The IN-San Diego Board
Eilis McKay, President
Born and raised in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, Eilis attended Queen’s University, Belfast where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts and Diploma in Education. She went on to teach History and Latin at High School level for 10 years. Eilis has also been closely involved with the formation of the West Coast Queen’s Alumni Association.
The move to the US in 1982 spurred an interest in real estate and she obtained her first real estate license in Denver, Colorado. She has been living in Rancho Santa Fe, California for the past 29 years, and works as a real estate agent with the prestigious, family owned, residential real estate firm of Barry Estates Inc. founded by Catherine and Dan Barry in 1990. Despite the economic climate, Eilis has sold the highest priced property in Rancho Santa Fe and Del Mar for 2009. Her client base includes buyers from South Africa, London, India, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles and come from a wide range of industries and professions.
Russell McHugh, Board Member
Native of Leritrim, Russell has been living in the United States since 2006 where he now runs his own consulting firm AVMC Inc in San Diego. AVMC works with a number of advanced mobile technology firms in mobile healthcare, education and hardware components for the mobile industry. Russell previously worked at FLO TV Incorporated, a wholly owned Qualcomm subsidiary firm. FLO TV was a broadcast station on Channel 55 delivering TV content to mobile phones in the US market. Prior to FLO TV, he was with Qualcomm Internet Services in Cambridge, UK and transferred to the San Diego office. He worked with Trigenix Limited until its acquisition by Qualcomm in 2004. Previously he had stints in the Far East and London with Zi Corporation, a specialist language input technology firm.
An avid rugby fan, his first sport is hurling, he has an evolving golfing game and claimed his first eagle in 2011.
Frank Cassidy, Secretary and Treasurer
Originally from Dublin, Frank graduated from UCD with a BComm and obtained a Master of Science in Marketing Practice from the Smurfit Graduate School of Business. Having worked in the family electrical product distribution business since 1998, a move to San Diego in 2005 resulted in the transition into the sustainable industry of daylighting, Frank now runs his own small business having previously been Customer Care and Sales Administration Manager with Solatube International. He also exports classic and historic cars to Europe as a hobby. As one of the founding members of INSD, he is interested in interacting with Irish business professionals, Irish companies, or those interested in doing business with Irish companies in Southern California.
Frank's goal is to promote the visibility of Irish business in the region while encouraging commercial ties with the Irish business community, especially during the current economic difficulties.
Neil McKay, Board Member
Living in San Diego since 1980, has run a number of successful companies in diverse fields from manufacturing and engineering, commodities and specialist healthcare services. Enthusiastic sports fan with interests from showjumping to golfing and every Gaelic game format known to man. Represented Ireland in equestrian events at Sydney 2000 Olympics Games as horse owner.
Married to Eilis - three children. Educated at St Patrick's Academy and Queens University Belfast.
Brian O'Callaghan, Board Member
Cork native, Brian moved to San Diego in June 2008 to take up the CEO role of Sanagnt Inc a local biotechnology firm. Has held senior positions with a number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in both Europe and the US. These include senior roles with Pfizer in the UK and Merck Serono in Germany, before becoming President and CEO of BioPartners, a Swiss based biotechnology company. Since relocating to the US, Brian has held senior positions at Novartis, where he served as General Manager of their Transplantation, Immunology and Infectious Disease businesses, as well as at Covance, a clinical research firm, where he served as General Manager of their Cardiac safety and IVRS businesses. He joined Sangart from NPS Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Chief Commercial Officer.