BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) New England Chapter announced today that Beth I.Z. Boland, Chair of the Securities Enforcement & Litigation Practice and Vice Chair of the Litigation Department at Foley & Lardner LLP, has been inducted as the organization’s new president. Boland’s appointment is accompanied by the addition of eight new directors to the organization’s board. She succeeds R. Robert Popeo, who now serves as co-chair of the Chapter along with William Earon.

“I am honored to serve as president after Bob Popeo, who brought incredible energy and dynamism to the organization,” said Boland. “The NACD New England Chapter has raised its profile and broadened its constituency of members, and will now focus on strategically partnering with other leading business organizations with an interest in corporate governance. I look forward to working with our esteemed board to guide our members in navigating the most important issues facing corporate directors today.”

“Beth’s appointment, along with our outstanding slate of new directors, marks the beginning of an exciting new era in the NACD New England Chapter’s history,” said Earon, Founder and Managing Partner of Coastal Capital Advisors, LLC. “Amidst these changes, I’m delighted that Bob Popeo, one of the business community’s most influential leaders on corporate governance, will remain in a key role in our organization. Bob has brought the NACD New England Chapter to a new level, strengthening its voice in the region and building valuable new relationships across industries—all in service of broadening awareness of the importance of corporate excellence and leadership in the boardroom.”

“The NACD New England Chapter is dedicated to one purpose: making sure corporate boards have the educational and leadership tools they need to make companies as strong as they can be,” said Popeo, who serves as chairman of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo, P.C. “Beth is dedicated to that cause, and her vision, coupled with the combined wisdom of our board, will keep our organization at the forefront of education and training around corporate governance best practices.”

Boland’s appointment to the NACD New England Chapter comes at a time of heightened awareness of the importance of high professional standards in corporate governance. Never before has it been so apparent that those who serve on boards of major corporations need not only fluency in their individual field of expertise, but also a firm understanding of the significant fiduciary and other responsibilities required of all corporate directors.

An expert and frequently sought-after speaker on governance issues, Boland co-chaired the Boston Bar Association Task Force on Corporate Governance, and has served on numerous non-profit and quasi-governmental boards such as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Lottery Commission and the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, and the advisory boards for the New England Legal Foundation and the U. Mass-Boston Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy. In her law practice, Boland regularly represents corporate boards and institutional investors in connection with insider trading issues, accounting fraud, corporate control issues, and derivative actions. She was recently named one of the most “influential” attorneys in the Commonwealth by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

The NACD New England Chapter’s new board members hold senior leadership positions in sectors ranging from higher education to healthcare to financial services. The new board members are:

Lisa Blais leads the Boston office of Egon Zehnder, where she advises CEOs and boards across sectors on CEO and board succession and on leadership development and recruitment throughout the C-suite. As part of her work with boards and C-suites, she also conducts management appraisals and team effectiveness reviews and advises on diversity and inclusion. Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Lisa spent over twenty years with global industrial manufacturing companies, including roles in engineering, sales & marketing, and general management.

Andrew Dreyfus is president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, one of the largest independent, not-for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in the country. Dreyfus’s community-oriented health care expertise is reflected in his board service. Dreyfus is a director of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, the National Institute for Health Care Management, Jobs for Massachusetts, and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals. He sits on the advisory board of Ariadne Labs and is a founding member of the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care and member of the Roundtable on Quality Care for People with Serious Illness.

Allison Egbert, CPA is a partner in RSM’s assurance practice, focusing on delivering service to public and private clients in a wide array of industries including manufacturing and distribution, alternative energy and clean tech, among others. Egbert leads the Boston SEC practice. Her experience includes audits, reviews, mergers and acquisitions, consultations and analysis, due diligence services, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and assistance to companies with international operations. She also has experience in advising clients on transactions including public offerings, private placements, debt restructurings, and mergers and acquisitions. Egbert is a member of the not-for-profit board of directors of Dress for Success – Boston.

Pamela F. Lenehan is a senior executive with broad strategic experience in corporate, investment banking, and public board environments. She holds leadership positions on the boards of American Superconductor, Civitas Solutions, and Monotype Imaging. She also devotes time to expanding opportunities for women as a member of the board of directors of the Center for Women & Enterprise and as a member of Brown University’s Women’s Leadership Council and the Steering Committee for 125 Years of Women at Brown. She is co-chair of the Boston chapter of Women Corporate Directors and sits on the advisory board of the American College of Corporate Directors.

Cathy E. Minehan, a corporate and non-profit director, served as Dean of the School of Management at Simmons College from 2011 until June 2016. She previously served as president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and as a member of the Federal Open Market Committee for a total of 39 years with the Federal Reserve System. Minehan is a director of VISA Inc, MassMutual Financial Group, and Bright Horizons Family Solutions. She is chair of the board of trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital and a member of the board of the Partners Health Care System. She is also co-chair of the Boston Women’s Workforce Council, a private-public partnership devoted to ending the gender wage gap in the greater Boston area. She and her husband Jerry Corrigan founded the Corrigan–Minehan Heart Center at the MGH and have been active with other health care and educational institutions.

Pamela Reeve is the former CEO of Lightbridge, Inc., a company she headed from start up in 1989, took public in 1996, and ran for 15 years. As a board member, she has helped lead a number of organizations in the technology and healthcare spaces. She is the lead director of American Tower Corporation, chair of the board of Frontier Communications, and serves on the boards of Sonus Networks and DSM. She is a member of the board of trustees and the executive committee of the Mass Technology Leadership Council and board of directors of the Mass Tech Collaborative; vice chair of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization Board of Trustees; chair of The Commonwealth Institute; and chair of Partners Community Physicians Organization.

Jane Steinmetz serves as Ernst & Young LLP managing partner for the New England financial services practice. She is a tax partner by background and has consulted with a diverse array of taxpayers for over 20 years, and served as a tax consultant for various industry organizations. Steinmetz is a trustee and executive committee member of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and serves on the Boston Club Corporate Advisory Board. She is also a member of the Connecticut and Massachusetts bar associations.

Ellen M. Zane serves as CEO emeritus and vice chair of the board of trustees at Tufts Medical Center & Floating Hospital for Children, and from 2004 to 2011, she served as its president and CEO. Her industry expertise is reflected in her board involvement with a number of public and private companies. She is currently a member of the board of directors at Boston Scientific, Brooks Automation, Parexel International Corporation, Press Ganey, Century Capital Management, LLC, Fiduciary Trust Company, and AgNovos Healthcare. In 2015, Zane launched an executive education program through the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health to address the needs of women executives interested in becoming corporate directors.

NACD New England Chapter is the leading source in New England for corporate governance information, education, and training for directors and CEOs who are committed to raising boardroom standards. The chapter hosts panel discussions and other educational programming to foster connectivity between boards and promote corporate best practices. It includes a large number of regional directors and business leaders.

NACD New England Chapter is part of the larger NACD network, the only not-for-profit membership organization founded by and for corporate directors. NACD has a national presence in Washington, D.C., with 22 active regional chapters, and more than 17,000 director and key executive members around the country. NACD’s resources include an annual leadership conference, fellowships, downloadable publications, and in-boardroom education programs. NACD is also part of the Global Network of Director Institutes, a 100,000-member strong international collaboration of directors who share expertise from around the world. Learn more about NACD membership and general governance information online atwww.NACDonline.org.