Speakers 
Marques Benton
Marques Benton is a Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer and OMWI Director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Benton is responsible for implementing a comprehensive strategy to effectively integrate diversity and inclusion into the Bank’s culture, management practices, talent acquisition and business activities. In this role he is also responsible for complying with the letter and spirit of Section 342 of the Dodd/Frank Act which mandates the establishment of an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI).
In his former role, as an officer in the Public and Community Affairs department, his work with the Mayor’s Earned Income Tax Credit program, the Governor’s Asset Development Commission and with national foreclosure prevention initiatives has helped thousands of low-to-moderate income (LMI) families build, save and preserve assets and achieve greater financial stability. Benton is Chair of the Federal Reserve System’s OMWI Council, and serves on the board of overseers for the Boys and Girls Clubs and the New England Aquarium. He also serves as a Director on the Greenway Business Improvement District (BID) board and the Mayor of Boston’s Women’s Commission. Benton holds a degree in Economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an MBA from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College. He remains interested in research, policy and outreach that measurably improves the financial stability of working LMI households.
Howard Bryant
Howard Bryant is the author of “The Heritage: Black Athletes, A Divided America and the Politics of Patriotism,” “The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron,” “Juicing the Game: Drugs, Power, and the Fight for the Soul of Major League Baseball,” “Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston,” the three-book “Legends” sports series for middle-grade readers, and “Sisters and Champions: The True Story of Venus and Serena Williams.”
He is a two-time Casey Award winner (2003, 2011) for best baseball book of the year and a 2003 finalist for the Society for American Baseball Research Seymour Medal. He is a former Washington Post reporter and is currently a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine. He has also served as the sports correspondent for NPR’s “Weekend Edition Saturday” since 2006.
He has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award in 2016 and 2018, and he earned the 2016 Salute to Excellence Award from the National Association of Black Journalists. In addition, Bryant has appeared in several documentaries, including “Baseball: The Tenth Inning” and “Jackie Robinson,” both directed by Ken Burns.
Kevin Charleston
Kevin Charleston is chairman of the Board of Directors at Loomis, Sayles & Company. He is also chief executive officer and president. Kevin began his investment industry career in 1988 and joined Loomis Sayles in 2000. He was previously chief financial officer and was named president in 2014 and then chief executive officer in 2015. Prior to Loomis Sayles, Kevin was manager of financial operations at Nvest Companies, L.P., where he was responsible for all management and public reporting. He joined Nvest Companies as a senior financial analyst in 1993, was appointed assistant treasurer and manager of financial planning in 1995, and promoted to senior vice president and treasurer in 1996. During his tenure at Nvest he played an important role in the firm’s acquisition activities, the design of affiliate compensation plans, and the review of affiliate business plans. Kevin began his career at The Boston Company, first as a senior financial analyst and later as manager of the financial planning. He earned a BA from Trinity College and an MBA from Boston University.
Sandhya Douglas
Sandhya leads a global team at the intersection of all the investment functions, which acts as a strategic engine powering a strong, dynamic, global, and scalable investment platform. The group builds shared centers of excellence across corporate access, research services, early career investor development, knowledge management, strategic initiatives, and business management for all investors. It also drives integration and ensures Wellington’s investment platform is flexible and adaptable to changing client needs and market conditions. In addition, Sandhya serves on a number of committees and oversight groups, including the Fund Approval and Closure Committee and the Error Resolution Council, and is the chair of the Wellington Management Foundation Advisory Board.
Prior to this role, Sandhya was associate director of Global Multi-Asset Strategies, and prior to that, she led the Client Integration Group. Before joining Wellington Management in 2006, she was a senior vice president at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co, (1994 – 1998; 2000 – 2006) and spent two years at SunTrust Capital Markets (1998 – 2000).
Sandhya earned her dual BA degrees in economics and theatre, magna cum laude, from Middlebury College (1993). Additionally, she holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society Boston.
