ROUNDTABLE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President & Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer
Job Titles:
- Boston Office Managing Principal
As President & CEO, JD is responsible for developing and implementing the strategic framework and direction for MBR in partnership with the Chair, Executive Committee and Board of Directors. He works with MBR Task Forces and MBR leadership to develop its agenda on public policy matters and convey those ideas to opinion leaders and policy makers to help inform their deliberations.
JD has worked in and around Beacon Hill for more than 25 years. In the Legislature, he was the Chief of Staff to the House Committee on Commerce and Labor, and was the education issues analyst and Deputy Budget Director for the House Committee on Ways and Means. After working as both a budget analyst and Assistant to the President at the University of Massachusetts, JD worked as the Legislative Director for State Treasurer Shannon O'Brien and then as Issues Director for the O'Brien-Gabrieli gubernatorial campaign in 2002.
He joined MBR in 2004 after serving as Legislative/Issues Director for the Early Education for All (EEA) Campaign, where he was responsible for developing and driving legislative support for EEA's legislation and agenda which included the creation of the Massachusetts Board and Department of Early Education and Care. He served on the Board for 10 years, 5 as Chairman.
Job Titles:
- Chief Administrative Officer
As Director of Operations, Lauren manages the Roundtable's administrative operations, membership resources, and events. She also works with the President & CEO and Executive Vice President to support the Roundtable's member-driven public policy agenda and all internal and external communications.
Lauren has over five years of experience shaping and growing startup ventures and managing both operations and social media. Prior to joining the Roundtable, Lauren served as Deputy Director of the Workforce Solutions Group, where she managed all day-to-day operations, stakeholder engagement, and helped to plan, lead, and execute the Workforce Solutions Group's premier annual workforce summit that attracts over 200 attendees. Prior to that, Lauren was a Program Associate for the Kendall Square Association, a business membership association in Cambridge, where she led and managed programs and served as the point person for policy and government relations. Lauren has also held various roles in operations and communications for Edtech startup companies.
Lauren holds a B.A. from Emmanuel College.
Job Titles:
- Policy and Operations Fellow
Rebecca Yemo is a doctoral candidate in the global governance and human security program at UMass Boston. Her research and policy interests include compliance with international human rights law and how policies can be adopted and implemented on the national level to advance international human rights law. Prior to joining the Roundtable, she worked at UMass Boston as a graduate research and teaching assistant. She has also worked with Non-Governmental Organizations in the USA and Ghana such as Curamericas Global, Lutheran Services Carolinas, and the Africa Digital Rights Hub where she worked on programs and projects addressing human rights and issues of equity and inclusion.
Rebecca holds an M.A. in Global Governance and Human Security from UMass Boston, a Master of International Studies from North Carolina State University, and a B.A. in Linguistics and Spanish from the University of Ghana.
As Executive Vice President, Tonja is responsible for developing and advancing all Roundtable public policy strategies and initiatives with a focus on implementation of the Roundtable's "Talent Agenda to Drive Massachusetts' Competitiveness," a framework to drive the state's economic competitiveness by attracting, retaining, developing, and diversifying talent that reflects the top priority expressed by Roundtable members. She also manages all internal and external communications, undertakes organizational management responsibilities including serving as a liaison to external stakeholders, managing day-to-day operations, and advancing member recruitment and engagement.
Tonja has over ten years of experience working in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Prior to joining the Roundtable, she was the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Workforce Association (MWA), a statewide membership organization that leads, advocates, and convenes on behalf of the Commonwealth's regionally-led and employer-driven workforce system. In this role, she worked closely with employers to help meet their workforce needs and connect job seekers to employment and career pathways. Prior to that, she was the Director of Government Affairs for the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network and worked at the Massachusetts State House, first as Chief of Staff to Representative Tom Conroy on the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development and then as Research Director and Committee Counsel for Representative Jennifer Benson, House Chair of the Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee.
Tonja holds a B.A. and M.S. from Clark University and a J.D. from the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University.