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Theo Proukou is the founder of the Proukou Partnership, LLC, where he serves as an executive coach and senior advisor to CEOs and C-Suite leaders across multiple industries. Theo has held senior leadership roles across Commercial and Human Resources functions in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, technology and venture capital sectors over a thirty-year career. His operational leadership experience provides a firsthand understanding of the complex realities executives navigate every day.  Theo began his career at Novartis Pharmaceuticals spending 16 years in roles of increasing responsibility across Marketing, Sales Leadership and Human Resources. He then served at Vertex Pharmaceuticals as well as TripAdvisor in senior HR roles leading the Talent Acquisition, Organizational Development, and HR Business Partner organizations. In 2017 Theo joined Rubius Therapeutics as Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer where in 2018 he was a part of the largest biotech IPO at that time. In 2022 Theo was recruited to Flagship Pioneering where he served as Executive Partner and Chief Human Resources Officer until 2026.  During Theo's tenure, both Rubius Therapeutics and TripAdvisor earned multiple "Best Places to Work" honors, including from the Boston Globe.  Theo holds an M.B.A. in Marketing and Management, an M.S. in Education for Counseling & Psychology, and a B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication, all from St. Bonaventure University.

Susan MacKenty Brady is a global leader committed to fostering a future of respect and human connection through genuine, human-centered leadership. As the founding CEO of the Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership and the Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Chair for Women and Leadership, she aids organizations in developing high-performing cultures driven by respect. A sought-after speaker with over 25 years of experience, Susan has consulted with more than 500 organizations worldwide, helping leaders cultivate environments where individuals thrive and businesses succeed. She is the lead co-author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Arrive & Thrive: 7 Impactful Practices for Women Navigating Leadership, as well as three other books, and her insights have appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and more. Her latest book, All the Difference: Six Leadership Actions to Bridge Perspectives, Strengthen Teams, and Create Value, co-authored by Stuart Kliman and Leslie C. Smith, LTG USA retired, is set to be published by Harvard Business Review Press in early 2026.

Kelly Fredrickson is the head of Global Brand and Public Relations in Global Marketing of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.  Kelly has been with T. Rowe Price since January 2024, beginning in the Global Marketing Global Brand and Public Relations department. Prior to this, Kelly was president of Mullen Lowe Boston. She also was a senior vice president of marketing at Bank of America.

Chad Hollister is a Vermont based singer songwriter and roots rocker with over 35 years in the music industry, known for his uplifting, community focused indie rock. He has released multiple recordings, toured nationally, and has opened for Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Tom Petty and has shared the stage w/ every PHISH member, Billy Gibbons, Merl Saunders, Warren Haynes, and Blues Traveler. His music is a voice for the Positive and reminds you that life is truly a gift as is the ability to share it through music.

People always ask me if my crisis management work is stressful. Not for me. It’s where I thrive — drawing upon my natural resourcefulness, decades managing risk and crises for clients, and passion for developing communication strategies. I help my clients by focusing on connections… how they reach their audiences, how their audiences reach them, how my teams and I can facilitate those interactions. I’ve helped my clients grow and sell companies, acquire firms, improve valuation / stock price, gain market share, manage crises, perfect presentation skills, launch products and the list goes on. When I’m not working directly with clients, I’m growing Castle — developing partnerships, identifying marketing opportunities and building new client relationships. And when I’m not doing that, I’m out in the marketplace, representing Castle and our clients through our dedication to the community. After decades working with companies to build a crisis communications plan or tackle their latest controversy, I’ve seen it all — national high-profile, high-stakes crises for organizations of all sizes, including corporate, public sector, nonprofit, education and healthcare clients. I’ve successfully managed sensitive and highly charged crisis communications around data breaches, acts of God, sexual harassment, Title IX discrimination, free speech, leadership misconduct, mergers & acquisitions, workforce reduction, violence & workplace accidents, regulatory action and more. PR is all about third-party credibility – so I must share some of our own accolades. Castle was named a Forbes 2021 Best PR Agency, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce 2021 Small Business of the Year, PRNEWS‘ Agency Elite Top 100, and is a five-time Boston Business Journal Best Place to Work. I’ve been honored with the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Pinnacle Award for Entrepreneurship, Women’s Business Enterprise Hall of Fame Trailblazer Award, Enterprising Women Magazine Enterprising Women of the Year, Women’s Enterprise USA Top WBE CEO, Tomorrow’s Women TODAY Woman of the Year, WBENC Women’s Business Enterprise Star Award, Center for Women and Enterprise Rising Star Award and March of Dimes Franklin Delano Roosevelt Humanitarian Award. I was also named a Boston Business Journal “40 under 40″ (although I would no longer be eligible!). I’ve had the privilege of speaking at regional and national conferences, including the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts, University Risk Management and Insurance Association and the Automotive Public Relations Council. Other speaking engagements include Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Boston Business Journal, Association of American Colleges and Universities, National Association of Independent Schools, Commonwealth Institute, Council for Advancement and Support of Education, Center for Women and Enterprise, CBRE Women’s Initiative and more. I’m also a contributor to Forbes, an active member of the New England Council and a founding member of the Boston Business Journal Leadership Trust. In 2018, I was appointed by Governor Charlie Baker to the Massachusetts Bay Community College Board of Trustees. For more than 15 years, I have served on the boards of Center for Women and Enterprise and WGBH Corporate Council. I also serve on the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and Executive Committee and am on the Executive Committee of the Public Relations Global Network — interacting almost daily with my “sister” (and “brother”) agency principals in every major media market to develop world-class relationships for our clients and teams.

