Mentors: CREATING A MORE WELCOMING BOSTON FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY

Patricia Wen, Boston globe spotlight team Editor 

Patricia Wen is the editor of the Boston Globe Spotlight Team.
She took over this six-member investigative unit after several decades as a reporter at the Globe, with a special emphasis on social service, legal and medical issues. Her work focused largely on investigative and long-term projects. She also had spent several years as a reporter on the
Spotlight Team.She has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, once in 2004 for feature writing and also in 2013 as part of a team for national reporting. Wen has also twice individually won the Casey
Medal for coverage of children and family issues, in 2004 and 2011, each in the category of a major project/series in large publications.
Before joining the Globe, she worked as a reporter at The Star-Ledger in Newark, NJ and The Advocate in Stamford, CT. A Harvard College graduate with a degree in East Asian Studies, she is married with three children and lives in Brookline, Mass.

Akilah Johnson, Boston Globe Spotlight Team Reporter

Akilah Johnson covers the intersection of race, politics, youth, and immigration for The Boston Globe. Her work includes stints on the Spotlight Team and on-the-ground reporting from Ferguson, MO, Charleston, SC, Flint, Mich, Haiti, and Cape Verde. She also contributed to the Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Akilah has been a key member of the Globe’s politics team, covering elections for Boston mayor, Massachusetts governor, and the 2016 New Hampshire presidential primary. She currently serves as co-host of the GlobeLive, the Boston Globe’s live storytelling experience. Before her time at the Globe, Akilah covered education and public safety for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale.

Alexandria de Aranzeta, Founder of Accessity

Alex de Aranzeta, MA, JD is a public speaker and people strategist, committed to moving the needle in the civic and innovation communities for social good. Alex has 10+ years’ experience in language access, dispute resolution, inclusive brand engagement, cross-cultural communication, project management, harassment prevention, civil rights investigation, and accessibility, which she uses to advance enterprise diversity and inclusion efforts. Alex founded Accesity LLC, a people-centered consultancy that uses data-driven decision-making and social science to help startups, government and organizations scale enterprise-wide diversity, inclusion and equity strategy. Accessity “solves beyond equal” by building experiential learning and training opportunities, developing compliant communication access programs and advising accessible design projects. 

Stephanie Lampkin, Founder and CEO of Blendoor

Stephanie Lampkin, TEDx speaker and former downhill ski racer, has graced the cover of The Atlantic, MIT Tech Review and Forbes to name a few. She is the founder & CEO of Blendoor, artificial intelligence & people analytics that mitigate unconscious bias in hiring; in other words, technology that enhances the ability of humans to judge other humans based on merit, not molds. Stephanie has a 14 year career in the tech industry founding two startups and working in technical roles at Lockheed, Microsoft, and TripAdvisor. Stephanie holds a BS in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford and an MBA from MIT.

Amy Chen, President & CEO of C&G Marketing

Amy Chen is the President & CEO of C&G Marketing, Inc., a marketing agency that focuses on digital, mobile and social media marketing, as well as direct to consumer marketing. Prior to starting her own business, Amy had 18 years of domestic and international experience working in several Fortune 100 companies.

Amy is very involved in Asian American community development in Massachusetts. She is a member of the Board of Directors for National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) Boston Chapter, a member of the Board of Directors for Asian American Civic Association (AACA) in Boston, and the Chairperson of the Board for Sampan Newspaper. Amy’s work in diversity and multicultural has earned the Leadership for Inclusion and Diversity Award from The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Asian American Commission in 2015. Her experience as an entrepreneur, marketer, strategist and an active member of the community allows her to give back, and continue to strengthen the Asian American community.

Amy is a University of Minnesota graduate, and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing and Finance along with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. She is bilingual in English and Chinese. Amy’s other passions include traveling, cooking, reading, tea, and meditation.

julia kim, VP PMO Income, research & management

Julia Kim is a Global Technology Executive specializing in delivering sustainable value in large corporations, rapid growth small firms, and distressed/turnaround organizations by developing and deploying top talent based on strengths with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion.  She was recognized as an Inspiring Leader for one of the largest mutual fund investment firms in the US, where she created and oversaw programs focused on career strategy, preparation and integration for new recruits as well as networking opportunities for Women in Technology.  Julia is also the Founder and CEO of CK Real Estate Holdings, LLC which focuses on international residential consumers of local real estate markets. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Asian American Civic Association (AACA) in Boston, Co-Chair of Professional Alliance for AACA (PAAACA), and a member of the Board of Directors for Sampan Newspaper.   Julia’s passion for the development of young adults in a globalized economy led her to becoming an American Mom to Chinese students from High School through College as well as mentoring and coaching immigrants, students and young professionals.  She volunteers regularly at the New England Center for Homeless Veterans, Cradles to Crayons and Year up/Boston.

