Amanda Eckhoff is a member of Robinson & Cole’s Real Estate + Development Practice Group. She represents institutional and private lenders, as well as borrowers, in connection with a broad range of real estate financing transactions and related matters. Amanda is committed to doing pro bono work. She helps the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project (PAIR) by providing free immigration legal services to asylum-seekers and immigrants unjustly detained in Massachusetts. Her community involvement prompted Robinson & Cole to recognize her with the firm’s Community Service Award. Amanda runs marathons in support of charitable organizations, such as the Boston Living Center, which provides food and care for individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Amanda coordinates Robinson & Cole’s annual Gift-A-Vet holiday gift-giving program, which benefits veterans involved with the New England Center and Home for Veterans. She also launched a firm volunteer program, where she joins other firm employees in regularly serving lunch to veterans at the center.

Alexander C. Gavis is Senior Vice President & Deputy General Counsel in the Corporate Legal Department of FMR LLC, the parent company of Fidelity Investments, one of the largest brokerage and mutual fund companies in the United States and the leading provider of workplace retirement savings plans. He heads a team of attorneys and professionals and is responsible for providing legal services to the firm’s retail brokerage, stock plan and workplace retirement businesses. He also oversees and manages legal services for Fidelity’s businesses involved in electronic and mobile commerce, start-up innovation, and social media. Mr. Gavis also oversees legal advice on all of Fidelity’s national advertising and marketing initiatives. Mr. Gavis received his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and his bachelor’s degree, with High Honors and Phi Beta Kappa, from Swarthmore College. Mr. Gavis serves as chair of the FINRA Public Communications Committee and is an adjunct professor at Suffolk University Law School, teaching a class on law and design thinking, and he has taught and lectured at Stanford University Law and Design Schools and at Harvard Law School.

Kathleen Gondek, MS, PhD, is currently the Vice President of Global Health Economics Outcomes Research and Epidemiology at Takeda. Prior to Takeda, Kathleen spent 15 years at Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, where she held numerous positions including leading the US medical science liaison and medical affairs operations department. Gondek also worked for the Health Care Finance Administration, now CMS, in the Office of Research and Demonstrations. She has co-authored more than 45 peer-reviewed publications and over 100 presentations. Gondek holds a bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a PhD in Pharmacy Practice and Administrative Science from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. Kathleen was a lecturer at Yale University in the School of Public Health, a previous committee chair at PhARMA, and is currently a member of the Boston Club and ISPOR. Kathleen also  served as a member of the Advisory Panel on Rare Disease from August 2016 to August 2019.

Aynel David Guerra is a Cuban-born, Boston-based independent curator, artist and the owner/founder of A R E A, a multi-format and interdisciplinary gallery in Boston that organizes exhibitions and experiences featuring the work of local and international artists and designers of diverse social and cultural backgrounds and the founder/director of AREA CODE Art Fair, the first art fair exclusively featuring contemporary artists with ties to New England. David’s passion for innovation in the arts has led him to collaborate on a variety of projects and exhibitions as a curator in Boston. Recently, he was the guest curator of the fifth edition of the Illuminous Festival, the juror for the Arts & Business Council’s Walter Feldman Fellowship for Emerging Artists, and the juror of the 84th Regional Exhibition of Art & Craft organized by the Fitchburg Art Museum. David has taught workshops on art pricing and art collecting, seminars on Exhibition Design at MassArt College, and Career Advice at RISD. He studied law at the University of Havana, Oxford and Harvard. He also holds a degree in International Relations from the Higher Institute of International Relations in Havana, Cuba, where he worked as a diplomat for four years.

Awilda has over twenty years of experience in banking. Her areas of expertise include all phases of small business operations, including business planning, financing, and market research. Awilda is fluent in both English and Spanish, and is familiar with the Hispanic market from soup to nuts. As a business advisor, Awilda helps business owners build sales and marketing operations. With her unique combination of skills in strategic planning, marketing, sales, financing, business development and performance management, she has helped business owners launch successful businesses. Awilda holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Salem State University in Geography and a master’s degree from Lesley College in International Relations.

Boston native Bithyah Israel is a community organizer, cellist, composer, vocalist and video editor whose work centers on social justice and equal access for communities of color. A woman of Dominican and European descent and child of the inner city, Bithyah’s lived experience has rendered a dedication to and belief in the power of community spirit. She is founder of City Strings United, a creative youth development organization providing free cello lessons and performance opportunities to youth in Roxbury since 2012 and is the current Social Justice Fellow for the Arts and Humanities at the UU Urban Ministry in Roxbury where she shepherds events featuring the arts through a social justice lens. She holds a BA in health administration, is a former Spanish medical interpreter, and holds a certificate in Nonprofit Practice from Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life. She is a recipient of the “Women of Courage and Conviction” award from the National Council of Negro Women Greater Boston Section for her work through City Strings United. Bithyah is a member of the Massachusetts Production Coalition, Celebrity Series Community Engagement Committee, and Array Crew. She enjoys producing original music and singing.

Joanne began her career creating branding and motion graphics for broadcast & cable television. She has worked with the Discovery Channel, PBS, TLC, ESPN, History Channel, HGTV as well as many television stations around the US. Joanne has won a shelf full of awards which includes 2 Emmys and many Broadcast Designer Awards. Currently her work focus is on design for local businesses and non-profit clients. Joanne freelances as an art director for a small advertising agency and recently worked on some documentary films as a graphic designer and animator. She often combines her art-making skills with her graphic design work. One of her largest achievements was designing an illuminated metal panel art installation at the Channel Center Garage located in South Boston. It is the largest piece of public art in Boston.

Ayana Mack is a Senior Graphic Designer and Visual Artist based in Boston, MA. For ten years, Ayana has worked with early-stage and established businesses/organizations. With a focus on brand development, social media strategy, user experience design, print marketing, merchandise & more. Some of the clients Ayana has worked with include Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, The Boston Arts & Music Soul Festival, Boston While Black, Boston Public Schools, HubSpot, and more. Over the last seven years, Ayana has been the Senior Graphic designer at the Greater Boston Real Estate Board. Where she manages marketing for six divisions within various sectors of real estate. When Ayana is not designing you can find her teaching, displaying artwork, and advocating for arts in communities of color.