Zoomin’ in On

Zoomin’ in On: Alumni/ae Spotlight Series

Thursday, July 9, 2020 | 11:00 AM 
Zoomin’ in on
MARY BONAUTO ’87
Celebrating Recent LGBTQ Victories and Looking Ahead

Mary and two Vermont co-counsel won a 1999 ruling in Baker v. State of Vermont which led to the nation’s first civil union law.  She was lead counsel in the groundbreaking case Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, which made Massachusetts the first state where same-sex couples could legally marry in 2004. She was also co-counsel in Kerrigan v. Department of Public Health, in which the Connecticut Supreme Court also ruled for marriage; advocated in state legislatures for marriage; and served on the Executive Committee of the 2009 and 2012 Maine ballot campaigns.

Mary led GLAD’s federal court challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in Gill v. OPM and Pedersen v. OPM, leading to the first federal court rulings against DOMA, and then coordinated amici briefs for the Windsor case at the Supreme Court.  As a member of the legal team in the Michigan marriage case DeBoer v. Snyder, she became the Supreme Court oralist on behalf of the plaintiffs in Obergefell. 

Mary’s work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2014 MacArthur Fellowship.  She is the Shikes Fellow in Civil Liberties and Civil Rights and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, serves on an advisory board for the American Constitution Society and has also served as co-chair of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities.

Friday, June 26, 2020 | 11:00 AM
Zoomin' in on
BETTY FRANCISCO ’98
Advocating for Women and People of Color Amidst the COVID Crisis

>> View on YouTube

Betty Francisco ’98 joined Compass Working Capital as general counsel in November 2017. In this role, she serves as the organization’s chief legal advisor, responsible for overseeing all aspects of the organization’s legal affairs. She also supports the organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion work.  As an attorney, she has over 17 years of experience advising health clubs, life sciences, and technology companies in the areas of legal, compliance, risk management, operations, and human resources. An entrepreneur, business executive, attorney and community leader, Franicisco is known as a powerful convener and changemaker, unapologetic about creating visibility for Latinx and people of color. In 2018, Boston Magazine named her as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Boston and GetKonnected honored her to the GK100: Greater Boston’s Most Influential People of Color list.

Friday, May 19, 2020
Zoomin’ in on
LEOCADIA ZAK ’82
Leading in Times of Crisis

With an extensive background in international economic development and international project finance, in 2010 Zak was appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. USTDA is an independent federal agency that advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries. She first joined the agency in 2000, and prior to her appointment as director, she served as general counsel, deputy director and acting director under the Bush and Obama administrations.

Zak’s accomplishments during her time at USTDA are many: she led the development of the Aviation Cooperation Programs in China, India and Brazil; the Energy Cooperation Programs in China and India; and the Smart Cities Initiative in India. She also created the worldwide Global Procurement Initiative. She testified before Congress on behalf of the Agency’s programs; served as principal in bilateral dialogues along with the Secretaries of State, Treasury, Commerce and Agriculture as well as accompanied President Obama on foreign trips, met with heads of state and other senior government officials and business leaders around the world and regularly served as a keynote speaker at domestic and international events. But, the accomplishment that means the most to her is the USTDA’s recognition, for five consecutive years, as one of the “Best Places to Work” in the federal government, as measured by the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.

Before joining the public sector, Zak spent 18 years at the Boston law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, which she joined as an associate in 1982. At the firm, she practiced in the area of international and domestic project finance, becoming a partner in 1990.

Zak has taught international project finance as an adjunct faculty member at the Georgetown University Law Center and the Boston University School of Law, including team-teaching with her husband, Kenneth Hansen, a partner in the Washington, DC, office of the international law firm of Norton Rose Fulbright.

Noell is the founder and managing partner of Tin, Fulton, Walker and Owen, one of North Carolina’s leading law firms. Since its founding in 2002, the firm has grown to twelve attorneys with offices in Charlotte, Chapel Hill and Raleigh. Noell's practice is criminal and regulatory. He has represented clients in over 40 North Carolina counties and the three federal districts in North Carolina, as well as federal courts in New York, Florida, Virginia and South Carolina. He has successfully defended clients in state and federal jury trials and secured impressive victories in the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Noell has also successfully petitioned the United States Supreme Court and obtained summary reversals of lower court decisions three times.

Noell’s cases—have attracted media coverage by The Charlotte Observer, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News’ 20/20 and CBS’ Sixty Minutes.

In addition to trial work, a significant portion of Noell’s practice involves representing people and businesses implicated in “white collar” regulatory and criminal investigations involving securities, health care and banking.

Noell has been recognized by numerous associations including Best Lawyers in America in the areas of white collar and non-white collar criminal defense. He is also a fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America, an honorary society for trial lawyers.

Noell has served on two Merit Selection Committees responsible for selecting finalists for United States Magistrate Judge positions in the Western District of North Carolina.

Friday, June 5, 2020 | 11:00 AM
Zoomin' in on
RAHSAAN HALL ’98
Director, Racial Justice Program, American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts

On Friday, June 5, Rahsaan Hall '98, director of the Racial Justice Program for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts, joined Mielle Marquis over Zoom to talk about recent events and delve into issues that impact communities of color.

