While the pandemic made it impossible for us to gather in person, our virtual platform made it possible for us to host a large Annual Meeting audience to recognize a year of remarkable work under challenging circumstances, and welcome M. Lee Pelton to his first Annual Meeting as President and CEO of the Boston Foundation on December 9.

Boston Foundation Board Chair Linda Mason welcomed the attendees, and introduced Lee Pelton for brief remarks, in which he recapped his first six months on the job and shared his thoughts on the theme of equity, which will be a core tenet of the Foundation's work in the coming years, and a central pillar of the Foundation's strategic vision in 2022 and beyond. 

Pelton then introduced a brief video featuring interview highlights from the more than two dozen people featured in the 2020 and 2021 Boston Foundation Annual Reports, which have both focused on the remarkable leaders and community activists who are helping to shape a movement toward a more just and equitable Boston.

After the video, Barr Foundation President and Trustee Jim Canales joined Lee on screen for a wide-ranging 30-minute conversation about philanthropy and the non-profit sector during COVID, the challenges of leadership in an unparalleled time, and other more personal elements of the past year. The conversation ended on a hopeful note, with a discussion of the new generation of leaders and their opportunity to move the city and region forward even as the pandemic continues. Both leaders expressed hope that with vaccines, a new administration at City Hall, and a rising generation of remarkable leaders in many local communities, that Boston could continue on a path toward justice and equity.

To explore the Annual Report, click here or visit https://tbf.org/2021.