Canadian George Irish was an unmistakable force in the global nonprofit sector, helping lead generations of fundraisers and technology teams as they broke new ground in online fundraising and campaigning. George, a consultant, father and outdoorsman, has died at the age of 61. The news was announced on September 10th by Irish’s life partner, Anette Wenderoth, said in a social media post that “he suffered a heart attack while mountain biking,” and that “he left us far, far too early... But we take comfort from knowing that he was so happy that day: he was out in nature, doing what he liked, and, most importantly, he was doing it with our daughter (Fenna).”
George Irish was born in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada, in 1963. He grew up in the rural farming community, where he learned his love of the outdoors, and finely tuned his nerdiness, playing board games and helping form a Dungeons and Dragons group in 1976. From a young age, Irish’s curiosity ran deep and the calm demeanor for which he would be known for throughout his life, took form like an aura around him. Implacable and loyal with a brilliant mind–all of these things would follow him on his lifelong journey to understand what made the world tick.
Curiosity powered him as he left Simcoe to attend university. He earned a scholarship to study science and math at the University of Waterloo, but it wasn’t enough. Sure, he had been steadily building his technical skills in the computer realm, but he transferred to York University in Toronto; exploring literature and the humanities—searching for something more profound. As childhood friend and longtime collaborator Michael Johnston remembers, “It always felt like he was working off his own unified theory of life, and the rest of us were trying to catch up.”
A love of travel informed Irish’s worldview. His experiences making a (mostly) overland trip to South America after graduating from university, further deepened his commitments to social and environmental justice. As he entered the work force, he was drawn to places where he could make the most difference in the world. Early on, he worked as a researcher at The Nature of Things at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, a program that examined environmental, science and ethics issues.
It was Michael Johnston who teamed up with Irish in the early to mid-1990’s, where the two of them authored ground-breaking materials about how nonprofits could harness the power of the Internet. As Johnston recounts, “George could see things coming before others did in the nonprofit sector. By 1994, he saw what the internet could be (and would be) for the nonprofit sector. He told me to get on it early and take my direct response approach from offline to online. Early on, we met Paul Clolery (the Editor of the Nonprofit Times) and wrote one of the first outlines for nonprofits about the internet. It got George’s vision out the door to a wider audience.”
Jason Potts, former CEO of THINK Digital and global digital fundraising consultant, remembers how, at that time, Irish was changing the nonprofit sector, one brain at a time. “I first met George in the early nineties. He and Mike Johnston came to London to chat to us about this new thing called ‘the internet’. George sparked my enthusiasm for all things digital and for that I’ll be forever grateful. George wouldn’t be one to shout and bamboozle people, though his technical knowledge was invariably the sharpest in the room. His real was to make everyone feel as comfortable and as excited about the possibilities as he was.”
Irish’s global influence on the nonprofit sector had firmly arrived by the late 1990’s. Marcelo Iñarra, at Greenpeace International, remembers Irish’s selfless dedication to the nonprofit sector. “When I led the global digital mobilization anti-whaling campaign at Greenpeace in 2006-2007, we had a desperate need for someone to fill a critical position to support our team in Tokyo in the frenetic moment of the campaign. We needed someone with a high level of sensitivity to provide wise digital activism advice in a super complex context. And an image of a person came up in my mind: George Irish. Even though it was several months of work in Japan, he didn't hesitate to say yes to this monumental challenge. He was one of those influential minds who lived by the Gandhian quote, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."”
Irish eventually settled into a full-time role at Amnesty International Canada in Ottawa. It was here that he not only provided his technical leadership, but inspired his colleagues about how to live their lives in the most positive way. Alex Neve, the former Executive Director, said in an online post: “George was an innovator, a collaborator, a dreamer and a doer, always imagining new and better ways to reach people and bring them into the struggle for a better world. Quiet and patient. Thoughtful and kind. A solid, true friend. His gifts and insights remain with so very many of us and will live on and continue to have impact and bring change.”
In recent years, Irish had taken on a leadership role in helping nonprofits plan for the most effective and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence. He was poised to help show nonprofits the way forward, but now, that role will fall to others who will have to step into Irish’s formidable shoes.
Irish kept growing in every way throughout his life. He came to fatherhood later in his forties, which continued to round him out as a complete human being. Michael Johnston says, “I remember him asking if he’d be a good father. I didn’t hesitate—he had everything that mattered. He had all the qualities that George had deployed as a friend: curiosity, patience, playfulness, thoughtfulness. And it all showed up in his role as a dad.”
George Irish lived exactly the life he wanted. Quietly. Calmly. Fully. His boundless love and integrity left its mark on everyone lucky enough to know him. Irish is survived by his life partner Anette and daughter Fenna, as well as his brother Gord, and sister Maureen.
Contributed by Mark Johnston and Mike Johnston
George Irish was a writer for Charity eNews and Foundation Magazine.
