CEOs You Should Know - Boston

Paul is the founder of Boston Venture Studio. Paul has previously co-founded and successfully sold six startups – Kayak, Lola, Moonbeam, GetHuman, Boston Light and Intermute.

Paul is also the founder of four nonprofits – Summits Education in Haiti, Embrace Boston, The Winter Walk for Homelessness, and the Bipolar Social Club.

Paul is the subject of Tracy Kidder’s book “A Truck Full of Money”. You can hear an interview with Paul on “How I Built This” with Guy Raz, and you can see his video from TEDxBoston in 2022.

Paul grew up in Boston (as did his parents), his father was a pipefitter at Boston Gas Company, Paul’s first job was delivering the Boston Globe, and he went to Boston public schools until he studied music and computer science at UMASS Boston. (As you can guess, Paul is a Boston Red Sox fan, and his accent gets worse in bahs.)

Ancient History

Paul was briefly an entrepreneur-in-residence at Greylock, VP of Engineering at NetCentric, SVP of Engineering and Product Management at Interleaf. He also did contract programming for the US Air Force, operations research programming for Data General, programming for a medical device company, and even some video game software and sound-effect development.

Paul received a BS and MS in computer science from the University of Massachusetts, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2019. Paul was named Chief Technology Officer of the year by Mass Technology Leadership Council in 2009.

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Ben Garthwaite serves as chief executive officer of Fors Marsh and guides the company’s business growth and diversification. Ben cultivates a purpose-driven culture focused on using business as a force for good, with the belief that businesses must share responsibility for strengthening the systems in which we operate. He is committed to evolving company policies and practices so that each of Fors Marsh’s key stakeholder groups—community, client, employee, and planet—are positively impacted. Under his leadership, Fors Marsh has earned B Corporation Certification, has become a Just® employer, and received Top Workplace USA, the Northern Virginia Family Service CARE, and Inc. 5000 Hall of Fame awards, to name a few. Throughout his tenure, Fors Marsh has grown from 20 employees to more than 400 employees. A remote-first company, Fors Marsh is registered to do business in California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington state, and Washington, D.C. Prior to joining Fors Marsh, he spent a decade in the technology industry supporting and leading programs serving military personnel and their families.

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Dr. Stephen Spinelli Jr. is the 14th president of Babson College, having assumed the role in July 2019. A lifelong entrepreneur, President Spinelli has spent his career at the intersection of academia, business, and philanthropy. Under his leadership, Babson College was named the 10th best college in the United States by The Wall Street Journal and has retained its long-standing place atop U.S. News & World Report’s undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship rankings.

He co-founded Jiffy Lube International and was chairman and CEO of the American Oil Change Corporation, helping to pioneer the quick-lube industry across the United States and turning Jiffy Lube into the America’s dominant competitor with more than 1,000 service centers.

President Spinelli is a long-standing member of the Babson community. He spent 14 years of his career as a member of the College’s faculty, as vice provost for entrepreneurship and global management, and as director of The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship.

In September 2007, he became president of Philadelphia University, which later merged with Thomas Jefferson University to form the new Jefferson, where he was named chancellor in July 2017. Under his leadership, Philadelphia University enjoyed record enrollment and retention, with particular growth in graduate enrollment, continuing and professional studies enrollment, and online enrollment.

President Spinelli earned his PhD in economics from The Management School at the University of London’s Imperial College London, his MBA from Babson College, and his BA in economics from McDaniel College.

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Chef Matt is a New England native with almost 30 years of culinary experience, working through the ranks at many local Boston establishments. Through his career, Matt has opened up a remarkable 16 restaurants – across the United States and even abroad in Ireland. He’s now at the helm as President & COO of one of New England’s most iconic restaurants – Legal Sea Foods. Legal has 26 restaurants, and soon to be 27, with an expansion into the west planned for this summer, as Legal sets sail for Chicago!  And his accomplishments go beyond the kitchen – Matt has completed 5 marathons, across 3 major cities, including of course his hometown Boston!

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Lisa is responsible for safe, reliable and affordable energy delivery to National Grid’s customers in New England, overseeing gas and electric operations in Massachusetts and transmission in New England. She is committed to enabling the Commonwealth’s energy transition and ambitious climate goals, while keeping Massachusetts competitive.

