After a quarter-century building Eastern Bank’s foundation, Huntington Stager exits

“I feel like the bank and I grew up together,” Stager said. “It’s been a great ride. We’ve done a lot of good in our communities. I’m very proud of what the whole team has done.”

The foundation previously had its own executive director, Laura Kurzrok, who reported to Stager; as a mutual bank at the time, Eastern gave 10 percent of its net income to the foundation. In 2020, shortly after Eastern’s initial public offering, chairman Bob Rivers announced that Stager would run the foundation on a full-time basis, relinquishing her HR role at the bank. That IPO also turbocharged the foundation by giving it shares valued at around $90 million, doubling its size.

Today, the foundation’s assets total around $250 million. It gives out community grants ranging from $100 to $10,000, and makes even larger grants focused on four core areas: advancing equity among small businesses, helping early childhood education efforts, providing affordable housing, and promoting workforce training for people facing barriers to employment.

Stager borrowed an idea from Google to create a “foundation fellows” program in which subject matter experts join the foundation in full- or part-time roles. Dorsey, who served as chief of education for then-mayor Martin J. Walsh, was the first such fellow before becoming the foundation’s chief impact officer. Other fellows include Jeff Fuhrer (economic and racial justice), Jerry Rubin (workforce development), Dina Scianna (affordable housing), Natalia Urtubey (small-business equity), Eva Millona (workforce development), and Tom Weber (early childhood education).

The Eastern foundation, which gave out $16 million in grants last year, also has an army of Eastern Bank employees who chip in by volunteering. It’s important, Stager said, to have the humility to understand that Eastern and its foundation are just one part of the process.

“It’s about building stronger communities,” she said. “If you talk about ‘those needy people,’ you can’t help because you’re not listening to what their needs are.”

The headaches keep coming for Massachusetts biotech firms: tariffs, pricing crackdowns, research funding cuts, an exodus at the Food and Drug Administration.

Governor Maura Healey and Marc Casper, the chief executive of Waltham-based lab equipment maker Thermo Fisher Scientific, made subtle nods to those challenges when they spoke at the annual BIO conference at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center last week. But they chose to focus on the strengths of the Massachusetts biotech ecosystem, rather than gripe about the negatives.

Healey said she recognizes the tariff and funding issues, but she also told those gathered at the Massachusetts section of the convention floor that “I want you to know we have everything we need” in this state. (Everything except an uninterrupted flow of National Institutes of Health funding, that is.)

Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, chief executive of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, moderated the discussion. She asked Healey and Casper what Massachusetts should do to remain the top state for the life sciences sector.

Healey responded by saying the state needs even more partnerships among the hospitals, universities, and venture capitalists here.

“That kind of communication is what makes this ecosystem so powerful,” Healey said. “It’s also going to help us get through the moment that we’re in.”

Casper had a similar message about the importance of industry collaboration. He also talked about Thermo Fisher’s domestic manufacturing efforts, including a Plainville factory that it opened in 2022 to make viral vectors (a key component in gene therapies). He noted his company’s announcement in April to spend $1.5 billion over four years to enhance and expand its US manufacturing.

“As we get commitments from our clients, you’ll see us adding new lines to our infrastructure,” Casper said. “It’s an exciting time.”

The positive vibes continued with the subsequent panel, in which Eli Lilly executive Vanessa Barth, Deborah Glasser of Sanofi, and Maurice Phelan of Sartorius talked about why their companies chose to grow in Massachusetts. The consensus: It’s hard to beat the potent mixture of talent, universities, research, and venture capital in Greater Boston.

“There’s no other place in the world that’s like Kendall Square, and it’s now expanding beyond Kendall Square,” Glasser said of the Cambridge life sciences hub. “Everybody is trying to copy that Kendall Square recipe.”

Suffolk University has shifted its center of gravity from the Beacon Hill neighborhood to the Tremont Street corridor over the past two decades, and perhaps no one is more responsible than senior vice president John Nucci.

Now, after 19 years in Suffolk leadership, Nucci has decided to retire at the age of 73. He leaves at the end of August.

Dorm conversions at One Court St. and 10 West St. The Modern Theatre rehab, plus more dorms on top. And now, even more dorms coming to the Beantown Pub building, replacing offices. Those are just a few examples of his projects.

When he joined the Suffolk administration in 2006, after teaching there as an adjunct for 14 years, it was important for Nucci to move the school away from the residential areas of Beacon Hill, in part to improve town-gown relations.

“If you stroll from one end of our downtown campus to the other . . . you can see the hand of John Nucci,” president Marisa Kelly said in a memo to staff, calling Nucci a critical liaison between Suffolk and local civic leaders.

Retirement is not the same as goodbye. Nucci will still serve on the Massachusetts Port Authority’s board of directors, and he suspects he might get involved in civic affairs in some other capacity.

“The odds say that I won’t be able to stay away from the action,” Nucci said. “For now, it’s time to get off the merry-go-round.”

Another big record was set at the Boston Marathon this spring, but this one had nothing to do with race times.

The Boston Athletic Association announced that the Marathon raised $50.4 million for 176 nonprofits, besting the record set last year of $45.7 million. While most of the 30,000 runners earned a spot by meeting a qualifying time, about 10 percent ran because they raised funds for a charity.

This marks the second year since Bank of America took over lead sponsorship of the race, fulfilling the role once held by life insurer John Hancock. BAA president Jack Fleming said the bank’s approach to highlighting everyday runners and their charitable quests made a difference in the fundraising.

Bank executive Miceal Chamberlain said the fund-raising legacy started by the BAA and John Hancock in 1989 was one of the big factors behind the bank’s interest in becoming a sponsor. The bank put its marketing muscle behind the effort, using TV ads and signage on its national network of ATMs to highlight charity runners, and created a web portal that allowed people to donate to runners, or to specific charities.

The BAA does a great job highlighting the elites, Chamberlain said, but bank executives wanted to spotlight the charity runners and their causes. Bank employees look forward to Patriots Day to volunteer for the race, and in many cases, cheer on colleagues.

“There’s a tremendous sense of pride,” Chamberlain said. “This race means so much to the people who grew up in the region.”

Jon Chesto can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @jonchesto.