2014 Good Apple recipient Lon F. Povich.

2014 Good Apple recipient Lon F. Povich.

Massachusetts Appleseed hosted its 7th annual Good Apple Reception at the Boston Harbor Hotel’s Wharf Room on March 20, 2014. Massachusetts Appleseed presented the 2014 “Good Apple Award” to Lon F. Povich, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. for his “unwavering commitment to social justice, dedication to public service, and generosity of spirit.”

Keynote speakers, David S. Mackey and Michael Tuteur introduced Mr. Povich. Christine Neski joined them on stage to present Mr. Povich with the Good Apple Award. Mr. Mackey is a partner at Anderson & Kreiger LLP. Mr. Tuteur is a partner at Foley & Lardner LLP. Ms. Netski is Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for Massachusetts Appleseed, and a partner at Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen, PC.

Nancy J. Sterling, Senior Vice President at ML Strategies / Mintz Levin and a Massachusetts Appleseed Board Member, was master of ceremonies for the event, which was enjoyed by over 200 guests. Justin Wolosz, counsel at Ropes & Gray and a Vice-Chair of Massachusetts Appleseed’s Board, introduced a short video presentation, “Celebrating 20 Years of Social Justice Advocacy.” Joan Meschino, Executive Director, thanked guests for attending and made concluding remarks.

Massachusetts Appleseed would like to thank all our guests whose presence and goodwill made this year’s reception a tremendous success. We thank the Project STEP musicians for their beautiful violin performance and Biogen Idec for the video presentation. We are grateful for all our sponsors, in particular BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc., the event’s underwriter. Their generosity and strong support enables Massachusetts Appleseed to further its mission to promote equal rights and opportunities for Massachusetts residents by developing and advocating for systemic solutions to social justice issues.