Elyse Cherry

Elyse Cherry
Cherry (right) in 2014
Born1954 (age 69–70)
Alma materWellesley College
Northeastern University School of Law
EmployerBlueHub Capital

Elyse Cherry (born 1954) is the chief executive of BlueHub Capital, a community development financial institution. She is known for her work in community development, affordable housing, and LGBTQ activism.

Career

[edit]

Cherry began her career as a VISTA volunteer in Tennessee. She spent the next several years as a field examiner in the New England region of the National Labor Relations Board.[1]

After earning a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law, she joined the law firm of Hale and Dorr (now WilmerHale). For eight years, she focused on commercial real-estate finance and development, for which she was named a partner.[2]: 114 

In 1992, Cherry joined the Plymouth Rock family of insurance companies, where she served as a vice president and counsel of SRB, an investment-management subsidiary of Plymouth Rock Assurance.[1]

In 1997, she became the CEO of BlueHub Capital,[3] which she co-founded in 1984.[4]

BlueHub Capital

[edit]

Under Cherry's tenure, BlueHub Capital (formerly Boston Community Capital[5]) has invested more than $2 billion in low-income communities.[6]

Of note is BlueHub's foreclosure-prevention program, SUN,[7][8] which Ben Bernanke, then the chairman of the Federal Reserve, cited as “innovative.”[9]

Boards of directors

[edit]

Cherry is a member of the Wellesley College Board of Trustees,[10] the Board of Advisors of Eastern Bank,[11] Chair of the Board of the Forsyth Institute,[12] and the Board of Directors of The Boston Foundation.[13]

Cherry is a former or present member of several privately held company boards, including include Zipcar,[citation needed] Pilgrim Insurance,[14] Acelero Learning,[15] Selectech,[16] and WegoWise,.[17]

For government agencies, Cherry was the Chair of the Massachusetts Cultural Council[18] and the Foreclosure Impacts Task Force,[19] to which she was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.[20]

She previously served on the boards of the nonprofits Opportunity Finance Network,[21] the Center for New Words, and the Alliance for Business Leadership.[22]

LGBTQ activism

[edit]

Cherry is a prominent LGBTQ activist. She has served on the boards of directors and advisory boards of various groups, including GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD),[4] MassEquality during the organization's successful campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Massachusetts,[23] the political action committee LPAC,[24] and the Boston Foundation’s Equality Fund.[25] She also co-chaired GLAD’s capital campaign, One Justice Fund,[26] which raised $1.7 million.[27]

Education

[edit]

Cherry is a 1975 graduate of Wellesley College, where she studied political science and from which she received the 2017 Alumnae Achievement Award.[28] She is also a 1983 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law,[29] where she delivered the student commencement address.[30]

Awards

[edit]

Cherry has received many awards throughout her career.

In 2010, Boston (magazine) named her as one of its 35 Gay Power Players.[31]

In 2014, the Obama White House named her a Solar Champion of Change.[32]

In 2014 and 2015, the Financial Times named her one of the Top 100 OUTstanding LGBTQ Executives in the world.[33][34]

In 2014, the Boston Business Journal named her to its list of the 50 most influential Bostonians.[35]

In 2014, Fenway Health gave her the Dr. Susan M. Love Award, which celebrates a woman and/or organization that has made a significant contribution to the field of women’s health.[36]

In 2021, BlueHub Capital, under Cherry's leadership, was named one of the Top 100 Women Led Businesses in Massachusetts by The Boston Globe and The Commonwealth Institute for the eighth consecutive year.[37]

Media

[edit]

