TBF - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President
- Controller
Job Titles:
- Vice President & Trust Counsel / Fiduciary Trust Company
Job Titles:
- Racial Wealth Gap Research Fellow, Boston Indicators
Job Titles:
- Senior Client Advisor / Ballentine Partners, LLC
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager, Reporting and Data
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- Partner / Cerity Partners
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- Assistant to the Director of the Racial Wealth Gap Partnership
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- Principal / AZW Law
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director, Skillworks
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- Director of Financial Planning / RWA Wealth Partners, LLC
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Investment Committee
- President and Chief Executive Officer of John Hancock Investments
Andrew G. Arnott is President and Chief Executive Officer of John Hancock Investments, a wealth management business of John Hancock Financial, the U.S. division of Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corporation.
Mr. Arnott brings a wealth of organizational and industry expertise to this role, including more than 20 years of experience in the asset management industry. Since 2012, he has led all aspects of John Hancock Investments' business, from investments, sales, marketing, finance, and product development to operations and technology. Mr. Arnott is also President of the trusts for the John Hancock Group of Funds, with general responsibility for overseeing day-to-day management of fund business and operations, serving as Chief Executive Officer of all funds, acting as liaison between management and the funds' Board of Trustees, and presiding over Trustee and shareholder meetings.
In his prior position as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Investment Management Services, Mr. Arnott was responsible for all asset manager relationships across the John Hancock Investments and Manulife Financial platforms in the United States and Asia.
Mr. Arnott serves on the Board of Overseers for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, the Board of Directors for the Boston Foundation, the Board of the Mt. Mansfield Winter Academy, and the ICI Board of Governors.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- Vice President / Goldman Sachs
Job Titles:
- Associate, Donor Services
Job Titles:
- Fiduciary Trust Company International
Job Titles:
- Senior Human Resources Manager
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President, Programs
Job Titles:
- Associate, Campaign for a Greater Boston
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President, Communications
- Marketing and Communications
Job Titles:
- Fund Administration Payables Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Business Executive
- CEO of Boston Impact Initiative
Betty Francisco is a business executive, impact investor and community leader. She is known as a powerful convener and changemaker, unapologetic about creating visibility for leaders of color.
Betty is currently the CEO of Boston Impact Initiative, an impact investment fund that invests to close the racial wealth divide in Massachusetts. She is the co-founder of Amplify Latinx, a social venture that is building Latinx economic and political power through Latino leadership representation and economic opportunity in Massachusetts. She serves on the Boards of Directors of The Boston Foundation, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Beth Israel Lahey Health, and Roxbury Community College. Betty obtained her J.D. and M.B.A. from Northeastern University and her B.A. in History from Bard College.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Finance
- Member of the Non - Cash Assets Team
- Member of the Officers Team
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Treasurer
Brian Douglas joined TBF in 2024 and serves as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. An experienced financial and organizational leader, he is responsible for providing strategic financial leadership in support of organizational vision and long-term financial health. He oversees finance, accounting, financial planning and analysis, information technology, and enterprise risk management.
Prior to the joining the Foundation, Brian served as Chief Operating Officer of Jobs for the Future (JFF), where he oversaw a range of organizational functions and provided broad operational leadership as JFF sought to scale its systems and achieve its organizational vision. He helped lead JFF through a period of transformation and growth, reorganizing, scaling from 140 to 360 staff, and nearly tripling in revenues. His skills and areas of expertise include financial analysis, nonprofit leadership and management, communication and consensus-building, strategy development and implementation, and change management in mission-driven organizations.
Brian has also served as Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, which has a budget of $80 million and an endowment of more than $200 million. Earlier in his career, Brian spent more than 12 years at the University of Massachusetts, first helping to launch and manage the university's e-learning initiative, UMassOnline, and later serving as Associate Vice President of Budget, Planning and Administration for the university, which has a budget of $3 billion.
Brian serves on the Board of the Lowell Community Charter Public School and previously was a member of the board of the Boston Consortium for Higher Education for seven years. He has a BA in Philosophy and Religion from Colgate University, and a Masters in Education Administration and Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Brian oversees all financial reporting, information technology and operational risk management for the Boston Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Development Committee
Brian J. Conway joined TA Associates in 1984, became a Managing Director in 1989 and was Chairman and Managing Partner of the firm from 2014 to 2021. On September 1, 2024, he became a Senior Advisor.
Brian's prior Board work includes ten publicly-held companies and numerous private companies. He is the former Chairman of the Steppingstone Foundation, a leading college success program based in Boston, on whose Board he has served for over 25 years. He is also a member of the Board of the Better Angels Society, which funds documentary films to promote civic engagement with and education about American democracy. He is a former member of the Board of Fellows at Stanford University School of Medicine. Brian was a Trustee of Amherst College for 12 years, during which he Chaired the Advancement Committee and the Budget and Finance Committee, and was Co-Chair of the $500 million "Lives of Consequence" Campaign. He also spent nine years on the Board of The Fessenden School, including a term as Board President. Brian is also a former Trustee of The Noble and Greenough School and a former member of The Board of Overseers of The Winsor School Corporation.
Brian and his wife Karen S. Conway have four children, Dylan, Allie, Christopher and Andrew, and live in Boston. Karen is on the Boards of the Institute of Contemporary Art, MASS Design Group, the National Park Foundation, and the Telluride Foundation.
