- Maria Cardona will headline the 2026 Kennedy Summer School on 29 August in New Ross
- Cardona served as adviser to Clinton, Obama and Biden campaigns over two decades
- The event features a one-to-one interview with Dr Stacey L. Connaughton from Purdue University
- The festival runs from 26-29 August with multiple speakers and panel discussions
- Tickets and further details are available at www.kennedysummerschool.ie
Clinton confidante Maria Cardona has confirmed her first visit to Ireland this August as the headline speaker at the 2026 Kennedy Summer School in New Ross, Co. Wexford. The Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator will participate in an exclusive conversation examining the Democratic Party’s future, American democracy’s state and the political forces shaping the United States. Cardona’s appearance provides Irish audiences with direct access to one of the most influential Democratic insiders of the past two decades.
Cardona served as senior adviser and spokesperson to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and worked on the campaign’s Hispanic outreach team. During the 2008 general election, she acted as a key surrogate for the Obama for America campaign, a role she revisited in the 2012 presidential election. Cardona also served as an informal advisor to the Biden Campaign in 2020. Throughout her career, she has advised presidents, cabinet secretaries, major corporations and advocacy organisations while becoming one of the most respected voices analysing American politics for international audiences. Before joining the private sector, she served as Communications Director for the Democratic National Committee and as Chief Spokesperson for the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service during the Clinton Administration.
On Saturday, 29 August, Cardona will take the stage at St Michael’s Theatre in New Ross for “Who Are We? Reflections on the Democratic Party and America Today”, a one-to-one interview with Dr Stacey L. Connaughton, Professor of Leadership Communication at Purdue University. Dr Connaughton will guide a conversation exploring the Democratic Party’s evolution, political leadership in a deeply polarised America and the changing relationship between citizens, government and the media. Kennedy Summer School Director Charles Larkin shared: “Maria Cardona has spent her career at the heart of American politics and public affairs. Few commentators can match her first-hand experience of presidential campaigns, Democratic administrations and the major policy debates that continue to shape the United States.”
Charles Larkin shared: “Maria Cardona has spent her career at the heart of American politics and public affairs. Few commentators can match her first-hand experience of presidential campaigns, Democratic administrations and the major policy debates that continue to shape the United States.”
