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The Quiet Man
 The
name Moran is a derivative of the Irish word mór meaning
big. Tom Moran, our somewhat reluctant Irish-American of the
Year (I suspect he agreed to accept the honor in the hopes
that it would draw attention to Concern Worldwide), is big
by name and big by nature. He looks like a line backer – the
kind of guy you would want in your first line of defense.
And for many people, especially in Africa, he is just that –
the smiling, red-haired white guy who comes to visit and
goes away leaving them better off.
Tom, who has achieved great success as a businessman – he’s
chairman, president and CEO of the insurance giant Mutual of
America – is also chairman of Concern Worldwide U.S., the
Irish-born relief organization that operates in 30 of the
poorest countries in the world.
In addition to Concern, Tom has contributed to many
humanitarian and community causes, and has used his quiet
style of diplomacy to promote peace in Northern Ireland. He
serves on a number of boards, including Aer Lingus, the
North American Advisory Board of the Michael Smurfit
Graduate School of Business at University College Dublin
(UCD), the Taoiseach’s Economic Advisory Board, the American
Cancer Society Foundation and the National Committee on
American Foreign Policy.
Married to Joan, whose family, the Maloneys and Burkes have
roots in counties Clare and Limerick, Tom was born on Staten
Island, New York in 1952, to an Italian-Irish-American
mother and an Irish-American father. He has a brother Jack
and a sister Bess. And is quick to point out that his
Italian grandfather was a lover of all things Irish,
especially Peggy O’Neill, his wife, Tom’s grandmother. He
will tell you just as fast that it was Bill Flynn, the then
chairman of Mutual of America, who introduced him to the
notion that it was time for peace in Northern Ireland. Tom
was on board in a heartbeat, mostly behind the scenes where
he nudged, cajoled, and made friends on all sides – getting
his point across with humor and persistence.
The quotes in the following pages say much about the high
regard in which Tom Moran is held by his contemporaries. He
himself shies away from the limelight. When he is the center
of attention, he draws the focus to others – the life
lessons he learned working alongside Benny the hot dog man
at Nathan’s, or from the guys in the garage he met driving a
cab during his college years. In his spare time, he still
likes to drive – one of his several motorbikes.
He would much rather be out for a spin than be interviewed,
but he was, as always, gracious when I sat down with him
recently.
– By Patricia Harty
“Your contribution to peace in Northern Ireland has been
exceptional. The affection and esteem in which you are held
by political parties representing both traditions there, as
well as the British and Irish governments, is a testament to
your
unstinting commitment and wise counsel over many years.”
– Former Prime Minister Tony Blair
“Tom’s commitment to help others is at the heart of his
being. We have seen how much he cares for Concern and its
work to help the poorest of the poor. No one more warmly
encapsulates and lives the caring ‘people to people’ mantra
as our dear friend Tom does in helping bridge the cruel
divide between the greatly blessed in society and the
neediest – at home and in remote regions of the world.” –
Tom Arnold, CEO, Concern Worldwide
– Fr. Aengus Finucane, Honorary President, Concern Worldwide
“Chomhgairdeas – Congratulations to Tom on receiving this
justly deserved Irish-American of the Year award.
“Tá aithne mhaith agam ar Tom agus tá dul chun cinn ollmhór
déanta aige ar son an próiseas síochána in Éirinn.
“I have known Tom Moran many years. His quiet, dedicated
support for the Irish peace process contributed
significantly to the progress and advances that have been
made in recent years.
“I want to thank him for that. I also want to commend and
thank Tom for his exceptional work in Ireland, America and
in the poor regions of the developing world, which has
brought real change and hope to so many people’s lives.”
– Gerry Adams, President, Sinn Féin
“Tom Moran has played and continues to play a vital role
in bringing peace and prosperity to the people of Northern
Ireland. His work in America to further joint cooperation
and understanding between communities has been as
significant as it has been distinguished.”
– Rt. Hon. Shaun Woodward, MP, Secretary of State for
Northern Ireland
“Tom Moran’s support for effective policing in Northern
Ireland and the Patten Report has been critical to helping
generate support for and a greater understanding of policing
in the United States. He is a good friend and I am delighted
to note that he has been recognized. His contribution to the
Northern Ireland peace process has been substantial.”
– Sir Hugh Orde, Chief Constable of the Police Service of
Northern Ireland.
Tell me about your early mentors.
