Flynn Hodkinson Ltd

On this day 20 years ago I was sworn in as a lawyer in the state of Illinois. On that day I swore to defend the US constitution. In my heart I also knew I would begin a career as an immigration lawyer which is never easy and when Trump was President we were vilified. As the first lawyer in my family, I want to acknowledge my Uncle Mike who was a Catholic priest and a psychiatrist helping Vietnam vets with post traumatic stress as he helped me financially and gave me guidance all the way through law school. His parents came from humble beginnings in Ireland and he was the first in the family to earn a PhD. Without him becoming a lawyer would have been daunting. As an immigration lawyer we have first hand knowledge of how the US immigration system works and I have been fortunate to be a liaison to US government officials to present issues that they weren't aware of but also to learn from them and understand their perspective to better serve our clients. In a world that has spun out of control with vitriol, I still believe our role as lawyers is to work for the best outcome and find the truth of the matter. I'm by no means perfect and it is a work in progress but I try to see both sides of an issue.

Like a lot of us, the US election has been weighing heavily on my mind and to deal with the stress I took action and volunteered with Vote From Abroad to encourage US citizens in the UK to register to vote in the presidential election because when Trump was first elected I ran into an American who said she had "forgot" to vote. We each can make a difference even with our one vote, especially if your voting state is in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania or Arizona or another swing state. This morning I received this message from someone who moved to the UK recently, "I wanted to thank you for encouraging me to request a ballot from www.votefromabroad.org in August. I followed your recommendation and received my ballot at the end of September, and just completed it and will be mailing it back this week. I appreciate the tip as the website you flagged was super easy and made the process overall very smooth. My husband completed the same process as well. We are registered to vote in Virginia. I don't think we would have taken action so soon if you hadn't prompted me to do so!" Who knows the results will be in a month but it's heartening to know I made a tiny difference which us all we can do besides voting for and donating to your chosen candidate. If you know a US citizen living outside the US ask them if they've registered to vote! Check out www.votefromabroad.org for info. #uselection #votefromabroad

It was great to attend an AwakenHub event at the #IrishEmbassy tonight in London to learn more about female founders & investors. Apparently 2% of funding is going to female founders which needs to change! Sinead Crowley Mary McKenna, MBE