Celebrations for Good

Eastern Bank believes in honoring and celebrating the outstanding work of community leaders and partner organizations who share our commitment to making our communities a better place to live and work through their advocacy. Not only are celebrations acknowledgements of accomplishment, they are also an opportunity for leaders of nonprofit and for-profit businesses as well as civic leaders to gather and establish deeper collaborations, further strengthening our communities.

Every year, Eastern Bank honors local leaders for their impact in our communities. We honor individuals throughout our footprint with Community Advocacy Awards and we also shine a spotlight on one individual with our Social Justice Award for their accomplishments in making a deep impact to further social justice.

Meet our 2019 Social Justice Award winner and Community Advocacy Award winners below:

2019 RECIPIENT OF THE SOCIAL JUSTICE AWARD: Ronald F. Ferguson, PhD, Founder of The Basics

2019 Social Justice Award Recipient Ronald F. Ferguson

Ronald F. Ferguson, PhD, of Harvard Kennedy School and Founder of The Basics, A Campaign for Early Childhood Parenting

As an MIT-trained economist with more than 30 years on the faculty at the Harvard Kennedy School, Ferguson's teaching, research, and writing address economic, social, and educational challenges with an emphasis on helping disadvantaged communities. His research inspired the creation of The Basics, a campaign for early childhood parenting. Initially a Boston coalition that is expanding globally, The Basics surrounds caregivers and families with simple parenting techniques and support to give children from every background a better start in life. More and more parents and caregivers at community health centers and hospital-based pediatric settings across Boston--from East Boston to Mattapan and the South End--are using the five Basics principles to close gaps in early childhood development.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Ferguson focused much of his attention on economic and community development. That work culminated in the social science synthesis volume, Urban Problems and Community Development, published by Brookings Press (1999), which remains an important text in graduate policy courses. By the late 1980s, he had begun to study education and youth development because academic skill disparities were contributing to growing wage disparity. His writings on the topic appeared in publications of the National Research Council, the Brookings Institution, the U.S. Department of Education, and various books and journals, including his book, Toward Excellence with Equity: An Emerging Vision for Closing the Achievement Gap, published by Harvard Education Press. Ferguson's newest book, co-authored with journalist Tatsha Robertson and published in 2019, is entitled, The Formula: Unlocking the Secrets to Raising Highly Successful Children, and covers from birth to early adulthood.