The Williston Northampton School community is pleased to welcome Shannon O’Brien to campus to speak at its Cum Laude induction ceremony on January 4, 2019.
O’Brien served in the Massachusetts Senate from 1993 to 1995, and the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993. She was the first woman elected to Massachusetts statewide office, serving as State Treasurer from 1999 to 2003, and was the Democratic candidate for governor in 2002.
Since leaving public service, O’Brien has worked as an Emmy-nominated television journalist, followed by a three-year stint as the CEO of the Girl Scouts of Greater Boston. She has served on numerous charitable and corporate boards. Currently O’Brien is the principal of the O’Brien Advisory Group, providing strategic advice and business development services for early and growth-stage technology companies. She is also the co-founder and president of BeeDoo Cloud Services, a secure cloud-based business-data sharing and collaboration solution.
O’Brien earned her B.A. from Yale University and holds a J.D. from the Boston University School of Law. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, former state representative Emmet Hayes, and children.
The Cum Laude Society is a national honor society modeled on Phi Beta Kappa. Williston Academy joined the society in 1921. The Northampton School for Girls received its charter in 1951. In 1971 the society granted the merged Williston Northampton School a new charter. Membership into the Cum Laude Society is the highest academic award that the Williston faculty can bestow. Ten students will be inducted during the ceremony.