Aquarium announces additions to Board of Trustees

Aquarium announces additions to Board of Trustees

BOSTON, MASS. (Jan. 3, 2023) – The New England Aquarium is kicking off the new year with three new members joining its Board.

The Board of Trustees recently elected John DeVillars, Lisa Dynner, and Nick Good to a term of three years. Additionally, Jeff Gabriel, Roy Giarrusso, Sue Panella, and Brian Peltonen will be joining the Board of Ambassadors. The new members represent a breadth of experience from both public and private sectors, with expertise in clean energy, environmental law, and financial leadership.

“We are honored to welcome such a high-caliber class of Trustees and Ambassadors to our board,” said Thomas R. Burton III, a Boston-based Mintz attorney and Chair of the Board of Trustees. “As we focus on our strategic goals for the year ahead, we feel fortunate to have individuals joining our ranks who feel strongly connected to the mission of the New England Aquarium.”

The new members bring the Board of Trustees to 22 members and the Board of Ambassadors to 38. A full list of the Aquarium’s board members can be found here.

NEW TRUSTEES

John DeVillars

John DeVillars recently retired as Chairman of BlueWave Capital LLP after the firm was acquired in early 2022; he currently serves as Chair Emeritus and Board Observer. DeVillars is a clean energy and environmental professional with substantial leadership experience in both the public and private sectors. He previously served as Secretary of the Environment for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and was appointed New England Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, where he served until 2000. DeVillars serves on numerous public and private company and non‐profit boards including as Director of the Massachusetts Environmental Trust. He earned his MPA degree from Harvard University and his BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Lisa Dynner

Lisa Dynner had a 32-year career in institutional investment management and corporate finance and, since retiring in 2012, she has been actively involved with organizations in her community and beyond. In the last ten years of her professional career, she was a vice president of John Hancock Investment Management, where she oversaw the investment programs for over $200 billion in assets. Dynner currently serves on the Leadership Council for Conservation International, where she also is a member of the Investment Committee. She supports a variety of other environmental, community, cultural, and educational organizations. Dynner earned a BA in History and Economics from Bradford College and an MBA from Loyola University.

Nick Good

Nick Good is CEO and Managing Director of Pendal Group, a global asset manager. He previously served as CEO of J O Hambro Capital Management USA, a subsidiary of Pendal Group. He has also held leadership roles at State Street Corporation, State Street Global Advisors, and BlackRock/Barclays Global Investors. Good has been involved with the Nature Conservancy for many years, including serving on the California Leadership Council Blended Finance Working Group and on the MarketLab Advisory Council, as well as providing advisory support to the Massachusetts and Hong Kong Chapters. He is a graduate of the University of Oxford, where he earned a BA and an MA in Biochemistry.

NEW AMBASSADORS

Jeffrey “Jeff” Gabriel

Gabriel is a 25-year veteran at Accenture, where he is a Managing Director in Accenture’s Operations business and a member of Accenture’s Boston Leadership Council. He grew up on Prince Edward Island in Canada and is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he earned a B.Sc., and played Division I hockey for four years. Post-college, Gabriel spent three years playing minor-league professional hockey in the US, Canada, and Europe. Gabriel is a former Accenture’s Boston Corporate Citizenship Team member and an active supporter of the Special Olympics, Junior Achievement, and Best Buddies.

Roy P. Giarrusso

Giarrusso is a founding partner of his law firm Giarrusso Norton Cooley & McGlone PC, which he formed almost 30 years ago. He specializes in environmental law. Giarrusso graduated from Middlebury College, where he majored in Environmental Studies, and then Suffolk Law School, where he taught Environmental Law as an adjunct professor. Giarrusso’s legal career is focused primarily on the litigation of claims under the Superfund and Clean Water Acts. He has served on numerous local boards and committees.

Susan “Sue” Panella

Panella is a board member at Peer Health Exchange. She is a member of the Network of Engaged International Donors (NEID) and participated in NEID’s first Ocean Giving Circle, co-led by the Aquarium’s Marine Conservation Action Fund Director Elizabeth Stephenson. Panella is an alumna of Middlebury College, where she earned her BA in Economics, and Stanford University Graduate School of Business where she received her MBA.

Brian Peltonen

Peltonen is the Director of Data Analytics at Fidelity Management & Research Company. His team is responsible for identifying alternative data sets and using AI to derive investment insights for Fidelity’s equity division. Prior to his current role, Peltonen worked in fundamental equity research as a member of the energy sector team. Before Fidelity, Peltonen worked as a programmer in the video game industry and as a consultant building agent-based models and implementing genetic algorithms for corporate and governmental clients. He is a graduate of Phillips Academy and Boston College, where he was awarded a BA in Computer Science.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Pam Bechtold Snyder – psnyder@neaq.org, 617-686-5068