After almost a full year without a permanent director at the helm, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority is down to two candidates to lead it into its next chapter: the CFO of a Boston-based social services organization, or the senior vice president of operations of D.C.’s conventions and entertainment authority.
According to an agenda the MCCA Board of Directors posted Thursday and amended Friday, the two finalists are Marcel Vernon Sr. and Hootan Kaboli. The board will interview the candidates at a meeting on Monday at 1:30 p.m., and has a “possible” vote scheduled.
The executive director job comes with a $250,000 to $320,000 salary, per a job post by contracted search firm Koya Partners.
Vernon is the chief financial officer and senior vice president of finance at Bay Cove Human Services, based in Boston. According to its website, Bay Cove helps over 25,000 adults, children and families in southeastern Massachusetts with mental illness, developmental disabilities, homelessness, substance use disorders and difficulties associated with aging.
Vernon has been at the nonprofit for over a year, his LinkedIn says, where he oversees a $184 million budget.
Prior to joining BayCove, he was the CFO and vice president of finance and administration at the University of New Hampshire for two years and worked for the state of Massachusetts for five years. In 2016, Vernon started as the CFO at the Department of Revenue, and in 2018 turned to head the finances at the state’s Trial Courts and Office of Court Management, his LinkedIn says. Vernon has his bachelor’s degree from Colgate University in economics and MBA from Syracuse.
Kaboli is the senior vice president of operations at Events DC, the authority that runs conventions, entertainment, sporting and cultural events in the nation’s capital. He’s been with the organization for eight years, according to his LinkedIn, serving in several positions.
He worked as the assistant director of property operations for Hilton Worldwide from 2013 through 2016, and has a master’s in systems design and project leadership from Cornell University College of Engineering and a bachelor’s degree in economics from James Madison University.
The MCCA has been without a permanent executive director since previous director David Gibbons stepped down last fall. The board approved Gloria Cordes Larson to take over the agency on a temporary basis in December 2023. At the time, Board Chair Emme Handy said Larson would serve in the role for six months.
The quasi-public agency responsible for an $845 million economic impact in the Boston and Springfield areas has been struggling with its public image over the last few years as issues have come to light related to racial discrimination, an allegedly opaque process of handling of state-owned land, and a new state audit that claims it “cherry-picked when it was convenient or not convenient” to follow state law and internal policies related to public records, procurement and settlement agreements.
The authority oversees the operation of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in South Boston — the largest building in New England — the Hynes Convention Center in Back Bay, MassMutual Center in Springfield, the Lawn On D and Lot On D in Boston, and the Boston Common Garage.
According to the search firm’s eight-page job description, the MCCA has 426 employees with an annual budget of $95 million. It hosted 272 events at its three convention centers in 2023 with 660,000 attendees, generating 550,000 hotel room nights in Boston and Springfield, and is currently booking out to 2038.