Framingham Students Win John P. Garrahan Leadership in Diversity Award

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The 30th anniversary of the John P. Garrahan Leadership in Diversity Awards ceremony is fast approaching, and 11 local students have been chosen as winners.

That includes two winners from Framingham in Kathryn Bishop and Lara Cristina Paulino.

The Alliance for MetroWest Unity will host the ceremony on April 28 at The Verve in Natick from 7:30 to 9 a.m.

The Alliance presents the Leadership in Diversity Awards annually to students from public and private high schools located in MetroWest whose work in leading others in awareness and appreciation of diversity distinguishes them at their schools.

These themes in action can be found in the work of the 2023 recipients of the annual Leadership in Diversity Awards, who include:

• Algonquin Regional High School - Zoe Oelkers of Northborough
• Ashland High School- Allishba Syeda
• Assabet Valley Regional Technical School- Landyn Hobbs, of Shrewsbury
• Dover-Sherborn Regional High School- Margaret Bowles, of Dover
• Framingham High School- Kathryn Bishop
• Holliston High School- Phoebe Wernborg
• Hopkinton High School- Evanya Mathur
• Keefe Regional Technical School- Lara Cristina Paulino, of Framingham
• Learning Center for the Deaf- Rita Child, of Amherst
• Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School - Pristine Cyril, of Sudbury
• Natick High School- Talia Bradley

The ceremony will also be filled with speakers and performers from Natick and Framingham, including Rev. Dr. J. Anthony Lloyd of the Greater Framingham Community Church, Lonnie Powell, of Natick, David W. Cunis, First Justice of the Framingham District Court, and more.

The event also includes the annual Nancy King Award, named for the late Executive Director and founder of MetroWest Legal Services. The 2023 Nancy King Award will go to the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, and will be presented by Betsy Soule, Executive Director of MetroWest Legal Services.

The annual breakfast and award program was first held in April of 1993. In 2004, the award was renamed in honor of one of the group’s founders and longtime steering committee member, late Framingham attorney and community leader John P. Garrahan.

This year’s event will mark a return to the large breakfast format to which the public is invited. A remote event was held in for 2020 and 2021 awardees, and a small evening event was held in 2022 for awardees and families.