College & Career Readiness Night with the Boston Celtics is a partnership between GEAR UP and the Boston Celtics. Every year, students across the state are invited to the TD Garden to hear from professionals in the sports industry, who discuss their careers and the importance of college in attaining them. Speakers from past events have worked in marketing and communications, broadcasting, healthcare and more.
A member of the Boston Celtics during their championship title run in 2008, Leon Powe now joins the team as Community Ambassador. Leon grew up in Oakland, California and played college basketball at the University of California, Berkeley. He began his NBA career with the Celtics in 2006, and served as a valuable spark off the bench during the team’s championship run in 2007-08, capping it off by scoring 21 points in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
A graduate of Ithaca College, Kara Hutchinson has been with the Celtics front office since 2007. Director of Strategic Marketing, Kara is responsible for supporting the ticket sales staff and season ticket member initiatives. Her team creates marketing materials and campaigns to help drive ticket sales, whether its full season packages, group tickets, or single game packs.
Dave Hoffman is a Union College and Northeastern University alum. He is responsible for maintaining relationships between the Celtics and the community through a number of different initiatives, including Stay in School, Read to Achieve, Step Your Game Up, and Jr. Celtics. Prior to joining the team in 2010, Dave also spent time as an Assistant Men’s Basketball coach at Lasell College and Managing Director of Programming with MetroLacrosse.
Eddie Palladino, announcer for the Boston Celtics, was the emcee for the event.