Our 2023 Honorees
Sean O'Dowd, Guest of Honor
Seán is a Managing Director at Silvercrest Asset Management, an RIA headquartered in NYC managing $35 billion in assets under management. He runs the Family Business Advisory group at Silvercrest and is focused on advising on liquidity events, independent valuation analysis, corporate governance, and business success planning. Prior to joining Silvercrest, Seán spent 14 years at Bessemer Trust, where he helped create Bessemer’s Family Company Advisory group, which provided corporate finance advisory services to clients. He has also worked in investment banking within Lehman Brothers’ Power Group and corporate finance and valuation work at Ernst & Young and KPMG. Seán holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He is also a CFA Charterholder and a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts. Seán is part of the Institutional Investor RIA Institute’s Strategic Advisory Board and regularly sits on panels/workshops as both a speaker and moderator.
Seán is extremely proud of his Irish and Sligo heritage with his father, Patrick Joseph O’Dowd, hailing from Kilglass, County Sligo, and is active in many community organizations. In 2019, Seán became a Board Member of Irish American Writers & Artists as Treasurer. In 2021, Seán joined the Board of Emerald Isle Immigration Center. In January of this year, Seán took on the role as First Vice President of the Irish Business Organization. At the moment, Seán is Treasurer of the Board to help Ireland’s Great Hunger Bord, which is working to make sure the collection of art and sculptures at The Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut is preserved and find a safe home. In 2020, Seán became the first North American Ambassador for the Celtic FC Foundation. Since 2019, he has been on the Organizing Committee for Celtic FC Foundation’s Annual NYC Gala, which has raised funds for charities in Glasgow, Ireland, and NYC. It should also be noted that Seán was the recipient of the Belfast Homecoming Ambassador Medal in 2019 in recognition of his work in the Irish community within the island of Ireland.
Seán resides in East Norwalk, CT with his wife Kristan and their twin girls, Maeve and Emily and their dog Darby.
Seán is extremely proud of his Irish and Sligo heritage with his father, Patrick Joseph O’Dowd, hailing from Kilglass, County Sligo, and is active in many community organizations. In 2019, Seán became a Board Member of Irish American Writers & Artists as Treasurer. In 2021, Seán joined the Board of Emerald Isle Immigration Center. In January of this year, Seán took on the role as First Vice President of the Irish Business Organization. At the moment, Seán is Treasurer of the Board to help Ireland’s Great Hunger Bord, which is working to make sure the collection of art and sculptures at The Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut is preserved and find a safe home. In 2020, Seán became the first North American Ambassador for the Celtic FC Foundation. Since 2019, he has been on the Organizing Committee for Celtic FC Foundation’s Annual NYC Gala, which has raised funds for charities in Glasgow, Ireland, and NYC. It should also be noted that Seán was the recipient of the Belfast Homecoming Ambassador Medal in 2019 in recognition of his work in the Irish community within the island of Ireland.
Seán resides in East Norwalk, CT with his wife Kristan and their twin girls, Maeve and Emily and their dog Darby.
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Tom and Peter Tuffey - Sligo Persons of the Year
inTom and Peter Tuffey, along with their sister Mary, were born in Brooklyn, New York to Mike
Tuffey of Enniscrone, County Sligo and Mary Tuffey (nee Egan) of Cloonfad, County Roscommon. Now, you may be wondering why it is “Tuffey” rather than “Tuffy,” which it is and was in Enniscrone. That is a question we would have to pose to the Ellis Island employee who added the vowel many generations ago thus saddling the Americans with the extra “e.”
Growing up, Tom and Peter developed a great affinity for their Sligo roots. This is somewhat attributable to the convivial atmosphere of their childhood home during the regular visits by the Cawleys, Rosses, Sweeneys, Caffreys, Queenans, or various other members of The Yeats County diaspora. It was further cemented by numerous visits they made to Ireland where their Sligo and Irish relatives lovingly and patiently exposed their “Yank“ cousins to a heritage and culture that remain very dear to them.
Tom and Pete attended Saint Agatha Grammar School in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where their family was very active in parish life. Following St. Agatha’s, Tom graduated from Power Memorial Academy and went on to receive his bachelor’s degree from Iona College. Soon after Iona, Tom was sworn in as a police officer with the NYPD. Like so many others in their neighborhood, Mary and Mike Tuffey were very supportive of public service, and they both had a particularly strong affection for the NYPD based on the many exemplary members of the Department they had gotten to know over the years. No doubt their view of policing was a positive influence on their sons and in the 1980’s there was no better place than the NYPD to become immersed in the activities of New York City.
The 80’s and 90’s were an exciting time to be a police officer and a time for significant change in the City of New York. With those changes came many opportunities for police officers to pursue diverse assignments in the Department. While assigned to various Brooklyn communities, Tom took advantage of those opportunities serving in Patrol, Community Affairs, Training and later the Department’s Legal Bureau.
With the support of his family and the Police Department, Tom obtained a Master ‘s Degree in Public Administration from John Jay College and his Law Degree from Brooklyn Law School while serving as a member of the Department. The education, combined with many supportive people in the Department, gave Tom the opportunity to serve as a Managing Attorney in the Police Department, General Counsel in the Mayor’s Office of Legislative Affairs, and as an Assistant Commissioner for Security for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services
(DCAS).
Tom retired from City service after 22 years as an NYPD Lieutenant and currently has a private law practice. Tom has been happily married to his wife Diane since 1987 and they are the proud parents of Claire and Michael. Tom is a member of St. Anastasia’s parish in Douglaston, Queens. His volunteer activities include: Boy Scout Leader, Peer Support Police Officer, Committee Member Police Officer, Christopher Hoban Memorial Run at Xaverian High School, and Board Member Power Memorial Academy Alumni Association.
