Q&A with Rose Conti: Wentworth’s New Chair of the Board
Rose Conti, a Wentworth Institute of Technology alumna with deep ties to the university and a legacy of leadership, has been named the first woman to chair the Board of Trustees.
Conti was elected as part of a new group of officers including Vice Chair Doug Karam, Treasurer Travis McCready, and Secretary Rick Grundy. Newly elected board members in 2024 are David Chang, Paul Chrestensen, Scott Epstein, Cyndee Hoagland, and Mark Stoever.
After earning her Associate Degree in Building Construction Technology from Wentworth in 1990, Conti returned to her alma mater 20 years later to earn her Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management in 2012.
She is a past president of the Wentworth Alumni Association, serves on the Women@Wentworth programming committee, was the inaugural chair of the University Advisors, and was elected to the Board in 2020. She was named Wentworth’s Woman of the Year in 2008, and she received the Wentworth Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015 and the Wentworth Gold Leopard Award in 2017.
For more than 35 years, Conti has worked in the Greater Boston construction industry. She is currently the Vice President at Lee Kennedy Company, a Quincy-based construction management firm that achieved a project volume of $255 million last year. In this role, she is responsible for renovation and building infrastructure projects of all sizes in the corporate, academic, life sciences, bio-medical, and non-profit groups.
We spoke with Rose about her new role as Chair, including what she plans to bring to the position, what role industry partnerships play for Wentworth, and where she sees the university a decade from now.
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Greg Abazorius: Stepping into this role, what are your immediate priorities for the board and for Wentworth?
Rose Conti: I am focused on continuing to develop a culture that is collaborative in spirit and allows all board members to engage to their fullest potential and grow as volunteer leaders. As a board, we are focused on enhancing our communications with each other and ensuring the board’s work is aligning with the university’s strategic initiatives.
As board chair, I partner closely with President Mark Thompson to ensure the board is supporting the president and the university in all the ways necessary to advance our strategic efforts in the face of increased challenges that colleges and universities are confronting.
Greg: What are some of those challenges specifically? And how do you plan to address them in your new role?
Rose: Colleges and universities are facing significant challenges, particularly as we emerge from a post-COVID recovery, both financially and in how we ensure support for our students. Student support is critical, and Wentworth has made important investments to support and retain its students through the Success Studio and Center for Wellness.
Like all other colleges and universities, we are also faced with increasing competition to attract and enroll students, so keeping our campus state of the art and offering amenities and new buildings are key to attracting students, along with the academic quality of our majors and faculty. The board can help with these initiatives by supporting President Thompson and the team as they move forward with the new Institutional Master Plan and as they continue to introduce new academic programs meeting market demand.
We are investing in infrastructure and academic and student programming to ensure students want to come to Wentworth, and we have the functionality needed in our buildings for our students. I am excited that board members can also support students, faculty, and staff through various industry partnerships sharing their industry expertise and relevant information for today’s work environment.
Greg: Wentworth is known for its co-op programs and close ties to industry. How do you envision the board supporting initiatives that strengthen those industry connections even further?
Rose: The board is fully committed to supporting Wentworth’s strategic focus on Next-Generation Partnerships. Many members of the board support the co-op program by hiring students and working with senior leadership on how we can expand industry partnerships, supporting curricula enhancements, and making industry connections where those connections are needed.
Greg: It’s fair to say that you inspire students both for being a woman in this elevated position, and also because you came back to education later in life and were able to transform your career with an additional degree. What advice do you give to students who are just starting out and see Wentworth as a possible way to better their lives?
Rose: Be what you want to be. There is nothing holding us back. I have been lifelong involved at Wentworth and believe that the formal educational training received here laid the groundwork for my success in construction and executive leadership and presented me with opportunities that I have worked very hard to get and grow.
Being the first woman board chair has proven that opportunities for success can be open to those who work hard and earn it. I have worked my whole career in a non-conventional role being one of the first women in construction in the Boston market and at Wentworth for that matter, dating back to the early 1980’s when I first enrolled as a student in the certificate programs. I expanded my education by enrolling in the evening degree program while working full time during the day and returned to Wentworth to finish my bachelor's degree after my children were in middle school.
My service, dedication, and relationship to Wentworth has grown and deepened for decades as a student, Wentworth Alumni Association Director, Wentworth Alumni Association President, Wentworth Corporator, and the inaugural Chair of the University Advisors, moving then into the Board of Trustees position, Treasurer and Chair of the Resources Committee, Board Vice Chair, and now Chair. There have been so many initiatives that I have supported and worked on throughout decades of service to Wentworth.
I think my most enjoyable experience has been serving as an advisor to students in their classes and during their co-ops. Wentworth students keep me focused on what is important for them, which is important to the board. I have always looked at ways to grow my personal and professional network and career. Wentworth has been a huge part of this growth.
Greg: You come to campus often—what are a couple of your favorite reasons for visiting Wentworth?
Rose: My favorite reasons for coming back to campus are to interact in person with board members, the president, staff, faculty, and most importantly to interact with students. The students are our deciding factor in all we do in our board service. We want to provide Wentworth students with the best possible academic and personal experience at this university. This has been a primary board focus and will continue to be so. The students are the reason we drive so hard to support President Thompson and his team.
Greg: Where would you like to see Wentworth in 10 years?
Rose: A vibrant campus community bringing Wentworth’s ambitious Institutional Master Plan to full realization. The Institutional Master Plan envisions a vital campus community with new state of the art residence halls, academic buildings, and new indoor and outdoor spaces for gathering, playing, and learning.
Our investments in Wentworth’s campus will help us to increase enrollment, retain our students, attract more students to live on campus, and offer top notch academic learning opportunities, preparing students to be market ready. We will show future students, faculty, and staff that Wentworth remains the university of choice and opportunity, offering the highest return on the value of their education. I believe that the Wentworth co-op experience will remain paramount so that our students are a hot commodity and command the best possible starting salaries in the industry. We want to be the University of Opportunity, preparing our students to be job ready.