LWN070821

JULY 8, 2021
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 9
STUDENT OF
THE WEEK
Excelling on and off the field
By Sam Minton
LYNNFIELD — On
and off the field, Lauren
Braconnier and Jen Flynn
exemplified what it meant to
be student-athletes.
Braconnier and Flynn
were recently honored for
their academic achievements,
awarded Agganis
scholarships and were
named Agganis All-Stars —
with Braconnier honored in
soccer and Flynn in lacrosse.
Both the soccer player and
lacrosse player were excited
to be honored, and were
especially touched to have
their academic achievements
celebrated.
“Obviously it was a very
big accomplishment for
me,” Braconnier said. “A lot
of my high school career has
been trying to balance sports
and academics, and to finally
have real recognition of that
from the Agganis foundation
was a big accomplishment.”
“It was so amazing that I
got it (the scholarship), but
I feel like it was also a huge
honor especially to be noticed
for all of my academic
and athletic career,” Flynn
said.
Braconnier will be headed
to Worcester Polytechnic
Institute in the fall. She said
she had spent time there before,
with some family members
going to the school.
“My brother and a few of
my cousins have gone (to
WPI) so I spent a lot of time
there over my childhood
and I know that it’s a great
school,” Braconnier said.
Flynn will be headed to
Bentley University, and will
be studying business at the
school.
“I feel like, my whole
life, it’s been a mix of sports
and school,” Flynn said. “I
think that even though I’m
not playing a sport there ...
Bentley as a school is a very
good mix (for) being a student
and athlete.”
Both Braconnier and
Flynn recognize that it’s important
to do well both on the
field and in the classroom.
WPI-bound Braconnier said
that it’s important to balance
school and athletics and that
coaches have reminded her
that she’s a student before
an athlete.
“I think being a student-athlete
is one of the
most challenging things but
it’s also one of the most rewarding,
because balancing
school and sports is very
hard and time consuming —
but at the end of the day you
accomplish so much and it
makes you a better person
overall,” Flynn said.
COURTESY PHOTO | LAUREN BRACONNIER
Lauren Braconnier
FILE PHOTO | SPENSER HASAK
Jen Flynn
Eastern Bank Foundation battles inequity
By Anne Marie Tobin
BOSTON — The Eastern
Bank Charitable Foundation,
the philanthropic arm of Bostonbased
Eastern Bank, has a new
look and a new name — Eastern
Bank Foundation (EBF).
“We believe the way to
achieve sustainable change
is through listening and responding
to the lived experiences
of people in our communities,
trusting their priorities
and partnering on innovative
ways to dismantle centuries-old
social and economic hierarchies
that produce and reinforce inequities,”
said EBF President and
CEO Nancy Huntington Stager.
According to Stager, the decision
to eliminate the word
“charitable” reflects the fact
that the foundation’s work is
not only focused on the less fortunate,
but it is an “investment
in systems change” for and with
the communities served by the
foundation.
The foundation’s longstanding
support of grassroots
community donations programs
is a key core strategy. That
initiative provides millions of
dollars in assistance to community
nonprofit organizations in
eastern Massachusetts, southern
and coastal New Hampshire
and Rhode Island, serving more
than 1,500 local organizations
that provide a variety of vital
services.
“Their grassroots focus has
enabled long-lasting relationships
across the region and an
opportunity to listen to the lived
experiences of community
members, improving the foundation’s
understanding of the
issues being faced every day,”
Stager said.
The foundation is committed
to eliminating inequities in the
region by supporting local organizations
working to implement
systemic and sustained change
to advance economic inclusion
and mobility. The foundation
has also committed another $2
million in COVID-19 support
for equitable access to vaccines
and culturally-inclusive outreach
to communities of color.
Since 2020, the foundation
has dedicated $15 million to
COVID-19 relief funds.
Stager said the support and
dedication of Eastern Bank staff
has been a critical component of
the foundation’s success. Since
1994, more than 500,000 volunteer
hours have been logged.
“Our philanthropy fuels our
corporate volunteerism and
advocacy and is, in turn, influenced
by them,” Stager said.
“Collaborations with community
partners and other companies
deepen our collective
impact. The combination of our
philanthropy, volunteerism, advocacy
and collaboration with
community partners is the best
way we can support our region,
and we thank our employees
and community partners for all
that they do and for embracing
opportunities to work together
to make meaningful positive
change.”
Eastern Bank Foundation has
identified key strategy areas that
will have the greatest impact in
philanthropy, volunteerism and
advocacy. Those areas include
advancing equity in the small
business ecosystem, enriching
early childhood development,
securing safe and affordable
housing, promoting workforce
development and innovations
in economic inclusion and
mobility.
“We are more committed
than ever to economic inclusion
and mobility, as a set of
strategies that we know are far
too under-resourced in our region,
and vital to our purpose
to help people prosper,” added
Stager. “Our communities, particularly
our gateway cities, are
facing enormous challenges:
the racial wealth gap is widening,
economic opportunity is
declining, and economic mobility
— which has historically
been fleeting for communities
of color — is stalled. Housing
and career opportunities are
limited especially for people of
color, women, members of the
LGBTQ+ community, veterans
and people who are disabled.”
Stager cited the Foundation
for Business Equity (FBE) as an
example of an effective initiative
to advance equity in small
business. Sager is a member
of FBE’s advisory board and
committee.
Other examples are EBF’s
$5 million commitment to the
New Commonwealth Race
Equity and Social Justice Fund
in 2020. The donation, to be
spread over five years, is five
times larger than any previous
EBF donation to a single organization.
In 2021, EBF partnered
with the Massachusetts
Business Roundtable to launch
the Massachusetts Business
Coalition for Early Childhood
Education.
Bob Rivers, CEO of Eastern
Bank, serves as one of its five
co-chairs. The coalition spans
77 companies and 14 business
organizations, with a mission
of improving outcomes in early
child care and education across
Massachusetts.
In 2021, EBF committed
an additional $2 million in
COVID-19 support for equity
and access to vaccines and culturally-inclusive
outreach in
communities of color.
“As widely reported, the
COVID-19 vaccine rollout
across our region has exacerbated
significant disparities
in communities of color, with
many gateway cities being most
impacted by the virus,” Stager
said. “We are working with
community organizations, community
health centers, foundations,
companies and others to
learn where the gaps persist,
and how we can help efforts to
move quickly to address them.”
EBF provided more than $13
million in COVID-19 support
in 2020.
To learn more about EBF,
visit its new website at easternbank.com/foundation.