Jim O’Connell for Executive Council

JIM O'CONNELL DELIVERS RESULTS

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Meet Jim O'Connell

Jim O’Connell was raised in Ireland in Cobh, County Cork, where he first sparked what would become a lifelong passion for politics and public service. Jim worked on various issue campaigns including the movement to legalize divorce in Ireland as well as the allowing access to contraceptives, despite strong institutional forces standing in opposition. Jim was also active in both Ireland and England in the anti-Apartheid movement, leading and participating in protests in both Dublin and London.

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265 Prospect Street, Manchester, NH 03104

Paid for by O’Connell for NH - John Bisson, Fiscal Agent

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New American citizen, father, husband, business leader, passionate advocate for education and working families and results-oriented community leader.

Jim O’Connell was raised in Ireland in Cobh, County Cork, where he first sparked what would become a lifelong passion for politics and public service. Jim worked on various issue campaigns including the movement to legalize divorce in Ireland as well as allowing access to contraceptives, despite strong institutional forces standing in opposition. Jim was also active in both Ireland and England in the anti-Apartheid movement, leading and participating in protests in both Dublin and London.

Jim eventually left Ireland in his mid-20s and traveled widely in Europe and beyond. Eventually Jim spent three years in the greater London area where he drove the iconic double decker buses and later National Express long distance coaches. He was an active member and shop steward of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU).

From there Jim spent five years in New Zealand and Australia. In 1992, while working in Sydney, Jim met Bedford, New Hampshire native Kathy Sullivan, to whom he would eventually be married. They moved to the U.S. later that year and lived in Boston for several years. After the birth of their first daughter, Molly, they decided to move home to New Hampshire, settling in Manchester in 1997. Over the following years Liam, Lily, and Aidan were added to the family. All four children attended St. Catherine’s Elementary School, Hillside Middle School, and Manchester Central High School.

Jim began his work in the U.S. across various positions in business and tech, eventually working in the cybersecurity space. In the early 2000’s Jim co-founded Caradas, a cybersecurity consultancy and test lab for secure identity products for numerous Fortune 100 companies. Along with his private sector work, he has also implemented many programs in conjunction with all levels of government. From the creation of secure credentials for US military facilities across the globe to mobile payment for toll collection and parking meters, Jim was able to use his professional experience to revisit his lifelong passion for public service.

In recent years, as Vice Chair and citywide elected member of Manchester’s School Board, Jim has led the city’s $306 million capital project to upgrade facilities, determined to deliver world class school buildings for students. On the board, he’s earned a reputation as a results-driven leader who delivered contracts to school employees, the largest increase for educators in the city of Manchester in decades. Beyond his work supporting public school educators, Jim led the effort to implement a $15 minimum wage for hundreds of workers in Manchester.

Now, Jim is running for Executive Council to continue to deliver for our state, bringing his same brand of hard work and practical leadership to Concord to protect reproductive freedom, safeguard public education against extremists and bring people together to make it easier for Granite Staters to live, work and raise a family right here in New Hampshire. As a business person with expertise in public-private partnerships and large-scale projects, Jim knows how to deliver for the public good. He will advance our fight to bring commuter rail to New Hampshire and take on a statewide leadership role on transportation, which is key to growing the Granite State economy.

Among his many community roles, Jim has served as a director for the NH Soccer Association, is a past Board Member of the North Manchester Little League and previously was PTO President at Hillside Middle School.

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