Joe Keefe
Joe Keefe is President and CEO of Pax World Funds (“Pax”) and President of its investment adviser, Impax Asset Management LLC, formerly Pax World Management LLC, as well as CEO of its majority-owned subsidiary, Pax Ellevate Management LLC. An advocate for investing in women, Joe has written and spoken widely on the critical role that gender diversity plays in long-term business success. Under Joe’s leadership, Pax Ellevate Management launched the Pax Ellevate Global Women’s Leadership Fund, the first mutual fund to invest in companies that invest in women. He co-founded the Thirty Percent Coalition and was the first chair of its institutional investor committee, whose work has led to women joining more than 100 previously non-diverse boards. He is Co-Chair of the Leadership Group for the Women’s Empowerment Principles, and in 2014 he received the Women’s Empowerment Principles Leadership Award at the United Nations. Joe is a former board chair of the Women Thrive Alliance, a global organization that worked to achieve gender equality. Financial Times named him one of its 10 “top feminist men” in 2015 for helping women succeed in business. In 2018, Barron’s named Joe one of the “20 Most Influential People in Sustainable Investing” for his work to advance gender equality.
Laura Liswood
In August 1996, Laura Liswood co-founded the Council of Women World Leaders with President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland located at the UN Foundation in Washington, DC. Ms. Liswood is the Secretary General of the Council, which is composed of women presidents, prime ministers, and heads of government.
From 2001-2016, Liswood was also named Managing Director, Global Leadership and Diversity for Goldman Sachs and later became a senior advisor.
Liswood holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from California State University, San Diego. She holds a J.D. degree from the University of California, Davis, School of Law, and is admitted to practice law in California and Massachusetts. After the events of 9/11, she became a reserve police officer in the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department and retired as a sergeant.
Liswood is the author of three books The Loudest Duck-Moving beyond Diversity, Women World Leaders, and Serving Them Right. She is a long time participant with the World Economic Forum and is a Trustee of the Forum’s Education, Gender and Work Initiative.
She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Smithsonian Institute Friends of the National Zoo.
Barbara McKenna
Ms. McKenna is a partner and the CEO of LIM. Additionally, she oversees LIM’s investment process, co-leading longer strategies, including Core and Core Plus. Prior to joining LIM in 2005, she was a director and senior portfolio manager at State Street Research (SSR), responsible for $14 billion of institutional fixed income accounts. As director of corporate bond strategy, Barbara was responsible for the development and implementation of corporate bond strategy across all fixed income mandates. Prior to joining SSR, she was a director and portfolio manager at Standish, Ayer & Wood. Barbara has also held portfolio management and investment banking positions at BayBank and Massachusetts Capital Resource Company, a private capital firm. She has over 30 years of experience and holds a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Finance from Boston College. Barbara is a CFA charterholder, a member of the CFA Institute, and a member of the CFA Society Boston. She is also a board trustee of the American Beacon Funds and a member of the N.E. Financial Services CEO Roundtable and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s External Diversity Advisory Council.
Ms. McKenna has spoken at several conferences on the U.S. macroeconomic outlook, managing fixed income pensions (including LDI) and operating reserve accounts, and analyzing, trading and managing credit risk. She has also been a guest several times on Bloomberg Television.
A supporter of exposing students to the investment business, particularly women, Ms. McKenna often speaks at colleges and designed and implemented internship and mentoring programs at several firms. While at SSR Barbara implemented the first use of flex-time for investment personnel specifically to attract and retain women in the industry. Longfellow has developed a return to work program to assist individuals in the reentry to the industry following an extended absence.
Kathleen McQuiggan
Kathleen McQuiggan is the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning’s Special Adviser on Gender Diversity. A longtime advocate for advancing gender diversity in the financial services industry, she helps guide the Center’s Women’s Initiative (WIN) which undertakes efforts and campaigns to address the shortage of women in the financial planning profession. Kathleen is also a wealth advisor at Artemis Financial Advisors, where she works with women to create sustainable financial plans and investment portfolios.
Valerie Mosley
Valerie Mosley created Valmo Ventures, which advises and invests in companies that add value both to investors and society. She currently serves on the board of Eaton Vance’s family of mutual funds, Dynex (DX) a NYSE-listed mortgage REIT, Envestnet (ENV) a technology platform that assists registered investment advisors and Progress Investment Management Company, a Fund of Funds for Women and Emerging Managers. She is on New York State’s Common Retirement Pension Fund Investment Advisory Committee, the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust’s Investment Risk Advisory Committee and board of New Profit, a philanthropic venture firm.