Brian received a BA degree, magna cum laude, in Economics and English from Amherst College and an MBA degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Boston Financial Management
Job Titles:
- Research and Data Associate
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- Foster Dykema Cabot & Co
- Senior Client Advisor, Partner / Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners, LLC
C.A. Webb builds communities that work. For 25 years, she has ushered in technological and social transformation in emergent and rapidly changing industries by creating innovative and inclusive technology and social platforms.
C.A. reinvented and scaled innovation community platforms at the Kendall Square Association and the New England Venture Capital Association, built and launched a venture capital fund (Underscore), co-founded a foundation (Trinity Boston Foundation), and designed original and impactful marketing programs and products at Whole Foods Market, Preserve, Care.com, and Fast Company magazine.
Currently, C.A. partners with founders and chief executives driving transformational change. She does business model and product strategy work with global design and innovation firm IDEO and recently served as acting CMO for rare disease drug discovery platform company Vibe Bio.
C.A. is a graduate of Wellesley College and serves on the boards of The Boston Foundation and MassRobotics and is a member of the Eastern Bank Board of Ambassadors. C.A. has been named "one of the 100 Most Influential People in Boston" by Boston Magazine and an "Innovation All Star" by the Boston Business Journal.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- Senior Financial Advisor / Wells Fargo
Job Titles:
- Member of the Community Leadership Team
- Senior Program Officer, Support for the Social Safety Net
Job Titles:
- Member of the Community Leadership Team
- Senior Associate, Nonprofit Sector Infrastructure
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Chief Investment Officer
Job Titles:
- Director, Arts and Creativity
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager, Events and Sponsorships
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- Manager of Facilities Operations
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- Senior Director, Grants Management
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- Director of the Racial Wealth Gap Partnership
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- Senior Program Officer, Child Well - Being
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- Partner / Day Pitney LLP
Job Titles:
- Center for Applied Research
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- Partner & Senior Client Advisor / Ballentine Partners, LLC
Job Titles:
- Leadership Giving Officer
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President, Human Resources
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director, Fund Administration
Dr. J. Keith Motley served as Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2017. Currently Dr. Motley serves as a tenured professor in UMass Boston's College of Management and has taught the Leadership Capstone for doctoral students for twelve years. Previous to his appointment as Chancellor, Motley served as Vice President for Business, Marketing, and Public Affairs. Prior to joining the President's Office, he was the Interim Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he previously had served as Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, following more than 30 years in higher education administration that included 10 years as Dean of Student Services at Northeastern University.
As Chancellor, Motley oversaw a strategic planning initiative to enhance the university's academic offerings and research enterprise, grow enrollment to meet the increasing demand for a well-educated workforce, and build the university as a resource of knowledge and public service. As the first African American chancellor of UMass Boston, which is considered the most diverse public university in New England, Motley highlighted academic excellence, access, and inclusion among its key missions. Motley also oversaw UMass Boston's 25-year master plan to enhance the campus and improve its layout on Columbia Point.
Motley also serves on numerous boards of organizations with local, regional, and national reach. He was named to the Boston Business Journal's "Power 50" list of Boston-area influencers for five years in a row. In 2016, he was named to the "Get Konnected! 100" list of Boston's 100 Most Influential People of Color.
A product of the Pittsburgh public schools, he is also a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh Upward Bound Program. Motley holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Northeastern University and a doctor of philosophy from Boston College. He also holds honorary doctorate degrees awarded by Northeastern University, Stonehill College, and Robert Morris University and the President's Award for Distinguished Civic Leadership from Emerson College. He is married to Angela Motley and is the proud father of Keith Allyn, Kayla Iman, and Jordan Kiara.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chairman of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Officers Team
- Founder and CEO of AccelR8 Ventures
Dwight Poler is founder and CEO of AccelR8 Ventures, a fund investing in early stage climate change mitigation technologies. Before shifting his career to social impact investing, Dwight was a Partner at Bain Capital, where he opened and managed the European private equity business for 18 years, after becoming a Partner in Boston in 1999. From London, Dwight led the investment of four funds, deploying over $10 billion of equity capital at market-leading returns. Dwight remains a Senior Advisor to Bain Capital. Formerly, Dwight was a consultant at Bain & Company, and worked in Mergers and Acquisitions at Morgan Stanley & Co., in both New York and Tokyo.
Dwight has been active in philanthropic activities over a long period, having cofounded a social investment model in London called the Private Equity Foundation (now Impetus PEF) which, since 2004, invests funds and pro bono skills to build capacity in charities that help disadvantaged young people achieve education and employment. In addition to the Boston Foundation, he serves on the board at Amherst College, on the MIT Sloan Visiting Committee and the MediaLab Advisory Council. Dwight also served as an Adjunct Professor at London Business School where he taught private equity courses over 14 years.
Dwight received a BA degree in History and International Relations from Amherst College, and an MBA degree, with distinction, from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College where he was named Tuck Scholar. Dwight and his wife Kirsten live in the Boston area and have 3 children.
