Club Updates
The Greater Boston Chamber's Women's Network recently held its annual Pinnacle Awards, honoring business and professional women who have demonstrated excellence in entrepreneurship, management, and lifetime achievement. Current Club members among the honorees were Suzanne Bates, CEO, Bates Communications, Inc., for Achievement in Entrepreneurship, and Michelle Shell, Senior Vice President, LPL Financial, as Emerging Executive.
Congratulations to Kristen Drobnis on her appointment to the Board of Hope in Bloom. Hope in Bloom plants indoor and outdoor gardens free of charge throughout Massachusetts at homes of people undergoing treatment for breast cancer. The organization generally serves a population of women and men who cannot afford the cost to design and install a garden. Healing gardens have been proven to be therapeutic sanctuaries offering both comfort and hope to meet the emotional and psychological needs of patients and their families. The search was conducted by Lois Lindauer in support of The Boston Club's Non Profit Board Committee.
Karen F. Green, a partner and former co-chair of the Litigation/Controversy Department at WilmerHale, is one of the 36 women recognized for their outstanding accomplishments as Top Women of Law for 2011 by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Karen, who is celebrating her 30th year as an attorney, has been named one of “The Best Lawyers in America” since 2008 and was included in “The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers” in 2009 and 2011, among other honors. Top Women of Law, which has been published annually since 2008, honors female attorneys who have distinguished themselves and helped pave the way for women in the field. Susan A. Bocamazo, Esq. of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly notes, “Some have excelled in traditionally male fields. Some have devoted hours to mentoring other women attorneys, while others have dedicated their careers to working with underrepresented populations, including illegal immigrants, the economically disadvantaged and victims of sexual assault. Many of the honorees have put their legal skills to work to better their communities, and some have done all of the above, while still striving to maintain that elusive work-life balance.”
Carol Lobron has joined Development Guild/DDI, a management consulting firm serving regional, national, and global nonprofits in education, health & science, the arts, and human services. As part of the senior consulting team, Carol will collaborate with boards and staff leaders on organizational strategy, fundraising, and talent management. Prior to joining Development Guild/DDI, Carol spent 15 years as Chief Operating Officer of Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), a Jewish Federation established in Boston in 1895 to bring together the people, partners, and resources to fulfill the most important needs and aspirations of the Jewish community. During her tenure, CJP achieved significant growth, most notably surpassing its 2011 Annual Campaign goal of $41 million while consistently receiving a four-star rating from Charity Navigator on the basis of its management and fiscal practices. Carol currently serves as a Trustee of Hebrew Senior Life and the American Jewish Historical Society.
Diane Pardes, President of Pardes Communications, has been appointed President-Elect of the Boston chapter of Public Relations Society of America, the nation's largest community of public relations and communications professionals.
Congratulations to Valerie Samuels on her recent appointment to the board of The Justice Research Institute. Located in Boston, JRI is dedicated to addressing the most confounding challenges of both the human services and educational systems and the people and families that these systems were created to serve. Founded in 1973, JRI operates in more than sixty sites in MA, CT., RI and PA and also runs some National and International programs. This search was conducted by Joan Kennedy with help from the Club's NonProfit Board Committee.
Kathleen Stone has been selected for a Fulbright Specialists project at Dubrovnik International University in Croatia during May 2012, according to the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. As part of a university series on “Cases in Diplomacy,” Kathleen will teach a class on the legal and political environment in which American companies do business today. Kathleen is one of over 400 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad this year through the Fulbright Specialists Program. The Fulbright Specialists Program, created in 2000 to complement the traditional Fulbright Scholar Program, provides short-term academic opportunities (two to six weeks) to prominent U.S. faculty and professionals to support curricular and faculty development and institutional planning at post-secondary, academic institutions around the world.