On June 25, 2024, MBAE presented its first annual education impact awards at a luncheon celebrating the business community’s support for excellence in public education. The awards, which were presented by Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll and Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler, were established in honor of MBAE’s co-founders Paul Reville and Jack Rennie. Reville and Rennie played a pivotal and immeasurable role in making Massachusetts a national leader in K12 education. Without their tremendous leadership and tireless commitment, the state may never have achieved that distinction.

The first MBAE Leadership in Education Award was presented to Paul Reville for a lifetime of service in support of student success. Beginning next year, the award will be renamed the MBAE Paul Reville Leadership in Education Award. In 1988, Reville co-founded MBAE, playing a central role in MBAE’s development of and advocacy for Massachusetts historic Education Reform Act of 1993. He went on to serve nearly five years as the state’s Secretary of Education after establishing the new Executive Office of Education as an advisor to Governor Deval Patrick. As Secretary he had oversight of higher education, K-12, and early education in the nation’s leading student achievement state. Prior to joining the Patrick Administration, Reville chaired the Massachusetts State Board of Education, and founded the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy. He currently serves as the Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

The MBAE Jack Rennie Award for Business Impact in Education was presented to State Street, a global financial services company headquartered in Boston, for the substantial contribution the company has made to improving educational opportunities for Massachusetts students. The company’s leadership around expansion of Early College and longstanding commitment to creating meaningful work-based learning experiences including high-quality internships are a model and an inspiration for how businesses can engage and have an impact for students.

The Business Impact award was established in honor of MBAE’s co-founder Jack Rennie who was chairman and CEO of Pacer Systems, a Billerica-based technology company, when he joined with Paul Reville to lead a five-year push for sweeping reform in the state’s K-12 education system, resulting in the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993. “Jack Rennie was a revered corporate statesman who gave his time and energy and used his social capital to improve opportunities for students,” said MBAE’s Ed Lambert. “His legacy still impacts students today and we are thrilled to establish an award in his name.