Job Titles:
- Associate, Community Wealth
Job Titles:
- Eaton Vance Investment Counsel
Job Titles:
- Senior Philanthropic Advisor
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Planned Giving
Since 1997, Elyse Cherry has served as the CEO of BlueHub Capital, a national nonprofit community finance organization with a 35-year history of building healthy communities where low-income people live and work. Under Cherry's leadership, BlueHub has invested over $2.2 billion, leveraged an additional $10 billion, and built a national tax credit practice to: finance affordable housing, health centers, schools, and other community facilities; provide foreclosure relief through the creation of a mortgage lender aimed at stabilizing urban neighborhoods; create jobs; benchmark and drive down energy and utility costs; and promote resiliency.
Cherry is a former partner at the law firm of Hale and Dorr (now WilmerHale) where her national transactional practice focused on multi-family and commercial real estate finance and development, affordable housing, and open space preservation.
An active civic and business leader, Cherry is a member of the Wellesley College Board of Trustees, the Board of Advisors of Eastern Bank, and Chair of the Board of the Forsyth Institute. She is also on the Board of Directors of The Boston Foundation, where she co-chairs the Advisory Committee for The Equality Fund -- a fund supporting greater Boston nonprofits that strengthen the LGBTQ community.
Cherry has been named one of 50 most influential Bostonians by the Boston Business Journal, one of the Top 100 LGBT Executives in the world by the Financial Times and OUTstanding, and one of 21 Leaders for the 21st Century by Women's eNews. In 2014, The White House named Cherry a Solar Champion of Change. She received Wellesley's Alumnae Achievement Award in 2017, and she received the Susan M. Love Award from Fenway Health in 2014. For the past seven years, The Boston Globe and The Commonwealth Institute have included BlueHub Capital as one of the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts.
Cherry is a frequent speaker and panelist at national gatherings, and has been cited and published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Boston Globe, among others. She has been featured on CBS Evening News, NPR's Marketplace, PBS NewsHour and MSNBC's All In with Chris Hayes.
Cherry is a former or present member of more than a dozen privately held company boards, including Zipcar. She chaired the Massachusetts Cultural Council, served on Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's statewide transition team and was a member of Governor Patrick's Foreclosure Impacts Task Force. Cherry also chaired the Board of Mass Equality during that organization's historic fight for marriage equality.
Cherry, an attorney, graduated from Wellesley College and Northeastern University School of Law.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate, Marketing, Communications and Client Relations
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager / Andersen Tax LLC
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director, Leadership Giving
Job Titles:
- Managing Director / Andersen Tax LLC
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- Human Resources Generalist
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- Principal / Wolf & Company
Job Titles:
- Assistant Treasurer
- Chief Investment Officer
- Member of the Non - Cash Assets Team
- Member of the Officers Team
- Member of the Senior Management Team
George Wilson has been active in the investment field for more than thirty years. His career has included serving as a Senior Investment Officer at Pension Reserves Investment Management, the $50 billion Massachusetts public pension plan, with responsibility at various times for overseeing its real estate, REIT, timber, and private equity portfolios. He also was a Vice President for Asset Management with GE Capital Investment Advisors, Inc., a partner with the New Jersey based investment banking firm of Robert A. Stanger & Co., and a certified public accountant at Price Waterhouse.
George earned a BS in accounting and an MBA from Babson College, and a master's degree in taxation from Bentley College.
George has been active in the investment industry for over thirty years. He handles our $1 billion dollar portfolio that is comprised of top quality asset managers. George has worked as part of a team to successfully complete the donation and subsequent sale of many complex asset transactions. Donations have included a wide range of assets, such as single family and commercial real estate properties, various interests in private operating companies, a cruise ship and an interest in a cogeneration power plant.
Job Titles:
- Director, Pathways to Postsecondary Success
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Human Resources
- Vice President of Human Resources, Culture and Talent
Jane Dixon serves as Vice President of Human Resources, Culture and Talent and is responsible for leading, managing, and evaluating the Boston Foundation's human resources function to ensure the Foundation promotes a culture of excellence, equity and inclusion with opportunities for growth and development. She has been at the Foundation since 2014.
Previously, Jane served as Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness for Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, and Vice President of Human Resources and Administration for The Education Resources Institute. She also worked for several years as an independent HR management consultant to for-profit and non-profit organizations. She began her career in human resources in the financial services industry, and has taught human resources classes for local colleges and other organizations.
Jane is a member of the Human Resources Leadership Forum, Society for Human Resource Management, New England Human Resources Association, and New England Employee Benefits Council. She has served on non-profit Boards, including Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre and the Dance Complex, and as a member of the Board of Advisors to the Joslin Diabetes Center.
She holds an M.Ed. from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education and a B.A. degree in psychology from Smith College.
Jane Steinmetz is a business leader within EY who brings over 25 years of experience serving Fortune 100 clients, leading high-performing teams and advocating for change.
In her role as Office Managing Principal of the EY Boston office, Jane is responsible for overall client service, market growth and internal management of the Boston office, in which there are over 2,300 assurance, tax, transaction and consulting professionals.
As a managing principal and business leader, she is connected to top leadership and uses her experience to guide strategic, client service and operational recommendations.
Prior to her current role, Jane served as the New England Market Leader for Financial Services and has led the national Financial Services state and local tax practice for EY, managing a team across the US and India.
Jane is also active in giving back to the community, pursuing her passion to personally make a difference in youth mentoring, women's advancement and equality for all. She chairs the Massachusetts Business Roundtable and serves on the executive committee of the Massachusetts High Tech Council and Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. She is a board member of the Boys and Girls Club of Boston, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley and the National Association of Corporate Directors - New England chapter. She is a corporate member of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and member on The Boston Club corporate advisory board. She also engages with numerous charitable organizations including Earthwatch, NVNA Hospital, and International Institute of New England.