Dicken Bettinger, Ed.D., received his undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University and began his career teaching high school students.  Many students came to Dicken with problems that they were experiencing.  This began his search for something to teach people that would increase their well-being.  He received his master's degree from Pennsylvania State University and his Doctoral degree in counseling psychology from Boston University.  He became licensed as a clinical psychologist in 1983 and retired from his psychotherapy practice after working as a psychologist for 31 years. Thirty-three years ago, he met Sydney Banks who had an enlightenment experience where he realized the Three Principles that underlie all human experience. Dicken had finally found universal principles that he could teach anyone.  He was grateful to find something that was simple in nature yet had the profound effect of raising the quality of a person’s life.  He feels fortunate that for 23 years he was able to learn directly from Sydney Banks.  In 2008 Dicken received a Certificate of Competency from Mr. Banks authorizing him to teach the Three Principles. Dicken co-founded and was the director of a center in Vermont that was the first center in the Northeast to teach the Three Principles.  He served as one of the original nation-wide Core Three Principles Faculty and is currently a faculty member for the Three Principles Global Community.  In 1996 Dicken joined Pransky and Associates, a Three Principle-based institute in La Conner, Washington.  Dicken was instrumental in developing and teaching leadership and staff development programs for universities, hospitals, publishing companies, defense contractors, health departments, banks, and non-profit organizations. He taught company employees what it takes to be resilient and agile in the face of today’s business challenges and rapidly changing environments.  He mentored CEOs and their leadership teams in raising the bar on their productivity, teamwork, and business success.  He now specializes in developing 3 Principle practitioners, as well as leading group seminars on the Principles and their relationship to spiritual/psychological well-being. In January of 2012 Dicken founded Three Principles Mentoring to deepen peoples' understanding of the 3 principles, develop 3P practitioners globally, and offer seminars in countries throughout the world.  Dicken wrote a book with Natasha Swerdloff, Coming Home: Uncovering the Foundations of Psychological Well-being​ which is now available in 10 languages. Dicken also deeply values his work as a director on the board of the Three Principles Glogal Community. This organization was formed to spread the teachings of Sydney Banks around the world.   Dicken enjoys public service work and has worked with refugees from South and Central America. He was an integral part of the Tibetan Resettlement Project in Vermont. Dicken has been happily married for 55 years and loves teaching 3P Practitioners and running seminars worldwide on spiritual/psychological well-being. He has two adult children, Nina and Ben, and adores spending time with his four grandchildren.  He enjoys photography, hiking, canoeing,  traveling, and his dog, Oliver.

