NEWIEE Events Calendar
NEWIEE’s 14th Annual Awards Gala
May 8 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Gala photos now available!
Mark your calendars for May 8, 2025 for NEWIEE’s Annual Awards Gala at the beautiful Westin Copley Hotel in Boston. This is a night you won’t want to miss as we come together again to celebrate the amazing women making strides in the energy and environmental fields.
Our Emcee for the night:
Cindy Fitzgibbon
Chief Meteorologist
WCVB Channel 5
Cindy Fitzgibbon is chief meteorologist for WCVB StormTeam 5, overseeing the station’s weather coverage and leading Channel 5’s talented team of meteorologists. An expert and award-winning meteorologist with more than 25 years of experience, 20 of them reporting weather in the Boston market, Cindy has been helping people start their day as StormTeam 5’s EyeOpener and Midday meteorologist for nearly a decade.
Cindy is also the principal meteorologist for WCVB’s “Forecasting Our Future” special ongoing coverage. This important initiative, launched by WCVB parent company Hearst Television, addresses issues Americans face in navigating changing weather patterns and their impact on local communities and economies.
Prior to joining WCVB in 2013, Cindy was delivering her morning forecast at Boston’s WFXT. Before that, she spent time learning tropical meteorology at WBBH in Fort Myers, Florida and forecasting snowstorms at WPTZ, the Hearst NBC affiliate in Burlington, Vermont. Cindy started her meteorology career at KXMB in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Cindy has been nominated for several National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) Boston/New England Emmy® awards, most recently in 2021, and won the regional Emmy award in 2017 for outstanding achievement in weather broadcasting. Cindy has also won an Associated Press award for “Best Weathercast.”
A native New Englander, raised near Portland, Maine, Cindy earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology from Lyndon State College in Vermont. Cindy is a member of both the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the National Weather Association. She has been awarded the AMS Seal of Approval for Television. Cindy has also made guest appearances on ABC News filling in on World News Tonight and Good Morning America.
Cindy is involved with and devotes her time to organizations that promote science education, particularly young girls, including the Discovery Museum “Smart Gals” Program, the Jr. Sci-Tech Girl STEM Expo, and the Science Club for Girls. Cindy repeatedly donates her time to help raise money for local organizations to fight ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and MS (multiple sclerosis) and has become an ambassador in spreading awareness about Batten Disease. She makes frequent “Weather Visits” to schools across the area and has educated thousands of students about the weather over the years.
Cindy is active in the Natick community where she lives with her husband and two boys. Depending on the season, you can typically find her on the basketball court, baseball or football field cheering on her boys!
2025 Gala Honorees
Keynote Address:
Maura Healey
Governor
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Maura Healey is the 73rd Governor of Massachusetts. In 2022, she became the state’s first woman and first openly LGBTQ person elected to the position.
In her first year as Governor, Healey has already delivered on key promises to help Massachusetts become a leader in clean energy, a more affordable and equitable place to live, and a great place for businesses to operate.
On her first day in office, Governor Healey appointed the nation’s first cabinet-level Climate Chief and created the Office of Climate Innovation & Resilience to coordinate policies across all of state government to address the climate crisis. Governor Healey has also prioritized education and workforce development by making free school meals for K-12 students permanent and creating a free community college program for residents ages 25 and older. She has made historic investments in apprenticeships and other career pathways. Governor Healey also delivered on her promise to make Massachusetts more affordable by cutting taxes for the first time in 20 years, including creating the most generous Child and Family Tax Credit in the county. Her tax cuts package puts money back into the pockets of families, renters, seniors and others who are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living. She also recently introduced the $4 billion Affordable Homes Act, which would be the state’s largest housing investment in history, to create tens of thousands of homes and lower costs.
Healey previously served two terms as Massachusetts Attorney General, first elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2018. In her role as the People’s Lawyer, she took on difficult issues impacting Massachusetts residents, including the opioid epidemic, the climate crisis, escalating health care costs, and student loan debt. Earlier in her career, Healey was a litigation partner at an international law firm.
Healey grew up the oldest of five siblings in an old New England farmhouse. She and her siblings were raised by their mother, Tracy, who worked as a nurse at the local elementary school. Her stepfather, Edward, who later joined the family, was a teacher and local union president. He coached her high school basketball team and instilled a lifelong love of the sport. Healey attended Harvard College, where she captained the basketball team, and then spent two years as a 5’4” starting point guard on a professional basketball team in Austria.
