Meet Our Honorees
Tom O’Brien
Tom O’Brien is the Founding Partner and Chief Executive Officer of The HYM Investment Group, LLC. HYM is currently leading the development of over twenty (20) million square feet of mixed-use development in Greater Boston, including the following notable and complex projects: Bulfinch Crossing (the redevelopment of the Government Center Garage), Suffolk Downs and Parcel 3 in Roxbury. Prior to HYM, O’Brien served as a Managing Partner for JPI, a national developer and owner of multifamily communities, and as a Managing Director in Boston and New York for Tishman Speyer, one of the world’s leading real estate firms. O’Brien also led the Boston Redevelopment Authority as its Director and Chief of Staff, overseeing the development of over 12 million Square Feet of projects in Boston, from 1993 to 2000. O’Brien has served as Chairman of The Greater Boston Real Estate Board and is Vice Chair of the Board of Overseers of The Anti-Defamation League of New England, which awarded O’Brien its Abraham Joshua Heschel Interfaith Relations Award in 2016. In 2011, Governor Deval Patrick appointed O’Brien to the Board of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency. In 2016, Mayor Martin J. Walsh appointed O’Brien to the Board of Trustees of the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Conservancy and he also serves as a Board Member of the Pine Street Inn, The Carroll School, Project 351 and the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. O’Brien is a graduate of Brown University and Suffolk University Law School and is a member of the Massachusetts Bar.
Debra Cave
Debra Cave is a lifelong resident of East Boston. She spent the past 35 years as both a teacher and an administrator of an alternative high school working with Boston’s at risk youth, a job that she absolutely loved. She also worked at UMass for several years as an adjunct professor teaching classes in human development, psychology, and human services. Beyond her passion for working with youth and teaching, Debra is passionate about living in East Boston and giving back to her community. She is the president of the East Boston Social Centers, the Eagle Hill Civic Association, the Friends of the East Boston Library, Chair of the East Boston Museum and a Founding Board member of the Excel Academy Charter School. She loves travelling, reading, riding her bike, and cooking for family and friends.
During her personal and professional life, Elsa has received numerous awards, among which I could mention one of them "Award Boston Neighborhood Fellows 2014" that greatly impacted her life. She has also been recognized with high capacity for Leadership and full-time volunteer service by the Mayor of the City of Boston, the office of Councilor Julia Mejia, State Representative Adrián Madaro, Boston Public Schools/Parent University, Stand for Children, Family Independence Initiative/Uptogether, Union Capital Boston, CPLAN, BPON, and East Boston Social Center.
Elsa also graduated from the “Boston Immigrant Leaders 2020-2021” program where her goal was to have access to important information from the city of Boston, and gain knowledge and skills in each session presented to better serve as a leader in the community. Also to learn more, listen and share experiences with other leaders, and thus get the city government of Boston to pay attention to concerns about problems that occur in our community, especially racism, discrimination, rent control, and education, etc.
Through the Collaborative Network of Parent Leaders in Action "CPLAN", Elsa has served as a Spanish teacher, and facilitator of remote learning for students from grade 2 to grade 8 during the "Learning Module" program, and also as Coordinator of Family Outreach.
Elsa has participated in the East Boston Social Center as a Parent Partner since 2011, promoting the participation and involvement of families in their children's education through the implementation and facilitation of educational workshops, literacy classes, and technology/computers..
Through the Collaborative Network of Parent Leaders in Action "CPLAN", Elsa has served as a Spanish teacher, and facilitator of remote learning for students from grade 2 to grade 8 during the "Learning Module" program, and also as Coordinator Family Outreach, training facilitator and Spanish interpreter. In collaboration with Union Capital Boston and the East Boston Neighborhood Wellness and Resource Center, Elsa serves as Community Connection Coordinator, leading and coordinating a team that shares and connects the community with resources and information.
Also with Harborkeepers, Elsa works as a community organizer promoting and encouraging climate resilience and caring for the environment.
Elsa Flores is a Salvadoran mother and professional who currently resides in Boston with her husband and her three children. Considering her example, and the legacy of her mother, in whom she saw a spirit of struggle and improvement, and who, despite life situations, never gave up. From her childhood she was able to appreciate the value of education, and that when there are proposed goals and she fights to achieve them, and with the help of God everything is possible...
Elsa obtained university higher academic degrees in El Salvador as a teacher at the Technological Institute of San Miguel, and as a Bachelor of Science in Education at the Dr. Andres Bello University. She also has two professional certifications in the specialization in Mathematics and Science, Health and Environment accredited by the Universidad Nacional of El Salvador and the Jose Simeon Cañas University. In Boston, Elsa earned her Paraprofessional certification in the one-year intensive program designed to promote the diversity of professionals in Boston public schools. She is also professionally certified as an instructor for the “Tech Goes Home” Program. She has also studied “Introduction to College Technology and Computers”, “Transitions to Academic Writing in English II” at Endicott College, Basic English Skills: Levels I to IV, and Basic Computers at Bunker Hill Community College, and Computer Programming at Urban College.