Kathleen Kennedy, T. O'Neill III & J. Roosevelt Jr

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's faith was shaped as she grew up in a large Irish Catholic family and attended Catholic schools. The eldest child of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, she saw her parents make the connection between faith and justice, between faith and the common good. Civil rights was a moral issue - poverty unacceptable. Her father’s article “Suppose God is Black?” highlighted for her the notion that our religious beliefs were intimately connected to our public actions.

She founded the Maryland Student Service Alliance to make Maryland the first, and still only state that requires young people to engage in community service as a condition of graduation. And, as Maryland’s first woman Lt. Governor, she instituted the office of Character Education - to provide a focal point for the teaching of responsibility and respect to the next generation. Before being elected Lt. Governor, Mrs. Townsend served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States.

Kathleen serves on a number of non-profit boards. She is the chairman of the Institute for Human Virology at the University of Maryland and serves on the board of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, the Points of Light Foundation, National Catholic Reporter, and the Character Education Partnership, among others. While serving as the chairman of the board of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, she created the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. Mrs. Townsend is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Kathleen has been appointed an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s School of Public Policy and has been a Visiting Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government where she focused her efforts on faith and public life. Mrs. Townsend is an honors graduate of Harvard University, and holds a law degree from the University of New Mexico where she was a member of the law review.


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Thomas P. O’Neill, III is chief executive officer of O’Neill and Associates. Based in Boston, Mr. O’Neill oversees all aspects of the company and client servicing. He directs strategic planning and management of the company’s overall marketing efforts, long term growth and business opportunities.

Mr. O’Neill was president of McDermott/O’Neill & Associates, a major government relations and communications consulting firm, as well as FH/GPC. Prior to forming McDermott/O’Neill, Mr. O’Neill served as president of Bay State Investors using his 13 years of government experience to advise clients on all aspects of government relations at the local, state and federal levels.

From 1975 to 1983, Mr. O’Neill served as lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. During his term of office, Mr. O’Neill created and administered the Office of Federal-State Relations in Boston and Washington, D.C. During this time he also served on the U.S. State Department Ambassadorial Screening Committee. Prior to becoming lieutenant governor, Mr. O’Neill served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Mr. O’Neill sits on the board of trustees of Boston College and on the board of directors of CareGroup, Inc., New England’s second largest health care service provider. He also serves on the boards of Mount Auburn Hospital and the Bunker Hill Community College Foundation.

Mr. O’Neill received his bachelor’s degree from Boston College and earned his master’s in public administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.


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James Roosevelt, Jr. joined Tufts Health Plan in 1999 as senior vice president and general counsel and held that position until June 2005, when he became president and chief executive officer. As the general counsel, he presided over the legal department and the company's compliance, privacy and government relations functions.

Before joining Tufts Health Plan, Mr. Roosevelt was the associate commissioner for Retirement Policy for the Social Security Administration in Washington, D.C. He has also served as chief legal counsel for the Massachusetts Democratic Party and is co-chair of the Rules and By-laws Committee of the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Roosevelt spent 10 years as partner at Choate, Hall and Stewart in Boston. He is past chairman of the board of trustees for the Massachusetts Hospital Association, past president of the American Health Lawyers Association and past chairman of the board of trustees for Mount Auburn Hospital. Currently, Mr. Roosevelt serves as chairman of the board of directors for Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, and as a member of the board of directors at America’s Health Insurance Plans, Emmanuel College and the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center. He is also co-chair of the board of directors for the Tufts Health Care Institute.

Mr. Roosevelt received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his A.B. with honors in government from Harvard College. He has also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.