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Four Massachusetts leaders highlight inaugural Leadership Academy training session

Issue November/December 2016 By Mike Vigneux

The MBA's Leadership Academy hosted its first "Profiles in Leadership" training session for 21 fellows selected for 2016-17 on Oct. 25 in Boston.

Fellows heard presentations from four prominent Massachusetts leaders: Hon. Karyn Polito, lieutenant governor of the commonwealth of Massachusetts; John Fish, chairman and chief executive officer, Suffolk Construction Company Inc.; William Sinnott, Esq., Donoghue, Barrett & Singal; and MBA Past President Valerie A. Yarashus, Esq., Meehan, Boyle, Black & Bogdanow PC.

The speakers represented a unique cross-section of professional experience including public service, business and commerce, the military and the law.

MBA President Jeffrey N. Catalano, a member of the Leadership Academy Steering Committee, provided welcoming remarks and congratulated the fellows on being selected to the program. He also stressed the importance of connecting not only with leaders, but with other fellows as well.

"Part of being a great leader is hanging around with great people. Greatness is contagious," said Catalano.

MBA Treasurer and fellow member of the steering committee Christopher A. Kenney also noted the commitment the MBA has made to each fellow as a future leader.

"I hope you see this fellowship as the honor and privilege that it really is and is intended to be," remarked Kenney. "But I hope you also see this as an investment-the MBA's investment in you."

Lt. Gov. Polito, an attorney and former member of the MBA House of Delegates, spoke about her experience with leadership as a lawyer, local selectman, state senator and lieutenant governor. She acknowledged the importance of perseverance and the notion that many leadership skills are not developed overnight.

"Leadership is not just about one academy-it's a lifetime experience," said Polito.

After the four presentations, a brief question and answer session was held with the speakers that covered various leadership topics such as finding a mentor and work/life balance.

The MBA Leadership Academy was developed to better prepare young attorneys to assume leadership roles at the bar, in their firms or organizations and in government. A 12-month program, which will run concurrently with the MBA membership year, the Leadership Academy will include five educational programs, class projects and mentoring opportunities.

Leadership Academy Steering Committee

  • Wayne A. Budd, MBA Past President
  • Jeffrey N. Catalano, MBA President
  • Marc A. D'Antonio, MBA Staff Liaison
  • Lisa A. Ferrara, MBA Staff Liaison
  • Hon. Shannon Frison
  • Robert W. Harnais, MBA Past President
  • Martin W. Healy, MBA Chief Legal Counsel and Chief Operating Officer
  • Hon. Timothy S. Hillman
  • Christopher A. Kenney, MBA Treasurer
  • John J. Morrissey, MBA Vice President
  • Denise I. Murphy, MBA Secretary
  • Patricia A. Olier, MBA Staff Liaison
  • Christopher P. Sullivan, MBA President-Elect
  • Hon. Charles B. Swartwood (ret.)
  • Hon. J. Owen Todd (ret.)
  • Valerie A. Yarashus, MBA Past President

The 2016-17 MBA Leadership Academy Fellows:

  • Jesse Adams, Law Office of Jesse Adams (Northampton)
  • Adrian Angus, Committee for Public Counsel Services (Worcester)
  • Saraa Basaria, Gordon & Rees LLP (Boston)
  • Ida R. Candreva, Law Office of R. Carabetta (Revere)
  • Melissa Conner, Conner Law Offices (Charlestown)
  • Emmanuel Dockter, Baum & Dockter (Quincy)
  • Talia Gee, Sullivan, Hayes & Quinn (Springfield)
  • Katherine Guarino, Locke Lord, LLP  (Boston)
  • Sara Horatius, Roxbury Community College (Boston)
  • Jane A. Horne, Peabody & Arnold LLP (Boston)
  • Sakib Khan, Kenney & Sams PC (Southborough)
  • Brigid Mitchell, Law Office of Denise Squillante (Fall River)
  • Marc Moccia, Kazarosian Costello LLP (Haverhill)
  • Michael Molloy, Marcotte Law Firm (Lowell)
  • Michael Rossi, Conn Kavanaugh Rosenthal Peisch Ford LLP (Boston)
  • Victoria Santoro, Meehan, Boyle, Black & Bogdanow (Boston)
  • Lauren N. Schaal, Scholarship Winner, 2016 Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Scholarship (Brighton)
  • Samuel A. Segal, Law Offices of Samuel A. Segal (Boston)
  • Courtney Shea, Peabody & Arnold LLP (Boston)
  • Meghan Slack, Law Office of Meghan Slack (Cambridge)
  • Damian Turco, Turco Legal PC (Newburyport)

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