MassBio’s 2025 State of Possible Conference (Wednesday, March 26 | Omni Boston Seaport) has a lineup of heavy hitters from the pioneers of the industry to leading women and rising stars. To help us bring home our theme, “This is the place.”, we’re announcing two more clutch players: David Ortiz, Co-Founder of the David Ortiz Children’s Fund and Baseball Hall of Famer, and Nancy Frates, the mother of Pete Frates behind the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and a leader in the ALS community.
- Frates will discuss the viral success of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the progress made over the last decade thanks to the hundreds of millions of dollars raised, and Massachusetts’s role in the search for treatments and a cure.
- Later, Frates, an ALS researcher, and David Ortiz, a friend of the Frates family and advocate for children with cardiac challenges, will sit down with MassBio CEO and President Kendalle Burlin O’Connell for a fireside chat to close out the day.
“Big Papi” on stage: Among the most compelling and important players in Red Sox history, David “Big Papi” Ortiz, played 20 seasons of Major League Baseball, including 14 with Boston. The ten-time All-Star and 2013 World Series MVP is one of the greatest designated hitters of all time and in 2022, he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
- Off the field: In 2007, he founded the David Ortiz Children’s Fund whose mission is to provide life-saving heart surgeries and treatment to children in New England and the Dominican Republic who do not have access to critical pediatric services.
The Ice Bucket Challenge’s enduring legacy: A distinguished businesswoman, Nancy Frates is the mother behind the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the very apex of viral philanthropy, and is a leader in the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) community. Driven by the unacceptability of her son’s prognosis, Nancy Frates utilized her business acumen, communication skills, and mama bear drive to network, advocate, and create worldwide awareness in the fight against ALS and Motor Neuron Disease.
- The impact: In August 2014, her son Pete championed the historic global movement known as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge which ignited a media maelstrom, raising over $220 million in just five weeks.
The conference: Ortiz and Frates are now part of an incredible lineup for this year’s State of Possible Conference, which includes Bruce Booth, Ariel Bourla, Abbie Celniker, George M. Church, Robert Coughlin, Jeff Elton, Stephanie Gervasi, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, Colin Hill, Sean Holleran, Massachusetts Speaker of the House Ron Mariano, Lucy Perez, Tamar Thompson, and Luke Timmerman.
- Leading women: Join us for an inspiring discussion with the Biotech CEO Sisterhood, a powerful collective of female CEOs who are shaping the future of biotechnology. These trailblazing women will share their unique journeys as business leaders, the challenges they’ve overcome, and how they support one another through this vibrant network: Luba Greenwood (moderator), Rachel Humphrey, Leslie Williams, and Daphne Zohar.
- Rising stars: This panel brings together the leaders of Massachusetts-based biotech companies who are shaping the industry’s future: John Evans, Cigall Kadoch, Brad Loncar (moderator), Nello Mainolfi, and Marcio Souza. Join us for a dynamic discussion as these executives share their journeys, challenges, and visions for the next era of biotech.