The U.S. Northern Ireland Mentorship Program participants gathered at PricewaterhouseCooper’s Manhattan headquarters on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 to receive their awards in a ceremony which recognized the second successful year of the program.

Presenting the awards on the night were Declan Kelly, Program Founder, CEO Teneo Holdings and Former Economic Envoy to Northern Ireland, along with Kieran McLoughlin, CEO and President of the Worldwide Ireland Funds.

“It gives me great pride to recognize each of you here tonight. The program is very important to me and it has been a pleasure watching you all grow and develop this year. This experience represents a significant milestone in your career, you have been fantastic ambassadors to Northern Ireland and I have no doubt that a very bright future lies ahead.” Declan Kelly stated in his remarks to the participants.

Robert MacGoey, Partner at PwC and prominent member of the American Ireland Fund Young Leaders gave the opening remarks on the night.  PwC has supported the US–NI Mentorship Program since its inception in June 2010 and thus far has hosted 5 candidates in the Banking and Capital Markets practice within their Assurance business.

In his remarks, Rob stated that the caliber of the candidates on the program has been exceptional and PwC’s New York teams have been greatly enriched by the addition of US–NI Mentorship Program participants.

The U.S. – Northern Ireland Mentorship program was established in May of 2010 by Declan Kelly, when he served as the U.S. Economic Envoy to Northern Ireland and is an initiative which he personally continues to sponsor in partnership the American Ireland Fund.

The initiative is supported by Bob McCann, CEO of UBS Wealth Management and National Board Director of The American Ireland Fund; Ms. Joanne Stuart, OBE, Director at the Northern Ireland Science Park; and the Northern Ireland Science Park CONNECT program in Belfast.

The program was established to underpin the peace process in Northern Ireland and to foster a culture of entrepreneurship among young people by providing them with the opportunity to work with a leading U.S. corporation for the duration of one year. Participating companies include the Coca-Cola Company, UBS, Bank of America, HBO, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Teneo and Moet Hennessy.

The program has placed over 30 graduates with leading U.S. corporations since its inception and is now in the process of pairing candidates with leading companies for year three of the program.