150 Most Influential Bostonians in 2026, Starring the Patriots

Governor of Massachusetts

→ $220 million in savings through the Energy Affordability Agenda
→ 91,000+ homes built or in development under her tenure

Healey has a lot on her plate—and she keeps adding to it. Housing, energy costs, Trump administration battles, and the $5 billion Affordable Homes Act. The Biotechnology Innovation Organization named her 2025 Governor of the Year for her support of life sciences, and she struck back quickly when RFK Jr. threatened to regulate Dunkin’ coffee. Reelection this November looks like a slam-dunk. What comes after is the more interesting question.

» Profile: Maura Healey Is Playing to Win

Executive Chair and Chair of the Board of Directors, Eastern Bank

→ $30 billion+ in assets
→ 110 locations in New England

No businessman in Boston shows up for the city quite like Rivers. The Eastern Bank honcho cochairs the Massachusetts Business Coalition for Early Childhood Education, serves on the Boston Women’s Workforce Council, and was Governor Healey’s first call when she needed someone to lead the MA250 Executive Committee—the group raising $8 million to ensure the 250th anniversary celebrations go off without a hitch. In some circles, the bank is almost beside the point. Almost.

» The Conversion of Bob Rivers

Mayor of Boston

→ 225 new liquor licenses
→ Nearly 37,000 feet of sidewalk rebuilt in 2025
→ $232.5 million in city contracts awarded to minority- and women-owned businesses in FY25

Ninety-three percent. That’s not a mandate—that’s a message. Wu didn’t just win reelection; she was such a guaranteed win that her challenger withdrew. Since then, she’s stood up to Trump officials over immigration, pushed the most ambitious housing agenda in the city’s recent memory, and emerged as one of the most closely watched progressive mayors in the country. Even her detractors understand they have to deal with her now. This is officially Wu’s city.

» Profile: Inside the Bunker with Michelle Wu

Cofounders, The ‘Quin House

→ $25 million in annual giving through the Edgerley Family Foundation
→ $1 million+ granted by the ‘Quin House Impact Fund to 50+ Massachusetts nonprofits in 2025

The Edgerley name has become shorthand for power in nearly every corner of the city. Sandy serves on a dozen nonprofit and organization boards. Paul, still a Celtics part-owner, now oversees Harvard’s investment portfolio. Their name is on the basketball court at Boston College. But the crown jewel remains the ‘Quin—their sleek social club where the city’s heavy hitters trade ideas over cocktails.

» The Interview: Sandy Edgerley

Cofounder, Barr Foundation

→ $130 million+ in grants and charitable contributions awarded in 2025

Hostetter has spent her philanthropic career transforming institutions—the Barr Foundation, which she cofounded with her husband, Amos, and has grown to $2.8 billion in assets; the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; and now the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The couple received the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2025. As BSO board chair, she’s driving an ambitious modernization effort at one of the world’s great orchestras—a mission as complicated as it is consequential. When Hostetter sets her mind to something, there’s no stopping her.

President and CEO, Mass General Brigham

→ 12 system hospitals
→ $2.73 billion in research operations in 2025

Klibanski runs five hospitals on the U.S. News & World Report best hospitals list in 2025. Apparently, that’s not enough: She’s just been elected to chair the powerful Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, which represents every hospital and health system statewide. And as federal funding issues slow research efforts, she’s still expanding MGB, with plans for new cardiovascular and cancer centers, among other projects.

Guard-Forward, Boston Celtics

→ Five-time All-Star
→ 400+ youth served at inaugural Education Fair

What does an NBA superstar do on his day off? If you’re Brown, you host a fundraising bowling event for Boston kids or an education fair in Roxbury, with more than 50 partnering organizations. Now in his 10th season wearing green—and carrying the Celtics through Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury—Brown is having his best year yet, averaging career highs across the board. He’s stepped up on and off the court, and the city adores him for it.

» The Interview: Jaylen Brown

Chair and CEO, Fidelity Investments

→ $7.1 trillion in managed assets
→ $37.7 billion annual revenue

Johnson was mining Bitcoin at Fidelity’s offices more than a decade ago, when most of Wall Street thought crypto was a joke. Now she’s calling it the “gold standard” of crypto and pushing Boston to become a blockchain hub, all while steering a company with $18 trillion in assets under administration and serves more than 57 million customers—one in five American adults—and remains the nation’s largest provider of 401(k) plans. Off the clock, she supports the MFA and ICA and has been known to serve meals at Pine Street Inn. The wealthiest person in Boston is also its most unassuming.

President and CEO, Vertex Pharmaceuticals

→ Named one of Time‘s Women of the Year 2026
→ First woman of color to lead a major U.S. biotech company

Few people in Boston hold more cards than Kewalramani. As president and CEO of Vertex, she oversees more than $100 billion in value—and the company keeps growing. A former kidney doctor who interned at Mass General, she must be particularly gratified by the recent positive results for Vertex’s kidney disease drug. Outside the lab, she has become a fixture in Boston’s civic life, with board memberships at the Biomedical Science Careers Program, Mass General Brigham, and BU’s med school.

Lieutenant Governor

→ $16.7 million in Seaport Economic Council grant recommendations (Driscoll is chair)

It’s looking more and more like Driscoll can’t lose. As Governor Healey’s liaison on housing, education, and local government, the lieutenant governor has been described as perhaps the most qualified person to hold the office the state has ever had—a former mayor who speaks fluent municipal, receiving the Greater Boston Chamber’s 2025 Pinnacle Award for Achievement in Management-Government. There’s also a faster route to the top: If Healey departs for other opportunities during her next term, the office comes to Driscoll anyway. Either way, she wins.

President, The Kraft Group

→ 7 FIFA World Cup matches at Gillette Stadium
→ One 2025 AFC title

Kraft has had a very good year—even by Kraft family standards. He helped transform the Patriots from last-place disaster to AFC Champions. He’ll host FIFA World Cup games in Foxboro. And he finally secured the Everett stadium deal for the Revolution—requiring city approval and delicate negotiations with Mayor Wu, just after his brother Josh challenged her in last year’s election. Oh, and he vice-chairs Mass General’s board and just endowed a dean’s position at Boston College. This guy is everywhere.

President and CEO, The Boston Foundation

→ $255 million granted in FY25
→ 39 forums and events hosted in 2025

When federal cuts to SNAP and other programs started hitting Boston families, Pelton didn’t issue one of his foundation’s always essential reports—he took decisive action. The Boston Foundation president and CEO launched the Meeting the Moment: Sustaining Families initiative, doubled its food safety-net grants, and expanded a resource center to help nonprofits navigate the new landscape. Off-hours, he also found time to appear in Boston Lyric Opera’s revival run of Carousel and curate an art exhibit on Martha’s Vineyard.

» Boston, We Have a Wealth-Gap Problem

CEO, Bank of America

→ Nearly 70 million clients
→ $113 billion+ annual revenue

Don’t believe the rumors: Moynihan recently said he’s planning to stay on as Bank of America’s head honcho through at least 2030. He’s been saying quite a bit lately, in fact, making public appearances on economic trends, and holding the bank’s first Investor Day in nearly 15 years. And even with his national profile, he finds ways to give back at home, directing plenty of BoA’s charitable giving to local groups, such as the Catholic Schools Foundation.

Attorney General

→ 1,500+ enforcement actions against employers for labor violations in 2025
→ $45 million settlement with Eversource Energy

Fifty lawsuits against the Trump administration (and counting), and Campbell is just getting warmed up. The attorney general has gone to the mat on federal funding cuts, birthright citizenship, and more, while also suing nine municipalities over the MBTA Communities Law and opposing Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s attempt to audit the legislature. Her reelection this year is a foregone conclusion. The only question is where her fighting spirit will take her next.

» The Interview: Andrea Campbell

President and CEO, Boston Red Sox

→ .546 winning percentage in 24 seasons with the Red Sox
→ 820 sold-out games at Fenway in a row (an MLB record)

Kennedy has the power to transform Bostonians’ daily moods with a single roster move—and he doesn’t take it lightly. The Red Sox head and Fenway Sports Group CEO has turned the ballpark into a year-round venue, made painful but defensible personnel calls, and delivered results on the field. Off it, he sits on the Base advisory committee and Winsor School Board of Trustees—proof that for Kennedy, running the Red Sox means something a lot more than just baseball.

» The Interview: Sam Kennedy

Cofounder and President, Granite Telecommunications

→ 2,200 employees at Quincy headquarters
→ $400 million+ total personally donated toward charitable causes
→ 85+ Fortune 100 customers served

Hale had a quiet few years—if you consider giving away more than $126 million quiet. The Quincy billionaire and his wife, Karen, gave $100 million to Boston Children’s Hospital, then Hale ran his first Boston Marathon and donated $26.2 million to charity to mark the occasion. He’s also part of the new Celtics ownership group. In a year of big donors, nobody gave bigger—or had more fun doing it.

Chair and CEO, Suffolk Construction

→ $10 billion annual revenue
→ 3,000+ employees

Fish is building Boston—not to mention building the future of construction. From Northeastern’s Matthews Arena to the new Patriots training facility to projects expanding into New York, Florida, Texas, and beyond, Suffolk is everywhere. The company has also committed $50 million to AI strategy, including a new AI Center in Roxbury. Civically, Fish chairs Boston College’s Board of Trustees, and he and his wife, Cynthia, have given nearly $20 million to his alma mater, Tabor Academy. Oh, and Forbes now lists him as a multibillionaire.

Chair, New Balance

→ $165 million donated through the New Balance Foundation
→ 4 New England factories (a fifth on the way)

It was front-page news when Davis gave $1 million to support Josh Kraft’s mayoral bid. He got less media coverage for the $100 million New Balance’s charitable foundation gave to Mass General for a new cardiovascular care center. But both donations are big ways the athletic-shoe tycoon is using his fortune to shape the city through philanthropy and politics. He doesn’t always get what he wants, but he can never be ignored.

CEO, Rapid7

→ 300 patents
→ $300 million+ market cap at presstime

Thomas hadn’t finished his term as chair of the Boston Fed before taking on the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce chairmanship two years ago. The Rapid7 CEO remains on the Fed board while using his Chamber perch to push for new high school graduation requirements to replace MCAS, among other business community priorities. He’s also giving local startups a lift as an angel investor, most recently backing Braintree-based cybersecurity firm Aprivé.