For her professional and personal accomplishments, Jane has been named to the Boston Business Journal Power 50 and Women Who Mean Business. She was also a 2020 Boston Chamber Pinnacle Award recipient, a Massachusetts Society of CPAs 2018 Women to Watch honoree, and Girls' LEAP Honoree of the Year.
Jane started her career at PwC and joined EY in 2011. She received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Rhode Island College and her J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation from Boston University School of Law. She is a member of the Massachusetts and Connecticut bar associations.
Jane resides in Cohasset with her husband of 25 years, 4 children and 2 Newfoundlands.
Job Titles:
- Member of the BNY Mellon Wealth Management Team
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships
Job Titles:
- Member of the Community Leadership Team
- Deputy Vice President for Programs
Job Titles:
- Director, Technology Operations
Job Titles:
- Member of the BNY Mellon Wealth Management Team
Job Titles:
- Associate / Goulston & Storrs PC
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Information Technology
Job Titles:
- Senior Philanthropic Advisor
Job Titles:
- Events Operations Associate
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- Partner / Day Pitney LLP
Job Titles:
- Acadia Management Co
- Acadia Management Company, Inc
Job Titles:
- Financial Advisor
- Vice President
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Officer, Climate
Job Titles:
- Member of the Community Leadership Team
- Program Manager, Shifting Power and Advancing Justice
Job Titles:
- First Republic Private Wealth Management
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President, Donor Services and Relations
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director, Skillworks
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director of Philanthropic Services
- Senior Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer
Kate Guedj joined the Foundation as Director of Philanthropic Services in 2000. In 2005 she was made Vice President for Philanthropic and Donor Services, in 2013, her role was expanded to Vice President for Development and Donor Services; in 2015, it was expanded again to Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer and in 2018 she was made Senior Vice President. In this capacity, she oversees the Foundation's development efforts and works with the Foundation's donors to help them achieve their charitable and philanthropic goals. In addition, she provides management oversight to the Equality Fund, the Asian Community Fund and the Haiti Development Institute.
Before coming to the Foundation, Kate was a senior executive with the Massachusetts Bar Association, overseeing their programs and services. She has also served as Director of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, and its grant-making program providing legal services to the poor. She began her career at the Council on Foundations in Washington D.C. as a researcher, and eventually became Membership Director.
Kate is on the governing boards of the Bruce J. Anderson Foundation, the Deshpande Foundation, the Haiti Development Institute, and the BASE. She holds a B.A. with honors in the division of the humanities from Swarthmore College.
Job Titles:
- Director, Donor Relations
Job Titles:
- Associate, Donor Engagement
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- Managing Director, Wealth Strategist
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Associate, Asian Business Empowerment Council
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs
- Vice President of Public Affairs
Keith A. Mahoney serves as Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs at The Boston Foundation, one of the nation's oldest and largest community foundations with over $1.5 billion in assets.
Keith manages the Foundation's external communications, publications, marketing, research, and public policy activities. An experienced public affairs professional, he oversees the Foundation's relations with city, state and federal elected and appointed officials and their staffs to build and maintain the networks that connect those officials with community, civic, nonprofit and business leaders. Keith is also responsible for strategic communications and branding for the Foundation and its many impact strategies.
Prior to joining Foundation, Keith was the Director of State Relations for Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, where he was the lead advocate for the City of Boston's legislative and budget priorities with the state legislature and executive administration. He authored and championed key initiatives around education, economic development, and public safety. Keith has also served as Legal Counsel and Legislative Director in the Massachusetts State Senate Committees on Post Audit and Oversight and Steering and Policy. Prior to his legal career, he worked as a teacher and textbook editor. Keith is a graduate of Trinity College and Northeastern University School of Law, and lives in Newton with his wife and two children, and serves on several boards, including the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, The Stone Living Lab Advisory Board, Massachusetts Public Health Association, and is a Commissioner of the Commonwealth's Beaches Commission.
Job Titles:
- Cerity Partner
- Director / Goulston & Storrs
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Manager, Boston Indicators
Job Titles:
- Cerity Partner
- Fiduciary Trust
Job Titles:
- Associate Director
- President
- Secretary of the Board
Job Titles:
- CEO and President of MassBio
As CEO and President of MassBio, Kendalle Burlin O'Connell leads the strategic direction for the organization and drives policy advocacy for the industry to ensure that Massachusetts life sciences companies have the best environment possible to research, develop, manufacture, and commercialize breakthrough therapies and cures for people around the world. Pursuing innovation and delivering for members are the hallmarks of Kendalle's more than 15 years at MassBio, including the launch of several multi-year initiatives focused on realizing a diverse and equitable life sciences industry, supporting the continued growth and sustainability of the industry throughout Massachusetts, and providing resources and solutions to companies across the industry value chain. In 2023, she has been the driving force behind MassBio's launch of Bioversity, a non-profit created to develop new training pathways and create employer connections for underrepresented populations and individuals traditionally left out of the life sciences, starting with a workforce training center in Dorchester featuring industry-aligned certification and upskilling programs.
