SOLD OUT - 2020 Pinnacle Awards

Phyllis Yale has been a leader in the US healthcare system over the course of her career. She joined Bain and Company in 1982, where she helped build Bain’s healthcare practice, led the Boston office, served on Bain’s Board of Directors, as well as other firm-wide leadership roles. At Bain, she continues to work as an adviser to healthcare payers and providers, and frequently advises the world’s leading private equity firms on their investments in the healthcare sector. She also serves on the boards of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Bristol-Myers Squibb and DaVita. She is on the nonprofit boards of The Bridgespan Group and The Trustees of Reservations. She earned both an AB and an MBA from Harvard University. Ms. Yale was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award by Consulting Magazine and was named by Working Mother magazine as one of the top 25 working mothers.

Ashley is President of Solomon McCown & Company, a strategic communications firm built on a commitment to provide businesses and organizations with senior-level attention and strategic thinking. Under Ashley’s leadership over the last 16 years, SM& has grown into a thriving, 35-person agency that continues to deliver results to some of Boston’s best-in-class real estate, healthcare, corporate and mission-focused organizations. During her 30-plus years in public relations and crisis communications, Ashley has become known for building and protecting reputations. Some of today’s most well-respected companies, organizations and individuals have turned to Ashley as their keeper of the flame. Throughout her career, Ashley has also been committed to mentoring and giving young professionals the tools they need to be leaders. She is a member of the Board of Overseers for the MSPCA and The Commonwealth Institute (TCI). She is past president of the P.R. Club of New England.

Jane Steinmetz is an EY business leader with over 25 years of experience serving Fortune 100 clients, leading high performing teams and advocating for change. As the EY Boston Office Managing Principal, Jane is responsible for overall client service, market growth and internal management of over 2,300 professionals.       

Prior to her current role, Jane oversaw EY’s New England financial services practice and led the National financial services state and local tax practice, managing a global team. She continues to serve as a tax adviser on marque accounts. In addition to client service, Jane is active in the community and frequently advocates for diversity and inclusion. She is a board member of the Boys and Girls Club of Boston, United Way and the National Association of Corporate Directors and serves on the executive committee of the Massachusetts High Tech Council, Massachusetts Business Roundtable and on the Boston Club corporate advisory board. She also serves on the executive committee and is the chairwoman of the Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation.

Dr. Tseng currently serves as the Utley Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), and Surgeon-in-Chief at Boston Medical Center (BMC) in Boston, Massachusetts. She completed her general surgery residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she also served as Staff Surgeon. Dr Tseng also completed a research fellowship in molecular medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, followed by a clinical fellowship in surgical oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She obtained her MPH degree in clinical effectiveness from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Tseng’s clinical specialty is surgical oncology and gastrointestinal surgery, with a focus on the upper grastrointestinal tract. She founded Surgical Outcomes Analysis & Research (SOAR), a clinical and outcomes research institute initiated at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, transitioned to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, and is now based in Boston at BUSM / BMC. Her research interests include developing models for cancer treatment sequencing strategies, cancer biomarkers, and healthcare disparities and outcomes research, and she has published >130 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Dr. Tseng serves on the editorial board of several journals and is Deputy Editor for JAMA Surgery. She has mentored numerous surgical residents and research fellows and derives her greatest professional satisfaction from their successes. She is a member of numerous surgical societies including the American Surgical Association, the Society of University Surgeons, and the Society of Surgical Oncology. She is the immediate past Secretary of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT) and is President of the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons (SAAS). In July 2019, Dr. Tseng was appointed a Director of the American Board of Surgery.

Maura Healey is serving her second term as Massachusetts Attorney General, leading the people’s law firm as the people’s lawyer, continuing a career spent fighting for justice and equal rights. After Maura’s historic victory in her first-ever run for office, she has spent her time in office working on the issues that matter to the people of the Commonwealth – from health care and energy costs to protecting consumers, ensuring equality for all and keeping our communities safer. For seven years prior to her election, Maura helped lead the Attorney General’s Office, ultimately overseeing more than half of the office’s 500 employees. Earlier in her career, Maura was a prosecutor in Middlesex County and a litigation partner at WilmerHale. After college, she also spent two years as a 5’4” starting point guard on a professional basketball team in Europe.

Rita Germán is Director, Community Investments at John Hancock. In this role, Rita oversees John Hancock’s Community Investment program, managing the company’s grants portfolio and external engagement work with the goal of creating a healthier and more equitable Boston. Prior to joining John Hancock, Rita spent five years as Development Director with United Way Massachusetts Bay, managing the Private Equity, Venture Capital & Hedge Fund donor group. Rita started her career in public relations at several organizations and firms in Boston. She supports several Boston organizations including JDRF, Mind Matter Boston, More Than Words, The Boston Foundation’s Latino Legacy Fund, The Community Builders, United Way’s Community Investment Council was served as Co-Chair of WGBH’s Community Advisory Board – Boston’s PBS affiliate station.

Shari Nethersole, MD, is the Executive Director for Community Health at Boston Children’s Hospital. In her role she oversees the Office of Community Health which is responsible for driving Boston Children’s community mission to improve the health and well-being of children and families in the local community. Dr. Nethersole and her team work closely with staff and providers from across the hospital, as well as community organizations, community health centers, schools and city and state agencies to address health disparities and improve population health, with a focus on children and families. The office conducts needs assessments, develops and implements programming, builds partnerships and supports advocacy for child health priorities. Dr. Nethersole continues to provide care for patients and supervise residents in Boston Children’s Primary Care Center. She completed her pediatric residency at Boston Children’s and has been a primary care provider at Boston Children’s since 1990. She joined the Office of Community Health as Medical Director in 2004 before becoming Executive Director in 2013.

Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, Ph.D., is the CEO of Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA), a leading community development corporation dedicated to empowering families to improve their lives through high-quality affordable housing, education, and arts programs. Through her leadership, IBA has become the largest Latino-led nonprofit organization in Eastern Massachusetts. In 2010, Dr. Calderón-Rosado became the first Latina ever to be appointed to the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. In November 2013, Mayor-elect Martin Walsh appointed Dr. Calderón-Rosado to co-lead his housing transition team. She has served as advisor to numerous other task forces, boards, commissions and high-profile searches, including Boston’s Police Department and Public Health Commission. Among other civic engagements, she is a Founding Board member of the Margarita Muñiz Academy, the first dual-language innovation high school in Massachusetts; and the Co-Founder of the Greater Boston Latino Network.

Award-winning journalist Lisa Hughes anchors WBZ-TV News weekdays at 5PM, 6PM and 11PM with co-anchor David Wade. She joined the station in June 2000 after working as a correspondent for CBS Newspath in Washington, DC. Lisa has covered just about every major news event in New England, and she has had the pleasure of interviewing many of the area’s newsmakers. Among her many honors, Lisa received both a 2014 Columbia DuPont Award and a 2013 George Foster Peabody Award as part of WBZ-TV’s team coverage of the Boston Marathon Bombings. She received an Emmy Award for Best News Anchor in 2014 and 2016. And has received both Emmy Awards and an Edward R. Murrow Award for reporting. Lisa is also involved in a number of community organizations and charities. She is on the board of directors of Big Sister Boston, serves on the development board at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and volunteers her time with Project 351, Children’s Hospital Boston and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester. Starting in 2011, Lisa began riding the annual Pan Mass Challenge to raise money for Dana Farber Cancer Institute. In 2002, she ran the Boston Marathon for the American Liver Foundation.