» No, Cybersecurity Expert Corey Thomas Will Not Tell You His Mother’s Maiden Name

Co-Owner, Big Night Entertainment Group

→ 3.3 million annual live-event attendees
→ 16,000+ VIP tables sold every year

Ask any night owl who the king of Boston nightlife is, and you’ll hear Kane’s name—and so will the most influential movers and shakers in town, many of whom call him a close friend. The Harvard grad operates more than a dozen spots to eat, drink, dance, and close deals, along with partners Randy Greenstein and his brother Joe Kane. He’s also cofounded CardVault by Tom Brady, and with the World Cup, the 250th, and the Tall Ships all coming, Kane’s moment has arrived. Nobody throws a better party.

» Ed Kane Just Wants To Have Fun (Right?)

State Senate President

→ 25 years in the Massachusetts State Legislature
→ 8 years as Senate president

Every major piece of legislation in Massachusetts ultimately goes through Spilka—including the ones that don’t make it. The Senate president passed bills on cell phones in schools, data privacy, and transgender protections, and used Fair Share tax revenue to funnel an extra $1.3 billion into education and transportation. But the year’s most telling move may have been what the Senate stopped: Mayor Wu’s housing bill never made it through. In Beacon Hill’s upper chamber, Spilka decides what lives and what dies.

Chair and CEO, WS Development

→ 25 million+ square feet of property
→ 10 million square feet of planned development

Having already conquered the Seaport (and the suburbs), Sclar is coming for Fenway. He’s teamed up with Fenway Sports Group Real Estate and the D’Angelo family on Fenway Corners—a $1.6 billion development that will add 2 million square feet of commercial, residential, and retail space, plus 2 acres of public open space, on land around Fenway Park. Our only question is: Will a well-hit ball be able to reach the office building planned on Lansdowne Street behind the Green Monster?

Founder and CEO, Flagship Pioneering

→ $1.9 billion net worth
→ 35 companies currently owned by Flagship

Afeyan has spent 25-plus years building a biotech empire—more than 100 companies—in Cambridge, and he’s not about to let Washington dismantle it. The Flagship Pioneering founder and Moderna cofounder and chairman started 2026 with a stark warning that the U.S. risks taking a “sledgehammer to our miracle machine.” His hire of Yvonne Hao, the state’s former economic development secretary, signals he means to fight back. In 2025, he accepted the National Medal of Technology and Innovation on Moderna’s behalf. Washington can cut funding—but it can’t cut Afeyan.

» The Interview: Noubar Afeyan

“Three Guys from Boston”

Okay, so Affleck and Damon grew up in Cambridge, and Fallon is from New York. But when the three of them appeared on The Tonight Show and rattled off all 351 Massachusetts cities and towns in credible Boston accents—Abington to Yarmouth, four minutes and 15 seconds flat—the internet lost its mind. Affleck was baffled by Peru. Fallon stumbled on Winchendon. Damon nailed Manchester-by-the-Sea. God bless them. Boston’s PR department couldn’t have done it better.
» Good Will Hunting: An Oral History

Author

→ 20 million+ books sold
→ 3 page-to-screen adaptations released or in the works, with more on the way

When Hilderbrand announced she was retiring from Nantucket fiction, her fans did not take it well. They needn’t have worried. The self-styled Queen of the Beach Read is back—cowriting a new series with her daughter, Shelby Cunningham, set at a fictional Massachusetts boarding school. Meanwhile, the Hollywood pipeline keeps flowing: Nicole Kidman already played a Hilderbrand character on Netflix, and Jennifer Garner stars in the Peacock adaptation of The Five-Star Weekend, due this summer.

President and CEO, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce

→ 12,000 event attendees last year
→ 243 Chamber leadership program participants

A prominent fixture since the Menino administration, Rooney has spent a decade modernizing the Chamber and keeping politicians honest. Both Wu and Healey deliver annual addresses to his membership that function as de facto policy rollouts. When he opposes an initiative—most recently Wu’s rent control plan—it becomes a clash of titans he frequently wins. And to give Boston a voice in Washington, last year he helped relaunch a coalition of more than 80 business groups across 36 states to fight Trump’s cuts to research funding.

Founder and Chair, Mount Vernon Company

→ Generated 50 million hits for the EMK’s Senate Project debate.
Few people operate at Percelay’s altitude in real estate, politics, philanthropy, and media. The Mount Vernon Company founder chairs the Edward M. Kennedy Institute while pushing it toward a bipartisan mission, and just launched Nourish Nantucket to tackle food insecurity on the island, where he’s leading a new $50 million hospital-employee housing campaign. He publishes N Magazine and the Nantucket Current, recently purchased the island’s waste-management company with other investors, and still runs one of the top apartment portfolios in eastern Massachusetts.

» Why Is Everyone So Obsessed with Nantucket?

General Manager and CEO, MBTA

→ 3.5-star average T satisfaction rating in 2025
→ 1,900 new employees during his tenure

Riders used to roll their eyes at the T—now they chase “Train Daddy” Eng down the platform for selfies. Since taking over in 2023, Eng has performed what many considered impossible: on-time performance up from 25 percent to above 90 percent, slow zones eliminated, and ridership climbing. He got a standing ovation at the State of the Commonwealth. Now he’s also Governor Healey’s interim transportation secretary—with no rush to replace him in either job.

CEO and Portfolio Manager, The Baupost Group

→ $89,160,563 in charitable disbursements by the Klarman Family Foundation in 2024
→ 2.1 million in Amazon shares recently purchased

Boston has its own Warren Buffett: His name is Seth Klarman. The Baupost Group CEO has long been among the city’s most respected investors and a major philanthropist—but 2025 added a new title: board chair of the Broad Institute, where he’s been a director for years. Now the same mind that moves markets gets to help shape what may be the most consequential biomedical research happening anywhere. The stocks are one thing. The miracles coming out of the Broad are another.

President, MIT

→ 700 companies collaborating on faculty and student research
→ 10-year MIT and Hasso Plattner Institute Creativity Hub launched in March

MIT isn’t just a university—it’s where the future gets made. And Kornbluth is making sure it stays that way. Under her leadership, the institute has launched major initiatives on climate, AI, health sciences, and human insight, while expanding its campus with the Kendall Common development. She was also the first university president to reject the Trump administration’s higher education compact—an important act of leadership that other schools soon followed.

» The Interview: Sally Kornbluth

Managing Partner and CEO, HYM Investment Group

→ 10,000 housing units planned for Suffolk Downs

O’Brien flirted with a mayoral run last year—and the citywide interest confirmed what everyone already suspected: Few people have deeper political and business connections in Boston. The former BRA chief is now at odds with Mayor Wu over the future of Parcel 3, while HYM has broken ground on the second residential building at Suffolk Downs and welcomed its first retail tenants—no small victory for a massive project that has the potential to transform East Boston.

» What Happened to Tom O’Brien’s Mayoral Run?

CEO, The Davis Companies

→ 12.9 million square feet of commercial space and 6,400 residential units developed from the ground up
→ $13.5 billion invested

In April, Davis transitioned from president to CEO of the 50-year-old real estate empire started by his father Jonathan (now executive chairman)—and the company keeps expanding. In addition to lab space and housing, the company just scooped up four Fort Point office buildings and told the Globe it’s looking for more. And in the past year alone, Davis debuted retail projects such as the reopening of Craft Food Halls in Allston, and is even developing a major mixed-use project in Everett.

President and CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

→ $10.3 billion annual revenue
→ 4,000+ employees

Iselin may have more power than anyone in the state when it comes to controlling healthcare costs in Massachusetts. Last summer, the Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO told hospital systems that she’d keep them to the state’s 3.6 percent medical inflation cap in contract negotiations, then promptly signed a three-year deal with UMass Memorial that reportedly includes that benchmark. She also recruited former HHS Secretary Kate Walsh to her board. In the medical world, Iselin gets what she wants.

Cofounder and Managing Director, General Catalyst

→ 800+ portfolio companies

For more than 25 years, Fialkow has been connecting money with ideas—and the ideas keep getting bigger. As cofounder of General Catalyst, he has backed company after company through their growth stages; now the firm is reportedly seeking to raise a $10 billion fund across sectors including AI, healthcare, and climate tech. He also chairs the Investment Advisory Committee at MIT’s Engine—and when he’s not busy with all of that, he’s producing Academy Award–winning documentaries and donating money to help children in Massachusetts.

Chair and CEO, Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation; Mental Health Counselor

→ 36 million+ square feet in Intercontinental’s portfolio
→ Dushku is running the 17th Annual Run to Home Base at Fenway Park, July 2026

Boston has plenty of power couples, and Palandjian and Dushku are in a category of their own. Palandjian runs Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation, managing billions in properties across the region. Dushku has reinvented herself entirely, walking away from Hollywood to become a certified psychedelic-assisted therapist and earning her master’s from Lesley in 2025. Together, they’ve donated $7.5 million to Brigham and Women’s—now home to a clinic named in their honor—and executive produced a Netflix documentary on Navy SEALs. Two careers. One remarkable partnership.

» Eliza Dushku’s Bold New Journey

Chair, President, and CEO, MassMutual

→ 4 million+ policy holders
→ $1.1 trillion in life insurance policies

Crandall brought MassMutual to the Seaport in 2021—and immediately got to work. The insurance exec now sits on the One Waterfront CEO Roundtable, the Boston College Board of Governors, the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership board, and the Business Roundtable, pushing for legislative action both here and in Washington. For a guy who technically runs a Springfield company, he’s become awfully hard to miss in Boston.

Goalie, USA Hockey and Boston Fleet

→ 1,300+ minutes played in the 2025–26 regular season
→ 97 saves at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games

If you haven’t noticed, Boston is suddenly mad for professional women’s sports. Much of that frenzy is thanks to Frankel, just a few years removed from leading Northeastern’s women’s hockey team to an NCAA Championship. Dubbed the “Green Monster,” Frankel became a national hero in this year’s Winter Olympics. Then it was back to Boston for a sold-out first Fleet game at TD Garden in April. Thankfully, she’ll be a Boston fave for a while: The team signed her to a contract extension before this season.