Kendalle has earned wide acclaim for her leadership and is active in mentoring and professional organizations. She is ranked number 33 on Boston Magazine's list of The 150 Most Influential Bostonians in 2023, a 2022 recipient of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce Inspire Award recognizing outstanding women leaders in the Cambridge community, a 2022 Boston power player as named by Axios, a 2021 executive fellow in the inaugural class of the Civic Action Project Collaborative, and a 2019 Boston Business Journal 40 under 40 honoree which acknowledges a leader's impact on Massachusetts' industries.Kendalle received her Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School and currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society for Eastern New England.
Job Titles:
- Private Family Trust Company
Job Titles:
- Partner / Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
- Secretary
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President, Philanthropy Operations
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Arts and Creativity
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
Job Titles:
- Senior Finance Payables Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Assistant Secretary
- Member of the Officers Team
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Vice President and Special Assistant to the President and CEO
Leigh Gaspar joined the Boston Foundation in October 2021, in the newly created position of Vice President and Special Assistant to the President and CEO. In her role, she plays an instrumental part in ensuring that the foundation is working effectively and cooperatively across departments, while building strong, trusting partnerships with the Foundation's partners, donors, Board of Directors and other stakeholders.
Prior to joining the Boston Foundation, Leigh worked as Associate Vice President of Alumni Engagement at Emerson College, where she served as a member of the Institutional Advancement Leadership Team, and oversaw Alumni Relations, Digital Alumni Engagement, and Annual Giving functions. She also worked as Director of Employer and Association Marketing Programs at Liberty Mutual Insurance, held several Marketing and Communications positions at Tufts Health Plan, and served over twelve years in multiple leadership roles in Bentley University's Advancement Office.
Leigh holds a B.A. degree in English from Providence College. She lives in Waltham, MA with her daughter.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Community Leadership Team
- Senior Program Officer, Nonprofit Sector Infrastructure
Job Titles:
- Senior Accounting Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Associate / Lourie & Cutler
Job Titles:
- Foundation and Corporate Relations Officer
Job Titles:
- CIBC Private Wealth Management
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Donor Relations
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director, Donor Services
Job Titles:
- Executive Director, Boston Indicators
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager / Wolf & Company
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Member of the Officers Team
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- President
- Ex Officio
Lee Pelton, who was recognized in 2024 by Non-Profit Times in its list of America's 50 most powerful and influential non-profit leaders, is the CEO & President of The Boston Foundation, one of the nation's leading philanthropic organizations with $2.0 billion in assets. He joined the Foundation in June 2021, after serving as President of Emerson College (2011-2021) and Willamette University (1998-2011).
Pelton has positioned The Boston Foundation, one of the nation's first and most influential community foundations, as an agent for social change by centering equity in its programs, grantmaking and civic leadership. Under his leadership, the Foundation's defining ambition is to achieve equity, which first involves acknowledging and then seeking to eliminate the structural and underlying causes of outcome disparities for historically marginalized communities.
Job Titles:
- Senior Partner and Director of TPI Center for Global Philanthropy
Job Titles:
- Mass Insight Education and Research
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant to the VP for Programs
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Professional Advisor Relations
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- Member of the BNY Mellon Wealth Management Team
- Partner / Tarlow, Breed, Hart & Rogers
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Events, Operations and Facilities
Job Titles:
- Senior Events Production Associate
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
Job Titles:
- Emeriti Director
- Sandy Cove Advisor
Job Titles:
- Deputy Vice President and Director of the Campaign for a Greater Boston
Job Titles:
- BNY Mellon Wealth Management
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Staff Accountant
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager, Donor Services
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- Managing Director - Private Client Group
Job Titles:
- Attorney / Bass, Doherty & Finks
Job Titles:
- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- Vice President, Wealth Planner / Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate, Social Media and Marketing
Job Titles:
- Partner / Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Job Titles:
- Senior Relationship Manager
Job Titles:
- Senior Human Resources Manager
Job Titles:
- Fund Administration Manager
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Formerly Executive Vice President at Match Education
- Vice President and Chief Program Officer
Orlando C. Watkins is Vice President and Chief Program Officer at the Boston Foundation, where he oversees a discretionary grants fund of roughly $16 million and leads a Program Department staff of two dozen people who work across four interconnected areas - Nurturing Strong Beginnings, Building Economic Opportunity, Advancing Community Wealth, and Amplifying Community Leadership.
Formerly Executive Vice President at Match Education, Orlando has over 20 years of experience developing and strengthening educational and community-based organizations. Prior to joining Match, Orlando held the position of Senior Director at the Boston Foundation, with responsibility for developing philanthropic partnerships with like-minded foundations and donors who are interested in strengthening communities through data driven, high impact initiatives. Before joining the Boston Foundation, Orlando served as Chief Development Officer for BELL, a leading national education organization. Prior to BELL, he spent several years as Vice President of Programs for the Greater New Orleans Foundation, including the years immediately following Hurricane Katrina.
Orlando's career has also included significant leadership roles in government and in higher education including a Governor Appointment as Executive Director of the Louisiana Serve Commission.
Orlando started his career as a social entrepreneur in Atlanta, Ga where he co-founded FreeForm Academy, a private school for young children and served as founding Director of the NASA-funded Inspiring Careers in Engineering Mathematics and Science at Morehouse College. Orlando currently serves on several boards including Horizons for Homeless Children, Camp Harborview and MATCH Education. He has served on several other boards and committees including the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, New Schools for New Orleans, City Year Louisiana, the Institute for the Study of Race and Poverty at Tulane University, Harvard iLab's President Innovation Challenge, the International Center for Nonprofit Leadership at the University of New Orleans and Associated Grant Makers. Orlando is a graduate of Morehouse College and a recipient of the prestigious Echoing Green fellowship.