Julia is a graduate of the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

Jordan Summers, Program Manager at Reaching Out MBA

Reaching Out is a year-round organization serving LGBT MBA & graduate students and LGBTQ MBA business professionals. Prior to her current role, Jordan served as the Mentoring and Youth Development Coordinator at Berklee City Music, a nonprofit branch of Berklee College of Music. There, she recruited current Berklee students and alumni to teach music lessons to high school musicians across the Boston area.  Jordan holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Business from the State University of New York College at Potsdam. She has volunteered with Boston LGBT organizations in the past and currently volunteers her time to teach math at a local elementary school. 

Bryan Dyer, Military, Veteran and Student-Veteran Recruiting Lead at State Street

Bryan Dyer is the head of State Street’s military recruiting program and is widely acknowledged for his expertise in recruiting and retaining veteran talent as well as workforce development.  Bryan has served in multiple leadership roles with a specialization in military and veteran Talent Acquisition, and development, with several Fortune 200 companies.  Bryan is actively engaged in multiple internal employee resource groups, including State Street’s Military Employee and Family Network which is State Street’s Veteran Employee Resource Group. Bryan also serves on State Street’s Global Inclusion Council that is responsible for State Street’s global diversity strategy.  Bryan’s experience in creating veteran hiring initiatives including talent development, training programs, workforce development, onboarding/retention, and employee resource group work is highly regarded at State Street. Bryan advocates strongly for veteran awareness and notes that, “Gainful employment is the silver bullet to most veteran issues.”

Nico Lang, Human Resources Administrator for the Office of the VP of Finance at MIT

Nico Lang works as the Human Resources Administrator for the Office of the VP of Finance at MIT. She is responsible for the recruiting, development and employee relations of all the staff there. Prior to that she worked in HR at the Department of Biology and the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL). A native of Central Square, Ms. Lang identifies as proud member of the disabled community and is a lifetime member of Little People of America. She also serves as a member of the planning committee for MIT’s Disability Employee Resource Group. She holds a Master’s Degree in HR from Emmanuel College as well as an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. She loves the Red Sox, hates the snow and lives in Somerville with her cat and across the street from a dog park.

Catherine Gamon, Direct of Student Life at MIT Sloan

Catherine Gamon directs the Student Life Office, which provides programs and services to foster an MIT Sloan student culture of collaboration, contribution, and caring. This includes design and delivery of cross-program community-building events; oversight of student organizations; coaching, advising, and support on student events and initiatives; personal advising, wellness support, and crisis support; leadership of diversity programming, and Values@MIT Sloan initiatives. Prior to coming to MIT Sloan in 2000, Catherine managed international education programs and services at a variety of academic institutions (Stanford University, the University of California at San Diego, Bentley College), and private organizations (the American Institute for Foreign Study and the Council on International Educational Exchange). Catherine holds an AB in international relations from Stanford University, an MS in counseling from San Diego State University, and an MBA from Simmons College.

Catherine D’Ignazio, Assistant Professor of Civic Media & Data Visualization at Emerson College

Catherine D’Ignazio is a writer, artist/designer, and software developer who focuses on data literacy, feminist technology, and how new forms of storytelling informed by technology can be used for civic engagement. She is an Assistant Professor of Civic Media and Data Visualization at Emerson College, a Faculty Director at the Engagement Lab, and a research affiliate at the MIT Media Lab/Center for Civic Media.

Ryan Lei, Postdoctoral Fellow in Social Psychology at NYU

 Ryan Lei graduated from Northwestern University with a Ph.D  in social psychology and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at New York University. His research takes an intersectional approach at examining processes of stereotyping and prejudice. Specifically, he examines how social biases such as racism differ depending on whether prototypical (e.g., male) or non-prototypical (e.g., female) members are being evaluated. At NYU, he is examining how these processes emerge developmentally and what factors influence potential shifts along the developmental trajectory.

Cathy Yee, CEO and Founder of Incluvie

Cathy Yee is a Boston native and the CEO and founder of Incluvie – the IMDB for diversity in film, with the mission of social impact and change. By day, Cathy is an engineering project manager at Johnson & Johnson, leading technical service for medical devices worldwide. She received her Masters in biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California, and her Bachelors at the University of Connecticut. For active fun, she likes dance – particularly hip hop and dancehall, as well as running along the Charles River in Boston, and a secret joy for foosball. Cathy has a passion for diversity in movies and TV, and is honored to partner with MIT, Harvard, Northeastern, and Boston University with her work on Incluvie.