Editor, The Boston Globe

→ 3 Pulitzer Prizes during his previous tenure as editor
→ 34+ years at the Globe

McGrory left the Globe editor’s chair in 2023. Now, after Nancy Barnes’s departure in late 2025, he takes the reins as the paper seeks to expand with neighborhood coverage, newsletters, and live events. But the big initiatives are the least of it. No one in Boston has more influence over what gets covered, how it gets framed, and who gets held accountable. The newsroom, by all accounts, is thrilled to have him around again.

President and CEO, Meet Boston

→ 1,000+ member companies
→ 59,000 jobs in Boston tourism and hospitality

Sheridan has outdone herself. Since taking charge of Boston’s tourism board in 2019, she’s brought the Army-Navy game and the NHL’s Four Nations Face-Off to town—but 2025 and 2026 are something else entirely. She landed the Michelin Guide in Boston for the first time, and this summer welcomes the world to check out the World Cup, the Tall Ships, and Massachusetts’ 250th celebration—meaning millions of visitors and one very busy CEO.

» Can This Woman Bring Tourists Back to Boston?

President and CEO, Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio)

→ 75% of Massachusetts life-sciences companies are members

Burlin O’Connell leads MassBio at the worst possible moment—and the best. With Trump’s NIH cuts threatening Massachusetts’ $3.5 billion federal research pipeline, the CEO of the state’s life-sciences trade group has become its most vocal defender, publishing blunt reports, lobbying Washington, and warning that disruptions at one end of the scientific pipeline will be felt at the other. Massachusetts still captures 26 percent of U.S. biotech venture capital. Burlin O’Connell intends to keep it that way.

President, Bank of America Greater Boston

→ 3,600+ local employees
→ $50.4 million in philanthropic giving since 2020

When Boston’s biggest projects need financing, Chamberlain shows up with the money. The Bank of America Greater Boston president is behind loans for the McCormack public housing redevelopment and the White Stadium rehab for Boston Legacy soccer, and helped orchestrate the bank’s takeover of the Boston Marathon lead sponsorship—which promptly set a fundraising record in 2025. From Brigham & Women’s to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, he has become perhaps the most publicly involved financial executive in the city.

Regional President, PNC Bank

→ $1 billion in lending commitments in Massachusetts
→ Nearly 100 member companies and nonprofits represented as president of Massachusetts Business Roundtable

Getting Boston’s top CEOs to rally around early childhood education was not an obvious sell—but Bernstein helped make it happen. As cochair of the Massachusetts Business Coalition for Early Childhood Education, he proved his aptitude for leading executives into big societal battles. Now, as the new chair of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, he’ll be tackling issues including housing, clean energy, and research funding.

President of the NCAA; Executive Director of the NHLPA

→ 550,000+ student athletes in NCAA
→ 750+ NHL players represented in NHLPA

Two former local politicians walked away from public office and landed in the sports world—and both are still pulling strings. Baker runs the NCAA in part from an Arlington Street office where university presidents fly in to make their case, navigating Trump’s executive orders and a $1.2 billion settlement. Walsh runs the NHL Players’ Association but never really left Dorchester, still raising money for candidates he believes in. The political animal, many people hope, has another campaign in him.

» Charlie Baker’s (Still) Got Game

President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

→ 3.8 billion notes of currency processed in 2025
→ Reappointed to a new five-year term starting March 1, 2026

Donald Trump wants the Federal Reserve to bend—but Collins isn’t bending. As president and CEO of the Boston Fed, she has continued speaking her mind on interest rates and economic policy despite growing White House pressure—in the Boston Globe, at the Greater Boston Chamber, and elsewhere. In 2025, the American Economic Association named her a Distinguished Fellow. Area businesses hang on her every word.

Actor and Singer

→ 80 million+ NKOTB records sold
→ 55+ Las Vegas “The Right Stuff” residency shows

Boston’s OG bad boy has spent a lifetime shaping how people think about the city—and he’s still at it. The Dorchester native and Boys & Girls Clubs Alumni Hall of Fame member launched Boston Blue on CBS last October, drew more than 8.8 million viewers, outperformed the show it replaced, and earned a Season 2 renewal after just six episodes. He pushed hard to film at Fenway Park and Boston Common. He’s also still doing New Kids shows in Vegas. Some things never change—thank heavens.

» The Interview: Donnie Wahlberg

Chair and CEO, State Street

→ $5.7 trillion in assets under management
→ $14 billion annual revenue

O’Hanley runs one of the world’s largest financial institutions—and somehow still has time for so much else. In addition to leading State Street, he sits on the boards of the Boston Fed and the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, which he also chairs. He’s honorary board chair of Boston Soccer 2026—reportedly at Robert Kraft’s personal request. This year, Whittier Street Health Center honored him for exceptional business leadership and philanthropy. The man collects chairmanships the way others collect business cards.

Cohosts, Boston Public Radio

→ 25+ years as cohosts at GBH

If it matters in Boston, Braude and Eagan are probably already talking about it. The Boston Public Radio cohosts broadcast three of their five midday shows from the Boston Public Library—drawing mayors, governors, business leaders, and cultural tastemakers to Copley Square to make their case directly to listeners. They discuss, they debate, they take calls, they interview key figures. In a fragmented media landscape, they remain the show everyone still has to do—and everyone tunes in.

» Talk of the Town: Jim Braude and Margery Eagan

Founder and CEO, Whoop

→ 2.5 million members globally
→ $900 million in total venture capital raised

If Central Casting sent over a brilliant, charismatic tech CEO, it would be Ahmed. The Harvard-educated Whoop founder just raised $575 million at a $10.1 billion valuation—the largest venture capital deal of the year for Massachusetts-based startups—with LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Mayo Clinic among his backers. He’s hiring 600 people and an IPO is next. The Whoop logo atop Kenmore Square fits in seamlessly with the Citgo sign. So does Ahmed.

U.S. Senator

→ $50 billion+ in federal support secured for Massachusetts projects since taking office
→ 11 books and 100+ law review articles authored
→ 41% popularity rating, according to YouGov

Warren has never been one to quit a fight—and this one, against Trump, she was born for. At 76, with her term running into the next decade, she has recently sponsored more than 200 pieces of legislation—and hasn’t forgotten her backyard: Among those whose interests she guards is her former law student, Mayor Wu. And when she gave a speech demanding Trump uphold his promise to cap credit card rates, he picked up the phone. When she answered, she told him exactly what to do.

President, Harvard University

→ 24,000+ undergraduate and graduate students
→ 20,000+ faculty and staff
→ $629 million in current-use donations during FY2025

Appointed as a short-term solution in early 2024, Garber has already agreed to stay beyond 2027 graduation, thus shifting from placeholder to permanent head of the World’s Greatest University. And why not? He’s been steering the university through the Trump administration’s funding threats with steadiness and spine, helping Harvard reclaim its footing as a model for higher education under fire. This temporary president turned out to be exactly what was needed.

State Representative

→ 43,959 constituents represented in his district
→ 98.2% of votes garnered in the 2024 election (he ran unopposed)

As head of the budget-writing committee and presumed future Speaker, the North End’s Michlewitz was already a force. He shepherded a $2.3 billion supplemental budget and sweeping energy affordability bill through the House. His alliance with a freshly reelected Mayor Wu makes him the pivot point of Boston politics—though the two haven’t always agreed. Michlewitz opposed rent control, and at least so far, he’s had the better of it.

Radio Host, Kiss 108

→ 56,500+ Instagram followers
→ 3 shows currently hosted

Costa is still getting Bostonians to work every morning—via their car radios on Kiss 108, where he’s been a fixture since 1980. And when the Emmy-winning, Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Famer isn’t on the air, he’s hosting Dining Playbook and Meet Boston with Jenny Johnson on NESN, or emceeing fundraisers—especially anything involving animals. More than four decades in, Costa still has our full attention.

President, Boston University

→ $4 billion in the university’s growing endowment
→ $470 million+ in undergraduate financial aid distributed

Gilliam took the helm in mid-2024 and has barely had a moment to settle in. Federal funding cuts forced her to lay off 120 staff while signing onto a letter with 400 other college presidents and leaders opposing government overreach on campuses. Through it all, she’s kept BU largely out of the crossfire Harvard couldn’t avoid and launched ambitious renovation projects. In one of the hardest moments in higher-ed history, Gilliam is navigating with uncommon steadiness.

» The New BU President Is a Renaissance Scholar’s Dream

CEO, Boston Children’s Hospital

→ 13 years at Boston Children’s
→ 517 consultation hours provided on children’s behavioral healthcare through Boston Children’s Neighborhood Initiative in 2025

Boston Children’s is already ranked the best in the country—and Churchwell is still busy making it better. The upcoming $640 million Brighton psychiatric hospital will be among the most significant additions to the city’s medical landscape in years—and a $100 million gift from Karen and Rob Hale helped make it possible. In a city full of institutions competing for donor dollars, Churchwell has made Children’s one that Boston’s power brokers trust with their biggest checks.

Cofounder, HubSpot

→ 288,000+ customers in 35+ countries
→ $3.13 billion annual revenue

When HubSpot cofounder Halligan posted “I’m starting to worry about Massachusetts” on X earlier this year, it went viral in Boston tech circles—because everyone in those circles felt the same way. The MIT lecturer and Sequoia senior adviser has become an unlikely voice for the private sector’s growing alarm about the state’s economic drift: companies leaving, AI talent choosing other cities, costs spiraling. Governor Healey is listening. Whether Beacon Hill moves fast enough is the question Halligan—and many others—are waiting to see answered.

CEO, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA)

→ $33 million La CASA arts and community center nearing completion

When you lead the largest Latino-led nonprofit in Greater Boston, people expect you to speak up. It’s no surprise, then, that as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns hit Boston’s Latino community hard, IBA’s CEO became one of the city’s most visible and vocal resisters, while continuing its core mission of affordable housing, education, and equity through programming across 667 units in the South End, Roxbury, and Mattapan. All of which probably made her an easy choice for this year’s Myra H. Kraft Award for Nonprofit Leadership.