Job Titles:
- President of Bunker Hill Community College
Pam Eddinger is president of Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC), the largest of 15 community colleges in Massachusetts. Dr. Eddinger began her tenure at BHCC in 2013, and has served community colleges for more than 25 years in Massachusetts and in California. She earned a bachelor's degree in English from Barnard College in New York City and her masters and doctorate in Japanese Literature from Columbia University.
On the state and local level, Dr. Eddinger serves on a number of boards and commissions. She is a Commissioner of the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE) of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). She served on the education transition team of Governor Baker and Boston Mayor Walsh. She was appointed by the Governor to the State Workforce Development Board, and by the Mayor to the Boston Employment Commission. She is on the Board of Directors of the Boston Private Industry Council and the K-12 education reform non-profit EdVestors.
Dr. Eddinger also serves BHCC and the community college movement by engaging in leadership work at the national level. She is a Board Member of the following: Achieving the Dream (ATD); the Boston Foundation (TBF); the Special Commission on Leadership of American Association of Community Colleges (AACC); the National Asian and Pacific Islander Council (NAPIC); the National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE); and the Voluntary Framework of Accountability (VFA). Dr. Eddinger was recognized in 2016 by the Obama White House as a Champion of Change, and attended several White House higher education summits.
Dr. Eddinger resides in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, with her son Nicholas.
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- Partner, Private Client Services Group
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- Executive Director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
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- Senior Research Analyst, Boston Indicators
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- Vice President of Community Engagement and External Affairs at Boston Medical Center Health System
Petrina Martin Cherry is the Vice President of Community Engagement and External Affairs at Boston Medical Center Health System, where she leads community program development, particularly around the hospital's efforts to increase health care equity, economic mobility, workforce development in the life sciences, diversity and inclusion and address social determinants of health. She has done significant advocacy work creating community-based programs to bring awareness to Sickle Cell Disease, BMC's COVID-19 vaccine rollout, promote mental health and wellness in communities, to reduce recidivism and influence successful reentry and to build equity instead of charity in previously red-lined communities.
Petrina's work has successfully elevated the health equity work of BMC with our State and local government officials, corporate partners, and community leaders. She was appointed by Mayor Walsh in 2020 to the City of Boston's COVID-19 Health Inequities Task Force and was recently appointed to Governor Maura Healey's Council on Black Empowerment. Petrina serves as the Co-Chair of the Women's Forum for the National Association of Healthcare Executives (NAHSE) and sits on the board of trustees for The Urban League of Eastern MA (Emeritus), The Boys and Girls Club of Boston, the Boston Arts Academy (BAA), ArtsEmerson at Emerson College, and the Advisory Board of the American Hospital Association. She has earned a B.A. from the University of South Carolina and an M.B.A. from Georgia State, J. Mack Robinson School of Business.
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- Assistant Director, Program and Policy
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- Member of the Community Leadership Team
- Associate, Safety Net Grants
Elaine Zecher is the Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel of Boston, the largest Reform Jewish congregation in New England, which she joined as its first woman rabbi in 1990. Rabbi Zecher focuses on building relationships that celebrate and transcend differences as a way to endeavor to engender understanding. She is committed to fostering a broad sense of community as the most certain path to establishing connections among individuals and diverse groups. Fostering "allyship" is a hallmark, both of her thinking and her approach. Within the congregational community, Rabbi Zecher emphasizes inreach, encouraging the development of meaningful connections.
Active in social justice initiatives throughout the city, Rabbi Zecher is a tireless worker in interfaith partnerships with other clergy and religious institutions. She has reached out to our elected leaders, building ties based on shared priorities and concerns. Rabbi Zecher believes in the values of compassion and caretaking of our fellow citizens, encouraging civic participation across generational lines.
Rabbi Zecher is known as an innovator in many areas, including creative approaches to prayer and liturgy, which have added new dimensions to communal worship. She was instrumental in developing new prayer books for the Reform movement and has served as Vice President for Leadership of the national organization, the Central Conference of American Rabbis. She has also held many leadership positions in other Jewish communal organizations. A graduate of Brandeis University, Rabbi Zecher was ordained by the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion. She is married to Dr. David Eisenberg and has three adult children.
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- Founder of the Sharma Group
The founder of The Sharma Group, Raj Sharma has more than 30 years of financial services experience. Before joining Merrill in 1987, he worked for 12 years as a financial analyst, management executive and media specialist.
Thoughtful and analytic, with an excellent understanding of the global markets, Raj has received numerous industry recognitions. Barron's has named him as one of America's Top 100 Financial Advisors for 18 consecutive years through 2022 - putting him among the "Barron's Hall of Fame', a distinction accorded to advisors who have been on the top advisor list for ten years. In 2021 and 2022, Raj was named the #1 Financial Advisor in Massachusetts on Barron's America's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors list for the thirteenth consecutive year. Forbes named Raj the #1 Financial Advisor in Massachusetts on Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors list in 2019-2022. He was also named to Forbes' "America's Top Wealth Advisors" list 2016 - 2022. Most recently The Sharma Group was featured by Barron's as a Top 50 Private Wealth Teams in 2020 and Top 100 Private Wealth Teams for 2021. Additionally, he was named to the Financial Times Top 400 Financial Advisors 2013 - 2021.
