The BASE Emerging Leaders Network
Expanding on our commitment to mentorship and strategic partnerships, we are excited to announce the launch of The BASE Emerging Leaders Network. Made up of 22 rising leaders from diverse backgrounds and professions, the network will bring fresh ideas and perspectives on how to best support BASE student-athletes through mentorship and philanthropy. The Network will harness its collective creativity to support BASE student-athletes in various formal and informal engagements throughout the year.
The network was organized by BASE Advisory Board member John Navien, Founding Partner of Navien Financial. Navien sought nominations from executives within organizations integral to Boston’s business and civic ecosystem. His efforts were supported by BASE Board member Nimit Patel Senior Director of IP Counsel at Sony Corporation of America. The outstanding companies who nominated employees to participate in the Network are all loyal supporters of The BASE who are pledging continued involvement through this new partnership.
We know representation in leadership matters to our young men and women, and this group of emerging leaders can serve as role models for our student-athletes and inspire them as they begin to plan for their own futures. As younger professionals, they will serve as ambassadors for the organization with an important demographic within Boston’s professional networks. Also, being closer in age to the young adults we serve, particularly our BASE alumni, the Emerging Leaders can potentially help our youth gain access to networks of young professionals.
We are pleased to welcome this impressive group of professionals to The BASE Team!
EMERGING LEADERS PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
Mintz Levin, Cushman Wakefield, The Chica Project, GBH, Consigli Construction, The Quin Impact Fund, Westfield Capital Management, Franklin Sports, CV Properties, Boston Red Sox, Latinos for Education, Associated Industries of MA, MFS Management, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, Navien Financial, Sony, Fidelity, Converse, Forefront, Commonwealth of MA
EMERGING LEADERS BIOGRAPHIES
Jason Burrell is an Associate at Mintz. Burrell practices in the firm’s litigation section, and has experience in complex commercial litigation, including representing financial institutions, closely-held corporations and publicly traded companies. He sits on the Board of Directors for South End Baseball among other community leadership roles. Burrell earned is B.A. in Legal Studies from UMass Amherst, and his J.D. from Northeastern School of Law.
Robert Byrne is an Executive Director at Cushman & Wakefield, focusing on the suburban marketplace and leads the industrial and manufacturing practice for the Boston office. Prior to joining Cushman & Wakefield, Rob was a Partner with Transwestern | RBJ. Byrne holds his B.S. in Accounting from Boston College.
Lina Canon is the Interim ED and Director of Operations of the Chica Project. Canon is also the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of The Nur Collective, an inclusive community that offers support, mentorship, resources, and connections to first-generation trailblazers that embody cultural, spiritual, migrant, and social diversity. She earned a B.A. in Sociology and Government from Suffolk University, and an M.B.A. from Boston University.
Kirk Carapezza is the Managing Editor and Correspondent for higher education at GBH News. Carapezza received his B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross and earned his M.S. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. When he’s not reporting or editing stories on campus, you can find him posting K’s on the Wall at Fenway as part of The Boston K Men, an organization of Red Sox fanatics that raise money to support urban youth.
Charlie Davies is the Director of The Quin Impact Fund. Davies is a retired professional soccer player with an international career spanning eleven years, and a 2008 US Men’s National Team Olympian. He is an analyst for Major League Soccer and CBS, the host of “The U.S. Soccer Podcast,” and the Director of the ‘Quin Impact Fund & Member Relations.
Alec Finigan is a Senior Associate at Westfield Capital Management. Finigan earned his B.A. in Economics-Mathematics from Colby College.
Adam Franklin is the President of Franklin Sports, and a longtime supporter of The BASE. “Franklin, a global company, wasn’t afraid to put its name on a set of Black and Brown young folks . . . they show up” said BASE founder Robert Lewis Jr. “Everybody is talking diversity now, but Adam was stepping up before that. It comes from the top and it trickles through the DNA of the company.” Adam earned his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Kevin Galvin serves as a Vice President, Acquisitions & Development for CV Properties and handles underwriting CV’s investments, pursuing new investments, and presenting investment opportunities to investors. He holds a B.A. in History from Colby College.