Executive Director, Boston Public Art Triennial

→ 24 large-scale artworks across 8 neighborhoods
→ 2.7 million exhibit views
→ 75 cultural partners

Gilbert has transformed the streets of Boston into an open-air museum. Perhaps you noticed the house in the Boston Public Library last summer. Or the interactive live video feed from a Brazilian rainforest on Mass. Ave. Those were two of two dozen works, scattered from East Boston to Mattapan, in Boston’s first large-scale public-art festival, the brainchild of Gilbert that put Boston on the contemporary-art-world map. We can’t wait to see what she does next.

» Best of Boston 2025: Best Public Art Development

CEO, Massport

→ 43 million+ passengers through Logan Airport in 2025
→ $22 billion in annual economic impact

Davey is turning Logan into something Boston has never quite had: a “top-three-to-five mega-airport in the United States,” he says. That’s as Logan has been experiencing record passenger volume, with FIFA World Cup throngs on their way. The former MBTA general manager clearly knows how to manage crowds, instituting a “remote terminal” pilot program to make it easier to get to the airport and through security. Meanwhile, Massport owns much of the waterfront where hundreds of thousands will watch the Tall Ships dock this summer.

U.S. Attorney, District of Massachusetts

→ 50 child exploitation cases charged in 2025
→ $1 million SNAP and PUA fraud scheme uncovered

In a state where Republicans are nearly extinct, Foley has an office, a mandate, and a direct line to Washington. As Trump’s U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, she’s gone toe-to-toe with the governor, the attorney general, and the mayor of Boston—most visibly on immigration. Now she’s all in on Trump’s crusade against federal fraud in blue states: She’s already indicted SNAP program fraudsters in Massachusetts, and by all accounts, she’s just getting started.

» Meet Trump’s New Federal Prosecutor in Blue Massachusetts

Chief of Staff, Boston Mayor’s Office

→ 20+ years in Massachusetts legal and advocacy work
→ $8.8 million cabinet operating budget in 2026

If Mayor Wu’s power has risen following her dominant reelection, consider the influence of the woman she chose to run things. Kelly, a major force in state Democratic politics since her involvement in Deval Patrick’s reelection campaign, is leading the mayor’s cabinet, which has been significantly reworked for Wu’s second term. In other words, she is the person to know in City Hall.

Chair, Ropes & Gray

→ 1,500+ attorneys worldwide

Biogen’s expansion, Beth Israel Lahey Health’s cancer hospital, Raffles Boston, the ‘Quin House—if it matters in Boston, Ropes & Gray has probably had a hand in it. Under Jones’s leadership, the firm opened a Milan office last fall, bringing its global footprint to 16 offices and $3.4 billion in revenue. Jones herself just won the Burton Award for Law Firm Leadership, to be presented at the Library of Congress this June. In Boston law, Jones sets the standard.

CEO, Boston Impact Initiative

→ 1,000+ jobs supported through Fund II so far
→ 90+ impact-fund managers trained through BII’s ARC Fellowship

Francisco has a noble goal: increasing homeownership and entrepreneurship through economic justice and community development. As CEO of Boston Impact Initiative, she just closed Fund II at more than $22 million—10 percent over target, with nearly 240 investors across 24 states—while launching the First Mover Fund to seed emerging impact-fund managers nationally. She also sits on the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Boston Foundation, and Beth Israel Lahey Health.

President, Encore Boston Harbor

→ $439 million revenue from slots alone in 2025
→ 3 million square feet of resort and casino space

“We operate like a tiny city,” Holaday said recently—and the numbers back her up. Encore’s 3,300 employees provide food, lodging, entertainment, and services around the clock, generating more than $734 million in gross gaming revenue in 2025 alone. Since opening, the casino has contributed more than $1 billion in state tax revenues. Holaday also ensures Encore supports local charities and serves on the Boston Fed’s New England Advisory Council. The chips are definitely falling in Boston’s favor.

» The Interview: Encore President Jenny Holaday

President, University of Massachusetts

→ $869 million annual research funding
→ 73,000 undergraduate and graduate students
→ 25,000 faculty, staff, and researchers

Meehan has spent his career turning big numbers into bigger results—and he’s far from finished. The former congressman has contributed to two bills on Beacon Hill: the BRIGHT Act, which will allocate more than $3 billion for public college renovations, and the DRIVE Initiative, which would pump $400 million into research funding. The future of UMass—and Massachusetts public higher education overall—may depend on whether those old Congressional instincts still work.

» Is UMass’s Marty Meehan Boston’s New King of Clubs?

Founder and Chair, Samuels & Associates

→ 18 Massachusetts properties
→ 27,000-square-foot Time Out Market acquired

Samuels can add a new line to his résumé: food-hall savior. When Time Out Market was set to shut down in Fenway this winter, he stepped in at the last minute to take over operations—saving the dozen-plus restaurants inside the market. Meanwhile, Lyrik Back Bay, his dramatic development hovering over the Mass. Pike, is open and filling up. And he just bid $28 million for another Fenway site—adding 400 more apartments. Samuels isn’t finished with Fenway. Not even close.

Pastor, St. Cecilia Church

→ 9,000 virtual and in-person mass attendees each weekend

For more than two decades at Saint Cecilia, Father Unni has built a congregation that feels less like a parish and more like a coalition—whether delivering a blessing at Mayor Wu’s second inauguration, serving as chief chaplain for the Boston Fire Department, or supporting LGBTQ+ Bostonians in the church. His livestreamed homilies reach thousands more. The need, in this political moment, has never been greater. Neither has the man.

CEO, DraftKings

→ 2025 American Gambling Awards C-Suite Executive of the Year
→ 11 million customers

Robins thinks the online gambling industry will hit $55 billion by 2030—and he has a plan to collect. At DraftKings Investors Day, the company laid out its road map: prediction markets, a major AI investment, and a new super app combining all of the company’s offerings in one place. The workforce has grown to 5,500, making DraftKings one of Boston’s biggest employers. The house, as they say, always wins—and Robins is building a very big house.

Partner, Foley & Lardner

→ $1.275 billion annual revenue in 2025

If Governor Healey needs to raise campaign money fast, she calls Boland—and she delivers. The Foley & Lardner partner ran the fundraising effort that won Healey her first gubernatorial election, and Healey has tapped her again for her reelection campaign team—which raised $169,000 in its first 24 hours. But the political connections are just the headline: Boland is also one of Boston’s premier legal minds and most deeply embedded civic players.

Secretary, Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development

→ $47 million in state funding secured in 2025 to support military innovation, microelectronics, and chips manufacturing
→ 5 appearances on Forbes Midas list of top venture capitalists

Paley came to state government from venture capital—and he’s governing like it. Appointed by Governor Healey last summer, he hasn’t wasted any time: a defense sector growth initiative in October, TechHub grants in November, Biz-M-Power grants through his role chairing MassDevelopment. The stakes are real—Massachusetts is losing residents, costs are crushing families and businesses, and the competition for talent has never been fiercer. Paley’s mandate is to reverse the tide. Healey has given him wide latitude. He’s using every bit of it.

Entrepreneur

→ 2–3 companies founded per year at his Boston Venture Studio

Boston will be the first major U.S. city to commit to AI literacy training in its public high schools—and it happened because a kid from Boston Latin wrote a $1 million check and called the mayor. English, the Kayak cofounder, first floated the idea in the pages of this magazine; now it’s a public-private partnership with Wu, UMass Boston, and the new AI Industry Advisory Board he’ll chair. He’s cofounded or founded a dozen companies. This may be his most important effort yet.

Chair and CEO, Regan Communications Group

→ Offices/employees in 12+ states
→ Ranked #37 on O’Dwyer’s Top PR Firms list in 2025

Regan is still the most connected man in Boston—some things never change. The chairman of Regan Communications Group, 42 years in business and one of the largest privately held public relations firms in the country, is the PR force behind one of the biggest events in Boston’s recent history: the FIFA World Cup. When the world comes to town this summer, he’ll be helping tell the story. Oh, and he welcomed his first child this year. Some people slow down. Regan appears to be going in the other direction.

Artistic Director, American Repertory Theater

→ 4 Tony Award nominations for musical direction, 1 win
→ 70,000-square-foot upcoming facility in Allston

No one has done more to innovate and put Boston on the theater map than Paulus—and this season was no exception. The A.R.T. artistic director dominated with two world-premiere musicals while prepping a Phantom of the Opera adaptation for Broadway and was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. When she moves the A.R.T. into its new Allston venue, tickets will be an even hotter commodity. From Cambridge to Broadway, Paulus owns both ends of the pipeline.

Lead Owner, Boston Celtics

→ Bought obstructed-view Garden tickets with his paper-route money as a kid
→ 54 Celtics wins at presstime

$6.1 billion is a lot to pay for a basketball team. So far, it looks like a bargain. When an investment group led by private equity mogul Chisholm submitted the winning bid for the Celtics last year—a record price, just before a disappointing playoff exit—the city held its breath. The Massachusetts-raised Chisholm has exhaled it: The team has done remarkably well this season, and the new owner seems to understand what this franchise means here. The parquet is in good hands.

CEO and Chief Creative Officer, Rafanelli Events

→ 50 design and production professionals overseen
→ 40+ nonprofit events produced in 2025
→ $150,000+ in donations in 2025

If you’ve been to a fancy fundraiser in Boston—the Hot Pink Party, Mass General’s Storybook Ball—you’ve been immersed in Rafanelli design. For 30 years, the events master has produced everything from nonprofit galas to White House State Dinners to Chelsea Clinton’s and Naomi Biden’s weddings. He’s also been a reliable fundraiser for Democratic politicians, nonprofits such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, and causes he believes in. Boston is where he started. The whole world is where he works.

President and CEO, John Hancock

→ 23 years in leadership roles at John Hancock
→ $1.4 million saved for members through the Vitality program’s HealthyFood benefit

Tingle runs a life-insurance company—and he’d rather you never need it. As president and CEO of John Hancock—one of Boston’s premier companies—Tingle has made behavioral health his mission: nudging customers toward more exercise, healthier eating, and preventative care through the company’s Vitality program, while pushing the same message through political lobbying and public speaking. For Tingle, the best policy is the one you never have to use.

