In the past 66 years, the American Scottish Foundation (ASF) has become a leading voice within our Scottish American community, supporting and amplifying our shared love of Scotland, its heritage and its culture. The Annual dinner allows people to get together, celebrate all things Scottish following the mission set out by their founder Lord Malcolm Douglas Hamilton that the American Scottish Foundation be a bridge between the United States and Scotland. This year the ASF will present the ASF Wallace Awards and the inaugural ASF Young Scots Wallace Awards.
Wallace Award for Philanthropy
This year’s Wallace Award for Philanthropy to Garreth Wood, Scottish philanthropist and advocate. Garreth, a Scottish philanthropist and businessman, founded a property company, The Speratus Group, in 2003. He then expanded into the hospitality business, eventually owning and running 11 venues across Scotland. In 2018, he and his wife Nicola sold the hospitality businesses and co-founded Kids Operating Room, a global health charity dedicated to increasing capacity for paediatric surgery in low- and middle-income countries. The charity has grown rapidly over the past 5 years and become one of Scotland’s leading children’s charities, installing 63 state-of-the-art operating rooms in 24 countries, and creating capacity for up to 100,000 life-saving operations on children.
Young Scot Wallace Award
This year, The American-Scottish Foundation presents its first ever Young Scot Wallace Award to Jamie Douglas-Hamilton, Scottish entrepreneur and adventurer. Jamie is the founder of ACTIPH Alkaline Water, a market leader in Europe and the Middle East. He is a 15x Guinness World Record holder and was the first person in history to row across the Drake Passage from South America to Antarctica. In 2022 Jamie won the Great British Entrepreneur of the year and was included in Sunday Times list of top 100 most disruptive entrepreneurs. Jamie follows in the footsteps of his Grandfather and Uncles all intrepid adventurers – and ASF founder Lord Malcolm Douglas Hamilton – great Uncle to Jamie who will be approving of this award.
The American Scottish Foundation Annual Dinner and Wallce Award’s will take place Friday, November 3, 2023 in New York City. For full details see: www.americanscottishfoundation.com