In December, the Chamber hosted a Good Day Metro South luncheon in Brockton with guest speakers Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, Chancellor of UMass Boston; Nathalie Jean, Executive Director of the Brockton Redevelopment Authority; and Nick Giaquinto, Senior Economic Development Planner at Old Colony Planning Council. Rob DiFazio facilitated a holiday networking segment that even Santa couldn’t ignore.
This event sponsored by Cambridge Savings Bank and Rotary Club of Brockton. Photos courtesy of Rich Morgan Photography, visit our flickr page to view more. Missed the event? Don’t worry, we recorded it for you – thanks BCA!
About the Speakers:
Marcelo Suárez-Orozco is the ninth permanent and current chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston, and is the first Latino to lead a campus in the Massachusetts public university system. He is the former inaugural UCLA Wasserman Dean at UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.
Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco assumed the role of chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston on August 1, 2020. Prior to coming to UMass Boston Suárez-Orozco served as the inaugural UCLA Wasserman Dean, leading two academic departments, 16 nationally renowned research institutes, and two innovative demonstration schools at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. His research focuses on cultural psychology and psychological anthropology, with an emphasis on education, globalization, and migration. His award-winning books and edited volumes have been published by Harvard University Press, Stanford University Press, University of California Press, Cambridge University Press, New York University Press, and others.
A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (currently serving in the Governance and Trust Board), the National Academy of Education, Trustee of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, member of the Board of Advisors of the Thomas Mann House, and recipient of Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, Dr. Suárez-Orozco has served as Special Advisor to the Chief Prosecutor, The International Criminal Court, The Hague, The Netherlands.
In January of 2018 His Holiness Pope Francis appointed Suárez-Orozco to the Executive Committee of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and on July 4, 2018 the Carnegie Corporation of New York named him a “Great Immigrant / Great American.”
An immigrant from Argentina, Dr. Suárez-Orozco is a product of the California master plan having studied in community college and at the University of California Berkeley, where he received his AB, MA, and PhD (anthropology) in 1986. To learn more about our guest speaker, please visit umb.edu/about/leadership-administration/about-chancellor-marcelo-suarez-orozco/
Nathalie Jean, the BRA’s executive director, is an experienced leader, who has implemented programs in housing, workforce as well as community development. She last served as a deputy director for special projects and budget management at the Boston Planning and Development Agency.
Nathalie has deep experience in team management, innovative program development and successful grant writing for federal, state, municipal and private sources.
She holds a BA in English from the College of the Holy Cross and MA in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University. In 2021, she also completed Tufts’ Post-Master’s program in Urban Justice and Sustainability. Her previous experience includes overseeing a Massachusetts city’s community development department and serving as administrator for another city’s community development office, in both instances managing HUD grant funding.
Nathalie’s work has attracted press coverage, and she has published articles, including the op-ed “Reversing Massachusetts’ Outmigration” in February’s Boston Business Journal. In 2017, Nathalie won the National
Community Development Association’s Community Development Achievement Award for exemplary management of HUD funds. To learn more about the BRA, please visit brocktonredevelopmentauthority.com
Nick Giaquinto is Senior Economic Development Planner at the Old Colony Planning Council. OCPC was established in 1967 as the comprehensive planning agency for the region, which today includes 17 communities. OCPC was established in part to address local challenges that cross city and town boundaries, like air and water pollution, transportation deficiencies, and economic distress. Visit oldcolonyplanning.org to learn more.
Prior to joining OCPC, Nick worked with MassDevelopment as TDI Operations Officer; Chief of Staff for former Mayor of Brockton Bill Carpenter; Research Director: Joint Committee on Labor & Workforce Development, and Director of Communications & Budget: Assistant Vice-Chair of House Committee on Ways & Means, Massachusetts House of Representatives; Field Director, Committee to Elect Josh Cutler; and served as a Legislative Intern for the Offices of State Representative James M. Cantwell and State Representative Frank Hynes. Nick holds a Bachelors of Science from Suffolk University and an MPA from University of Massachusetts Boston.