Spring Inspiration Breakfast

Donna currently serves as Chair of the Corporate Board of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston and has been guided for years by that order’s core value: to love the “Dear Neighbor” without distinction. She was first introduced to the Foundation for MetroWest while serving as a Trustee, and later as Chair, of Bethany Hill Place in Framingham, a ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph that provides housing and educational opportunities to the community’s poorest and most marginalized adults and children and empowers them to create self-sufficient futures. Over the years, Donna has devoted herself to many causes that support education, social service, and restorative community care: she has assumed leadership roles as a Trustee, Program Committee Chair, and Treasurer of the Wayland Public Schools’ Foundation and has served on the Foundation for MetroWest’s Distribution Committee. Donna has also volunteered for the Aftercare Ministry for women at MCI prison, where she befriended and mentored women transitioning from incarceration to community life, and the Wayland Angel Food Network, where she assisted residents with medical appointments, transportation, groceries, and meal delivery. Donna has held multiple roles in her faith community of The Good Shepherd Parish of Wayland, including as Co-Chair of the Peace and Justice Committee, religious education teacher, and eucharistic minister. For decades she has coordinated a “Christmas Giving Tree” program to collect and distribute gifts to nonprofits that care for children in need, including families supported by REACH who have suffered from domestic violence. Donna’s faith-based and community engagements reflect a lifelong devotion to service and to responding to those in need.

Until his retirement in 2019, John was a prominent attorney at the international firm Ropes and Gray, where he served for many years as a member of its management committee. He earned his A.B., cum laude, from Harvard College (1975) and his J.D., summa cum laude, from Boston College Law School (1981), leading to his career as a distinguished trial lawyer. For four decades, he handled what he termed “big corporate headaches,” serving as a courtroom lawyer in trials and appeals across the country, including in the U.S. Supreme Court.

John’s professional distinction is matched by sustained civic engagement. He has served as President and Trustee of the Boston Bar Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Boston Bar Association, which strives to promote justice by funding and promoting innovation in the delivery of legal services, facilitating access to legal counsel in underserved communities, and supporting the public service projects and pro bono work of the Boston Bar members; as a member of the Boston Bar Association Council, a commissioner of the Massachusetts Judicial Nominating Commission, and a member of the Board of Overseers for Boston College Law School.

Together John and Donna exhibit complementary strengths: Donna’s grassroots charity and parish-based outreach, and John’s institutional leadership and civic stewardship. Together they hope to exemplify engaged, generous citizenship by quietly leading nonprofit boards, mentoring others, advocating for education and social justice, and investing time and resources in philanthropic endeavors intended to achieve maximum impact. Their family foundation has been a proud benefactor of the Community Foundation for MetroWest for many years. They are extremely humbled to be honored as “Community Philanthropists” by the Foundation.