Leaders Share Their Experiences at Heritage Park Public Program

Avak Kahvejian, PhD

Avak Kahvejian, PhD is a life sciences inventor, entrepreneur, and CEO. Since 2011, he has been a partner at Flagship Pioneering, where he leads a team to invent and launch new therapeutic platforms. His work has led to the creation of multiple high-value public and private companies including Cygnal Therapeutics (pioneering new drugs that target neuronal pathways for the treatment of cancer, and autoimmune/inflammation disorders); Codiak BioSciences (developing engineered exosome therapeutics as cancer treatments); Rubius Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RUBY); developing Red Cell Therapeutics, engineered red blood cells capable of providing potent and prolonged therapy for rare diseases, cancer and autoimmunity; and Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB); the first microbiome therapy platform. At Cygnal, Avak served as founding president and CEO from 2017 until the end of 2018, and currently serves as Chief Innovation Officer, leading the establishment and application of a neuronal biology platform for target and drug discovery in the fields of oncology and immunology. At Rubius, he served as founding president and CEO from 2013 to 2017, and then as CIO until the end of 2018. There he established the Rubius Erythrocyte Design (RED)™ platform and conceived and developed dozens of Red Cell Therapeutics (RCTs)™ spanning a range of therapeutic modalities including enzyme therapies, immuno-oncology and oncology therapies, and tolerogenic drugs. Avak also serves as a board member at Codiak and as CEO of multiple FlagshipLabs companies including Cellarity, Ring, FL50, and FL56. Avak serves on the board of the International Institute of New England, an institution which creates opportunities for refugees and immigrants to succeed through resettlement, education, career advancement and pathways to citizenship. He is also on the board of the Canadian Entrepreneurs of New England. He earned his PhD and BS in biochemistry from McGill University. Follow Avak Kahvejian on Twitter: @AvakK and on Instagram @avakava.

Boston City Councilor Julia Mejia

Boston City Councilor At-Large Julia Mejia, after a historic recount, won her seat by a single vote and is now the first Afro-Latina to sit on the Boston City Council. Mejia is currently the Chair of the Committee on Civil Rights and the Committee of Small Business and Workforce Development. Councilor Mejia is focused on influencing and inspiring constituents to be actively engaged in all areas of decision-making processes. Since assuming her role in January, Councilor Mejia and her office have executed a series of innovative COVID-related projects in response to the need of Boston’s hardest-hit constituents. Her office has created culturally responsive food access projects to support small businesses and feed our most vulnerable, as well as a COVID business readiness program to build capacity for Black/Brown immigrant-owned barbers and hair salons. Her office has also designed and implemented a community-centered civic engagement model to address city-wide quality of life concerns and filed legislation to improve access and accountability in city government. Councilor Mejia was recently named Best City Politician 2020 in Boston Magazine. Follow City Councilor At-Large Julia Mejia on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @juliaforboston

Berj Najarian

In his 27th season in the National Football League and 22nd season with the New England Patriots, Berj Najarian serves as the point person for the day-to-day operations of the team. Berj acts as a liaison across football departments such as team travel, equipment, training and player engagement as well as non-football departments such as marketing, media relations, content and Gillette Stadium operations. Berj manages several elements of head coach Bill Belichick’s off-field agenda, including football operations, player and staff communication, scheduling and personal requests. Berj has been part of all six Patriots Super Bowl championship teams.

Entering the NFL in 1995, Berj was a public relations assistant with the New York Jets for five seasons following an internship with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association. Berj attended Boston University, earning a degree in English. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Armenian Museum of America and as Board member and officer of the Bill Belichick Foundation. He was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in Manhasset, NY. Follow Berj Najarian on Instagram @berj.najarian

Tracey Zhen

Tracey Zhen is president of Zipcar, the world’s leading car-sharing network, where she oversees all facets of the business. Tracey is focused on innovation and leveraging technology to grow Zipcar’s position as a category leader within the fast-growing mobility industry. Tracey has 20 years of experience in leadership roles at consumer technology companies, including senior management roles at TripAdvisor and Expedia where she oversaw business strategy, finance, operations, product development, and marketing. At TripAdvisor, Tracey oversaw the company’s vacation rental brands, scaling the business and growing revenue through strategic acquisitions and the restructuring of its business models. At Expedia, Tracey served as general manager for emerging markets and strategy, leading international business growth in Europe and Latin America. There she launched new markets, built a European strategy team, and scaled the business to multi-million-dollar growth. Tracey has a proven track record of scaling start-up businesses through product innovation, technology platform development, and consumer marketing. Tracey started her career in investment banking at Bear, Stearns and Co., Inc., and she held senior roles at IAC where she built and oversaw a finance and analytics team, was responsible for new business development and subsequent wind-down and aided corporate restructurings and capital financings. Tracey serves on the Advisory Board of the Harvard Kennedy School Taubman Center for State and Local Government. She is a graduate of New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business holding dual B.S. degrees in Finance and Information Systems, she is a resident of Newton and a native of New York City.

Cindy Fitzgibbon, Host

Cindy Fitzgibbon is Meteorologist, WCVB TV NewsCenter 5’s EyeOpener and Midday. Cindy Fitzgibbon joined WCVB TV in 2013 but has been in the Boston market the past 20 years and a broadcast meteorologist for 25 years. In 2017, she won the regional Emmy award for out- standing achievement in weather broadcasting. She has also won an Associated Press award for “Best Weathercast” and has made guest appearances on ABC News.

Cindy is involved with and devotes her time to organizations that promote science to educate, particularly young girls, including the Discovery Museum “Smart Gals” Program, the Jr. Sci-Tech Girl STEM Expo, and the Science Club for Girls. Cindy repeatedly donates her time to help raise money for local organizations to fight ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and MS (multiple sclerosis) and has become an ambassador in spreading awareness about Batten Disease. She makes frequent “Weather Visits” to schools across the area and has educated thousands of students about the weather over the years.

A native New Englander raised near Portland, Cindy earned her Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology from Lyndon State College in Vermont. She is a member of both the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the National Weather Association. She has been awarded the AMS Seal of Approval for Television.

the past several years, Cindy has been the emcee for Sunday Afternoon for Families and Friends at Armenian Heritage Park on The Greenway, always joined by her two boys, fellow Armenian Americans and many friends. Cindy was the emcee for Celebrating Contributions of Our Nations Immigrants Honoring Dr. Noubar Afeyan, the gala benefit to raise funds for the Endowed Fund for Care of Armenian Heritage Park on The Greenway in September 2019. Follow Cindy Fitzgibbon on Instagram: @cindy.fizgibbon and on Twitter: @Met_CindyFitz

Join us, register at armenianheritagepark.org/events-2 or bit.ly/3rHdPV

For further information or to support the Park’s ongoing care and maintenance, visit ArmenianHeritagePark.org/Support or email hello@ArmenianHeritagePark.org.