Cherry is a frequent commentator on current events. Her opinion articles have appeared in publications including the New York Times,[38] CNBC,[39] the Los Angeles Times,[40] the Philadelphia Inquirer,[41] and HuffPost.[42] She has also appeared on TV and radio shows such as the PBS NewsHour[43] and Making Money with Charles Payne.[44]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Elyse Cherry '75, Founder of Boston Community Capital, Alumnae Achievement Award Recipient". wellesley.edu. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  2. ^ Karoff, H. Peter (2007). The World We Want: New Dimensions in Philanthropy and Social Change. Rowman Altamira. ISBN 978-0759110489.
  3. ^ Alena Kuzub, "Refusing to be Marginalized, Elyse Cherry Became an LGBTQ+ Trailblazer", Northeastern Global News (NGN) Magazine, July 10, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Elyse Cherry". bankerandtradesman.com. 15 July 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  5. ^ "Introducing BlueHub Capital: Investing in People and Communities For an Inclusive Future". prnewswire.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  6. ^ Zulz, Emily. "How Elyse Cherry Became an Impact Investing Pioneer". ThinkAdvisor. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  7. ^ "A model to save foreclosed homes?". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  8. ^ "Stabilizing Urban Neighborhoods: Q&A with Elyse Cherry". shelterforce.org. 25 April 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  9. ^ "A Nonprofit Group in Boston Sells Foreclosed Homes Back to Their Owners". philanthropy.com. 24 July 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  10. ^ "Alumnae Trustee, Wellesley College Board of Trustees 2020–2026 | Wellesley Magazine". magazine.wellesley.edu. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  11. ^ "Corporate Governance | Eastern Bank". www.easternbank.com. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  12. ^ "Elyse D. Cherry, Chair of the Board". Forsyth. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  13. ^ "Elyse Cherry". www.tbf.org. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  14. ^ "Industry Insight: The Return of the Boomerang Buyer". dsnews.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  15. ^ "ACELERO LEARNING 2012-2013 ANNUAL REPORT" (PDF). squarespace.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  16. ^ "Elyse Cherry". skimleads.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  17. ^ "Elyse Cherry Chairman, Wegowise Inc". bloomberg.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  18. ^ "Elyse Cherry Named New Chair of Massachusetts Cultural Council". massnonprofit.org. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  19. ^ "Foreclosure Impacts Task Force". state.ma.us. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  20. ^ "Final Report of the Foreclosure Impacts Task Force". docplayer.net. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  21. ^ "Elyse Cherry Named New Chair of Massachusetts Cultural Council". massnonprofit.org. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  22. ^ "Elyse Cherry". alliancebl.org. 25 May 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  23. ^ "Elyse Cherry, CEO of Boston Community Capital, on LGBT Issues and More (AUDIO)". huffingtonpost.com. 16 November 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  24. ^ "LPAC - Post". facebook.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  25. ^ "The Equality Fund Advisory Committee". tbf.org. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  26. ^ "Elyse Cherry". bankerandtradesman.com. 15 July 2018. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  27. ^ "GLAD's One Justice Fund". glad.org. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  28. ^ "Elyse Cherry '75, Founder of Boston Community Capital, Alumnae Achievement Award Recipient". wellesley.edu. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  29. ^ "Women in the Law". northeastern.edu. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  30. ^ "Northeastern Law". newspapers.com. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  31. ^ "Power: The Straight Scoop on Thirty-Five Gay Power Players". bostonmagazine.com. 5 October 2010. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  32. ^ "Elyse cherry | The White House". archives.gov. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  33. ^ "The 100 out and proud heroes of the business world who have risen above barriers to success". Financial Times. ft.com. 8 October 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  34. ^ "2015 Leading 100 LGBT+ Executives". out-standing.org. Archived from the original on July 30, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  35. ^ "Power 50: Most Influential Bostonians" (PDF). transwestern.com. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  36. ^ "Fenway Health Nets $500k+ at 23rd Annual Women's Dinner Party". therainbowtimesmass.com. 31 March 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  37. ^ "The 2021 Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts". BostonGlobe.com. November 5, 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  38. ^ Cherry, Elyse (3 June 2015). "Where the Housing Crisis Continues". The New York Times. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  39. ^ "The only way to fix the housing crisis". cnbc.com. 22 April 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  40. ^ "A realistic fix for the mortgage crisis". Los Angeles Times. 28 October 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  41. ^ "The hidden costs of foreclosure: Stabilizing low-income Philadelphia neighborhoods helps us all". philly.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  42. ^ "A New Way Forward On Foreclosures". huffpost.com. 3 July 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  43. ^ "For some underwater mortgages, a chance to buy again at market rate". pbs.org. 24 September 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  44. ^ "Post-Bubble, Giving Homeowners a Second Chance". foxbusiness.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
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