President and CEO, Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers

→ 50 community health centers served
→ $3.6 billion total economic impact in 2025

When Boston needs someone who can speak to power and be heard, it reaches out to Curry. The head of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers is on the NAACP national board, cochaired Governor Healey and Mayor Wu’s working group on the Carney Hospital closing, and stood with the state’s U.S. senators to protest Medicaid cuts. On issues of racial justice and equity, everybody calls him—and everybody listens.

Professor, Harvard Medical School

→ $1.1 billion net worth
→ 3% of Moderna shares owned

Among Boston’s billionaires, Springer stands apart—in more ways than one. The founding investor behind Moderna is also a Harvard professor, a serial biotech entrepreneur, a philanthropist who has endowed programs and professorships all over town—and an obsessive collector of gongshi, the ancient Chinese scholars’ rocks he loves so much, he named a biotech company, Scholar Rock, after them. He’s shipped seven containers from China to his home, including one that weighed 23 tons.

President and COO, Colette Phillips Communications

→ 40+ years in business
→ 400+ attendees at A Taste of Ethnic Boston networking event

Phillips is Boston’s great connector—and right now, she’s connecting people around resistance. Through Get Konnected, the GK Fund, and her lists honoring the city’s most influential people of color, she’s been one of the most vocal business voices pushing back against Trump’s DEI rollbacks. In a moment when division is the national mood, this City Hall and boardroom fixture is a bridge-builder.

» The Secret Sauce of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Host, “Java with Jimmy”

→ 85+ livestream interviews with public figures in 2025
→ Mayor Wu calls in once a month

Every city has media. Not every city has Jimmy Hills. Six years in, and his internet-streamed show has become the city’s most important civic forum—Mayor Wu, Governor Healey, and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley all make time for it. GBH has also taken notice, partnering with Hills on events. When the Parcel 3 development drove a wedge between Wu and Roxbury this year, “Java With Jimmy” became ground zero for the debate.

» “Java with Jimmy” Host Jimmy Hills on Success, Positivity, and Coffee

CEO, COJE Management Group

→ First London-style members-only restaurant in Boston coming soon
→ 10 tables in the Zebra Room

Sixteen years in, Jamison is still the most inventive mind in Boston’s restaurant scene. The man behind 10 concepts—and counting—shuttered his Post Office Square nightclub last year and reopened it as My Girl, a pre-Castro Havana-inspired cocktail lounge that debuted in December. Next up: the Zebra Room, an exclusive steakhouse at 4 Winter Place, underneath Yvonne’s, and a Sicilian restaurant at Post Office Square. Boston’s restaurant scene runs on Jamison’s imagination. It shows no signs of slowing down.

» How COJE Restaurants Put the Sizzle Back into Boston Dining

CEO, WBUR

→ 10,000+ new donors in FY25
→ $13.8 million endowment, up from $12.8 million last FY

Washington may have cut off public broadcasting funds, but Low has proven that WBUR is doing just fine. The CEO, newly elected to the NPR board, has turned live events into a full revenue strategy—headlined by the inaugural WBUR Festival, which made $3.7 million—followed by a slate of smaller gatherings, including a morning “Breakfast Club” series. Defunding public radio, it turns out, was not the last word.

Host, The David Pakman Show

→ 3 million subscribers
→ 2 billion views

Pakman built one of the most influential progressive media platforms in the country—out of a studio in Boston. With millions of subscribers and an uncompromising resistance to current national politics, his show has become required listening for the left. His 2025 book on right-wing extremism, The Echo Machine, went straight to the bestseller lists. A second title is due this fall. The right, presumably, is not looking forward to it.

Chair, Nutter, McClennen & Fish

→ 34 years on St. Jude’s board
→ 50+ lawyers in Nutter’s real estate department

Ask anyone who the best-connected attorney in the state is, and you’ll likely hear the name Ayoub. A powerhouse not only in his specialty of real estate law but also in politics and civic life, he was recently inducted into the Greater Boston Chamber’s Academy of Distinguished Bostonians—and serves on the board of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and its funding arm, ALSAC. He also supports local institutions, including the Edward M. Kennedy Institute and MassINC.

President and CEO, Massachusetts Business Roundtable

→ 300,000+ employees represented by Roundtable members

Having led the powerful Roundtable for 15 years—following stints with the state legislature and treasurer—Chesloff has become the conduit between some of the region’s most powerful companies and its most important policymakers. When state lawmakers convene business leaders to discuss issues and policies, Chesloff is nearly always in the room. And he brings key Beacon Hill figures back to speak to the Roundtable, including, just last year, the Secretaries of Education and Labor and the House Chair of Ways and Means.

CEO, Alnylam

→ $3 billion in total net product revenues in 2025
→ Three Phase 3 studies initiated in 2025
→ 2,100 full-time employees

Greenstreet is getting decorated on both sides of the Atlantic—and earning every honor. The London-born CEO of Alnylam was awarded the Order of the British Empire last year and the Golden Door Award from the International Institute of New England this year. Meanwhile, her Cambridge pharma company just launched a $250 million expansion of its Norton manufacturing facility and endowed a fund for emerging scientists at MIT.

» The Interview: Biotech Leader and Alnylam CEO Yvonne Greenstreet

President and CEO, Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA)

→ $3 million+ in grants and services distributed to members since 2022
→ $73,000 raised at inaugural Giving Day fundraiser

Want to know how passionate Obi is about equity in Boston’s development world? She’s in the Supplier Diversity Advisory Group for the White Stadium construction, ensuring that at least 50 percent of contracts go to minority- and women-owned businesses. As BECMA marked its 10th anniversary, she secured a permanent home near Nubian Square—funded by the Barr Foundation, Eastern Bank, and the city—turning it into a sustainability hub for Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs.

» The Interview: Black Economic Council of Massachusetts Head Nicole Obi

Founder, MGS Group Real Estate

→ $600 million+ in sales in 2025
→ 200+ clients served in 2025

In Boston luxury real estate, nobody closes like Seelig. The MGS Group founder made the biggest Boston home sale of 2025 by a wide margin—a $21 million deal for an 11,000-plus-square-foot, eight-bedroom property on Commonwealth Avenue. But even that was dwarfed by her $37 million sale of Blue Heron Farm on Martha’s Vineyard, where the Obamas used to vacation. Two sales. Fifty-eight million dollars. Not a bad year at all.

Founder and CEO, Boston While Black

→ 4,000+ members
→ 25,000 attendees at the 2025 Boston While Black Family Reunion

Nobody has done more to make Boston feel like home for Black professionals than Collier. Through Boston While Black—whose 5th annual Family Reunion drew thousands last summer—she has redefined what this city offers its Black community. The Collier Connection forges key business ties; advisory roles with the Greater Boston Chamber, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, and Governor Healey extend her reach. WOCE named her its 2025 Entrepreneur of the Year, and last year, Mayor Wu declared July 27 “Boston While Black Day.”

President, Massachusetts General Hospital

→ 2 million-square-foot clinical care facility under way
→ 1,200 clinical trials at any given time

Del Carmen is running the country’s most storied hospital at one of its most complicated moments. The first woman and Latina to lead MGH is overseeing a new cancer tower funded by $100 million from Herb Chambers while simultaneously defending the hospital’s research programs from Trump administration funding threats tied to its Harvard affiliation. MGH ranked on the U.S. News Honor Roll again in 2025. Del Carmen intends to keep it there—whatever it takes.

President and CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston

→ 14,000 young people engaged in programs annually
→ 9 club sites

Lewis has the juice to get big things funded and the skills to pull them off. Case in point: Last year he opened the Boys & Girls Clubs’ ninth site in the city, a teen center at the Mildred C. Hailey Housing Development, and announced the clubs were waiving all youth membership fees for the 2025–26 school year.

President and CEO, Boston Medical Center Health System

→ 4 specialties ranked in top 50 nationwide
→ 15,000+ employees

When Steward fell apart, Bell picked up the pieces—twice. By taking over two failed Steward hospitals, including St. Elizabeth’s—now renamed Boston Medical Center Brighton—Bell more than doubled the system’s bed count and added 5,000 employees overnight. His leadership has never been more consequential for the health of this city and region. It helps that BMC emeritus board member Susan Donahue and her husband, Douglas, just endowed the very CEO position he holds.

President, Pembroke

→ $12.9 billion net worth
→ 1.3 million+ square feet of space in Boston

Johnson has been quietly reshaping Boston’s skyline—and the results are starting to show. His real estate advisory firm Pembroke bought Proto, a multifamily community in Kendall Square, owns two office towers in the Seaport, and is revitalizing the former World Trade Center into Commonwealth Pier, where Fidelity will soon relocate its headquarters—the family business currently run by his sister Abigail. Not a bad run for the third-richest person in Massachusetts.

President, Subaru of New England

→ 10,000+ instruments donated; 400+ schools and organizations supported through Music Drives Us

Boch made a fortune selling cars—and now he’s spending it on the next generation. Through his Music Drives Us foundation, he’s putting instruments in schools and hospitals: Last year, kids at Mass General’s Revere HealthCare Center were shredding on dozens of foundation-donated instruments. He also created a public waterfront park on Martha’s Vineyard last summer. It’s called Boch Park, naturally. The man has never been shy about his name—or his generosity.

Boston Office Cochair, Colliers International

→ 48 years at Colliers
→ Nearly 20 institutions represented by Colliers’ Capital Markets group

Several mornings a month, Phelan hosts a breakfast that half of Boston wants to be invited to. For decades, that table has been where deals get made, careers get launched, and the next generation gets mentored—a quiet engine of civic life that no award can fully capture. Catholic Charities Boston honored him last year, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, with whom he has worked for 50 years, honored him this year. He’s still showing up. So is everyone else.

» How to Live Long and Prosper, According to Overachievers Living Longer

Principal, Elkus Manfredi Architects

→ 38+ years leading Elkus Manfredi’s interior architecture practice
→ Won the 2026 Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Pinnacle Award

Lowrey doesn’t just design spaces—she designs the way Boston works. The powerhouse has been collecting accolades at a steady clip: the Greater Boston Chamber’s Pinnacle Award, the Fenway Alliance’s FACES Award, and industry recognition for projects like the massive Watertown Exploratory Labs. She’s not resting on them—she’s currently designing the new Jones Day law offices in the South Station Tower.

