UMass Boston

The Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) and members of the UMass Boston community gathered to celebrate the graduation of the 2025 cohort and showcase their innovative solutions to pressing regional challenges.

Each year, the ELP holds a graduation of its members including a showcase of the year-long leadership development journey for mid-career professionals. The event includes four team project presentations followed by the graduate recognition ceremony and reception. 

“For more than 20 years, the Emerging Leaders Program has trained over 900 professionals in the Greater Boston region to be consequential leaders and agents of change,” said Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco in his opening remarks. “Since its inception, the calling card of the Emerging Leaders Program has been a collaborative leadership model anchored by teamwork, trust, and respect for differences.”

The team project showcase featured four interdisciplinary teams who spent the year addressing critical needs in the region. Their projects were developed in collaboration with mentors who assist with experiential learning and community partnership.

“These aren't academic exercises—they're real solutions to real challenges," said Tanya Barnett, director of the Center for Collaborative Leadership which runs the ELP. "Our fellows have demonstrated extraordinary courage and creativity while building the collaborative muscle our region needs. The transformation we've witnessed—both individual and collective—represents the future of inclusive leadership."

The four team presentations included: 

• Bridging Global Divides: The UMass Boston Global Challenge team, partnered with Dr. Michael Metzger, unveiled strategies to boost international student engagement and cross-cultural competency across campus. “When we think about higher education in 2025, it’s impossible not to recognize, as the chancellor pointed out, the world is more interconnected than ever before,” said Metzger. “Challenges like climate change, peace, public health, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence don’t stop at borders.”
• Philanthropy Reimagined: The UMass Zuckerberg Initiative team, sponsored by Dr. Heather Makrez Allen of the UMass Foundation, shared groundbreaking approaches to educational philanthropy that directly enhance student success. “If we can collaborate, we can maximize the impact that we have,” Makrez said in her introduction of the team.
• Expanding Latino Leadership: The Latino Recognition Initiative (LARI) team worked with sponsor Mr. Eduardo Crespo (ELP alumnus and CEO of Hispanic Market Solution) to launch new pathways for Latino professionals and students to access leadership opportunities. “The idea behind LARI really comes from us Latinos rewriting a wrong story,” said Crespo. “Every community that has come to this country, that founded the country, has stories to share.”
• Biotech-Academia Bridge: The GiwoTech Biotechnology Challenge team, partnered with Dr. Ashwin Lokapally (CEO & co-founder of GiwoTech Inc.), revealed strategies to strengthen collaboration between biotechnology companies and higher education institutions. “The goal is to build computational models that can simulate interactions which are key to understanding complex diseases such as Parkinson's disease,” said Lokapally. 

The celebration included a keynote address from Kenechukwu E. Anadu, a senior financial leader and alumnus of the ELP program. Anadu reflected on his own ELP graduation over a decade ago, sharing three stories that shaped his approach to leadership.

“The secret sauce of every organization’s success are the people,” said Anadu. He encouraged graduates to carry the lessons they learned in the program forward while building connections across their networks. Anadu closed by urging participants to remain engaged with the ELP community, stressing that alumni involvement strengthens the program’s impact and reach.

The 2025 cohort includes rising leaders from “some of the region's most impactful institutions across healthcare, finance, energy, education, biotechnology, and public safety,” said Barnett. That includes the Boston Police Department, Eversource, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Elevate Youth, Mass General Brigham Health Plan, Alkermes, MassBioEd, UMass Boston IT, MGB Medical Group – Pentucket, Framingham State University, Eastern Bank and more. 

To learn more about the ELP visit umb.edu/leaders/.