Power 100: WBJ names the most influential professionals in 2025
Photos | Courtesy of the subjects, their companies, or WBJ file
(Top row, from left) Angelo Padin from HollyWoo Studio, Worcester Fire Capt. Tom Bull, Neelu Mohaghegh from Cafe Neelu, Inc., (middle row, from left) Diane Gould from Advocates, Brooke Cooper from the WooSox, Denis Dowdle from Madison Properties, (bottom row, from left) Victor Ambros from UMass Chan Medical School, Dr. Cherise Hamblin from UMass Memorial Health, Lee Gaudette from Gaudette Insurance Agency
Since WBJ first launched its annual power list, the main criteria for inclusion always has been how Central Massachusetts professionals are influencing the local economy and community. Originally called Power Players and then Power 50 and Power 100, we’ve avoided making this feature about the CEOs leading the largest organizations in the region, with little turnover in the list year after year. Instead, the Power 100 edition is an annual report on how power is shared and expended in Central Massachusetts each year, as told through the 100 people who are most effectively wielding their influence, with a special focus on those creating change and bringing new ideas to the forefront. The Power 100 isn’t about who has the most power; it’s about who has an outsized impact on the region, regardless of how much power they hold.
[Read the profiles for the entire Power 100 list for 2025 here.]
Because of this focus on change, in order for a person to repeat on the Power 100 list from last year, they are judged on a higher criteria of “What have you done for me lately?” For example, Dr. Michael Collins was in the 2024 Power 100 for his role leading UMass Chan Medical School’s effort to expand its reach globally, including with a new $350-million research facility. This year, Collins is in the 2025 Power 100 after being forced to defend the school’s policies and research funding from threats by the President Donald Trump Administration. Of course, this year’s Power 100 has familiar faces like Ralph Crowley Jr. and Timothy Murray, who are constantly influencing the region’s business community, but we have more fresh faces than ever before, with more than 55% of this year’s list made up of people who weren’t on the 2024 list.
[For an alphabetical list of the Power 100 for 2025, click here.]
This year’s edition includes a new feature outside the Power 100, called The Insiders. Essentially, we wanted to know who the most influential people in Central Massachusetts think are the most powerful people in the region. So, we asked more than 400 power players to vote on those they felt were the most influential. The Insiders is broken into two parts: 1) a list of the top votegetters, and 2) stories on nine interesting people, who weren’t necessarily the top votegetters, as written by the powerful people who voted for them. Read all about The Insiders here.
The Power 100 is a reflection of the WBJ newsroom’s comprehensive knowledge of the Central Massachusetts economy. I consider it to be one of the best – if not the best – edition we have published in the last 12 months. I encourage you to take your time to thoroughly read each profile. Your understanding of the region’s business community will be greatly enhanced.
Read the profiles for the entire Power 100 list for 2025 here.
For an alphabetical list of the Power 100 for 2025, click here.
Brad Kane is editor of the Worcester Business Journal.
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