Valerie was Senior Vice President, Partner, Portfolio Manager and Investment Strategist at Wellington Management Company, LLP, a global investment firm. During her 20-year tenure at the firm, Valerie managed billions for clients. She chaired the firm’s Industry Strategy Group, comprised of thought leaders from across the firm charged with taking a long-term perspective to identify headwinds and tailwinds impacting industries. As a member of several investment strategy groups, Valerie helped established investment parameters to which team portfolio managers adhered.
When Valerie left Wellington, she joined Mass Ventures, an early stage technology fund where she was Treasurer and on the investment committee. She also created financial fluency courses for students and a teach-the-teachers program in conjunction with the Federal Reserve of Boston. She was also a member of the Federal Reserve of Boston’s Diversity Advisory Group.
Valerie graduated in 1982 with a BA in History from Duke, where she served as President and Vice President of the student body. She received her MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1986 and served as President of The Wharton Club of Atlanta. Valerie was named UK’s Power List International Person of the Year 2017 and one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and Top 75 African Americans on Wall Street by Black Enterprise Magazine. Valerie delivered a TEDx Beacon Talk. When she is not working, Valerie enjoys spending time with her three children and speaks about the “Parallels between Managing Money and Life”.
Ron O’Hanley
Ron is president and chief executive officer of State Street Corporation. He is also a member of State Street Corporation’s Board of Directors.
Ron was previously president and chief operating officer of State Street Corporation, and before that president and chief executive officer of State Street Global Advisors, the investment management arm of State Street Corporation. He joined State Street in 2015.
Prior to State Street, Ron was president of Asset Management & Corporate Services for Fidelity Investments. Ron was responsible for all Fidelity asset management organizations and Fidelity’s corporate functions and enterprise technology. Ron served at Fidelity from 2010 to 2014.
Prior to joining Fidelity, Ron served as president and chief executive officer of BNY Mellon Asset Management in Boston, a position to which he was named in 2007. During this time, Ron also served as vice chairman of Bank of New York Mellon Corporation and was a member of its Executive Committee. Additionally, Ron oversaw all of Bank of New York Mellon's activities in Asia. Prior to the 2007 merger of Bank of New York and Mellon Financial Corporation, he was vice chairman of Mellon Financial Corporation and president and chief executive officer of Mellon Asset Management. He served at Mellon and Bank of New York Mellon from 1997 to 2010.
Prior to Mellon, Ron was with McKinsey & Company, Inc., from 1986 to 1997 and was elected a partner in 1992. He founded the Investment Management practice worldwide and was co-founder and co-leader of the firm's North American Personal Financial Services practice. Additionally, he was a member of the Worldwide Property & Casualty Insurance practice. During his tenure with McKinsey, Ron served in the company’s Boston, New York, and Stockholm offices, where he focused primarily on financial services.
Ron received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Syracuse University in 1980 and his Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1986.
Ron serves on the boards of Unum Corp. and Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. He also serves on the boards of The Boston Foundation, the IYRS School of Technology and Trades, Syracuse University and WBUR. Ron’s philanthropic and civic interests include corporate governance, retirement/healthcare policy and funding, education, and climate. He has led several initiatives on gender equality. Ron is a frequent speaker and writer, and is an avid offshore sailboat racer.
Shannon O’Mara
Shannon O’Mara is a vice president and associate director of credit research at Loomis, Sayles & Company. She covers the home construction and building materials industries. Shannon also manages the junior credit research staff, including the credit research training program. Additionally, she founded the Undergraduate Women’s Investment Network ("UWIN") in 2015 to attract and recruit women in investment management careers through mentorship and internship opportunities. Shannon began her investment industry career in 1993 and joined Loomis Sayles in 1998. Prior to Loomis Sayles, she was a credit risk manager and lending officer at J.P. Morgan. Shannon earned a BA in economics from the University of Rochester and management certificates in finance and accounting from the William E. Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester.
Bob Rivers
Bob is Chair and CEO of Eastern Bank, America’s oldest and largest mutual bank and the largest independent community bank headquartered in Massachusetts with $11 billion in assets and over 120 locations. He is also Chair of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable and the Dimock Center.