After graduating Bishop Ford High School, Peter followed his big brother into the NYPD. Peter
believes that growing up the child of Irish immigrants in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, during the 70s and 80s provided valuable experiences that served him well throughout his police career. “We commonly helped those that needed assistance and looked out for each other and our neighbors. It felt like stealing to now be getting paid to do the same thing on a larger scale.”
During his tenure with the NYPD, Peter worked in many areas of Brooklyn and Manhattan in various roles across a variety of divisions. He commanded three precincts including the 61st Precinct in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn; the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights, Brooklyn; and he retired at the rank of Inspector as the Commanding Officer of the Midtown South Precinct.
Peter holds a bachelor’s degree from Saint Joseph’s College and is currently the Chief Security and Support Services Officer for the global Law Firm Skadden, Arps, Slate Meager and Flom LLP. The Belle Harbor resident has been happily married to Dianne for twenty-six years and they are the proud parents of Peter, Michael and Shannon. Peter is a parishioner of Saint Francis de Sales Church. He volunteers as a coach at St. Francis and Rockaway Little League. Along with this son Michael, Peter has done volunteer work at the Holy Family orphanage in Limpopo, South Africa where his aunt and Sligo native, Sister Marietta Tuffy, worked in the 1960s.
Tom and Peter would like to sincerely thank the Sligo Association for this honor and to congratulate the other honorees. In addition to honoring their heritage, they feel they would be remiss if they didn’t specifically acknowledge their sister Mary who despite a very busy schedule is the glue that ensures their family’s bond to their relatives in Sligo remains strong.
Tuffey of Enniscrone, County Sligo and Mary Tuffey (nee Egan) of Cloonfad, County Roscommon. Now, you may be wondering why it is “Tuffey” rather than “Tuffy,” which it is and was in Enniscrone. That is a question we would have to pose to the Ellis Island employee who added the vowel many generations ago thus saddling the Americans with the extra “e.”
Growing up, Tom and Peter developed a great affinity for their Sligo roots. This is somewhat attributable to the convivial atmosphere of their childhood home during the regular visits by the Cawleys, Rosses, Sweeneys, Caffreys, Queenans, or various other members of The Yeats County diaspora. It was further cemented by numerous visits they made to Ireland where their Sligo and Irish relatives lovingly and patiently exposed their “Yank“ cousins to a heritage and culture that remain very dear to them.
Tom and Pete attended Saint Agatha Grammar School in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where their family was very active in parish life. Following St. Agatha’s, Tom graduated from Power Memorial Academy and went on to receive his bachelor’s degree from Iona College. Soon after Iona, Tom was sworn in as a police officer with the NYPD. Like so many others in their neighborhood, Mary and Mike Tuffey were very supportive of public service, and they both had a particularly strong affection for the NYPD based on the many exemplary members of the Department they had gotten to know over the years. No doubt their view of policing was a positive influence on their sons and in the 1980’s there was no better place than the NYPD to become immersed in the activities of New York City.
The 80’s and 90’s were an exciting time to be a police officer and a time for significant change in the City of New York. With those changes came many opportunities for police officers to pursue diverse assignments in the Department. While assigned to various Brooklyn communities, Tom took advantage of those opportunities serving in Patrol, Community Affairs, Training and later the Department’s Legal Bureau.
With the support of his family and the Police Department, Tom obtained a Master ‘s Degree in Public Administration from John Jay College and his Law Degree from Brooklyn Law School while serving as a member of the Department. The education, combined with many supportive people in the Department, gave Tom the opportunity to serve as a Managing Attorney in the Police Department, General Counsel in the Mayor’s Office of Legislative Affairs, and as an Assistant Commissioner for Security for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services
(DCAS).
Tom retired from City service after 22 years as an NYPD Lieutenant and currently has a private law practice. Tom has been happily married to his wife Diane since 1987 and they are the proud parents of Claire and Michael. Tom is a member of St. Anastasia’s parish in Douglaston, Queens. His volunteer activities include: Boy Scout Leader, Peer Support Police Officer, Committee Member Police Officer, Christopher Hoban Memorial Run at Xaverian High School, and Board Member Power Memorial Academy Alumni Association.
After graduating Bishop Ford High School, Peter followed his big brother into the NYPD. Peter
believes that growing up the child of Irish immigrants in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, during the 70s and 80s provided valuable experiences that served him well throughout his police career. “We commonly helped those that needed assistance and looked out for each other and our neighbors. It felt like stealing to now be getting paid to do the same thing on a larger scale.”
During his tenure with the NYPD, Peter worked in many areas of Brooklyn and Manhattan in various roles across a variety of divisions. He commanded three precincts including the 61st Precinct in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn; the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights, Brooklyn; and he retired at the rank of Inspector as the Commanding Officer of the Midtown South Precinct.
Peter holds a bachelor’s degree from Saint Joseph’s College and is currently the Chief Security and Support Services Officer for the global Law Firm Skadden, Arps, Slate Meager and Flom LLP. The Belle Harbor resident has been happily married to Dianne for twenty-six years and they are the proud parents of Peter, Michael and Shannon. Peter is a parishioner of Saint Francis de Sales Church. He volunteers as a coach at St. Francis and Rockaway Little League. Along with this son Michael, Peter has done volunteer work at the Holy Family orphanage in Limpopo, South Africa where his aunt and Sligo native, Sister Marietta Tuffy, worked in the 1960s.
Tom and Peter would like to sincerely thank the Sligo Association for this honor and to congratulate the other honorees. In addition to honoring their heritage, they feel they would be remiss if they didn’t specifically acknowledge their sister Mary who despite a very busy schedule is the glue that ensures their family’s bond to their relatives in Sligo remains strong.