Prior to joining National Grid, Lisa served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Port Authority, a complex quasi-public sector organization operating vital transportation assets including Boston Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field and Worcester Airport, Maritime facilities in the Port of Boston and a large commercial real estate portfolio. During her tenure, Massport completed significant capital projects, including the expansion of Terminal E for international flights, a new post-security connection linking Logan’s busiest terminals, the dredging of Boston Harbor and the modernization of the Port’s container facilities. Lisa also launched an ambitious NetZero Plan and expanded the Massport Model, a diversity and inclusion initiative in commercial real estate that has become a model for development in the region.

Before Massport, Lisa worked as a Consultant for Bain & Company, serving clients in the health care, medical devices and consumer products industries. She began her career in broadcast journalism covering various news and political assignments for CNN.

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A tireless advocate for the hungry for more than 40 years, Catherine D’Amato assumed the leadership of GBFB in 1995. During her tenure, she has transformed GBFB into a $180 million charitable business and increased GBFB’s distribution from 7.5 million meals a year to nearly 90 million healthy meals per year. She has grown GBFB’s network to include 600 partner food pantries, meal programs and direct distribution sites across the 190 cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts.

Under D’Amato’s guidance, GBFB was able to rise to the challenge of an unprecedented surge in hunger brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent affordability crisis that continues today with 1 in 3 people experiencing food insecurity here in Massachusetts according to GBFB’s research.

D’Amato led GBFB’s partnership with Children’s HealthWatch, a nonpartisan research organization, to undertake groundbreaking research on the health-related costs of hunger in Massachusetts. The study found that hunger cost Massachusetts at least $2.4 billion a year. Her focus on providing nutritious food to those struggling with hunger has remained steadfast as she recognizes the connection between hunger and health outcomes and the disproportionate impact hunger has had on high-need communities. She is committed to closing the hunger gap for the 600,000 people in need across Eastern Massachusetts while supporting healthy lives and healthy communities.

Beyond her role at GBFB, D’Amato is the founder of the Hunger to Health Collaboratory (H2HC), a group of cross-sector stakeholders developing innovative solutions to reduce the health consequences of hunger.

D’Amato currently serves on the board of directors of Fidelity Charitable, Massachusetts Pension Fund, Eastern Bank, and the Massachusetts Food Association. She is also the Co-founder and Co-Chair of the Equality Fund at The Boston Foundation.

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Todd Krinsky was appointed President and CEO of Reebok in September 2022 after three decades of unwavering service to the company. As a Reebok “lifer”, Todd leads the company’s continued commitment to creating industry-leading, innovative products and embodying its “irreverent” brand identity.

During his 30 years at Reebok, Todd has touched every aspect of the business - from category leadership to merchandising management to sports and entertainment marketing and more - even spending time overseas managing product development. This intrinsic knowledge allows him to pay homage to the company’s deep-rooted heritage, while seamlessly accelerating Reebok into its next chapter.

Todd is devoted to cultivating the forward-thinking and risk-taking foundation that Reebok was built on nearly 130 years ago, creating a culture that couples one of the most iconic, most recognizable sports brands with a start-up mentality and energy. What sets Todd apart as a leader, however, is his ability to inspire Reebok’s team to keep the product as the heartbeat of the company through storytelling, collaboration and execution.

Throughout his tenure, Todd has played an instrumental role in many focal moments for Reebok. He led the execution of Reebok’s partnership with Jay-Z on the S. Carter Collection, which was the first-ever fusion of a music artist and sports brand. This pioneered an entirely new vertical for the company and the industry, leading to subsequent partnerships with artists, including Pharrell Williams, 50 Cent and most recently, Cardi B.

Despite Reebok’s emersion into other verticals, Todd never lost site of the brand’s commitment to sport. He and his team signed break-through deals with not only first-class athletes like Allen Iverson, but also secured pivotal long-term contracts with both the NBA and NHL.

Tapping into another important and historic vertical for Reebok, Todd’s most recent and most notable accomplishment prior to becoming CEO, was leading the explosive growth of the iconic Classic Leather and Club C shoes.

Todd has received many accolades through his career, including Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal’s “40 Under 40 Industry Award.” He also ranked eighth on Complex Magazine’s list of the “Most Powerful People in Sneakers.” Additionally, Todd sits on the board for The Ron Burton Training Village, a non-profit organization whose mission is to train youth to achieve their purpose through an active lifestyle.

With an engaged and collaborative approach to leadership, Todd consistently reinforces Reebok’s values: Movement, Momentum, Community and Creativity. He is dedicated to living and breathing this brand purpose every day. In this vein, Todd can occasionally be found playing pickleball or shooting hoops with the Reebok team at its Boston Headquarters.

