At its annual Fall Business Breakfast, the Charles River Regional Chamber honored Dr. Rochelle Walensky, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the Chamber’s highest honor, the R. L. Tennant Award, for her nationwide leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mayor Ruthanne Fuller lauded Dr. Walensky’s courage in stepping up to lead the world’s leading public health agency in a difficult time. In accepting the award, Dr. Walensky expressed particular gratitude to Newton community members who supported her during her tenure leading the CDC. She described the worldwide public health work of the CDC across a wide range of challenges: disease outbreaks, opioid overdoses, firearm deaths, cardiovascular disease, infant mortality, and diabetes.
Larry Seamans, President & CEO of FamilyAid, was the guest speaker for the sold-out event, which filled the main ballroom of the Newton Marriott. FamilyAid is partnering with the City of Newton to develop a former nursing home in Newton to offer transitional housing, education, and job training for families facing homelessness. Seamans spoke about how over FamilyAid’s entire 107-year history — evolving from the Travelers Aid Society — the community has always faced times of global conflict and poverty, leading to migration.
The program also featured a fireside chat between Boston Celtics President Rich Gotham and Michael Holly of NBC Sports Boston. Gotham spoke about leadership and “installing purpose in the organization” so that everyone throughout the organization is connected to something in it bigger than themselves — something that is meaningful to them personally. He said that the purpose of the Celtics is to deliver joy and community — and to shine a light on important issues that people otherwise might not think about. He described how the Celtics’ Community Engagement group works with 1,500 charitable organizations each year and focuses particularly on issues that resonate with its players, such as systemic racism, racial inequality, healthcare inequity, economic opportunity, educational inequity, and criminal justice reform.
Chamber Chair John Rufo invited members to reach out to the board with their ideas and opinions on transportation; workforce support and childcare; climate change; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and housing.
Other speakers were Chamber President Greg Reibman and Michelle DeSimone, FVP, CRE Relationship Manager at Needham Bank.
UPDATE: Here is NewTV’s video of the event.
