ireland INC, spoke about why he is proud to be one of WIP’s newest corporate supporters.  Both congratulated WIP on its 30^th anniversary and reflected on the impact that the organization has had on peace and prosperity on the island of Ireland.

The event was generously hosted by LiUNA, and we were delighted to be joined by former LiUNA President Terry O’Sullivan. We were also honored to be joined by Rep Val Hoyle, Rep Mary Gay Scanlon and Rep Tim Kennedy. Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Autumn Reception. As we reflect on WIP’s 30th anniversary, we appreciate all the people who have chosen to support WIP through the years.