3 minute read
Class Notes
from Beacons Fall 2022
by UMass Boston
David Castagnetti G’89 received the Business-Government Relation Award at the 2022 Bryce Harlow Foundation Annual Awards reception. Castagnetti is co-founder of Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, one of the most respected and effective bipartisan government relations firms in Washington, DC. His extensive experience developing long-term strategic communications and advocacy plans and ability to operate in complex environments has made him a trusted counselor to numerous Fortune 100 companies, Silicon Valley titans, technology start-ups, trade associations, and well-known non-profits. Castagnetti has proudly mentored hundreds of young professionals over the course of his career.
José F. Massó ’08 was appointed to the role of Chief of Human Services by Mayor Michelle Wu. The Chief of Human Services is charged with making Boston a more equitable city by ensuring that city services and opportunities for residents are accessible and responsive to the needs of all. Massó will lead the implementation of the mayor’s human services agenda for Boston, overseeing key departments that provide services to city residents, and working in partnership with social service organizations and service providers across the city.
Esther Rogers ’12, CER’19, G’20 joined Jane Doe Inc., the Mass. Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence as their first Safe Housing Initiatives (SHI) manager. SHI is a strategic partnership geared to improving longer-term affordable housing access for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault across the commonwealth. Rogers brings over 10 years of extensive experience in housing insecurity and advocacy in the shelter and transitional content as well as advocacy experience with local and state government towards housing justice. In May 2022, she was appointed as a regional commissioner for Bristol County for the Mass. Commission on the Status of Women. Per its enabling legislation, the Bristol Commission on the Status of Women is charged with conducting an ongoing study of matters concerning women and girls within Bristol county and across the commonwealth.
The Honorable Myong J. Joun ’94 was named a judicial candidate for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts by President Joe Biden. Joun’s professional experience includes work in civil rights litigation for the law offices of Howard Friedman, and criminal defense and civil rights litigation for his own firm, the Joun Law Office. He has also served in the Massachusetts National Guard and as a member of the boards of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the National Lawyers Guild, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association, and the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.
Read all class notes at alumni.umb.edu