Rahsaan Hall ’98 is the director of the Racial Justice Program for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. In this role Rahsaan helps develop the ACLU of Massachusetts’ integrated advocacy approach to address racial justice issues. Through legislative advocacy, litigation and community engagement, the program works on issues that deeply impact communities of color and historically disenfranchised communities. Rahsaan also manages the ACLU of Massachusetts' What a Difference a DA Makes campaign to educate state residents about the power and influence of district attorneys.

Prior to joining the ACLU of Massachusetts, Rahsaan was the deputy director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice where his work included policy and legislative advocacy, community outreach, and maintaining a litigation caseload of voting rights, police misconduct and public accommodations cases. Rahsaan headed up the Voting Rights Project that included the coordination of the statewide Election Protection initiatives, voting rights litigation and his prior involvement in community coalitions on redistricting after the last decennial census.

He also served as an Assistant District Attorney for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. A significant portion of his work in the DA’s Office included his time in the Safe Neighborhood Initiative and Senior Trial Units where he prosecuted drug, gang and homicide cases.

In addition to leading the ACLU of Massachusetts’ Racial Justice Program, Hall also serves on the Hyams Foundation’s board of trustees and is a member of the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee. He is an ordained reverend in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Friday, May 15, 2020 | 11:15 a.m. (ET)
Zoomin' in on
THE HONORABLE WILLIAM “MO” COWAN ’94
Lessons in Leadership

William “Mo” Cowan ’94, President, Global Government Affairs and Policy and Developed Markets for General Electric (GE), shares his Lessons in Leadership...

US Senator William “Mo" Cowan ’94 (retired) is President, Global Government Affairs and Policy and Developed Markets for General Electric (GE), responsible for directing the company’s government relations and public policy engagement in the United States and around the world. Mo also leads the Global Growth Organizational national executive teams in Europe and Canada. Mo previously served as Vice President, Litigation and Legal Policy for the Company, overseeing litigation, enforcement proceedings, investigations and compliance globally. Before joining GE, Mo held leadership roles (President and CEO, May 2016-March 2017; SVP and COO, November 2013-April 2016) with ML Strategies, a leading government relations and consulting firm, and the law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo. Mo also served as a Fellow at the Harvard University Institute of Politics for the Fall semester of 2013.

On January 30, 2013, Governor Deval L. Patrick appointed Mo to serve as interim United States Senator upon the resignation of John F. Kerry. During his Senate term, Mo served on the Senate Agriculture, Commerce, and Small Business Committees, and co-chaired the Subcommittee on Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Food and Agricultural Research (Commerce Committee). Senator Cowan concluded his Senate service on July 16, 2013.

Prior to his Senate appointment, Mo served Governor Patrick in a variety of leadership positions, including Chief Legal Counsel, Chief of Staff, and Senior Advisor. As Chief of Staff, Mo directed strategic planning, investment and operations, including oversight of the state’s multi-billion dollar, annual budgeting process. As chief strategist and crisis manager to the Governor, Mo advised on all domestic and international affairs, intergovernmental relations and gubernatorial appointments and administered all management and personnel functions within the Governor’s office.

Mo is a graduate of Duke University and Northeastern University School of Law. He holds honorary degrees from Georgetown University, Newbury College, and Bridgewater State University.

Mo is a member of the US Association of Former Members of Congress. He also serves on the governance boards of: Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, Partners Healthcare, Massachusetts General Hospital, Eastern Bank Corporation, Duke University (Trinity College) Board of Visitors, Northeastern University, and Greater Boston YMCA Board of Overseers.

Friday, May 8, 2020 | 12:00 p.m. (ET) 

Zoomin' in on
RISHI REDDI '92
Author Talk: Passage West

Award-winning author Rishi Reddi '92 spoke with Mielle Marquis, Northeastern Law's director of external relations, on Friday, May 8, 2020. Reddi has just published her first novel, Passage West, which follows a family of Indian sharecroppers at the onset of World War I, revealing a little-known part of California history.

Rishi Reddi '92 is the author of two books of fiction, Karma and Other Stories, and her latest book, Passage West. Karma and Other Stories was the winner of the 2008 PEN New England / L.L. Winship prize for fiction. Stories from that collection were published in Best American Short Stories, broadcast on National Public Radio, performed at New York City’s Symphony Space, received honorable mention for the Pushcart Prize and chosen for the Boston Book Festival’s “One City, One Story” community read.

Rishi’s debut novel, Passage West, has been recommended by The Bustle, Book Riot, Ms. Magazine and The Millions. A sweeping saga set in rural California at the onset of World War I, it relates the story of a Punjabi family, their Mexican in-laws and their Japanese neighbors during an era of tightening immigration laws.

Rishi was born in Hyderabad, India, and lived in Great Britain and several regions of the United States before attending Swarthmore College and Northeastern University School of Law. She has worked as an environmental lawyer for state and federal government for more than twenty-five years and served on the boards of Grub Street, Boston’s creative writing center, and SAALT, a national nonpartisan organization that represents the South Asian-American community. She has also served as the Massachusetts legislative liaison for Amnesty International USA. Her essays and translations have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Asian American Literary Review and the Partisan Review and she has received grants and fellowships from The MacDowell Colony, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the US Department of State and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.