T.J. Rose, Elyse Cherry join the Boston Foundation Board of Directors

Boston – The Boston Foundation today announced that the Foundation Board of Directors unanimously approved the selection of T.J. Rose, Partner at Abry Partners, and Elyse Cherry, CEO of BlueHub Capital, to join the Board for five-year terms that end June 30, 2024.

“We are thrilled to have these two great leaders join us as we strive to strengthen the Boston’s Foundation’s position in the region for the next decade,” said Sandra Edgerley, board chair of the Boston Foundation. “Elyse brings a successful, longstanding track record of active business and civic leadership focused on advancing solutions to complex housing and economic development challenges in order to build an inclusive prosperity, and T.J. brings an understanding of some of Greater Boston’s key innovation sectors and a needed understanding of the equity and investment markets. We know they will both be valued members of the Board.”

Elyse Cherry

Elyse Cherry has served since 1997 as the Chief Executive Officer of BlueHub Capital, a community finance institution that has made more than $2 billion in investments in underserved communities since its founding in 1984. Under Cherry’s leadership, BlueHub has grown from its Boston roots into an organization with national reach, becoming a model for community investment in the United States.

Cherry is a member of the Board of Trustees of Eastern Bank and the Board of Directors of the Forsyth Institute. She has served on the boards of directors of more than a dozen privately held companies, including Zipcar. She is a past chair of the Massachusetts Cultural Council; served as a member of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s statewide transition team; and chaired the board of Mass Equality during that organization’s historic fight for marriage equality in the Commonwealth.

The Financial Times and OUTstanding named Cherry one of the world’s Top 100 LGBT Executives. In 2014, the White House named her a Solar Champion of Change for her pioneering work to bring the benefits of solar energy to low-income communities. The Boston Business Journal has named Cherry to its Power 50 list of influential Bostonians. The Boston Globe and the Commonwealth Institute have recognized BlueHub as one of the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts.

Cherry is an attorney and a former partner at the law firm of Hale and Dorr, now Wilmer Hale. Early in her career, she served as a field examiner for the National Labor Relations Board and as a VISTA volunteer in rural Tennessee. Cherry is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Northeastern University Law School. She received Wellesley’s Alumnae Achievement Award – the college’s highest accolade – in 2017.

T.J. Rose

T.J. Rose is a Partner at Abry Partners, an information and business services private equity firm which currently manages over $12 billion of capital in its active funds. Mr. Rose joined Abry Partners in 2011 and has built extensive experience in the healthcare sector. To date, Mr. Rose has 15 years of experience in private equity, having held positions at Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area (Goldman Sachs’ leverage buyout group), Audax Group (a $5 billion private equity firm), and his current role at Abry Partners. Previously, Mr. Rose was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company in Atlanta and Johannesburg. 

He currently sits on the board of several companies within the Abry Partners portfolio, including Aduro, Aegis Sciences, Dr. Dental, North American Dental Group, Sentry Data Systems, and U.S. Dermatology Partners. Previously, Mr. Rose sat on the boards of HealthSCOPE Benefits, Source Medical and Trover Solutions. In addition to these company boards, Mr. Rose also serves on various community boards, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Board of Trustees, United Way of Massachusetts, and the Chestnut Hill School.

Born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, Mr. Rose graduated with honors in Civil Engineering from Florida A&M University and received his M.B.A from Harvard Business School.

Elyse Cherry and T.J. Rose are replacing outgoing board members Grace Fey and Greg Shell, both of whom are rotating off the Board of Directors having served two five-year terms.