President, TD Garden; EVP & COO, Boston Bruins

→ 25+ years in the sports and entertainment industry
→ $365 million in direct economic impact to Greater Boston since TD Garden’s opening

Thornborough has turned TD Garden into something beyond a sports venue—and the bookings prove it. The arena just celebrated its 30th birthday, and under Thornborough’s watch it pulses well beyond Celtics and Bruins nights: bull riding, two sold-out Connecticut Sun games, and the Boston Fleet’s first game on Garden ice, which is set to break the attendance record for women’s hockey. The promotion to Bruins EVP and COO was the least they could do.

President and CEO, New England Aquarium

→ $304,000+ awarded through the Marine Conservation Action Fund in 2025
→ 51 penguins housed

The New England Aquarium isn’t just a place to take your kids on a rainy day—and Spruill makes sure nobody forgets it. Under her leadership, it has become a hub of climate research, ocean advocacy, and public engagement. With Washington cutting programs she’s spent years building, Spruill has stepped up her activism—securing a $9 million gift to expand the BalanceBlue Lab so the work continues regardless of who’s in the White House.

Artistic Director, Boston Ballet

→ 25th year leading Boston Ballet
→ 110,000 Nutcracker attendees in 2025, a record

After 25 years, Nissinen is still pushing Boston Ballet to new heights. Since taking the helm in 2001, he has upgraded everything—the venue, the choreography, and the company’s ambition. Last spring, the troupe made its first Los Angeles appearance since the 1980s. But perhaps his most lasting achievement is simpler: He has made Boston Ballet feel essential to the city again.

General President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters

→ 90,000 new members under his leadership
→ 4th-generation Teamster

O’Brien runs one of the most powerful labor unions in the country—and he hasn’t forgotten where he came from. The Teamsters general president raised $3 million for a scholarship fund in the Seaport, was in the middle of last year’s sanitation workers’ strike, and launched his reelection campaign in Charlestown this past January. One of America’s most powerful labor leaders still considers Boston home base. We should all feel good about that.

» The Interview: Sean O’Brien

President, Massachusetts AFL-CIO

→ 800+ unions represented

State lawmakers know that Lynch’s nearly half a million members can make or break them at the ballot box—and that gives the first woman to lead the Massachusetts AFL-CIO a seat at every table that matters. Senator Ed Markey chose her as his State of the Union guest last February. She’s been speaking out on AI, clean energy jobs, and infrastructure, while leading protests against DOGE, ICE, and Trump’s assault on workers’ rights. She also made Boston’s first-ever Labor Day parade happen.

President and CEO, Emerson Health

→ $60 million fundraising campaign
→ 2,000+ annual donors to the Emerson Fund

After Steward Healthcare collapsed and Nashoba Valley Medical Center closed, Schuster’s phone didn’t stop ringing. Emerson Health was soon operating at as high as 128 percent capacity—and Schuster was launching the most ambitious fundraising campaign in the hospital’s 115-year history: a $120 million expansion that will double the emergency department, add dedicated behavioral health beds, and modernize the campus. Remarkably, she’s already raised most of the funds, and work is under way.

Cofounder and CEO, WellWithAll

→ 10-year health equity commitment
→ $1 million WellWithAll competition to advance AI health innovations

Martin rose from nothing to become a wildly successful investor—then walked away to do something even harder. His health and wellness company, WellWithAll, gives 20 percent of profits to addressing health gaps for people of color. UNCF just honored him with a leadership award at its New England gala. This spring, he put his life story down in a book, Friends of the Good. Making money was impressive. What he’s doing with it is more so.

Managing Director, Accordia Partners

→ 1,970 residential units planned for Dorchester Bay City
→ 21.7 acres of publicly accessible open space planned for the site

In Boston real estate, Sykes has done it all—and he’s still going strong. From chairing the board of the Boston Fed to developing Dorchester Bay City, one of the most ambitious projects in the city’s recent history, Sykes remains the rare figure who can play any part: advising the city and state on housing, weighing in on building-height shadows, and recently chairing the board of NAIOP Massachusetts, the state’s powerhouse commercial real estate development association. The skyline, in more ways than one, is his domain.

President and CEO, Beth Israel Lahey Health

→ 42,000 employees
→ 14 hospitals
→ 1.7 million patients a year

Massachusetts hospitals are bleeding—Tabb’s aren’t. As CEO of Beth Israel Lahey Health, he has the system operating in the black for the first time in four years, no small feat given the fiscal carnage elsewhere. He’s also brokered a landmark collaboration between Beth Israel Deaconess and Dana-Farber that will produce a new cancer hospital in Longwood. He steps down next year—after an impressive run that saw he and his wife, Caron, receiving the 2025 Terezin Legacy Award for Holocaust Remembrance and Jewish cultural preservation.

President and CEO, Windwalker Group

→ Approximately 200 employees
→ 53% diverse workforce

Duverné arrived in the U.S. from Haiti at 20 without speaking a word of English. Today, he runs a fast-growing security company with tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts—and somehow still finds time to do it all. As BECMA board chair, he helped launch the organization’s $25 million 10th-anniversary fundraising campaign. He’s also a real estate developer, venture investor, and a quiet force on immigration issues.

Owners, The Bay State Banner

→ 2025 Legacy Business Award winner
→ #1 longest-running Black-owned newspaper in New England

At a moment when local newspapers are dying and diversity is under assault, Mitchell and Stark are doing something quietly radical: keeping the Bay State Banner alive and relevant. Three years into their ownership, the Banner remains a crucial voice on housing, immigration, and the issues that matter most to Boston’s Black community. They recently marked the paper’s 60th anniversary with a GBH event spotlighting the importance of Black journalism. In this climate, that’s not just an accomplishment—it’s a statement.

Chief of Planning, City of Boston

→ 60 new development proposals approved
→ 750,000 square feet of public land development advanced

In Boston, all roads lead to Shen. Michelle Wu’s former mentor in the Menino administration, Shen returned in late 2024 as chief planner—and the city’s movers and shakers immediately began lining up for face time. The to-do list is not modest: remake Faneuil Hall, reshape the downtown skyline, build new high schools, add housing at scale. He doesn’t just hold the keys to the city. He decides what gets built in it.

Founder and President, Conventures

→ 5,000+ events produced over five decades
→ $175 million projected economic impact for this summer’s Sail Boston event

If something big is happening in Boston this year, Rhodes is probably helping run it. First Night, commemorating the Massachusetts 250th. The South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade. And coming this summer, the Tall Ships spectacle—her fifth as executive director of Sail Boston. Rhodes has been the city’s super-connector for decades, and in a year when all eyes are on Boston, she’s exactly where she belongs. UMass Amherst’s Hospitality and Tourism Management department apparently agrees—it’s giving her its 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award.

President and CEO, Project Bread

→ $1.1 million+ raised during the 2025 Walk for Hunger
→ 1,400+ sites providing free meals to children and teens through the Summer Eats program

When Washington, DC, cut funding for federal meal programs, McAleer got a whole lot busier. As head of Project Bread, she has become the state’s most prominent anti-hunger advocate—working alongside Governor Healey and Congresswoman Pressley, leading the Feed Kids Coalition’s successful push for universal free school meals, and finding solutions for thousands of households losing their footing. With the legendary Catherine D’Amato retiring after more than 30 years at the Greater Boston Food Bank, the mantle is passing. McAleer looks ready for it.

President and CEO, RG Barry Brands

→ 25,500-square-foot new office in the Seaport
→ 32 brands within the private-label Columbus Product Group

Mullaney has been on an acquisition spree—but to him, that just means shoe shopping. The Chelsea-born CEO has turned RG Barry Brands from a Dearfoams slipper company into a global footwear platform, snapping up Clarks and Timberland slipper licenses and Gola sneakers in quick succession. He’s also brought the company home, anchoring a Seaport headquarters in the city where he grew up. “We’re definitely not done,” he recently said.

Philanthropist

→ #24 on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s 2025 Philanthropy 50
→ $1 million+ donated to Dana-Farber/Jimmy Fund via Herb Chambers Companies

When Chambers sold his eponymous auto dealership empire last year, half of the $1.45 billion price tag was characterized as “goodwill” value. Sounds about right to us; the bespectacled local legend is known and beloved throughout New England in a way most businesspeople only dream about. He kept his Somerville-based Mercedes-Benz dealership and, of course, continues his work at the Herb Chambers Charitable Foundation, among other community endeavors.

Director, Institute of Contemporary Art

→ 300,000+ annual visitors
→ 600 artists applied for the new Artist Pass program in first week

Jill Medvedow built the ICA into a destination. Burnett Abrams has to keep it one. Arriving from MCA Denver just last May, she’s moved fast: a free Artist Pass program that drew hundreds of applicants and programming that spotlights women and minority creators, including award recipient Lorna Simpson. It’s early days, but her instincts look right. In a city still learning to take contemporary art seriously, the timing of her arrival couldn’t be better.

Founder, Executive Chair, and CEO, Boston Beer Company

→ 7.1 million barrels shipped in 2025
→ $1.9 billion annual revenue

Koch invented one of Boston’s most recognizable exports. Last August, he came back to run it once again. At 76, the creator of Sam Adams Boston Lager reassumed the CEO role at Boston Beer—command of a company that is not just a brewery but one of the city’s greatest brand ambassadors to the world. Turns out the beer tastes even better when you’re running the place.

President, Simmons University

→ 5,000+ students
→ 9th president of Simmons (the first African-American president)

In a city desperate for creative housing solutions and full of financially struggling college campuses, Wooten is finding a new way. The final phase of the decade-long One Simmons master plan has developer Skanska building the school’s 18-story Living and Learning Center, due to open early next year—while Skanska gets to build Longwood Place on Simmons-owned land, with labs, office space, and, yes, more housing.

CEO, SharkNinja

→ 31% of the U.S. cleaning market; 40% of all U.S. blenders
→ 5,200+ SharkNinja patents

Barrocas has built one of the most recognizable consumer brands in the country—and Boston barely knows it’s here. His Needham-based SharkNinja is everywhere from your kitchen to the Brad Pitt movie F1. The Mass Technology Leadership Council named it 2025’s Technology Company of the Year. Barrocas himself has become almost as in demand as his vacuums, on the shortlist for every business forum that wants someone who knows how to scale.

