We are thrilled to announce that Christina Luconi, Chief People Officer at Rapid7, is stepping up into the role of Board Chair for BUILD Boston’s Advisory Board. Christina has served on the Board for 2 years and is taking the place of Roy Hirshland, CEO of T3 Advisors who is moving to Co-Chair of BUILD’s National Board of Directors. Christina brings a wealth of experience in business strategies and people focused innovations. Having participated in six start ups during her career, she is passionate about the entire notion of entrepreneurship. When asked about her experience with BUILD over the past few years, she shared:

“It has provided me an opportunity to share this passion while helping our youth learn critical skills to broaden their future paths.”

Christina Luconi currently leads Rapid7’s strategic people initiatives as the company’s Chief People Officer. She is responsible for the entire employee lifecycle, with critical focus on recruiting stellar talent, building and inspiring corporate culture, diversity and inclusion, acquisition integration and “scaling with soul.” Prior to joining Rapid7, Christina was the owner of People Innovations, a consulting firm focused on the creation of innovative people strategies for start-ups and high growth companies. Christina also served as Chief People Officer at @stake, a professional services security firm which she helped build from the launch through its acquisition to Symantec. She also played the role of Vice President of People Strategy at Sapient Corporation. Joining the company prior to its public offering, she was responsible for building the people-focused side of the company from the ground up, aligning business strategy with people needs. Christina has been featured in several articles and is a frequent speaker regarding her visionary approach to people strategy and culture, and for her disdain for old-school “human resources.” She currently “gives back” by partnering with CEOs of early stage companies on their people strategies. She serves as an advisor to the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, and serves on the board of Hack.Diversity. She contributes a weekly blog to VentureFizz and LinkedIn. She holds a B.A. in psychology from George Washington University and an M.S. in organizational administration from Boston University.

“I have loved serving on the board, primarily because of the incredible respect I have for BUILD’s CEO Ayele Shakur, new National Co-Chair Roy Hirshland, the talent and insights of our board colleagues; and the fantastic team driving the work at BUILD. That said, I’m truly excited to partner with Ayele, Roy and the other regional chairs and executive directors in our quest to make BUILD the number one entrepreneurial program for youth in the country.”

BUILD is also pleased to announce three new additions to our Board of Advisors – Dr. Mary Loeffelholz, Dean of the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern University; Jamie Bader, Executive Advisor at EY-Parthenon; and Trish Walker, Senior Advisor at Best Buy. We are excited to welcome these skilled professionals to our board and work with them to leverage their unique talents, experiences, and networks to support and empower our youth entrepreneurs.

Dr. Mary Loeffelholz, Dean, College of Professional Studies, Northeastern University

Mary Loeffelholz, Dean, earned her Ph.D. from Yale University and has been a member of Northeastern’s faculty since 1988. She chaired the English Department from 2001-2006, served as Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Director of the Graduate School in the College of Arts and Sciences from 2006-2007, and was Special Assistant to the President for Academic Affairs in 2007-2008. She served as Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs from 2008-2016. Dr. Loeffelholz currently serves on the Faculty Senate and was a member of the Faculty Senate Agenda Committee from 1992-1994. She has served in various leadership roles on the Faculty Senate and its committees, with a special emphasis on faculty development and academic leadership. A distinguished scholar of American literature, Dr. Loeffelholz is the author of three scholarly books, most recently From School to Salon: Reading Nineteenth-Century American Women’s Poetry (Princeton University Press, 2004). She is the editor of Volume D: 1914-1945 of the latest edition of the Norton Anthology of American Literature and a two-term past Chair of the American Literature Section of the Modern Language Association of America.

Jamie Bader. Executive Advisor, EY-Parthenon

Jamie joins the Board with a wealth of knowledge in high-growth technology businesses, an MA in Business Administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, and an MS and BS in Chemical Engineering from MIT. Throughout his career, Jamie has been employed as a Group President and General Manager at three public companies, led $150M+ businesses to high growth, improved profitability of these businesses, and won multimillion-dollar contracts with some of the world’s largest customers. Jamie served as CEO of a venture-backed private data communications company, Quarry Technologies, Inc., and led its first product release and first commercial contract with a global telecommunications service provider. As an advisor, Jamie advises on corporate and private equity acquisitions and maintains long-term CEO relationships at leading companies. Jamie is passionate about volunteerism and mentorship and looks forward to combining his social consciousness with his consulting and entrepreneurial experience to support educational equity for our students.

Trish Walker, Senior Advisor, Best Buy

Trish Walker is currently a Senior Advisor at Best Buy. She was President of Home and Services prior to her Senior Advisor role. In this role, she focused on developing an in-home strategy that moves beyond transactions to build deep customer relationships as part of the overall Omnichannel experience. Trish oversaw all services in stores, online and in customers’ homes. That includes Best Buy’s In-Home consultation program and the Geek Squad, a national tech-support organization with more that 20,000 agents dedicated to helping customers learn about and enjoy their technology. She also led Best Buy Business with focus on Hospitality and Education, as well as the service plan portfolio and customer care. While at Best Buy, Trish launched several Best Buy Teen Tech Centers including the The Flagship Clubhouse in Roxbury and was the Executive sponsor of the national Geek Squad Academy program.

Before joining Best Buy in 2016, Trish spent 27 years at Accenture, most recently serving as Senior Managing Director and North America Retail Practice Lead. Prior to leading the retail practice, she held numerous positions in Accenture’s retail practice, including marketing, operations, SAP and change management. She has worked with many leading retailers over the years, including CVS, TJX, L.L. Bean, Nordstrom, and Best Buy.

Trish holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Boston College. She is a founding contributor of the Accenture Professorship at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mary, Jamie, and Trish to the Boston Board”, says Kira Ross, BUILD Boston’s Director of Philanthropy. “We recognize their passion for creating a more diverse, equitable workforce and appreciate their commitment to opening new doors for our youth entrepreneurs. We look forward to working in partnership with Christina Luconi and the entire Board to make this the most transformative, impactful year for BUILD Boston to date.”