BOSTON FED ANNOUNCES 2026 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The following information was released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston:

Kindler of KnitWell Group designated chair, Sweeney of Liberty Mutual Insurance designated deputy chair

January 9, 2026

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston today announced its 2026 Board of Directors, effective Jan. 1. Lizanne Kindler, executive chair and chief executive officer of KnitWell Group, has been designated Board chair. Tim Sweeney, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Liberty Mutual Insurance, has been appointed to join the Board as a Class C director and has been designated deputy chair.

Mike Vail, president of Hannaford Supermarkets, and Joe Preston, president and chief executive officer of New Balance Inc., have been elected to join the Board as Class B directors. Ronald OHanley, chairman and chief executive officer of State Street, has been re-elected to serve as a Class A director.

Robert F. Rivers, chair and chief executive of Eastern Bank, will continue to serve as the Boston Feds representative to the Federal Reserve Systems Federal Advisory Council.

The Federal Reserve Act provides that Reserve Bank directors are divided into three classes: Class A, Class B, and Class C. Class A directors represent member banks in each district. Class B directors represent the public. Class C directors also represent the public with due consideration to the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor, and consumers. Member banks elect Class A and Class B directors. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington appoints Class C directors and designates the chair and deputy chair.

The members of the 2026 Board of Directors are:

Lizanne Kindler, chair and a Class C director, is the executive chair and chief executive officer of KnitWell Group, a multibrand specialty retail company comprised of the apparel brands Ann Taylor, Chicos, Haven Well Within, Lane Bryant, LOFT, Soma, Talbots, and White House Black Market. This collection of brands generates nearly $6 billion in sales annually, making KnitWell one of the largest specialty apparel companies in the United States. Kindler is on the board of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and serves as an executive trustee of the American Scandinavian Foundation. She served as an expert-in-residence for Babson Colleges Women Innovating Now Lab, an accelerator for female entrepreneurs and was on the advisory board of the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. In 2024, she was named Person of the Year by the American Apparel and Footwear Association and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Kindler is a native of Denmark and graduated from the Copenhagen Business School with a bachelors in economics.

Tim Sweeney, deputy chair and a Class C director, is the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Liberty Mutual Insurance. Sweeney joined the company in 1993 and held various leadership roles before becoming president of the U.S. personal lines business in 2009. In 2018, he was named president of the global consumer and small commercial unit and became president of Liberty Mutual in 2021. He was named chief executive officer in 2023 and elected chairman of Liberty Mutual Holding Company, Inc., Liberty Mutuals parent company, in 2025. Sweeney serves on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership and the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation. Hes on the Suffolk Construction Board of Advisors, Delaware North Board of Advisors, and the Mass General Brigham President's Board of Advisors. He chairs the annual Aspire fundraiser at Massachusetts General Hospital, and he serves on the MIT presidents CEO advisory board. He is a member of the Business Council and the Geneva Association and is the former board vice chairman of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Sweeney holds a bachelors in economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Ronald P. O'Hanley, a Class A director, is chairman and chief executive officer of State Street. OHanley was previously president and chief operating officer of State Street. Before that, he was the president and chief executive officer of State Street Investment Management. OHanley joined State Street in 2015 from Fidelity Investments, where he was president of Asset Management and Corporate Services. He previously worked at BNY Mellon Asset Management and was a partner at McKinsey and Company. He serves on the boards of Unum Corp. (where he chairs the Governance Committee), ABL Space Systems, Beth Israel Lahey Health (vice chair), the Institute of International Finance, the U.S.-Kuwait Business Council, the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, Syracuse University, the Naval War College Foundation, IYRS School of Technology and Trades, the Ireland Funds, FIFA Boston 26, and WBUR. OHanley received a bachelors in political science from Syracuse University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Sushil K. Tuli, a Class A director, is chairman and chief executive officer of Leader Bank. He founded Leader Bank in 2002 and has grown the business with a particular focus on retail banking, residential mortgages, and commercial and small business lending. Tuli received a New England Choice Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation and the board of trustees for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Tuli also served on the board of directors for the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency. He was a member of the Massachusetts Home Ownership Advisory Committee and Fannie Maes Affordable Housing Advisory Council. Tuli received a masters from Punjab University in India and graduated from the Harvard Business Schools Owner/President Management program. He was recognized by Franklin Pierce University in 2018 with an honorary degree for his contributions to the banking industry.