A graduate of Ithaca College and an avid runner and boxer, Todd resides in South Easton, MA. He is a proud husband and super-dad to four remarkable children, who he deems as his inspiration for everything he does.

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An educational technology, digital health, and social impact entrepreneur, Michael London has created more than one billion dollars in company value throughout his career. Michael’s belief that "student mental health is the defining higher education issue of our time" led him to create Uwill. Founded in 2020 to assist campus counseling centers as they faced overwhelming student demand for mental health support, Uwill has quickly earned the reputation as the leading student mental health and wellness solution, now serving more than 2 million students at 300+ colleges across the county.

Michael has spent a career building and advising new education ventures, nonprofits and educational institutions.  In 2013, he founded Examity, a leader in learning validation and online proctoring. Prior, Michael led Bloomberg Institute, an EdTech start-up funded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. His earlier successes include the cofounding of College Coach and founding of EdAssist, both acquired by Bright Horizons Family Solutions. In 2019, he was a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award and held a position on the Governor’s Commission for Digital Education and Lifelong Learning. Michael is a current Trustee at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a member of the behavioral health committee. He is also a Member of the Advisory Board at Babson College where he graduated with honors.  In addition, he received his MBA from Boston University. Michael is also a published author of a book with advice for parents navigating the college admissions process. 

About Uwill:

Uwill is a teletherapy platform that connects college and university students with experienced mental health professionals. Students receive support from a licensed counselor of their choice in any format they like – video, chat, messaging, or phone. It’s a leading mental health and wellness solution for colleges and students, providing free immediate access to teletherapy and mental health crisis.

Uwill’s mission is to expand mental health access and services to colleges by leveraging technology-enabled models validated in recent years. 

If you’re a student seeking support, Uwill offers an immediate appointment with a licensed counselor, direct crisis connections, wellness events, and more.

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Leonard Spada is the founder of Spada Law Group LLC. Upon graduating from Boston College Law School in 1991, Len accepted a prestigious one-year appointment as a Judicial Law Clerk for the justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court. It was during this time that Len worked closely with the Judges of the Superior Court assisting them in deciding matters that came before the court in both civil and criminal trials. The clerkship was a valuable opportunity for Len to learn the practice of law from some of the finest legal minds in Massachusetts.

Upon completing his judicial clerkship, Len accepted a position as an Assistant District Attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts. During his tenure as an Assistant District Attorney, Len was Lead Trial Counsel in over 100 jury trials as he prosecuted a wide range of misdemeanor and felony criminal cases.

In 1995, Len entered private practice, joining the prominent Boston law firm Peabody & Arnold, where his practice focused exclusively on representing large insurance companies. During this time Len handled all aspects of defending personal injury lawsuits from the pre-trial discovery phase up to and including trial. It was here that Len gained valuable insight into the inner workings of how insurance companies investigate, value, defend, and ultimately settle lawsuits brought by injured individuals.

In August of 1998, Len, along with his partner, Vincent Zullo, formed Spada & Zullo in order to use his skills and insider insurance industry knowledge to begin representing injured individuals. Over the next 18 years, Spada & Zullo successfully represented thousands of individuals who had been injured due to other’s negligence, collecting tens of millions of dollars in settlement for their clients along the way. Len was responsible for all aspects of litigation and trial work at Spada & Zullo. Tragically, in June 2016, Len’s partner and dear friend, Vincent Zullo, passed away unexpectedly and Len reorganized Spada & Zullo, into Spada Law Group LLC.

Len has been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer as published in Boston Magazine for 10 consecutive years (2013-2022) in the area of Personal Injury Law. Super Lawyers rates lawyers across the country and recognizes no more than the top 5 percent of lawyers in each state. Attorneys are selected using a patented rigorous, multiphase process that includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. Len also has a “Superb” rating of “10” on Avvo.com, which rates attorney based in part on public data collected on each attorney. In 2021 len was selected and listed in Boston Magazine inauguaral list of the Best Lawyers in the region. Len is a proud member of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys. Len is also a frequent faculty member at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, where he teaches young lawyers various litigation skills, including taking depositions. Len is also the author of What You Need To Know About Your Massachusetts Car Accident Case: Before You Make Any Legal Decisions

Len is committed to giving back to the communities Spada Law Group serves. Toward that goal Spada Law has...

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