Actually, it goes back to grammar school and not being able
to speak until the first or second grade. The good nuns of
the Daughters of Divine Charity on Staten Island worked with
me and got me to speak, and put up with me the years that I
couldn’t. I owe them a great deal, they were terrific, and I
still support them when I can.
Then at 14, I began my working career with a job as a
janitor at my high school. Many of the lessons I learned
from the full-time janitors, Arty, Frank and Dominic, are
still with me. All of them were ancient, I thought. I
realize now that they probably hadn’t reach 50 years of age.
But what I learned from each of them is that every job is
deserving of respect. Dominic and I used to take turns
mowing the football field, and at 14, I had a great deal of
energy, yet I could never get the field mowed in the time
that Dominic did, and he always looked like he was going so
slow. But it was the fact that he understood the rhythm of
the job and had respect for the job, that I still had to
learn. I believe, to this day, that every job has a certain
rhythm to it, and that every job is deserving of respect.
Following my janitorial experience, I worked as the French
fries man at Nathan’s, a short-order cook at a dental
factory and as a cemetery worker. All of these experiences
reinforced what I had already learned at the age of 14.
At Nathan’s, I worked alongside Benny the hot dog man. In
addition to being the very best at his trade, Benny knew how
to make his job fun, singing out “A pound of bread, a pound
of meat, and all the mustard you can eat.” The sense of
pride and joy he had in his job made all of us enjoy our own
jobs that much more.
Didn’t you also drive a cab?
It might have been while driving a taxi at two o’clock in
the morning during my college years that I developed my
passionate belief in the greatness of our country, and the
power of the American Dream. I came to understand how hard
people are willing to work under what, at times, can be
extreme conditions, just because of the promise of a better
life for their kids.
Everyone I met at the garage, while waiting for my cab to
come in from the day shift, was hoping for something more
from life, either for themselves or their children. And, it
is only in the United States of America that those dreams
can be realized.
When did you join Mutual?
I started at Mutual of America in 1975. I had a very
important position at the time [smiles].Whenever a pension
was sold, I’d paperclip anything that needed to be signed.
My boss at the time was Juana Luna, and she’s still a dear
friend of mine, still working at Mutual today. She always
made me feel as if I was important to the company. And when
there was a pile of contracts that had been paperclipped, I
was sent to have them signed, by then president Bill Flynn.
What was remarkable, and again another great lesson for me,
was that Bill always took the time to ask me how I thought
the company was doing. It made me feel as if I was important
to the company and that he genuinely cared about what I had
to say. In fact, he was probably using the time to sign the
contracts, but he always had a way about him that each of us
understood how important we were to the company. We also
understood that if there was ever a time that we were in
need, Bill would be there for us.
 At the Concern dinner, Elie Wiesel said that while he has
come across “humanity” in individuals, the first time he
came across it in an entire organization was when he
encountered Mutual of America.
Mutual of America is the only corporate board that Elie
serves on. He sees us as a unique organization that
genuinely cares about making a difference, and that there
is, very much, a soul to Mutual of America. In my opinion,
that soul was first created by the organizers of the
company, and nurtured and developed by Bill Flynn in his
years there. Hopefully now with my time, I also care deeply
about the same issues, which are all involved with making
the world a better place. And each and every one of our
employees share in that commitment. One hundred percent of
our employees participate in some kind of philanthropy,
either through volunteering their time or making donations.
We are a company that is as proud of what we do outside of
the industry as we are with what we accomplish in the
industry.
I once heard you say something like “Real strength does not
come from how tall you stand or if you can stand at all.”
I’ve been a long supporter – since 1992 – of the National
Center for Disability Services, now known as ABILITIES, and
the Henry Viscardi School, which is a combined pre-school,
grammar school, and high school for young people who have
physical disabilities. Much like the disabled people I have
met in other parts of the world, these are people who show
great strength and dignity. I think our society has still
not fully accepted the contribution that can be made by
disabled persons, and the Viscardi school does a wonderful
job of developing teaching techniques that will ultimately
be put into the mainstream schools, and will benefit all of
our society, not simply disabled children. These children
are going to make great contributions, and have made great
contributions, and will continue to do so if given the
chance.
I also know that Mutual of America is a sponsor of public
television.