Raj earned a Master's degree in Business Management, with a concentration in Finance, from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, and a Master's degree in mass communications from Emerson College in Boston. Raj holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) designation and is a member of the Investments & Wealth Institute™ (The Institute).
Passionate about giving back to his community and the world, Raj is active in many local and global organizations. He is a former chairman and board member of Boston Harbor Island Now, sits on the board of trustees of Emerson College as well as Youth LEAD, an organization devoted to promoting dialogue and tolerance among young people. Raj is also a charter member of TIE, a global organization supporting entrepreneurship and business formation, and Director Emeritus and trustee of the American India Foundation, which is devoted to accelerating social and economic change in India. Raj also serves on the advisory board of RIAN Immigrant Center. RIAN empowers immigrants, refugees and international exchange visitors on the path to opportunity, safety, and a better future.
Raj lives in Massachusetts with his wife and four children. He enjoys traveling, hiking, art and playing golf and tennis.
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- Managing Director at Abrams Capital
Raja H. R. Bobbili is a Managing Director at Abrams Capital, an investment firm based in Boston. Bobbili helps lead investments across a range of industries and asset classes. Born in India and raised in Zambia, Bobbili immigrated to the United States at the age of 16 to attend MIT. He later completed graduate studies at Harvard University, receiving a JD and an MBA from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, respectively.
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- Senior Director, Impact Investing Programs
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- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- Strategic Advisor
Rob Waldron joined Curriculum Associates in 2008, bringing leadership experience from both the for-profit and nonprofit education worlds. He runs the company with a long-term focus, upholding the founding mission to improve classrooms everywhere. Under his leadership, revenues have increased more than eleven-fold, making Curriculum Associates one of the nation's fastest-growing K-12 education publishing companies. Curriculum Associates now employs more than 1,500 staff and has earned "Top Place to Work" status from The Boston Globe seven years in a row.
Prior to joining Curriculum Associates, Rob served as CEO of Jumpstart, a national nonprofit preparing preschoolers from low-income backgrounds for success, and as CEO of the K12 tutoring division of Kaplan Education. Rob also served as an operating executive at private equity firm Berkshire Partners.
Rob's mission-driven passion has earned him recognition as a Fast Company Top 25 Social Entrepreneur, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and EY Entrepreneur of the Year. He has also won the Northeastern US Regional YPO Social Impact Award and EdTech Digest's CEO of the Year. A member of the Association of Test Publishers CEO Council, Rob previously served as an Aspen Institute/Pahara Fellow and as a fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School. Rob received his BA from Northwestern and his MBA from Harvard.
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- Senior Editorial Director
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- Director, Advisor Relations / the Coyle Company
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- Partner / Nixon Peabody LLP
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- Vice President Emerging Market & Community Relations
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- Chairman of the Audit Committee
Scott E. Squillace is a business, tax and estate planning attorney with over 35 years of experience practicing law.
He is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire and Washington D.C. and has been admitted to the Bar in Paris, France as an Avocat. Scott began as a corporate attorney at Skadden Arps where he assisted in opening its Paris and Moscow offices in the early 1990's. During his time at Skadden he did significant private and public company corporate and securities work as well as international transactional work from the firm's New York, D.C. and Hong Kong offices as well as Paris and Moscow.
Scott has significant business counseling experience as an in-house corporate attorney, first as General Counsel for Levi Strauss & Co.'s European division based in Brussels and later as the first General Counsel for Grand Circle Travel, a privately held Boston-based travel company. He also served as European Counsel for Cabot Corporation in Boston, a NYSE public company. He lived and worked in Europe for 10 years and has travelled and worked extensively throughout Asia, Latin America and Europe.
As the founder of Squillace & Associates, P.C. - a boutique law firm in Boston's historic Back Bay - Scott now specializes in estate and business planning matters including tax and philanthropic planning for high net worth individuals and families. His practice includes estate planning needs for international clientele, corporate executives, small business owners, physicians, attorneys, and other professionals. He has a focus on helping same sex couples and members of the LGBTQ community with their unique planning needs and authored Whether to Wed: A Legal and Tax Guide for Gay and Lesbian Couples. He is a Fellow at the American College of Trust and Estates Counsels; a Certified Master Trustee by the Independent Trustee Alliance (ITA) and holds the designation of Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) from the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils (NAEPC).
Scott was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick in 2014 to serve on a Commission to study needs of the LGBT elder community. Scott served as Founder and Co-Chair of the Equality Fund, an endowment for the LGBTQ Community established at The Boston Foundation. He currently serves as a Trustee to the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) and on the Trust Committee for Eastern Bank.
