From left to right: Kathleen Porter-Magee '97, President Vince Rougeau and Richard Iandoli '69
Richard Iandoli, Esq. '69 – Outstanding Community Service
Attorney Richard Iandoli has spent his career advocating for others, especially the most vulnerable among us. He is a partner and founder of the Boston immigration law firm Iandoli, Desai & Cronin P.C.
After Holy Cross, while in the Jesuits, he worked on the leading housing civil rights lawsuit in Chicago for Black families who were denied fair access to home purchases and financing after moving from the Jim Crow South. Later he assisted in the opening of the Kingston Legal Aid Clinic in Kingston, Jamaica, and was assistant chaplain at the General Penitentiary. Since 1977, he has practiced almost exclusively U.S. immigration law.
Over the years, Richard has devoted countless hours to pro bono presentations and counseling to colleagues in higher education and nonprofit organizations such as the Rian Immigrant Center (formerly the Irish Immigration Center, of which he was a founding supporter), GLAD (the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders – winners of the marriage equality cases, co-operating attorney), the Haitian Mulit-Service Center of Boston's Catholic Charities (Board member), PAIR 9the Political Asylum Immigration Representation Project (co-operating attorney, mentor & supporter), AILA (the American Immigration Lawyers Association – of which he was New England Chair), and NAFSA (the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors).
In both his paid and pro bono work, he thoughtfully and diligently serves as an advocate for all immigrants – those highly educated professionals seeking specialized work visas, frightened undocumented students & others seeking DACA status and Temporary Protective status, confused international college students trying to travel and return to studies during the COVID pandemic, or asylum seekers from around the world desperate for a new, safe life in the U.S. Each is a child of God; each deserves and has received the best of Richard's efforts for more than 45 years.
Kathleen Porter-Magee '97 – Distinguished Professional Achievement
Since 2014, Kathleen Porter-Magee has served as the superintendent for Partnership Schools, a network of eleven Catholic elementary schools that serve the most economically-challenged neighborhoods in New York City and Cleveland, Ohio. Though distinctly Catholic, Partnership Schools operate outside the traditional system using an innovative model that allows for independent management of urban Catholic schools. Under Kathleen's leadership, Partnership Schools has expanded from six schools in New York City to eleven schools across two dioceses and the number of students served has increased 70 percent. Partnership Schools graduates now regularly beat both city and state achievement averages and gain acceptance into some of the most prestigious prep schools in the nation.
Kathleen's career began as a classroom teacher, and before joining the Partnership as superintendent, Kathleen served in leadership positions at the College Board, at Achievement First (a charter school network), at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. She is a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow and has served as an education fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Throughout her career, she has published widely on topics such as curriculum, school choice, the future of Catholic education and Supreme Court decisions that affect faith-based schools.
Kathleen's lifelong commitment to Catholic education began with her own education journey, attending Catholic schools from Kindergarten through college, and she is a proud mom to three current Catholic school students.