ADAMS PRESIDENTIAL CENTER GALA 2024

A celebration of civic engagement convening more than 550 business, civic, and nonprofit leaders from across the nation.

Thursday, May 23, 2024

Marriott Boston Quincy

Philanthropists Karen and Rob Hale and the late Congressman Bill Delahunt were honored at the second annual Adams Presidential Center Gala in May 2024. At the gala, the City of Quincy unveiled a new John Quincy Adams statue by Italian sculptor Sergey Eylanbekov, which will be erected in Quincy Center to celebrate the City’s 400th anniversary.

2024 ADAMS PRESIDENTIAL CENTER GALA HIGHLIGHTS

Honoring Karen & Rob Hale and Congressman D. William Delahunt

MEET KAREN AND ROB HALE

MEET D. WILLIAM DELAHUNT

KAREN HALE

ABIGAIL ADAMS AWARD HONOREE

Karen Hale serves as the Executive Director of Fox Rock Foundation, a private Foundation established by her and her husband, Rob Hale, to inspire health in our communities and our environment, with more opportunity for all. Forbes chronicled their Foundation’s 52 Weeks of Giving in a 2022 cover story for the Forbes 400 issue.

Karen serves as co-chair of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s Board of Directors, as a trustee of Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and is a trustee of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she also serves on their Cancer Advisory Board, Women’s Health Advisory Board, and Committee for Diversity, Inclusion, Health Equity, and Community Health. Karen is also a member of Boston Children’s Hospital Trust Board. She is a former board director of the South Shore YMCA and a past trustee and board president of Old Colony Montessori. Karen received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado.

ROB HALE

JOHN ADAMS AWARD HONOREE

Rob Hale is co-founder and President of Granite Telecommunications, LLC, a communications company headquartered in Quincy, MA. Established in 2002, Granite has grown organically without debt to exceed $1.85B in annual revenue, which makes it the largest competitive provider in the U.S. The company employs over 2,500 teammates and supports communications for seventy five percent of the Fortune 100. In addition to its award- winning multi-location corporate business, Granite is firmly entrenched in the state, local, and federal arena. In 2020, 2021, and 2022 Granite was recognized each year as the most generous company in Massachusetts after donating over $200M to local charities over the three year span.

Rob owns FoxRock Properties, a Boston-based real estate firm with over five-million square feet of commercial and residential space. He also founded Copley Equity Partners, a private equity firm that invests in small and middle market businesses with significant growth prospects. Copley owns 20 growth companies with 7,000 teammates. Rob is an owner and Director of the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association.

In 2023, Rob was recognized by the Boston Business Journal as one of 50 progressive leaders who work to create change and are taking actionable steps to make Massachusetts a place for equity, inclusion, and diverse points of view. Rob is routinely recognized as one of the 50 Most Powerful business leaders in Massachusetts in the Boston Business Journal. Rob is often saluted for his entrepreneurship including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. The Boston Globe recognized Rob as runner-up Bostonian of the Year in 2022 for his “innovative philanthropy.” Rob is a frequent commencement speaker. His philanthropic focused graduation addresses have been showcased on Anderson Cooper, NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, BBC, and many other international media outlets.

CONGRESSMAN WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, POSTHUMOUSLY

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS AWARD HONOREE

Congressman Bill Delahunt (1941-2024) was a Quincy native who dedicated his life to public service.

Delahunt served the 10th congressional district of Massachusetts for seven terms in Congress, from 1996 to 2011. He was admired on both sides of aisle for his success at forwarding bipartisan legislation, such as the Intercountry Adoption Act, which provided automatic citizenship to Americans adopted abroad. As the Congressman said, “To make progress, you need to search out and discern the humanity of the other…In some, that humanity is overwhelmed by dark angels. But if you explore long enough, if you listen long enough, if you persist, you can interact with anybody. What’s important to them? What makes them feel right? Let them explain themselves. Accomplishment in the end is a result of this understanding.”

Delahunt’s political career began when he was elected to the Quincy City Council in 1971 and as a state representative in 1973. Two years later, Governor Michael Dukakis appointed Delahunt District Attorney of Norfolk county, where he developed the county’s first juvenile diversion program, special unit focused on sexual assault and child abuse, domestic violence program, white collar crime unit, and career criminal unit. He also incorporated social workers into his office, balancing incarceration with rehabilitation programs.

The Congressman is survived by his fiancée, Julie Pagano, his daughters and sons-in-law, Kirsten Delahunt and John Dunn and Kara Delahunt Bobrov and Nickolai Bobrov of Milton, and his loving grandchildren Maya and Alex Bobrov.