Leverett Wing
President and CEO
About Leverett
“Leverett the Connector” - While many Bostonians are familiar with "The Leverett Connector" – an often maddening stretch of intersecting bridges and roads where Boston traffic frequently comes to a standstill - some of Boston’s most respected leaders, businesses and institutions are just as familiar with the “Leverett the Connector” – the Commonwealth Seminar’s Executive Director, Leverett Wing.
Leverett is a nationally recognized leader, social entrepreneur and community mobilizer who has been building bridges and allyships between communities, businesses, organizations, and some of the regions & nation’s most influential leaders for over twenty years.
He has conceived, spearheaded and led innovative programs and initiatives for over two decades. His ability to communicate across diverse audiences, think innovatively, organize on a wide scale, break down barriers & build coalitions across communities has led to countless landmark accomplishments benefiting organizations and causes locally and nationally.
Leverett helped envision and mobilize an effort to create the Massachusetts Asian American Commission, a permanent entity in State government to represent Asian American interests in MA. Having been instrumental in its creation, Leverett was appointed the Commission's first permanent Executive Director. He was subsequently named the Executive Director of the Washington D.C. headquartered Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), the only non-partisan, national organization focusing on civic engagement in the Asian American community.
As a member of the Board of Trustees at Joslin Diabetes Center, an internationally known hospital and research center, Leverett helped found Joslin’s groundbreaking Asian American Diabetes Initiative (AADI) - a first-of-its-kind, national project which seeks to improve the understanding and treatment of diabetes among Asian Americans. Leverett also founded and co-chaired the AADI's signature fundraising event "A Taste of Ginger" for its first five years, returning a decade later to co-chair its milestone Fifteenth Anniversary celebration, and raised over $1 million dollars for the AADI.
Leverett also sits on the Board of Advisors for GBH-TV/Radio, Boston’s nationally known Public Broadcasting affiliate where he founded the station's annual Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration in 2006 - now an annual event drawing over 300 attendees each year (video - Leverett Moderating 2023 Legislative Leaders panel).
Leverett also founded the annual Asian American Community Harbor Cruise, as a member of Boston Harbor Now's (BHN) Board of Advisors, as a vehicle for the AAPI community to learn more about, better access, and gain a greater appreciation for the Boston Harbor, its surrounding islands and the environment. Donated by BHN, and led & organized by Leverett beginning in 2016, the cruise annually draws upwards of 1,000 attendees with free tickets "selling out" in less than 10 minutes (BHN video featuring Leverett HERE).
He also recently joined the Board of Directors of MeetBoston (formerly the Boston Convention Center and Visitors Bureau) where he is currently planning the organization’s first-ever Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration – along with fostering a partnership between MeetBoston and the National Association of Asian American Professionals for Boston’s first-ever Asian Restaurant Week in May 2024.
Leverett also recently joined the Leadership Board of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston where he Chairs its Diversity Outreach Committee as it seeks to diversify its board and community outreach and inclusion efforts.
In addition, Leverett sits on the Board of Advisors at Eastern Bank, the largest and oldest mutual bank in the United States, on which Leverett sits on the Bank's Nominating Committee to help diversify its board leadership. He serves on the Nominating and Governance Committee as a member of the nationally renowned Boston Children's Museum's President's Council. for which he co-authored an op-ed (read) with its President & CEO, Carole Charnow
Leverett was a longtime member of the Board of Directors of Boston’s Higher Ground in Roxbury, MA which aims to better direct resources and services - including childcare, social services, and youth leadership development - to some of Boston’s most challenged neighborhoods.
Highlighting his work to build bridges across communities, Leverett spearheaded the creation of "Community Crossovers" partnering the Commonwealth Seminar with Boston's Higher Ground and NAACP's Boston Chapter. The Crossovers are a series of cross-BIPOC community dialogues seeking to harness and build on the cross-community support witnessed during the Black Lives Matter movement to explore how to leverage interest in addressing systemic racism and build on the movement’s momentum to create lasting relationships and alliances. While addressing specific topics, Crossover attendees learn about the history and background of these issues, the strategies used to address these issues, and explore potential collaborative opportunities among each community's residents & constituencies.
In addition, he was the first-ever male board member of the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK) where he also Co-Chaired ATASK's signature, black-tie Silk Road Gala Fundraiser on three separate occasions. He is also a former board member of the Asian Community Development Corporation, and former board member of the National Association for Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) on both NAAAP's Boston and National Boards.
Leverett has also been the featured speaker in a "Fireside Chat Series" supporting and augmenting the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion efforts of a number of prominent companies, including Keolis, Vertex, Cambridge Savings Bank, and Boston Medical Center. During these chats, Leverett has offered insights into the history of Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders in the United States, some of the barriers faced by the community, and potential collaborative solutions and initiatives which attendees might undertake to understand, support and partner with one another.
He has also served on the Core Transition Teams of both Former MA Governor Deval Patrick and current MA State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg as they both prepared to take office for their respective first terms.
In recognition of his efforts, Leverett was honored by Get Konnected as one of their "GK 100: Honoring the One Hundred of the Most Influential People of Color in Massachusetts". He was also a recent recipient of the prestigious "Good Guy Award" (watch Leverett's acceptance speech) from the MA Women's Political Caucus - only the second Asian American to ever receive the award.
Nationally, Leverett was recognized as one of the Asian Hustle Network's: "Nation's Top 50 Unsung AAPI Heroes" in 2023 and has been honored with the Asian Community Development Corporation's "Inspiration Award" to him for his work empowering & educating the community regarding political engagement. Leverett also earned Color Magazine's “Publisher’s Award” for his work breaking down barriers and building collaborative efforts within communities of color in Massachusetts.
Leverett has been featured in numerous local and national publications, been heard on National Public Radio's “All Things Considered” and featured in several podcasts (listen here) and the Boston Business Journal (read feature). He's appeared on multiple occasions on Boston’s NBC, PBS (video) and ABC network (video) affiliates and has seen his Op-Ed columns published in the Boston Business Journal (read) and the Boston Globe (read his first-person April 2021 op-ed and his collaborative November 2021 and March 2022 Globe pieces).
A graduate of Tufts University (B.A.), Leverett is also an alum of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government (MPA-2). A longtime Boston Celtics season ticket holder, Leverett enjoys watching, and partaking in, any sporting activity he can, as well as visiting and exploring America's National Parks around the country. He lives in Boston with his family.