Boston – Paul J. Ayoub, a member of Nutter’s Executive Committee and partner in the firm’s Real Estate Department and Nonprofit and Social Impact practice group, has been named the incoming chairman of the Board of Directors for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, a leading business association for the greater Boston region.
Ayoub commences his two-year term on July 1, 2018, taking over for outgoing chair, Dr. Navjot Singh, managing partner for McKinsey & Company’s Boston Office.
Ayoub has served as vice chair and secretary for the Chamber’s Executive Committee for the past nine years, and as a member of the organization’s Board of Directors for almost 20 years. In addition, he serves as the Chamber’s general counsel and as co-chair of the Regional Real Estate Development Leadership Council. In his new role as chair, Ayoub will preside over a Board of Directors that includes some of the most prominent and influential business leaders in Greater Boston. He will work with the Chamber and its Board to advance the organization’s mission to make Greater Boston the best place for businesses and people to thrive.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as the Greater Boston Chamber’s chairman, and look forward to continued collaboration with my fellow board members, Jim and the whole Chamber team,” said Ayoub. “I also want to extend my deepest thanks to the current chairman, Nav Singh, for his outstanding leadership. We have set a bold agenda for the Chamber with several important initiatives underway, all with the goal of carrying out the organization’s mission to make Greater Boston the best place for business and people to thrive. I look forward to advancing that work and continuing to lead the Chamber board, and our collective wisdom in a strategically impactful way over the next two years.”
“Paul has been a tremendous champion for the Greater Boston Chamber, and a great partner for me personally in my first few years leading the organization,” said James E. Rooney, president & CEO of the Chamber. “He is committed to preserving the competitiveness of our region in all regards, and he is equally committed to ensuring that all businesses and all people are able to succeed in greater Boston. He will make a terrific chairman, and I’m looking forward to continuing our work together as he assumes his new role this summer.”
“Paul is the perfect person to carry forward the important work we have laid out for the Chamber,” said Nav Singh. “He has already been a leader through his work with the executive committee and the board, advocating for growing and diversifying our membership and taking the Chamber to the next level in terms of programming and leadership development. He and Jim make an excellent team, and I know the Chamber continues to be in good hands under their leadership.”
“Paul Ayoub has shared his considerable professional skills, congenial personality, and inspired and inspiring leadership with the Chamber over many years,” said Flash Wiley, a member of the Chamber’s executive committee. “He’s been indispensable regarding the conception and the execution of all the Chamber’s principle initiatives. His continuing leadership as our Chairman will ensure continuity, vigilance, progress, dedication, creativity and the palpable civic relevance of Greater Boston’s business community.”
“Paul was an invaluable partner to me when I served as Chair,” said Karen Kaplan, chairman & CEO of Hill Holiday. “I know that his healthy respect for the Chamber’s past accomplishments, combined with his forward-looking vision and ambition, will take the Chamber to new heights. We are very lucky to have his leadership.”
Ayoub was recently named the President of the Board of the Real Estate Finance Association. Additionally, he is a member of the Board of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board and the Board of Incorporators of the Boston Local Development Corporation. He is a former co-chair of the Real Estate Finance and Workout/Foreclosure Section of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Real Estate Section. He also chairs the Building Committee of the Board of Trustees of Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Ayoub serves on the national Board of Directors of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude, and is the immediate past chair of the ALSAC Board. Recently, he and his daughter, Lizzie Ayoub, published Inspire Me! A father-daughter book of quotations to motivate, teach and inspire, an Amazon best seller, the profits from which are being donated entirely to St. Jude.
Ayoub represents clients in financing and development of commercial real estate projects in Boston, New England, and nationwide, including local and major North American financial institutions and a wide range of real estate developers, owners and investors. Ayoub also advises nonprofit and for-profit organizations in the area of corporate governance. He is a graduate of Brown University, magna cum laude, and Boston College Law School where he was editor-in-chief of the Boston College International and Comparative Law Review. Among recognitions, he is listed in Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.
Nutter’s Real Estate Department represents clients in sophisticated real estate transactions, counseling industry leaders on flagship projects in Boston, throughout the Northeast, and across the country, including owners, operators, developers and brokers, lenders, and institutional investors. U.S. News – Best Lawyers regularly recognizes Nutter for excellence in real estate and land use and zoning law in its “Best Law Firms” survey.