He holds his bachelor's degree from Fordham University in New York; has studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris and earned his J.D. from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
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- Senior Wealth Advisor / Ballentine Partners, LLC
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- Vice President and Senior Trust Advisor / Northern Trust
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- Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis
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- Associate Vice President, Programs
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- Zevin Asset Management, LLC
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- Philanthropic Advisor, TPI
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- Senior Financial Operations Manager
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- Associate, Donor Relations
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- Senior Director, Investment Accounting
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- Partner / Rubin and Rudman LLP
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- CEO
- Executive Assistant to the President
Surie Harris
Executive Assistant to the President and CEO
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Mariella Da Silva
Executive Assistant
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Kendall Stanley
Associate Director, Office of the President, and Board Secretary
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- Battery Global Advisor
- Eisner Advisory Group LLC
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- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
- President - Private Client Group
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- Member of the BNY Mellon Wealth Management Team
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- Associate Vice President, Communications and Digital Media
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- Associate Vice President, Leadership Giving
- Development and Donor Services
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- Associate Vice President, Information Technology
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- Eaton Vance Investment Counsel
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- Chairman of Governance and Nominating Committee
- CEO and Co - Founder of Social Finance
- Member of the Harvard Corporation
Tracy Palandjian is CEO and Co-Founder of Social Finance, a national nonprofit and registered investment advisor. In 2011, Tracy co-founded Social Finance with Sir Ronald Cohen and David Blood to seed the Pay For Success field in the United States, sparking a national conversation about new funding models to tackle systemic challenges and drive measurable impact. Since then, Social Finance has mobilized over $400 million in new investments designed to achieve improved outcomes across a range of issue areas, including economic mobility, health, and housing. In 2024, the organization launched the Social Finance Institute to advance the field through actionable research and educational outreach.
Prior to Social Finance, Tracy was a Managing Director for eleven years at The Parthenon Group, where she established and led the Nonprofit Practice to support foundations and NGOs to accomplish their missions in the U.S. and globally. Tracy also worked at Wellington Management Company and McKinsey & Company.
A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, Tracy is a frequent speaker and writer on impact investing, social innovation, and results-oriented policymaking. She is an author of Workforce Realigned: How New Partnerships Are Advancing Economic Mobility, and co-author of Investing for Impact: Case Studies Across Asset Classes. Tracy co-founded the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance, where she serves as Vice Chair. She is a member of the board of the International Foundation for Valuing Impacts and a former Trustee of the Global Steering Group on Impact Investing.
Tracy is a member of the Harvard Corporation and serves on the boards of The Surdna Foundation, The Barr Foundation, and The Boston Foundation. She is an Independent Director of Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE: AMG). Previously, Tracy served as Board Chair of Facing History and Ourselves. She also served on the boards of RFK Human Rights, Milton Academy, and Mass General Brigham. She is a 2019 recipient of Harvard Business School's Alumni Achievement Award.
A native of Hong Kong, Tracy is fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin. She graduated from Harvard College with a B.A. magna cum laude in Economics and holds an M.B.A. with high distinction from Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar.
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- Cerity Partner
- Leader Bank
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- Member of the Atwater Wealth Management Team
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- Legal Counsel / Hurwit & Associates
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- Chairman of Program Committee
Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, Ph.D., is Chief Executive Officer of Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA), a community development corporation dedicated to empowering and engaging individuals and families to improve their lives through high-quality affordable housing, education, and arts programs. Under Vanessa's leadership since 2003, IBA has become the largest Latino-led nonprofit organization in Eastern Massachusetts with over $150 million in assets, and with a portfolio of 667 affordable housing units in its South End Villa Victoria development, in Roxbury and Mattapan. Vanessa was selected as a Barr Fellow in 2009, and in 2010, she became the first Latina to be appointed to the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Vanessa is a founding board member of the Margarita Muñiz Academy, the first dual-language innovation high school in Massachusetts, and a co-founder of the Greater Boston Latino Network. She serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC), the Barr Foundation, the Boston Foundation, the Yawkey Foundation, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. She is also a member of the Boston Foundation's Latino Equity Fund Advisory Committee and Eastern Bank's Board of Advisors. In 2022, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce recognized Vanessa with the Distinguished Bostonian Award.
Vanessa is a Puerto Rican-born civic leader who received her doctorate in public policy from UMASS Boston; and a Honoris Causa Doctorate from Cambridge College.
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- Office Operations Coordinator
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- Member of the Community Leadership Team
- Director, Shifting Power and Advancing Justice
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- Assistant Director, Grants Management
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- Director, Equitable Learning and Measurement
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- Investment Advisor
- Principal
Five-time Emmy award winner Zamawa is a marketing strategist and entrepreneur intent on making a difference. Zamawa is Founder and CEO of Flowetik, a brand marketing consultancy that helps leaders of small businesses, startups and social ventures grow and scale their ideas through smart and practical brand marketing. Prior to founding Flowetik, Zamawa spent 15 years as co-owner of Argus, a full-service marketing agency serving nonprofit, business and government clients.
Active in Greater Boston's business and nonprofit community, she currently serves on the boards of several organizations including the Boston Foundation, Boston Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, Boston Chamber of Commerce and Eastern Bank. Zamawa served as a Trustee of the Boston Public Library for 16 years. She is also a founding member of the Latino Equity Fund at the Boston Foundation.
Zamawa is the recipient of the Pinnacle Award from the Boston Chamber of Commerce, and was inducted into the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers. She received the Give Liberty a Hand award from the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. Zamawa was also named by the Boston Business Journal as a "Hispanic on the Move" an award for Hispanic professionals making a difference in Boston.
A sought-after public speaker, Zamawa is invited to participate in a variety of panel discussions and speaking engagements on entrepreneurship, branding and marketing, and building leadership in a diverse workplace.