Linda Henry ’00, H’19 Reflects on Babson, Boston, and the Institutions that Define a City
When she thinks of Boston and the many things that make up the character of the city, Linda Henry ’00, H’19 often thinks of its institutions. She thinks of its hospitals and schools, its media outlets and sports teams, its places and organizations that help to define its spirit and resiliency.
When her father, a poor immigrant from Italy, came to the United States as a teenager, the city and its institutions supported him and helped him to make a life. “In this city, he was given a chance to have a great education and the chance to succeed,” Henry says.
Today, Henry plays a major role at two of those institutions that are an integral part of Boston’s day-to-day rhythms, serving as CEO and co-owner of Boston Globe Media and as an active partner in Fenway Sports Group, which owns teams across multiple sports, including baseball’s Boston Red Sox.
“I feel really, really lucky. I get to work at something I truly love and believe in,” Henry says. “I love the city of Boston.”
At Babson College’s 106th annual Commencement exercises this month, Henry will deliver the undergraduate address. The ceremony will represent a homecoming for the Babson alumna. “I am really grateful that I went to Babson,” she says. “I just thrived. The professors cared, the curriculum was challenging and interesting, and my classmates shared my passion for business. It was such a happy and formative time in my life.”
With Commencement fast approaching, Henry took time to reflect, on a career spent in some of Boston’s most revered institutions, and on giving the Commencement speech in the place where that career began. Twenty-five years ago, she sat in the audience with the other graduates in their caps and gowns, their futures in front of them, listening to the inspiring words from the stage. Now, she’ll be the one delivering those words.
“When President (Stephen) Spinelli asked me to give the Commencement address, he said he wanted someone who had been in their seat,” Henry says. “I was so honored.”
FME Lessons
On a Monday a few weeks before Commencement, Henry sits in her home office. Behind her rest pictures, Emmy Awards she has won for her work as a television producer, and a miniature replica of the Premier League trophy, which England’s Liverpool Football Club, another team owned by Fenway Sports Group, won in 2020 and again this year.
On the wall hangs a rendering of one word: YES. That single word represents a can-do attitude that Henry seeks to embody. “It’s a philosophy,” she says. “It’s about finding a way to make things happen and being open to possibility.”
Being chosen as a Commencement speaker at her alma mater has caused Henry, not surprisingly, to take a look back. In her office, she flips through a binder she put together long ago that includes mementos from her first year at Babson, including from her Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME) business. “I haven’t looked at it in 20 years,” she says.
She also looks at a picture on her phone that a friend had sent her. The image is of an old Babson Free Press ad, in which Henry sought support to be class officer. Taking part in clubs and being a peer mentor, Henry kept busy during her time at Babson. “I did all of it. I jumped into it. I was fully engaged,” she says. “It was an amazing four years for me.”
She served as co-president of her FME business, Flix and Kicks, which delivered VHS video rentals to residence halls for $2. The business also delivered candy and soda. Henry says it was a complicated venture with “very low margins,” but she learned a lot, as FME gave her a full picture of the many disciplines—accounting, marketing, operations—that make up a venture. “You take this holistic view of business. It brought it to life,” she says. “It was a transformational class for me on leadership.”
Those Babson experiences would give her a good foundation for a coming career that would place her in the heart of Boston’s community and culture.
Serving as Stewards
With Boston Globe Media and Fenway Sports Group, Henry sees herself as a caretaker of community mainstays. People read The Boston Globe every day, and they have rooted for the Red Sox for years, even generations. Henry believes her job is to work with her colleagues and partners to hold these organizations in public trust, to make them as strong and innovative as they can be today so that they can continue to thrive in the future with the next owners.
“We are stewards for a part of time,” she says. “It is an incredible privilege, and it is an incredible responsibility.”
For 153 years, from the 19th through 21st centuries, The Boston Globe has been covering the news of the city. It is a key part of Boston Globe Media, a company that owns a number of other media properties, including the Boston Magazine, Boston.com, and STAT, a national life sciences publication.
“I am really grateful that I went to Babson. I just thrived. The professors cared, the curriculum was challenging and interesting, and my classmates shared my passion for business. It was such a happy and formative time in my life.”
Linda Henry ’00, H’19, CEO and co-owner of Boston Globe Media
The particulars of running a newspaper in the digital age are obviously much different than they were in 1872. The media landscape today remains challenging, and Henry says successful models to follow are few. To remain thriving, the Globe looks to innovation and entrepreneurial thinking. “There isn’t a roadmap out there for a metro organization like ours,” she says. “Staying entrepreneurial is what we are doing.”
Twice a year, for instance, the Globe holds what it calls “Innovation Week.” This is a chance for employees to work in cross-functional teams on new ideas for the company. Tech hacks, business proposals, internal process changes—employees bring their ideas forward. Henry likens it to an FME presentation. The best recommendations are given budget, resources, and support to launch.
One such concept became the successful B-Side, a news brand designed specifically for people in their 20s that has helped introduce Globe content to a younger demographic. “We focus on being an innovative company from within,” Henry says.
As innovative as it is, the Globe also relies on what has fueled it for decades: solid reporting. The paper has the largest newsroom in New England. “They are brilliant professionals who are at the core of what goes on in the city,” Henry says.
That reporting has an effect on the region. A Pew study, for instance, once showed how engaging with local news can increase civic engagement. “A trusted, well-resourced, independent newsroom is one of the important ingredients of a thriving city,” Henry says.
The Impact of Institutions
Such is the impact that institutions can have. Henry sits on the boards of a slew of community foundations, including those associated with the Red Sox, Liverpool Football Club, and the Pittsburgh Penguins, an NHL team also owned by Fenway Sports Group. Their work makes a difference. The Red Sox Foundation, for example, offers programs for youth, families, veterans, and communities.
“We are trying to harness the passion people have for the team for the community,” Henry says. “Such good comes out of it. It is remarkable what team charities accomplish.”
The passion fans feel is most visible, most euphoric, during a championship parade. Along with her husband, John Henry, who is Fenway Sports Group’s principal owner, Linda Henry has experienced championship parades for the Red Sox and Liverpool. She has seen the tens of thousands of people who come out to celebrate and share in the moment.
“You see and feel this remarkable community that sports create,” she says. “It is a beautiful shared connection within generations of families and between neighbors, connecting across cities and beyond.”
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