Josephine Moran, a Class A director, is the president and chief executive officer of Ledyard Financial Group, Inc., headquartered in Hanover, New Hampshire. She has been a member of the board of governors at the University of New Haven, her alma mater, since 2019. She is also the founder and chair of the universitys Womens Leadership Council, which focuses on providing mentorship, networking, and growth opportunities for female students. Moran is a member of New Hampshire Bankers Legislative Committee, the Upper Valley Corporate Council, the Kendal Trust Committee, and the Vital Communities Housing Committee. She is a director of the Community Bankers Association of New Hampshire. Moran is also an advisory council member of the Womens Business Alliance, and she was recently selected to represent New Hampshire as a member of the Government Relations Council of the American Banking Association. Moran has two masters degrees from the University of New Haven and a bachelors from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

Betty Francisco, a Class B director, is the chief executive officer of the Boston Impact Initiative (BII), an impact investment fund that invests in diverse social enterprises and community-governed real estate. She oversees BIIs two funds, worth over $20 million in assets, and its impact investing education programs for emerging fund managers. Before joining the initiative, Francisco was the general counsel at Compass Working Capital, where she oversaw the organizations legal affairs, compliance, and risk management. Before that, she served as executive vice president and general counsel for Sports Club/LA and Reebok Sports Club/NY, a brand acquired by Equinox Fitness in 2014. Francisco began her legal career at Edwards Wildman (now Locke Lord) representing start-ups, corporations, and investors in financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and general corporate matters. She has a law degree and MBA from Northeastern University, and a bachelors in history from Bard College.

Mike Vail, a Class B director, is the president of Hannaford Supermarkets. In this role, he serves as a member of the Ahold Delhaize USA leadership team. Prior to leading Hannaford, Vail served as chief merchant and supply chain officer for Delhaize America. He previously held leadership roles including president, senior vice president of retail operations and chief diversity officer, and vice president at Sweetbay (previously Kash 'n Karry), a Florida-based Delhaize America supermarket retailer. Vail has served in multiple roles for the United Way of Greater Portland, including on the board of directors and as the 2018 campaign chair. He is also a member of the Food Marketing Institute Foundation Board and serves on the University of Tampa School of Entrepreneurship Advisory Board. Vail was previously involved with the Network of Executive Women in Tampa, Florida, and he served as a member and board chair of Feeding America Tampa Bay. Vail earned a bachelors in economics and administrative science from Colby College.

Joe Preston, a Class B director, is president and chief executive officer of New Balance Inc. Preston has 30-plus years of industry experience and has led New Balance through a strategic transformation, as the company has exceeded 20% annual growth for the past four years. Preston previously served as the companys chief commercial officer, executive vice president of global product and marketing, executive vice president of international, and vice president of Asia Pacific. Privately-held New Balance is a $7.8 billion global sportswear brand and has more than 14,000 associates and 3,200 retail locations worldwide. Preston serves as vice chair of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable and is incoming chair of the American Apparel and Footwear Association. Hes chair of the Two Ten Footwear Foundation and The Sports Museum and a board member of the Retail Industry Leaders Association. Hes also a former member of the U.S. Trade Representatives Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Preston holds an MBA from Babson College and a bachelors from Merrimack College.

Corey Thomas, a Class C director, is the chief executive officer of Rapid7 and the chairman of its board of directors. In 2023, Thomas was appointed to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. He served as chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Bostons Board of Directors in 2023 and 2024. Thomas is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He serves on the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Board of Directors, the LPL Financial Board of Directors, and the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust. He is an active angel investor to technology companies and serves as an advisor to organizations undergoing technology transformation. Thomas previously served on the U.S. Commerce Department's Digital Economy Board of Advisors. Prior to joining Rapid7, Thomas worked at Parallels, Inc., Microsoft, Deloitte Consulting, and ATandT. He received a bachelors in electrical engineering and computer science from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Federal Advisory Council Representative

About the Council: The Federal Reserve Board of Governors Federal Advisory Council comprises 12 banking-industry representatives (one from each Federal Reserve District) that consult with and advise the Board of Governors on all matters within the Board's jurisdiction.

Robert F. Rivers serves as the Boston Feds representative to the Federal Reserve Systems Federal Advisory Council. Since 2017, he has served as the chair and chief executive officer of Eastern Bank, after joining in 2006 as its vice chair and chief banking officer. He became president in 2007, chief operating officer in 2012, and an Eastern Bank director in 2017. Prior to working at Eastern Bank, Rivers was the executive vice president for retail banking at the former Commercial Federal Bank in Omaha, Nebraska. He also held several staff and leadership positions at MandT Bank in Buffalo, New York. Rivers currently serves as the board chair of the Dimock Center, a Boston-based health care and human services provider. He is a member of the executive committee of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Massachusetts Business Roundtable. Rivers is a trustee of Stonehill College. He also serves on the board of the Lowell Plan, the leadership council of the Lawrence Partnership, the board of advisors of the JFK Library Foundation, and as a member of the Boston Womens Workforce Council.