Lyndia Downie has served as Pine Street Inn’s President & Executive Director since 2000 and on Pine Street’s staff for 40 years, working in roles throughout the organization. As a result of her leadership and vision, Pine Street is now the largest provider of housing with support services for individuals moving out of homelessness in New England, with 1,100 units of housing and a major housing expansion underway. Her collaboration with other key agencies, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the City of Boston has brought the population of unsheltered individuals to just over three percent of the overall homeless population. To place that in context, in San Francisco, a city of similar size and high housing costs, the unsheltered homeless rate is over 50 percent. With a $98 million budget and services provided at four shelters and 39 housing locations in Boston and Brookline, Pine Street supports over 2,100 individuals each day, with programs including street outreach, emergency shelter, supportive housing and job training. iCater, a Pine Street Inn social enterprise, is a successful catering business providing meals to a variety of organizations and job training to individuals moving back into the workforce. Looking ahead, Lyndia is guiding Pine Street’s bold plan to add 400-500 new units, with 250 already in development. The expansion is driven by large-scale new developments that will have a powerful impact on ending homelessness. This expanded vision for housing is largely supported by a transformative $15 million commitment from the Yawkey Foundation. With her keen understanding of the complex causes of homelessness and proven methods to solve it, Lyndia is a frequently requested speaker who regularly serves as a policy advisor at the city, state and federal levels. Lyndia served on former Mayor Walsh’s Advisory Council on Homelessness and was a member of the task force that helped shape the City of Boston’s action plan to end veteran and chronic homelessness. She also serves on a number of policy advisory committees to the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and has presented on Pine Street Inn’s strategic housing expansion at the annual conference of the National Alliance to End Homelessness in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Lyndia has been tapped to serve on a number of committees and boards, including the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, the Massachusetts Housing & Shelter Alliance, the Board of Advisors of Eastern Bank and the Franklin Square House Foundation. She was also named a Barr Fellow through the Barr Foundation’s program to honor nonprofit leaders in the region and has co-taught a course on solutions to homelessness at the Harvard Kennedy School. In 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, Lyndia was selected as one of the top 100 women leaders in Massachusetts by The Commonwealth Institute in partnership with The Boston Globe. Boston Magazine has named Lyndia “One of the 100 Most Influential Bostonians,” and she has received the Massachusetts Council of Human Services’ CEO Award of Excellence for her leadership. In addition, Pine Street Inn was honored with Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders award, which recognizes innovation, excellence and leadership among nonprofits across the country. Lyndia received the Henry L. Shattuck City Champion Award from the Boston Municipal Research Bureau and was named the “Most Innovative Person in the Massachusetts Non-Profit Sector” by The Boston Globe. Lyndia has also received the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Pinnacle Award, the New England Women’s Leadership Award, and the University of Vermont’s 2020 Alumni Association Award.

Lauretta Siggers, MBA, CHRM, is the CEO/Founder of Siggers-Benton HR Consulting and currently serves as the Acting Vice President of Human Resources at Roxbury Community College. With over 30 years of experience in Human Resources and Talent Development and 20 years in leadership roles, she is a recognized expert in HR compliance, infrastructure, training and development, and policy creation. Her board service includes roles with organizations like the International Association for Human Resources Information Management (IHRIM), Independent Schools Compensation Corporation (ISCC), Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Women’s Advisory Council, Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts Women’s Advisory Council, and Vice Chair at Garden of Eden and Associates, LLC. Lauretta holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Phoenix, an Advanced Certificate in Human Resources Management from Bentley University, and an MBA from Cambridge College.

Jeremy Barker is the driving force behind Murphy Door, spearheading its expansion and innovation. From humble beginnings, where he lived out of his car, Jeremy transitioned from a firefighter to building a successful 8-figure business. Under his leadership, Murphy Door has grown into an industry leader and was named the 2022 Indoor Product of the Year by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).  Jeremy has been honored as a finalist for the 2024 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. His entrepreneurial spirit, combined with his background as a firefighter and paramedic, reflects his dedication to both business innovation and community service. Through his podcast, 90 Proof Wisdom, he shares his experiences and insights on startup growth, leadership, and personal development.

Join me as I walk with Shaheer Mustafa, President and CEO of Hopewell.   His vulnerability and authenticity are what make him such an exceptional leader. He leads with a genuine desire to keep learning and growing.

Socrates Rosenfeld is the Co-Founder and CEO of Jane Technologies. A former U.S. Army veteran and Apache helicopter commander, he transitioned to civilian life in 2011 and turned to cannabis for support. However, with cannabis still illegal in Massachusetts at the time, he was limited to the black market, where quality and reliability were uncertain. This frustration, along with the lack of access for fellow veterans, inspired him to co-found Jane Technologies with his brother, Abraham. Launched in 2017, Jane Technologies provides an e-commerce platform for legal cannabis retailers, allowing customers to research and purchase products online. Today, the company partners with over 2,500 dispensaries across 37 states and Canada. Before founding Jane, Socrates was an associate at McKinsey & Company. He holds a degree from the United States Military Academy and an MBA in entrepreneurship from MIT.