For much of her career, she’s been the only woman in the room and has taken every opportunity to elevate other women. She is a passionate advocate for LGBTQ rights, women’s health, and women’s equality in general, especially in sports.
Governor Healey lives in Arlington, Massachusetts with her partner, Joanna Lydgate.
Leadership Awardee:
Reihaneh Irani-Famili (MSc MBA P.Eng)
President & Founder
Viridi Edge
Rising Star Awardee:
Kelsey Perry
External Affairs Manager
Ocean Winds
DEI Founders’ Award – Individual:
Ruth Georges
Senior Supply Chain Development Manager
U.S. Department of Energy
DEI Founders’ Award – Organization:
BT2 Energy
Better Together Brain Trust
About the NEWIEE Awards
The NEWIEE Awards are presented at the annual NEWIEE Gala to honor and celebrate the achievements of women leaders in the energy and environment industry.
- DEI Founders’ Award honors the founders of our organization, a group of women who came together in 2008 to exchange ideas and experiences with others in energy and environmental professions. This award, created in 2023, recognizes the spirit of the NEWIEE founders – uplifting underrepresented voices and creating a space for like-minded individuals to come together. We honor both an individual and an organization here.
- The Leadership Award honors women+ who demonstrate excellence in a variety of professional settings, including leadership on the national, regional, or local level. They have promoted and furthered opportunities for women+ in the energy and environmental fields and have continued to nurture and encourage women in these areas throughout their careers.
- The Rising Star Award was created in 2016 in honor of Allison Smith, to honor a woman with less than ten years of industry experience who has demonstrated a commitment to, and positive impact on, her field; both professionally and in her personal endeavors.
Event Sponsors
We need your support! Gain visibility for your company while helping NEWIEE provide educational opportunities and highlight the contributions of underrepresented voices in the energy and environmental sectors. Visit our Sponsorship page to learn about all the 2025 sponsorship opportunities.
If you would like to move forward with sponsorship or have any questions, please contact us at newiee@newiee.org.
We proudly feature our sponsors’ logo on all website, newsletter and social media promotions leading up to the event as well as during the Gala.
Sponsorship Benefits | Reception Host* (SOLD) Dessert Host* (SOLD) |
Platinum | Gold | Silver | Sustainability* |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pricing | $12,000 | $9,500 | $5,000 | $2,500 | $6,000 |
Tickets to the event ** | 20 (two tables) |
20 (two tables) |
10 (one table) |
5 (half a table) |
10 (one table) |
Electronic program | Two-page ad | One-page ad | Half-page ad | Logo | Logo |
Recognition at the event | Logo displayed & acknowledged from stage | Logo displayed & acknowledged from stage | Logo displayed | Logo displayed | Logo displayed & acknowledged from stage |
One-year Ambassador-level organizational membership with NEWIEE | Yes (includes unlimited memberships for employees and much more!) |
– | – | – | – |
* Available for only one company.
** All sponsors may purchase additional tickets at the reduced member price.
Annual Sponsorship: Annual Sponsorship provides year-long visibility for your company. Commit and make a single payment for your preferred level of sponsorship for each of our three signature events – the Awards Gala, Women Shaping the Agenda, and the Fall Fête. In addition to the event-specific sponsorship benefits outlined above, your company logo will be displayed as an Annual NEWIEE Sponsor in all of our bi-weekly newsletters, sent to over 4000 people, and at virtual events throughout the year.
NEWIEE may on occasion take photographs and/or video of event attendees for use in print materials or by electronic methods. Your attendance at any NEWIEE event grants permission for NEWIEE to use these photographs and/or video in its marketing and public relations efforts. Would you like to volunteer to host, speak, sponsor, give a tour, or suggest a NEWIEE event idea? Email Programming Co-Chairs and NEWIEE Directors, Sarah Adams and/or Vivian Kimball. Have an event you would like to cross-promote? Send a short description and related link to Jennifer MacNeil at least 6 weeks prior to your event to ensure that it will be posted in our monthly Friends-of-NEWIEE blast.
© 2024 New England Women in Energy and the Environment (NEWIEE). NEWIEE is a non-profit, tax exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.