Board of Directors

Robert F. Rivers is the Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Directors of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. and has served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Directors of Eastern Bank since January 1, 2017. Mr. Rivers joined Eastern Bank in 2006 as its Vice Chair and Chief Banking Officer, becoming President in 2007, Chief Operating Officer in 2012 and an Eastern Bank director in 2015. He has also served as a trustee of Eastern Bank's predecessor holding company, Eastern Bank Corporation, since 2007. Prior to joining Eastern, from 1991 to 2005, Mr. Rivers held a number of staff and line leadership positions at M&T Bank in Buffalo, NY. Immediately prior to joining Eastern, he was an Executive Vice President for Retail Banking at the former Commercial Federal Bank in Omaha, Nebraska, following 14 years at M&T Bank. Mr. Rivers serves as Foundation Board Chair of the Dimock Center, as Chair of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, is a member of the executive committee of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and is a trustee of Stonehill College. He also serves on the Board of the Lowell Plan and on the Advisory Boards of the Lawrence Partnership and the JFK Library Foundation, and the Boston Women’s Workforce Council. A leader in Boston’s business community, Mr. Rivers has been recognized as a champion for social justice issues, having led the “Yes on 3” campaign to protect the rights of members of the LGBTQ+ community. He received his undergraduate degree from Stonehill College and holds an MBA from the University of Rochester.

Deborah C. Jackson, the Lead Director of Eastern Bank, has served as a director of Eastern Bank since 2000 and as a trustee of its predecessor holding company, Eastern Bank Corporation, since 2001. She serves as the President of Cambridge College in Cambridge Massachusetts, a position she has held since 2011. Prior to that, Ms. Jackson served for nearly a decade as chief executive officer of the American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts, one of the nation's largest Red Cross units. Prior to that, she served as Vice President of the Boston Foundation where she managed its $50 million grant and initiatives program. Throughout her career, Ms. Jackson has served and continues to serve on numerous commissions, task forces and boards including the Boston Green Ribbon Commission; the Mayor's Task Force to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care; the "City to City" program focusing on national and global best practices for urban policies; and the American Red Cross National Diversity Advisory Council. Ms. Jackson served for over 15 years on the board of the American Student Assistance Corporation, the nation's first student loan guarantor agency; and she has served on the Boston College Carroll School of Management's Advisory Board, and the boards of Milton Academy and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. She also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts and was a board member of the New England Chapter of The National Association of Corporate Directors. In addition, Ms. Jackson served as the Chair of the Audit Committee and on the Board of Directors of the Boston Stock Exchange. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of John Hancock Investments and on the board of the Amwell Corporation. Ms. Jackson also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Eastern Bank Foundation. Ms. Jackson attended Hampton University, graduated from Northeastern University with a B.A. and she pursued graduate studies in urban studies and planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ms. Jackson is also the recipient of Honorary Doctorate degrees from Curry College and Merrimack Valley College. Ms. Jackson was a fellow of the British American Project of Johns Hopkins University, and previously served as a fellow of the Harvard University Advanced Leadership Institute and the Harvard University Institute for College Presidents.

Richard E. Holbrook currently serves as director and Chair Emeritus of Eastern Bank. Mr. Holbrook retired as Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Bank in 2016, having served in those roles since 2007. He also served as a trustee of its predecessor holding company, Eastern Bank Corporation, since 2001. Mr. Holbrook joined Eastern Bank in 1996 as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President and was named President and Chief Operating Officer of Eastern Bank and Eastern Bank Corporation in 2001. He has more than 30 years of banking experience as a commercial lender, trust officer and planning and financial manager. During his leadership at Eastern, Mr. Holbrook served as the Federal Advisor Council representative for the First Federal Reserve District, meeting quarterly to discuss business and financial conditions with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. Mr. Holbrook also served on the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and on the executive committee of the Boston Chamber of Commerce. He is also the former chair of the Massachusetts Bankers Association. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Richard C. Bane is Executive Chairman of Bane Care Management LLC, which operates 11 skilled nursing facilities and two assisted living facilities in Massachusetts. The organization currently comprises 1100 beds and manages over 1100 employees.  

Professionally, Mr. Bane currently serves as Board Member and Past Chairman of the Massachusetts Senior Care Association, the state’s largest professional provider group, and now chairs that organization’s Legislative Committee. He lectures frequently on many aspects of senior services and post acute care and is considered one of New England’s senior care industry leaders. 

Mr. Bane is also involved in a wide range of corporate and community service activities. He serves as a director of Eastern Bankshares (EBC:NASDAQ), where he chairs the Bank’s Audit Committee. In addition, he serves as a member of the Bank’s Compensation, Risk Management and Nominating and Governance Committees.  In 2015 he was named to the Leadership Council of nationally recognized Schwartz Center for Compassionate Care. He is also a Board member of Steward Carney Hospital in Dorchester, MA.

Mr. Bane is a graduate of Dartmouth College (A.B., Economics, summa cum laude) and Harvard Business School (M.B.A. with Distinction). He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Salem State University.

Diane S. Hessan has served as a director of Eastern Bank and a trustee of its predecessor holding company, Eastern Bank Corporation, since 2016. She currently serves as chief executive officer of Salient Ventures, an investment and advisory company with a portfolio of angel investments focused on technology companies, a position she has held since November 2016. Previously, she was chief executive officer of Startup Institute, which is dedicated to helping people transform their careers to succeed in the innovation economy. She is also Chairman of C Space, where she was Founder and chief executive officer for 14 years. C Space (formerly Communispace) is a market research company, which builds online communities to help marketers generate consumer insights. Ms. Hessan also serves on the boards of Tufts University, MassChallenge, Panera, Brightcove, DP Cap Acquisition Corp I, The Schlesinger Group and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Ms. Hessan received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her B.A. in Economics and English from Tufts University. She has also received Honorary Doctorate degrees from Bentley University and the New England College of Business.

