Trustee spotlight.

• Author: Gazzola, Kim

"Promise me that you will stay with FEI for just one year," said F. Gorham Brigham, the legendary icon of FEI's Boston Chapter. "I can promise you that you will like it if you get involved." And Kim Gazzola did get involved.

At age 27, Gazzola had just left Touche, Ross & Co. after seven years to become controller of a major Boston law firm. Gorham called her on the first day of her new job at the law firm, and invited her to a meeting of financial executives. She accepted the invitation and attended the meeting. "Except for a couple of other women, there was this large group of men," she recalls. "I asked myself: 'Why would I want to spend money to meet with a lot of old men?' "

But, she said, she had made a commitment to Gorham, and joined FEI in 1989.

Her first assignment as a volunteer FEI member was to work with the Boston Chapter's Hospitality Committee. Her duties included welcoming chapter meeting attendees, taking their meeting fees and bringing them into the meeting room. This does not sound like an exciting responsibility for an "introvert," but it was a very good way to meet members of FEI's Boston chapter, she says.

Being new to FEI, Gazzola decided that she should get to know some of the chapter members better. So she forced herself to sit at a different table at each chapter meeting. "That was a horrible time, and very uncomfortable for me," she admits, "but I got to know a lot of the chapter members that way."

This is how she got to know Joe DiLorenzo, who at the time was the chief financial officer of the Boston Celtics. Members always tried to sit next to DiLorenzo, likely to garner a few Celtics tickets! At another meeting, DiLorenzo sat himself down next to Gazzola asking, "Is this seat taken?" At that time, she didn't know that he was with the Celtics, and following the meeting DiLorenzo said, "I can't believe that you haven't asked me for tickets." He later sent her tickets with the note, "To my friend who never asked."

A few years later, the Boston Chapter president told Gazzola that he would recommend to the chapter board that she chair the Membership Committee. Somewhat surprised, she agreed. That precipitated a heated debate among the members of the...