Mount Ida College Names Commencement Speaker

NEWTON, Mass. - April 24, 2017 - PRLog -- Mount Ida College is proud to announce this year's Commencement address will be delivered by Boston Police Commissioner William Evans, the 41^st Police Commissioner of the City of Boston. During a time of challenge and change in law enforcement, Commissioner Evans has distinguished himself as one of the most forward thinking and successful police commissioners in the United States

Commissioner Evans has been at the center of notable community relations and public safety issues, since he joined the force as a Police Officer in 1982. Those significant events include, the Boston Marathon bombing and capture of those accused, as well as the peaceful decampment of the 70-day occupation of Dewey Square by Occupy Boston and developing one of the most impressive community policing programs in the country.  Under Commissioner Evans leadership, open dialogue, transparency and thousands of community interactions, have helped to increase trust and community engagement between the BPD and the community.

Commissioner Evans holds a Bachelor of Science in Government from Suffolk University and Masters of Public Administration in Criminal Justice from Anna Maria College.  He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the Police Executive Research Forum's Senior Management Institute for Police, and the Center for Homeland Defense and Security Naval Postgraduate School.   Commissioner Evans has also completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative and the Meta Leadership Executive Sessions, a collaboration of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and Harvard School of Public Health.  Commissioner Evans will be presented with the honorary degree of Doctor of Law.

Mount Ida will also be recognizing two other professionals who have built unique careers, reaching the highest echelons in their fields.

Recipient of the honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, will be Francine A. LeFrak.

Ms. LeFrak is a social entrepreneur and women's empowerment activist.  In 2008, she founded Same Sky, a jewelry initiative that provides training and employment to HIV+ women survivors of the Rwandan Genocide.  Ms. LeFrak offers women a hand-up, not a handout, by providing them with the dignity of work and the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty.  Inspired by the work abroad, Same Sky now employs and empowers women who have recently been released from Hudson County Jail in New Jersey.  To date, Same Sky has served over 150 Rwandan women and hundreds of women ex-offenders in New Jersey.  In a country where national rates of recidivism hover just below 70%, Same Sky's rate of recidivism is 0%.

Ms. LeFrak has enjoyed a successful career on Broadway and in film and television as a producer.  Her productions have helped to turn the tide on a range of crucial social issues such as AIDS, intolerance, women in war-torn countries, female prisoners, substance abuse, and neo-Nazism.  Having been honored with a number of awards, Ms. LeFrak is a frequent public speaker, where she is a leading voice in cutting edge philanthropy and social entrepreneurship.  A graduate of Finch College, Ms. LeFrak is fully dedicated to eradicating extreme poverty through job creation and promoting educational and employment opportunities for women and girls at home and abroad.

Judge Jonathan Tynes '94 will receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Law.  Judge Tynes, who was appointed to the Boston Municipal Court, Roxbury District Court Division, began his career in the Suffolk District Attorney's Office in 1999 as a prosecutor.  From 2004 to 2006, he worked as an Assistant City Solicitor in Cambridge and from there began to serve as the Chief Assistant District Attorney in the Roxbury Division of the Boston Municipal Court. In addition to serving as an assistant football coach at Randolph High School, he is a volunteer for youth sports, Special Olympics and a youth anti-violence program. In 2009, he received the Brian Honan Award for Excellence in the Courtroom and the Community.

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