Paul M. Connolly has served as a director of Eastern Bank and a trustee of its predecessor holding company, Eastern Bank Corporation, since 2011. Mr. Connolly retired in 2010 as the First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, a position he had held since 1994. As Chief Operating Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Mr. Connolly had responsibility for the Bank’s financial services, information technology, finance, and support and administrative activities. Mr. Connolly joined The Federal Reserve Bank in 1975. Throughout his 36-year career, he served in a variety of positions in information technology, payments, planning and economic research, served on the Federal Reserve Financial Services Policy Committee and had national leadership responsibility for payment services and financial management. He currently serves on the board of directors for the John Hancock Life Insurance Companies. He received an MBA from Harvard Business School and an A.B. from Boston College.

Bari A. Harlam has served as a director of Eastern Bank and a trustee of its predecessor holding company, Eastern Bank Corporation, since 2014. Ms. Harlam is the co-founder of Trouble, LLC, a position she has held since April 2020, and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Aterian, Inc., Champion Petfoods, LP, OneWater Marine, Inc., and Rite Aid Corporation. From April 2018 to March 2020, Ms. Harlam served as the Chief Marketing Officer for Hudson's Bay Company. Prior to that, she served as the Executive Vice President of Membership, Marketing, and Analytics for BJ's Wholesale Club, beginning in 2012. Before that, she was Chief Marketing Officer at Swipely, a technology startup and served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for CVS Health Corporation. Ms. Harlam serves on the Board of Trustees of the Eastern Bank Foundation. Ms. Harlam has also served on the faculties of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University's Graduate School of Business, and the University of Rhode Island. She received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School of Business. Her work has been published in a variety of journals including Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Research, and the Journal of Business Research.

Joseph T. Chung has served as a director of Eastern Bank and trustee of its predecessor holding company, Eastern Bank Corporation, since 2014. He is co-founder and chief executive officer of Kinto, a care coaching platform for family caregivers looking after loved ones with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias, where he has served since 2019. He is also co-founder and Managing Director of Redstar Ventures, an innovative venture foundry developing a series of new companies through a topdown, market driven process, positions he has held since 2010. Prior to Kinto and Redstar, Mr. Chung was chairman and chief executive officer of Allurent and co-founder, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of Art Technology Group, a publicly traded, global enterprise software company. Mr. Chung holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he conducted his graduate work at MIT’s Media Lab. He is a Venture Partner at the Media Lab’s E14 Fund.

Peter K. Markell has served as a director of Eastern Bank and a trustee of its predecessor holding company, Eastern Bank Corporation, since 2006. Until March 2021, he served as Executive Vice President of Administration and Finance, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer for Mass General Brigham, which he had joined in 1999. Prior to that, he was a partner at Ernst & Young LLP. A Certified Public Accountant, Mr. Markell is a Boston College graduate with a B.A. in Accounting and Finance and served on the Board of Boston College where he has served as both chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Finance Committee. Mr. Markell currently serves on the Board of Directors of Huron Consulting Group Inc.

Luis Borgen has been a director of Eastern Bank and a trustee of its predecessor holding company, Eastern Bank Corporation, since 2016. Since 2019, he has been the Chief Financial Officer for athenahealth, Inc., a leading SaaS provider of healthcare software that automates and manages revenue cycle management and electronic health records for physician practices and health systems. Prior to that, he was Chief Financial Officer for Vistaprint, an e-commerce company that produces marketing products for small and micro businesses. Prior to that, he served as Chief Financial Officer for two publicly traded companies: DAVIDsTEA (from 2012-2017) and DaVita Inc. (from 2010-2012). Beginning in 1997, Mr. Borgen served in increasing roles of responsibility at Staples, Inc. leading to his appointment as Senior Vice President, Finance for the U.S. Retail business. He currently serves on the board of directors of Carters, Inc. Mr. Borgen served in the U.S. Air Force from 1992 to 1997 and attained the rank of Captain. He holds a B.S. in Management from the United States Air Force Academy, an M.S. in Finance from Boston College, and an MBA with Honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Mr. Borgen is also a CFA charter holder.

Paul D. Spiess has served as a director of Eastern Bank and a trustee of its predecessor holding company, Eastern Bank Corporation, since 2014. He has spent fifty years in the banking and financial services industry, serving as former Chairman of the Board of Centrix Bank and Trust, which merged with Eastern in 2014. He also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of CFX Bank in Keene, New Hampshire from 1993 to 1997. From 2004 to 2010, Mr. Spiess served in the office of the Governor of New Hampshire as an insurance and banking advisor. From 2000 to 2004, he served as a state legislator in Concord, New Hampshire, during which time he served on the House Commerce Committee. From 1983 to 1993, Mr. Spiess was Founder and President of Colonial Mortgage, Inc., of Amherst, New Hampshire. From 2004 through 2010, Mr. Spiess served as a health care advisor to New Hampshire Governor John Lynch and as Chairman of the Citizen’s Health Initiative. He graduated with a B.A. from Colby College in 1971 and earned an MBA degree from Boston University in 1977.