Bob is involved extensively in the community, serving on the Board of Directors of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Jobs for Mass, and The Lowell Plan. He also is a member of the Board of Trustees of Stonehill College, the Northern Essex Community College Foundation, the Board of Corporators of Lowell General Hospital, the Advisory Boards of the Lawrence Partnership and JFK Library Foundation, and is a member of the City of Boston’s Women’s Workforce Council, in addition to providing support and guidance to numerous other non-profit organizations. Bob has been named among the Top 10 “Most Influential People in Boston” by Boston Magazine, and to the Boston Business Journal Power 50 list for the last three years.
Named after the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Bob’s passion for advocating for social justice causes and sustainability issues is the result of a personal and professional journey that began early in his life. Bob has been recognized by many organizations for his work in championing diversity and social justice, including The Boston Globe, The Partnership, Get Konnected!, Color Magazine, the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), the Asian American Civic Association (AACA), Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA), El Planeta, the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, The Theater Offensive, and MassINC.
Eric S. Rosengren
Eric Rosengren is president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, one of 12 regional Federal Reserve banks. Eric is a participant in the Federal Open Market Committee, the monetary policymaking body of the United States and a 2019 voting member. As CEO, Eric leads the Boston Fed’s work, which includes economic research and analysis, banking supervision and financial stability efforts, community economic development activities, and a wide range of payments, technology, and finance initiatives.
Eric was appointed president in 2007 and has taken a rigorously data-driven approach in forming his views on the national and regional economy. His research and policy positions pay close attention to both aspects of the Fed’s dual mandate – labor market outcomes as well as price stability. Eric’s work as a researcher and now as a policymaker has often focused on financial stability issues and their impact on the real Main Street economy. He has led a number of efforts to expand the Boston Fed’s outreach and impact on low- and moderate-income communities – among them hosting sizable foreclosure-prevention workshops for New England residents during the Great Recession, and running a competition for postindustrial New England communities to develop cross-sector collaboration and ultimately help improve the lives of lower-income residents.
Eric holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Colby College, where he is the current chair of the board of trustees, and earned a master’s and doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Katerina Tzouganatos
Katerina specializes in advising financial services companies on internal control matters to enhance their compliance, risk management, and governance programs. In her eighteen-year tenure within Deloitte’s Risk & Financial Advisory practice, she has led complex internal control projects providing third party assurance services (e.g. SSAE 18), compliance program testing and assessments, and control attestation readiness services, for investment advisers, registered investment companies, transfer agents, and various banking entities. In conjunction with these services, she advises clients on the implementation of effective integrated governance, regulatory, compliance, and operational processes and internal controls. Katerina also serves as the Risk & Financial Advisory practice leader for Deloitte’s Boston office.
In addition to serving clients, Katerina is passionate about promoting and leading various efforts of Deloitte’s Inclusion program, including its Women’s Initiative (WIN). Established in 1993, WIN focuses on the recruitment, retention, and advancement of talented women professionals and opportunities for them as future leaders. Katerina is also an active member of Financial Services Women’s Executive Alliance, which is an alliance of financial services women executives focused on the career advancement of women in the Boston marketplace.
Katerina has a Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Jocelyn D Wright
Jocelyn D. Wright is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Ascension Group (“Ascension”). As an advisor, she partners with her clients to design a personalized holistic strategy to help them reach their financial goals. With over twenty years of financial services experience, Jocelyn has been working with individual clients since 2002.
From 2014-2018, Jocelyn served as the Chair & Director of The American College State Farm Center for Women and Financial Services. In those dual roles, she functioned as the Center’s chief ambassador in promoting broad awareness of the challenges and opportunities that pertain to women in financial services. She remains a diversity and inclusion advocate committed to creating opportunities for women and people of color in the financial planning profession.
Jocelyn received a BS in Business Administration (Finance) from the University of Delaware and earned her MBA in Finance at Howard University, graduating with Beta Gamma Sigma honors. Some of her memberships include Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Financial Planning Association (FPA) and Women in Insurance & Financial Services (WIFS). Jocelyn serves on the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Diversity Advisory Group and Envestnet Institute of Campus Women in Wealth Management Advisory Board. In 2016, InvestmentNews Magazine recognized her as one of the 20 most influential Women to Watch.