Board of Trustees Chair, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

→ 950 employees at WHOI, including 500 scientists

Woods Hole needs someone who can write big checks and find others who can, too—especially as the Trump administration cuts research grants. Enter Paul Salem. The retired Providence Equity Partners exec donated $25 million himself as part of a $500 million fundraising drive that’s already past the $400 million mark. At this point, Salem isn’t just chairing the board; he’s keeping the lights on. Oh, and he’s also reportedly romantically pursuing Nicole Kidman.

President and CEO, Boston Symphony Orchestra

→ 20+ years’ experience at Los Angeles Philharmonic
→ One million+ people reached by the BSO and Boston Pops

Smith arrived at the BSO with a mandate to modernize, and by most measures, the wins have been piling up. Two Grammys in February. A star-studded Pops lineup. A new alliance with the New England Conservatory. Plans for a splashy July 4th Esplanade event for America’s 250th, with Symphony Hall’s 125th anniversary as the backdrop. Smith has been masterful at building a narrative of momentum.

President and COO, Eastern Bank

→ #1 lender to small businesses in Massachusetts
→ 100 score on Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2025 Corporate Equality Index

Eastern Bank’s merger with HarborOne last year kept Miller plenty busy—but he’s also chair of the New Commonwealth Fund and serves on the board of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and the Consumer Bankers Association, making him an important voice for retail banking in Washington. It’s the portfolio of a man who understands that a banker’s influence doesn’t stop at balance sheets.

Executive Director, Boston Green Ribbon Commission

→ $1.4 million budget

No fewer than a dozen people on this Most Influential list are members of Butler’s organization, which makes the climate-change mitigation group quite possibly the most connected organization in town. The BU-trained environmental epidemiologist took the GRC’s helm in September 2025, just as Boston drafted its 2030 Climate Action Plan; since then, she’s focused much of her effort on pushing for decarbonization of Boston’s buildings, including BU’s Warren Towers.

Executive Editor, Boston Herald

→ 41,000+ Herald digital subscribers
→ 40+ years in journalism

In a city full of powerful people who’d rather not be scrutinized, Joe Dwinell is the one they’d prefer not to hear from. The Boston Herald‘s executive editor has been running his “Your Tax Dollars at Work” franchise for years, and it still draws blood—most recently revealing that a Healey aide arrested on cocaine trafficking charges was still paid $31,000 after he was fired, forcing the governor to demand the money back. The Herald‘s dedication to giving readers the facts, he has said, “will never change until they kick dirt on me.” We believe it.

Founder and Managing Director, The Sharma Group, Merrill

→ $10 million account minimum
→ Inducted into Barron’s Hall of Fame

As one of the country’s top investment advisers, Sharma is the guy everyone wants to hear from—so it’s a good thing he’s expanded his role as a motivational speaker. He recently keynoted the Boston Real Estate Times’ awards gala and the New England Healthcare Executive Network member meeting, to name just two. He’s also putting that cachet to good use, continuing his philanthropy for local organizations.

Massachusetts State Auditor

→ Nearly $12 million in public benefits fraud uncovered
→ 21 state agencies audited for settlement agreement violations

It seems as though every office-holding Democrat wants to be rid of DiZoglio—which is precisely why voters love her. After 72 percent of Massachusetts voters backed her ballot measure to audit the legislature, lawmakers still refused to comply, the AG sided against her, and DiZoglio responded by suing them in the Supreme Judicial Court. She also issued a scathing report on government agencies’ abuse of taxpayer-funded NDAs. She has no reelection opponent so far. The more Beacon Hill fights her, the stronger she gets.

» Diana DiZoglio Won’t Back Down

President, American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts

→ 25,000 workers represented, including 10,000 Boston educators
→ 34 contracts ratified in 2025

The future of Massachusetts schools is up to Tang—and she knows it. Since moving from the Boston Teachers Union to lead AFT Massachusetts two years ago, she has been everywhere: protesting Trump administration policies, advocating for school funding, and standing beside Governor Healey to announce new high school graduation requirements. In a state where the battles over public education have never been fiercer, Tang may be the most consequential labor voice in the room.

President and CEO, Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association (MHA)

→ 100 hospital and health systems members
→ 90th anniversary of the association this year

Not everyone was thrilled when Governor Healey appointed Walsh to the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission. Mind you, it wasn’t due to a lack of expertise or dedication—the only concern was whether the state’s top hospital lobbyist should also be its regulator. Walsh pledged to recuse himself from conflicts and pressed on. Meanwhile, his organization’s strength continues to grow, as it recently named Mass General Brigham head Anne Klibanski as its new Board of Trustees chair.

Founding Partner, Lubin & Meyer

→ 32 years on the “Best Lawyers in America” list
→ 200+ patients represented in a class action lawsuit against a former Boston doctor

If you’re a Boston-area doctor who made a serious mistake, Meyer is probably the last person you want to see. Called the “nation’s most successful medical malpractice attorney” by Best Lawyers in 2025, Meyer and his firm logged 43 verdicts and settlements each worth $1 million or more—and has played a central role in the headline-grabbing lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by a Boston rheumatologist. The city’s patients have a watchdog. Doctors, take note.

President and CEO, Zoo New England

→ 98 acres at Franklin Park Zoo and Stone Zoo
→ One million+ annual visitors for both zoos combined
→ 193 animal species across both zoos

Running a zoo is anything but monkey business. Appointed last July after a stint at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in DC, Brinley has already launched an ambitious conservation program covering nearly 4,000 square miles of high-elevation habitat in Pakistan. Brinley plans to bring more of a conservation focus to the zoo, not to mention the soon-to-open African Experience exhibit.

Head of Regional Public Affairs and Impact, Fidelity Investments

→ 42,000 hours volunteered by employees through Fidelity Cares in 2025
→ 2 million meals provided to local food banks in 2025

Everhart’s influence in this city is everywhere. Governor Healey has appointed her to several boards, including Massport’s, and her Advisory Council on Black Empowerment. She just received UNCF’s Trailblazer Award. She’s active with the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the New England Council, and a host of other organizations. And that’s not even counting her impact within one of the city’s biggest and most powerful companies.

Reporter, The Boston Globe

→ 390+ Bold Types columns
→ Just launched “Power Play,” a new subscriber-only newsletter with Shirley Leung

Calling Chesto a business reporter seems inadequate—his Globe columns Chesto Means Business and Bold Types find him weaving together local government, sports, nonprofits, media, academia, and philanthropy into a single coherent picture of how power actually works in this city. Three decades in, he remains the reporter that Boston’s movers and shakers can’t ignore—and they always return his calls.

Chief Technologist, Amazon Robotics

→ One million+ robots deployed at Amazon
→ 30+ robotics and autonomy papers published

Brady oversees the world’s largest fleet of industrial robots—Amazon just deployed its one millionth—and the BU and MIT grad launched Vulcan in 2025, the company’s first robot with a sense of touch, while also pushing generative AI deeper into Amazon’s fulfillment operations. He’s founding partner and chair of MassRobotics, the world’s largest independent robotics hub, right here in Boston. His goal: “eliminate every menial, mundane, and repetitive job out there.” Whether that’s a promise or a warning depends on who’s asking.

Executive Director, Red Sox Foundation; and EVP of Social Impact, Boston Red Sox

→ 290 grants awarded in 2025
→ $5.8 million raised for cancer research through the Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon in 2025

Anyone who can bring Noah Kahan to Fenway for a benefit concert has earned a spot on this list. Through her work with the Red Sox Foundation and her outside civic activities, Salwasser continues to find new ways to help children and families—including last year, when she launched the organization’s annual Special Recognition Award, giving $750,000 to support community organizations here and abroad.

Founder and CEO, Denterlein

→ 120+ clients
→ 20+ employees

If something important is happening in Boston, Denterlein is probably either organizing it, attending it, or both. A Mayor Wu ally and member of the Boston Main Streets Foundation board, she makes sure the big players in Boston don’t forget the little ones. She also honors her late husband, Globe journalist Jack Thomas, through the annual Jack Thomas Lecture Series at Northeastern—inspiring the next generation of journalists. In this city, her fingerprints are everywhere.

President and CEO, Eastern Bank Foundation

→ $250 million in assets
→ $20 million+ donated to more than 1,600 nonprofits in 2025

Dorsey has been running Eastern Bank Foundation for just under a year—and he’s already making big moves as head of one of the region’s biggest corporate charities. In addition to making grants that support child development, equity, and other goals, he also serves as board chair for the Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology.

Professor, Harvard University

→ 115 U.S. patents
→ 6+ companies founded or cofounded

In May 2025, a baby boy became the first person ever treated with a customized gene editing therapy—and the technology that saved him came from Liu’s lab. The Harvard and Broad Institute molecular biologist won the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences—the “Oscar of Science”—for developing base editing and prime editing, tools now used in 20-plus clinical trials. He’s donating most of his $3 million prize to his charitable foundation. Liu is rewriting the building blocks of life right here in Boston.

Executive Vice President in Massachusetts, Serhant

→ $3 billion+ in career sales

When New York City broker Ryan Serhant decided Boston’s luxury real estate market was worth conquering, he needed someone who already owned it. Enter Michael Carucci, who left Gibson Sotheby’s to join Serhant as a founding partner for Massachusetts—a key piece of an aggressive play for the city’s high-end listings. The multimillion-dollar properties in Boston and the surrounding suburbs aren’t going anywhere—and neither is Carucci’s dominance of them.

President and CEO, Lupoli Companies

→ 4 million square feet of commercial and residential real estate
→ $1.5 billion in current development projects

He’s traded pizza for real estate—and couldn’t be happier. After selling his eponymous restaurant chain to a group of longtime managers last year, Lupoli can now focus more on his fast-growing real estate business, which is bringing development to previously overlooked parts of the state, particularly the Merrimack Valley. We’re sure glad Lupoli kept the non-restaurant parts of the pizza business, though, so we can enjoy his slices at Market Basket, Fenway Park, and TD Garden.

