Paul Finnegan
Title / Position: Founder/CEO Shantalla LLC
Town / State: Queens, NYC, New York
Tell us about yourself and your family life:
Born in the US, I was raised in Galway City from early infancy. I returned to the US after graduating college in Galway in the mid-1980s, and have lived in New York since. I met my wife Rosa, a native of the Dominican Republic, in 1994 and we married in 1997. We have two kids, Kevin (23) and Sara (18). I have two older brothers, Sean and Paraic, who came to New York during the same stretch that I did. Sean eventually settled in San Diego, and Paraic in Mobile, Alabama, where he raised his own family. My one remaining sibling, my sister Maureen, stayed in Ireland, where she raised her family. She is a doctor, currently working in Cavan. My parents, John and Maire, are now both deceased RIP, having lived out their days in Renmore, Galway. My father hailed from Woodquay, in Galway City, my mother from County Kilkenny. I have remained actively engaged with the Irish community in New York since I arrived here, and currently am the president of the Irish Business Organization of New York, and serve on the Board of CIAA Scholastic, supporting a summer school for US high school students in Galway.
Tell us about your professional life:
Professionally, I have always sought out work I enjoy doing. This has taken me across industries, in both the corporate and not-for-profit spaces, and has largely been with organizations in their earlier stages of development. Along the way, I have accrued 15+ years combined heading up two major Irish community organizations in New York, and have over a decade working in the domain of information systems within several verticals, but primarily in the US foodservice supply chain. Ultimately this led me to thinking I could be of better service to more organizations than just any one at any given time, and is why I started Shantalla, to do more of the work I love doing i.e. bringing enterprises to a better place than where I found them. At Shantalla, this all begins with strategy, a largely misunderstood concept, and thus often results in bad strategies, or non-strategies. We help our clients discover the unique value they bring to the world, which is what strategy really is, and how they can realize value innovation for new markets. A secondary level of Shantalla services that follows from this is strategy execution, or project management, another strength of ours.
What is your connection to Project Children?
I have been familiar with the work of Project Children since the Troubles, and have long admired founder Denis Mulcahy and the huge contributions of Catherine Flood and Linda Croston to its efforts. On one occasion I brought a bunch of Queens Irish seniors to view the excellent Project Children documentary, "How to Defuse A Bomb", which had a a lasting impression on them.
Do you have a favorite Project Children memory?
My favorite Project Children memory is when I was the director of Emerald Isle Immigration Center in Queens in the mid-90s, and Catherine Flood came to me to ask if Project Children could use our offices as changing rooms for the Bachelor of the Year Award fundraiser across the street at Paddy Reilly's Tower View. It was a fun night!
Tell us what it means to be a PC ambassador for the PC Picnic and 5k and the Move to the Monaghan Peace Campus.
It is a great honor to be associated with the work of Project Children in any way and I am delighted to serve as an ambassador for all activities to support its Move to Monaghan.
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