We’re very influenced by our traditional client base, which
is the not-for- profit sector, and that client base also
cares about making a difference in the world. Public
Broadcasting is the one opportunity where a voice is given
to the really significant issues facing our country and our
society, and it’s for that reason that Mutual of America has
aligned itself with Public Broadcasting. Bill Moyers, we are
his sole corporate underwriter and have been for more than a
decade, and the relationship is one that we take a great
deal of pride in. Not because we agree with everything Bill
may say on a particular show at a particular time, but
because we know that when he expresses an opinion it is
thought-provoking and encourages people to engage in deeper
discussion of that important issue. Similarly, we are the
corporate underwriter for Religion and Ethics News Weekly,
The Open Mind and Wide Angle; each of them in their own way
promotes the idea that important issues deserve good and
thorough discussion. We don’t all have to agree on every
issue, but if we can engage in discussion of the issues we
will be a better society for it.
This kind of “open discussion”
philosophy is what you and Bill Flynn put into place when
you became involved in the North of Ireland peace effort,
and invited the leaders of different parties to speak in New
York at the Mutual of America building.
For me, one of the great privileges of working at Mutual of
America was to get to know and become friends and work with
Bill Flynn. And what is incredible about Bill is that
anything that excites him, he shares. And I was lucky enough
that he shared Northern Ireland with me. As a result of
that, I developed great friendships across all divides in
the North of Ireland, and those friendships hopefully led to
my playing a supportive role with Bill in the good will that
was needed to bring peace to the people in the North. But
the peace process is, in my opinion, still in a very early
stage, and it is now very much going to depend on the
development of a viable economy. The children today grow up
without the same reality of violence their parents had, but
they still don’t have the reality of opportunity that’s
needed for them to have a great future. And they deserve to
have that, they’re great people on all sides.
 So when did you first visit Ireland?
I first visited in 1970. I met a couple of guys at Doherty’s
Bar and Grill on Staten Island and they invited me over. I
had a great time. It was an exciting time with good friends,
but the truth of it is my real passion for Ireland came
after being able to go there with Bill Flynn and Bill Barry
and seeing the great relationships they had already
developed.
Your wife Joan also has Irish roots. Where did you two meet?
After working at Mutual for a year, I managed to get a two
month leave of absence and traveled around Europe. When I
got back, I was told about a pretty Irish-American girl who
worked on the other side of the office. It was 1976 and that
girl was Joan. After dating for several years, I finally
convinced her to marry me in 1983. She still works at the
company and, today, is in charge of all of our technology.
She’s my best friend and partner. We just celebrated our
25th wedding anniversary. When we first got married there
was a question about our both working at Mutual. Bill Flynn
finally agreed to it because, as he says, he wasn’t sure I’d
be able to find another job.
How did you become involved with Concern Worldwide?
It’s a long story involving a late night with Father Aengus
Finucane [co-founder] and Siobhan Walsh [U.S. Executive
Director]. They invited me to get involved and from that
point, I first became a donor and then I became more
informed and more passionate about the work Concern was
doing in the poorest countries in the world. I was then
asked to go on the board. Initially I said I didn’t have the
time, but I was convinced by John Scanlon [then chairman of
the U.S. board], and as soon as I said I would, he had a
massive heart attack and died. I then became Concern’s
chairman of the board. It was pretty much by default, but it
was the best thing that has happened to me. I’ve had the
opportunity to travel to Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Rwanda,
and the Congo. And each trip I’ve learned something new
about the work of Concern and each trip I’ve been more
impressed. With each trip my belief is confirmed that every
parent wants a better life for their child as their primary
reason for existence.
 From these trips and seeing such extreme poverty, do you
come away with any sense of hope or are you just completely
devastated by it?
I visited Niger, which is the poorest country in the world,
and I saw people who are full of life and excitement, and
dignity and deserving of respect, and optimism. And when you
meet people like that, how can you be anything less than
optimistic for them? And I’ve learned that in some of the
poorest countries of the world there is incredible
generosity, they will share whatever they have, and they
share their spirit with you, and it’s such a powerful spirit
they have. And I often think of the Irish surviving the
Hunger and the powerful spirit they had. You see the same
thing in Africa today. An incredible group of people, and
instead of coming away depressed and despondent you come
away filled with hope for the world, because this is the
future of the world, and I have every confidence in their
ability to overcome the adversities that they face.
The New York dinner (Dec. 5) was a record fundraiser for
Concern.
This was the first year that we hit the threshold of one
million dollars raised and it is because of all the people
who genuinely care about Concern, and because of all of the
staff under the leadership of Siobhan Walsh, and it’s
because of the passion that Ed Kenney [Executive Vice
President of External Affairs for Mutual of America] has for
Concern and the work that he did to make sure that that room
was filled beyond capacity. It was an exciting dinner. It
was right that it should be the threshold dinner because we
had as our honoree Elie Wiesel, who spoke about what it
means to have “concern.” He spoke with the experience of a
Holocaust survivor, but I think, most importantly, he spoke
with the faith of a man who knows that hope is possible even
in the worst of cases.