Cofounder and CEO, Lyons Group

→ 23 restaurants and clubs
→ One million+ guests annually

For four decades, Lyons has been building the places Boston goes to celebrate and close deals. From Alibi to Sonsie to the Bleacher Bar at Fenway, his venues aren’t just businesses—they’re civic institutions. He’s still expanding, with Martha’s Vineyard favorite El Barco recently opening a second location in the Back Bay. And when the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce wanted someone to speak on the city’s 2026 economic outlook, they called Lyons.

Founder and Principal Broker, Ricardo Rodriguez & Associates

→ 1,000+ new-construction units sold
→ $3 million+ in philanthropic contributions

Rodriguez arrived in Boston from Colombia with $25 in his pocket and taught himself English. Now with more than $4 billion in career sales and Coldwell Banker’s No. 1 large team in New England, his rags-to-riches arc is as New Boston as it gets—multimillion-dollar penthouses, Commonwealth Shakespeare philanthropy, and a podcast called Tequila Chats whose guest list reads like Boston’s power index.

Restaurateur

→ 11 Boston-area restaurants and shops
→ 100,000+ espresso martinis sold each year at Bricco

The North End without DePasquale is like the North End without red sauce—technically possible, but completely unimaginable. Almost 40 years in, he’s still adding to the neighborhood he helped define: His piazza-like development at the Cross Street entrance, due this summer, will bring Italian shops and a new culinary school to a corner of Boston that already belongs to him.

President and CEO, Commonwealth Seminar

→ 20+ years of Commonwealth Seminar
→ 500+ organizations represented by Commonwealth Seminar alumni

Wing has spent more than a decade opening the doors of government to people who’ve been shut out. As head of the Commonwealth Seminar—which has trained nearly 1,500 alumni (91 percent from diverse communities) for advocacy and public service careers—he is a significant force behind Boston’s growing diversity of political representation. As a Greg Torres Senior Fellow at MassINC, he coauthored a widely read call for cross-racial solidarity amid Trump-era DEI rollbacks. He also organizes and fundraises for Wu and others. Around Boston, Wing is the ultimate connector.

President, Franklin Sports

→ 10,000 products manufactured
→ 10 years as official ball of U.S. Open Pickleball Championships

Franklin Sports turns 80 this year, and Franklin is celebrating by betting the family business on pickleball. The president has positioned the Stoughton company to dominate the fastest-growing sport in America: a deal with world number one Anna Leigh Waters, title sponsorship of the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships, and a debut pickleball shoe in October. He’s also long supported the Base in Roxbury, ensuring Boston kids have access to sports equipment.

Founder, Gretta & Co.

→ 43,500+ followers on Instagram
→ 25 years in business

A “self-made style maven,” as she puts it, Monahan is in the Boston Herald every week dictating fashion and beauty trends, then bringing the looks to Wellesley and beyond at Gretta Luxe and Grettacole Salon & Day Spa. National audiences regularly get her advice on The View, on social media, and elsewhere. And for years, Monahan has devoted herself to Find the Cause, cocreating the FTC Prevention Party to bring attention and funding to the fight against breast cancer.

President and CEO, NWN

→ 6,000+ customers

AI is at the top of everyone’s minds these days—which makes Sullivan, the leader of an AI technology provider, the person every big company wants to talk to. He’s already signed a five-year deal with the Kraft Group to transform their technology framework and partnered with the Patriots and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester to launch Boston’s first AI Athletics Day. More than 1,000 employees, a CRN Triple Crown Award, and a community footprint that keeps growing—Sullivan is having a moment.

Cofounder and Executive Director, Breaktime

→ $6.3 million paid for Breaktime’s downtown hub
→ 89% of Breaktime alumni employed or in school

Schoen hasn’t hit 30, and he’s already changing how Boston thinks about homelessness. Last year, the Breaktime founder persuaded Moderna’s Stéphane Bancel and Bain Capital’s Jonathan Lavine—among others—to help finance the purchase of a 34,000-square-foot Franklin Street hub to support young adults with nowhere to go. But this isn’t a shelter: It’s a place where people can access job training, financial coaching, and a three-month job placement program. Not bad for someone who’s barely old enough to rent a car without a surcharge.

Founder and CEO, The Berik Group

→ Top 1% of Invisalign providers worldwide (Diamond+ status)

Berik has a lot to smile about in 2026—after all, she didn’t just build one dental practice, she built three. Newton Dental Associates, Bubble Children’s Dentistry and Orthodontics—founded after her own daughter’s experience with autism showed her how unwelcoming dental offices can be for neurodiverse kids—and now BOSEA, a new oral surgical practice opening on the waterfront this spring. An Inc. magazine Female Founder Award recipient and eight-time Boston magazine Top Dentist, Berik keeps expanding. The only question is what she sinks her teeth into next.

Managing Principal, IA Interior Architects

→ 30+ years in Boston interior architecture
→ 200,000 square feet designed for CarGurus HQ

What will the offices of the future look like? Vijay has ideas, and she’s not afraid to share them. The first headline speaker announced by Boston Real Estate Times for this spring’s Great Office Reinvention conference, the designer is behind the new CarGurus space and countless other offices in the area. She also chairs the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, showing her impact extends well beyond the workplace.

CEO, State Garden

→ 4 fresh produce brands
→ 8,000 acres of certified organic farmland across 30 states

You’ve probably eaten DeMichaelis’s lettuce. His Chelsea-based State Garden is the parent company behind Olivia’s Organics, the greens and produce brand that celebrated its 20th anniversary last year and turns up in just about every market in the region. But DeMichaelis isn’t just moving greens—his Olivia’s Organics foundation has pledged $500,000 to local nonprofits over the next five years, including to the Greater Boston Food Bank, where he also sits on the board.

Content Creators

→ 2 million+ combined TikTok followers
→ 500+ YouTube videos

When a TikTok opens with “POV: NY guy walks into Italian deli in Boston,” you know you’re in for a laugh. Meet the Boston Deli Boys—Tommy Guarino and Chad McDonough, a.k.a. Prosciutto Papi—whose culinary humor has amassed a million combined followers on Instagram and double that on TikTok. That reach has landed them a Wahlburgers collab, a deal with Jayson Tatum’s Small Wins candy company, and a Dunkin’ commercial with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. Funny, yes—but also Boston’s most unlikely cultural ambassadors.

“First Lady of New England”

→ 580,000+ TikTok followers

Not a supermodel. No entourage. Just a girl from North Carolina who met her husband in middle school, bakes her own bread, and somehow ended up with all of Boston in the palm of her hand. Maye didn’t arrive with a personal brand or an Instagram following—she built them, organically, as the perfect complement to the Patriots’ unlikely, thrilling season. Her husband couldn’t quite bring home the Lombardi Trophy, but we’re not holding it against either of them.

Photo and image credits: Neil Jamieson (New England Patriots); Ken Richardson (Healey, Rivers, Pelton, Kane, Sheridan, Churchwell, Holaday, Lupoli); Mona Miri (Wu); Eric Levin Photography (the Edgerleys); Marilyn Humphries (Hostetter, Calderón-Rosado); Greg Mueller/Mueller Design (Klibanski); NBAE/Celtics/Getty Images (Brown); Dina Ruddick (Kewalramani); Public Domain (Driscoll, Baker); Courtesy of the New England Patriots (Jonathan Kraft); The Boston Globe (Campbell, Kennedy, McGrory, Collins); Getty Images (Affleck, Damon, and Fallon, Robins, Paulus); Mike Mejia for The Patriot Ledger (Hale); Suffolk Construction (Fish); New Balance (Jim Davis); Massachusetts Senate (Spilka); Victor Boyko/Getty Images for Aurora Humanitarian Initiative (Afeyan); Nina Subin (Hilderbrand); Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe (Eng); Creative Commons (Klarman); Gretchen Ertl (Kornbluth); Courtesy of the HYM Investment Group (Thomas O’Brien); Barry Chin/The Boston Globe (Iselin); John Goodman (Fialkow); Steph Larsen (Palandjian and Dushku); MassMutual (Crandall); Joe Scarnici/Getty Images (Frankel); Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe (Burlin O’Connell); Courtesy of PNC Bank (Bernstein); Department of Labor/Shawn T. Moore (Marty Walsh); Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic via Getty Images (Wahlberg); Courtesy of State Street (O’Hanley); ©David Yellen/GBH (Braude and Eagan); Chase McCann (Ahmed); Wikimedia Commons (Warren); Creative Commons/Xuthoria (Garber); Diana Levine (Michlewitz); Scott Eisen/Getty Images for iHeartRadio (Costa); Janice Checchio for Boston University Photography (Gilliam); Allison Gartmayer (Halligan); Sylvia Stagg-Giuliano (Gilbert); John Wilcox/Boston Mayor’s Office (Kelly); Rachel Cohen (English); Erin Clark/The Boston Globe (Chisholm); Corbin Gurkin (Rafanelli); Rick Groleau/Harvard Medical School (Springer); D. Irvin Photography (Hills); Eric Korenman (Chesloff); Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe (Bell); via LinkedIn (Edward Johnson IV, DeMichaelis); Courtesy of New England Aquarium (Spruill); Courtesy of Beth Israel Lahey Health (Tabb); Philip Keith for The Boston Globe (McAleer); Michael Blanchard (Barrocas); Nikki Rae Photography (Burnett Abrams); Courtesy of Paul Salem (Salem); Kayana Szymczak (Smith); Courtesy of Eastern Bank (Miller, Dorsey); Courtesy of the Boston Green Ribbon Commission (Butler); Courtesy of Zoo New England (Brinley); Kerry Brett (Denterlein); Casey Atkins Photography, courtesy of Broad Institute (Liu); Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images (Monahan); David L. Ryan/Globe Staff (Schoen); Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe (Guarino and McDonough); Maddie Meyer/Getty Images (Ann Michael Maye); Photo Illustration by Benjamen Purvis (Foxborough Select Board); Courtesy (Johnson, Moynihan, Thomas, Sclar, Rooney, Percelay, S. Davis, Chamberlain, Davey, Pakman, Ayoub, Lewis, Gupta, Rhodes, Mullaney, Wooten, S. Walsh).