Duncan Remage-Healey joined Embrace Boston in April 2021 as the Director of Advancement and External Affairs. For nearly two decades, Remage-Healey has held integral roles at nonprofits, concentrating on leadership, management, operations and fundraising in the arts, human services, education, biological research, and public interest sectors. He was most recently the Managing Director at Somerville-based Parenting Journey after working in leadership positions in both operations and advancement at the organization. Prior to that he held leadership positions at Boston Arts Academy and Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston. Remage-Healey holds a bachelor’s degree in Government and International Relations and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Clark University. He and his wife Sarah live in Waltham with their three daughters.

Sulagna (Dia) Ghosh is a Google's Women Techmakers Ambassador with a background in computational biology and over 10 years of work experience in academia and biotech. As the founder of Joint Family, she is dedicated to building an innovative, inclusive and data driven venture to connect and empower individuals across generations.  Earlier this year Joint Family held its very first multigenerational virtual series. This post The Pilot That Got Everyone Talking encapsulates some of the insights gained. To further strengthen community ties we have been hosting in person workshops. Our first session took place at the Foundry Festival and a word that resonated throughout the session was community. This video link provides a glimpse of the immersive experience. A similar sense of connectedness emerged during a gathering at the Cambridge Public Library with over 30 participants aged 9 to 75+ (video highlights) and a subsequent AI literacy workshop focused on mental health and companionship at the Woburn Public Library (SCI-Let)! Our work bridging generational divides was recently recognized by the local community in Cambridge, MA (Imagined In Cambridge).  Joint Family will be resuming programs this Fall with an in-person session at the Malden Public Library on September 14th. Beyond these one-off events, a major focus for Q4 are community specific projects that bring together local residents on a semi-regular basis. An idea we are beta testing in collaboration with the Foundry Consortium centers on intergenerational storytelling with AI + local artists culminating in a mural of lived experiences.

Niren Chaudhary is the Chairman of the Board of Panera Brands, one of the world’s largest fast casual restaurant companies with nearly 4,000 locations in 10 countries. Prior to becoming Chairman in 2023, Niren served as CEO of Panera Brands. During his four-year tenure, he increased the company’s pace of innovation, strengthened franchisee partnerships and led the creation of a strong, people-first culture, resulting in industry-leading retention rates for GMs and associates, earning Black Box Intelligence’s Employer of Choice Award in 2022. Niren served as Chief Operating Officer and President of Krispy Kreme where he implemented a new operating model to elevate consistency across the global brand and created a path for enterprise value growth of 3x over 5 years. Prior to that, he spent 23 years at Yum! Brands serving in global leadership positions including Global President of KFC and President of Yum! India.  Niren is guided by his deep passion for serving others and building future leaders. He spends his personal time sharing his personal and professional journey with students and professionals, often wielding a guitar to sing about his life or even a new Panera menu item. In addition, he dedicates his personal time serving on the Tufts Medical Centre Board and as an advocate for DKMS, a leading non-profit with the world’s largest stem cell donor registry. As a lifelong learner, Niren focuses on both formal and informal education. Formally, Niren holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Stephen’s College in Delhi, an MBA in marketing from the University of Delhi, and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Informally, Niren speaks 4 languages – Hindi, English, Dutch and German. He holds a black belt in Shotokan karate and is an avid golfer, tennis player and musician with his own rock band.

Join me in conversation alongside entrepreneur, investor, coach, and mentor Bob Allard, who has spent his career at the intersection of innovation, business, and people—seeking to find ways to help as many people as possible. A magnet of energy, he’s all about identifying talent, supporting it, and allowing individuals to become the best version of themselves. Join us as we engage in an authentic conversation discussing leadership post-pandemic, reframing fear into opportunity and growth, and leading with empathy. Bob lives in Andover, MA, with his wife, three boys, and two dogs. He enjoys golfing with his brothers, playing music with his band, Bleeding Hearts, and chasing his youngest (a four-year-old) around the house.