PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Governor Gina M. Raimondo today announced her intent to nominate six people to serve on the Board of the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. Raimondo will submit the following names for consideration to the Rhode Island State Senate for confirmation:
• Bernard V Buonanno III of Providence
• Mary Jo Kaplan of Providence
• Mary Lovejoy of Barrington
• Michael McNally of Barrington
• Donna M. Sams of Providence
• Vanessa Toledo-Vickers of Richmond
"Rhode Island's comeback depends on reigniting our economic engine," said Raimondo. "Our coordinated economic strategy will be executed by a talented team of professionals with broad experience, under Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor. I'm incredibly grateful to these nominees for bringing their diverse experience to the Board to help create conditions that will jumpstart our struggling economy, create jobs, and expand opportunity for all Rhode Islanders."
"I also want to thank Jerauld Adams, Shannon Brawley, Maeve Donohue, Elizabeth Francis, Roland Fiore, and Stanley Weiss for their dedicated commitment to this Board and great work on behalf of our state," added Raimondo.
"We must make strategic investments in order to produce a wave of economic growth for Rhode Island - including investments in workforce development, advanced industries and innovation, visitor attraction, and enterprise expansion and recruitment," said Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor. "This way, everyone will have a chance to make it in Rhode Island. I look forward to working with the members of this Board to help Rhode Island make waves and make progress."
The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation works with public, private and non-profit partners to create the conditions for businesses in all sectors to thrive. The Commerce Corporation will carry out a range of new initiatives outlined in the Governor's budget, including a more robust, more accountable toolkit of business incentives and reinvigorated statewide brand.
Bernard V Buonanno III is a Managing Director of Nautic Partners, a private equity firm that focuses on manufacturing, healthcare and business services. Mr. Buonanno is a member of the Executive and Investment Committee of Nautic Partners and he also currently serves on the Board of Directors of Applied Consultants, Inc.; CWS Holding Company, LLC; NLS Holdings LLC; IPS Group LLC; and PEP Industries, LLC. Mr. Buonanno is currently the President of the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame. Mr. Buonanno is a Providence native and received an AB from Brown University in 1988 and an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1993.
Mary Jo Kaplan is an Executive at Loomio, an international social enterprise tech start up for collaborative decision making that is active in more than 85 countries and recently opened its first US office in Providence. Ms. Kaplan is also an Adjunct Lecturer at Brown University and Founder and Principal at Kaplan Consulting LLC. Ms. Kaplan worked in the environmental sector for over two decades as a Senior Consultant at the Institute for Conservation Leadership. Ms. Kaplan serves on the Board of Directors for The Social Enterprise Greenhouse and the Foundation Board for Miriam Hospital. Ms. Kaplan earned her BA from Brown University, M. Ed from Harvard University and was a 2013 Fulbright Ian Axford Fellow in Public Policy in New Zealand.
Mary Lovejoy is the Vice President and Treasurer of the Providence-based Textron Inc., a $14 billion global, multi-industry company that has over 34,000 employees. Prior to her time at Textron, Ms. Lovejoy was a Vice President and Senior Banker of First National Bank of Chicago for 16 years. Ms. Lovejoy sits on the Board of Trustees for Rhode Island School of Design and the Board of Directors for the Rhode Island Foundation. Ms. Lovejoy earned her BA from Dartmouth College and MBA from the University of Chicago.
Michael F. McNally recently retired as one of nine members of Skanska's Senior Executive Team responsible for the company's $20 billion global construction and development operations. While he was president and CEO of Skanska USA it grew to be one of the largest construction/development companies in the US with annual revenues in excess of $7 billion. Previous to his retirement, McNally sat on the national board of directors for the ACE Mentoring Program, and the Association for the Improvement of American Infrastructure. He was also on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's "Lets Rebuild America" leadership committee, Vice chairman of the New York Building Congress, and also the Co-Chair of the YMCA of Greater New York "Strong Kids" Campaign. Mr. McNally holds a BSCE degree from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of Rhode Island.
Donna M. Sams is currently the Owner/Partner at Centered Change, LLC, a Providence-based company that offers empowering workshops, lessons, discussions and retreats for women. Ms. Sams is also a Partner/Senior Consultant at Spencer Consulting Group, a consulting firm that specializes in strategic thinking, planning and development of a flexible operating model for corporate, non-profit and public sector organizations. Ms. Sams sits on the Advisory Board at YearUp Providence. She earned her BA from Clark University, and her MS from Amridge University.
Vanessa Toledo-Vickers is the Director of Operations at the Academy for Career Exploration in Providence, a Career and Technical Education public charter school in Providence. Prior to this, Ms. Toledo-Vickers spent fifteen years at Virtual Marketing Associates Inc and over a decade of her career in various roles at AT&T. Ms. Toledo-Vickers is a member of the Board of Directors of Delta Dental of Rhode Island and Latino Public Radio and a member of the Advisory Committee for Rhode Island Commerce Corporation's Emprendedores RI Project. Ms. Toledo-Vickers earned her BA from George Washington University.
###