Iciar Garcia is the Senior Club Counsel for the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Sports Management with nearly twenty years of practice in corporate law. Garcia holds a B.A. in History and Literature from Harvard and received her J.D. from UPenn’s Carey Law School.
Alexis Knights is the Marketing Support Specialist at the Associated Industries of Massachusetts supporting membership, marketing, public relations, events, and government affairs. Knights is a graduate of Long Island University.
Elvis Jocol Lara is the Managing Director of National marketing and Communications for Latinos for Education. Lara is the creator of Latino 30 Under 30, an award-winning writer, and a leader in Greater Boston’s Guatemalan community.
Evelyn Limon is an Associate at Mintz representing clients across a wide range of industries, including financial services, biotech, and sports & entertainment. Limon currently serves as Deputy Regional President of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) for the New England region. She earned her J.D. from Boston University School of Law.
Alejandro Luciano is a Fixed Income Analyst for MFS Investment Management. Prior to joining MFS, Luciano was the Vice President of Latin America Corporate Credit Trading at Itaú BBA. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University, and an M.B.A. from UPenn’s Wharton School of Business.
Blake McLaughlin is a Commercial Real Estate Advisor at Newmark Knight Frank. McLaughlin has extensive volunteering experience and holds leadership positions at the Commercial Broker’s Association’s Young Leaders and United Way Worldwide. She earned her B.A. from Boston College.
John Navien is the Founding Partner of Navien Financial, LLC, and the Chair of The BASE’s young professional group. Navien formerly serves on the Board of City Kids, and currently serves on the Board of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras. He earned his B.A. from the University of New Hampshire College of Business and Economics.
Nimit Patel is the Senior Director of IP Counsel at Sony Corporation of America, and a member of The BASE’s Board of Directors. Patel earned is B.A. in Mechanical Engineering from Dartmouth College, and his J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law.
Gary Prado is Senior Legal Counsel at Fidelity Investments, where he serves as chief counsel to Fidelity’s private equity/venture capital business, Devonshire Investors. He serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, The Friends of the Rafael Hernandez School and the Pipeline to Practice Foundation.
Kacey-Ann Satchell is the Diversity & Community Outreach Manager at Consigli Construction. Prior to Consigli, she spent 3 years at the Commonwealth’s Supplier Diversity Office gaining valuable MBE/WBE regulator knowledge and insight. She earned a B.A. in Child Development from Spelman College. She currently sits on the Committee for Diversity & Inclusion at the Association of General Contractors of Massachusetts.
Riana Smith is the Manager of Social & Community Impact at Converse. Before joining Converse, Smith was the Founder and Executive Director at Femdelacreme, a women’s mentoring and empowerment organization in Atlanta, Georgia. She earned her B.A. in Marketing from Clark Atlanta University, and her Master’s in Education Policy from Vanderbilt University.
Reid Tomihara is the Chief of Staff at Associated Industries of Massachusetts. Before joining AIM, Tomihara taught English in rural Japan. He earned his B.A. in International Relations from Boston University.
Yulkendy Valdez is a Forbes 30 Under 30 social entrepreneur, storyteller, and TEDx speaker. As the Co-Founder and CEO of Forefront, Valdez consults and trains leading organizations on designing inclusive and equitable communities. In 2020, she also launched a technology platform, Carmen AI, which provides students of color on-demand career support for free via text messaging. She earned her B.A. in Business Administration from Babson College.
Mike Vallarelli is a government affairs professional and former Deputy Chief of Staff for Massachusetts Governor Charles D. Baker. He earned is B.A. in Political Science and Government from University of California, Berkeley.
For inquiries, please contact Cassidy Priester, BASE Director of Corporate Partnerships, cpriester@thebase.org.