You and Elie Wiesel share something, in that neither of you
like to be the center of attention, and he actually
mentioned on that night that the only reason he was there
was out of respect for you.
So now I should be punished for this! [laughs].
I know that you very much prefer to stay behind the scenes.
It’s less that I would prefer to be behind the scenes and
more that there are other people who are deserving of the
attention. Whether it’s Concern – when you get exposed to
the people of Concern you realize how insignificant your
role actually is – or the peace process in Northern Ireland
where my role was as a cheerleader for those that were
interested in doing the right thing. The reality is that
it’s the people whose lives are on the line that deserve the
credit for things that have gotten done. It’s the courage
and vision of a Gerry Adams. It’s the wisdom of a Rev. Ian
Paisley, who after so many years realized that this was the
place for him to be. It is all the people, David Ervine
[Progressive Unionist Party leader] who always spoke so
eloquently about the need for a better solution, and
challenged not just Nationalists but Unionists and his own
Loyalists to stretch themselves to see his vision of what
the future could and should be.
I know that you had a great deal of respect for David
Ervine.
One of the great losses, in my opinion, was the untimely
death of David Ervine [Jan. 2007]. He died way too young, in
his early fifties. He played such a great role. At his
funeral there were 600 people in the church, 300 gathered
downstairs where the pastor had set up speakers and another
3,000 lining the streets outside. And when you looked out at
the church filled with friend and foe alike, you couldn’t
help but be moved by the great influence that David had
exercised as the leader of one of the smallest political
parties on the island, but his voice was one of the loudest
heard. His brother commented at the funeral that in death
David had achieved what he strived for in life. And that was
a reference to the fact that Gerry Adams was seated
alongside representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party and
the Progressive Unionist Party, and it was the first time
that Gerry had been in this part of Belfast and certainly
the first time he had been at the church. It was an
incredible experience. I consider one of the great riches of
my life was having David for a friend. Today a foundation
has been set up – the David Ervine Foundation – to promote
education in East Belfast in the Loyalist areas so that
young people will have opportunities other than violence to
advance themselves.
You have also been involved on the education front in
Ireland.
I had the privilege of chairing the Smurfit School of
Business at University College, Dublin (UCD). It gave me a
chance to meet an incredible group of people who, in my
opinion, were responsible for the roar of the Celtic Tiger.
And just as education played such an indelible role in the
development of the Irish economy, it will play the same role
for the North of Ireland. And Queens University was just
made a part of the Russell Group, which is the equivalent of
an Ivy League school, a ranking largely attributed to the
great reputation and the great quality provided and the
research that is done there. I’m convinced that Queens
University will play a major part in the economic
development of the North.
Can you tell me a little bit about your Irish ancestors?
I am of both Irish and Italian descent. On my father’s side
my great-great-grandparents were married in Carrick-on-Suir,
County Tipperary, there’s not much record beyond the
marriage. And according to my grandfather’s notes his
grandfather left Ireland because he was on the run from the
constabulary and ended up in Hume, England where my
great-grandfather was born, and a year after that he came to
the States. On my mother’s side my Italian grandfather came
from just outside Salerno, Italy. His name was Arturo
Quaranta, and he married Peggy O’Neill, whose family came
from Kesh, County Fermanagh.
Did you learn a love of politics from your father?
My father is an absolute Democrat and is right now suffering
with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, but he will argue politics with
the best of them. I fully expect before this presidential
election is over I will see him on Meet the Press. He’s
quite an amazing man.
How do you see America’s role in the world?
As you travel around the world you realize what an
incredible influence the United States has and the potential
that we have to do great good in the most difficult of
situations. The peace process in Northern Ireland was
greatly supported by the government of the United States,
which believed that peace was possible and made it clear
that it would be supportive of any efforts for peace. In Sri
Lanka we heard stories about the U.S. military that came
immediately following the tsunami to rebuild schools. In
Africa, in the poorest countries, what a great sense of
pride it is to see the Concern workers taking the bags
marked U.S. AID, and to know that the U.S. has supported
efforts to keep children alive and to provide for a better
existence and a better life. It’s awfully easy sometimes to
see the negative sides of our world, but I think that those
who have traveled and understood and heard from the people
who suffer the most, recognize how powerful our country is
for the good.
Thank you, Tom.
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