Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Barry M. Portnoy Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards Benefit?

The Barry M. Portnoy Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards Benefit is a reception, dinner and awards ceremony to honor outstanding immigrant entrepreneurs in Massachusetts. The evening is presented by The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. The awards honor outstanding Massachusetts immigrant entrepreneurs in four categories: business growth, neighborhood business, technology business and life science business.

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When and where will the benefit be held?

The 2023 Awards will be held Wednesday, November 8, 2023, 6:00 PM.
The event takes place at the Royal Sonesta Boston, 40 Edwin Land Boulevard, Cambridge, MA 02142.

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Who can attend the Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards Dinner?

Everyone is welcome to attend this special opportunity to honor Massachusetts’ outstanding immigrant entrepreneurs.

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How much are tickets?

Individual General Admission tickets are $200 and can be purchased here.

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What sponsorship opportunities are still available?

The sponsorship levels are as follows:

  • Spotlight, $50,000. Includes full-page ad in the program book, recognition on The ILC website, and two tables of eight (16 tickets) to enjoy the reception and dinner ($46,800 is tax-deductible).
  • Visionary, $35,000. Includes full-page ad in the program book, recognition on The ILC website, and one table of eight to enjoy the reception and dinner ($33,400 is tax-deductible).
  • Empowering, $25,000. Includes full-page ad in the program book, recognition on The ILC website, and one table of eight to enjoy the reception and dinner ($23,400 is tax-deductible).
  • Innovative, $15,000. Includes half-page ad in the program book, recognition on The ILC website and four tickets to enjoy the reception and dinner ($14,200 is tax-deductible).
  • Presenting, $10,000. Includes half-page ad in the program book, recognition on The ILC website and four tickets to enjoy the reception and dinner ($9,200 is tax-deductible).
  • Pioneering, $5,000. Includes half-page ad in the program book, recognition on The ILC website and two tickets to enjoy the reception and dinner ($4,600 is tax-deductible).
  • Table Sponsor, $2,000. Includes one table of eight ($400 is tax-deductible).
  • Program book ad, $500 for full-page and $250 for half-page.

Sponsorships can be secured on our online ticketing page or by contacting The ILC Director of Development Mark Correia at [email protected].

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What are the ad specifications?

PDF or JPEG ad
5″ wide x 8″ tall for full page
5″ wide x 3.875″ tall for half page

300 DPI

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Who is eligible to be nominated?

For all award categories, nominees must be a foreign-born founder of a business (for-profit corporation, partnership or proprietorship, not franchise or subsidiary) headquartered in Massachusetts and founded in 2019 or earlier.

For neighborhood business nominees:

  • Be actively involved in a senior management position or as a board member of said business.
  • Nominee has distinguished themselves through the impact they and their business have on the neighborhood. This can include civic leadership, job creation, employee relations, social responsibility and more.

For business growth nominees:

  • Be actively involved in a senior management position or as a board member of said business.
  • Business must be profitable and have achieved a minimum of $2 million in gross revenue in calendar year 2022.
  • Business must employ at least 10 full-time-equivalent employees in Massachusetts and show strong employment growth.
  • Exhibit outstanding leadership in workforce development, employee relations, community relations, industry expansion and/or corporate citizenship.

For technology nominees:

  • Business must own proprietary technology sold to customers representing the majority of its revenue, such as communications/networking, digital content, energy and sustainability technology, hardware, and software.
  • Business must have achieved a minimum of $2 million in gross revenue in calendar year 2022 or have received a minimum of $2 million in outside investment in the past three years.
  • Business must employ at least 10 full-time-equivalent employees in Massachusetts.

For life science nominees:

  • Business must be in a life science industry researching, developing, producing products that improve the lives of biological organisms, such as biomedical technologies, biotechnology-based food and medicines, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals.
  • Business must have achieved a minimum of $2 million in gross revenue in calendar year 2022 or have received a minimum of $2 million in outside investment in the past three years.
  • Business must have at least 10 full-time-equivalent employees in Massachusetts.
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What is the nomination process?

Nominations will be accepted through September 18, 2023. Online nomination forms are available as follows:

For questions about nominating or to receive a Microsoft Word version of the nomination form, please contact Karen Glover at [email protected].

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Can I self-nominate?

Absolutely! Self-nominations are encouraged.

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Do all owners of a nominated business have to be immigrants?

No. Not all founders need to be immigrants for one or more of them to be nominated.

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Is there a hashtag?

Yes! It’s #ILCTRawards and don’t forget to tag us @ilctr.

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How else can I help spread the word?

We encourage people to use our Awards Social Media Kit to spread the word. For other outreach ideas, please contact Karen Glover, director of communications, at [email protected].

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Who were previous award winners?

Business Growth:
Julia Silverio, Silverio Insurance Agency, 2012
Rafael Guzman, RM Technologies, 2013
Fitzroy Alexander, Traditional Breads, Inc., 2014
Helene and Thomas Stohr, swissbakers, 2015
Herby Duverné, Taino Consulting Group, now Windwalker Group, 2016
Jose de la Rosa, Guardian Healthcare, 2017
Fausto Garcia, Five Star Plating, 2018
Joseph Ngaruiya, A Better Life Homecare, 2019
Roger Magalhaes, Shades in Place and Trading Up Consulting, LLC, 2022

Neighborhood Business:
Larry Dossantos, 912 Auto, 2012
Mahmud Jafri, Dover Rug & Home, 2013
Rosa and Nisaury Tejeda and Victoria Amador, Tremendous Maid LLC, 2014
Damaris Pimentel, Ultra Beauty Salon, 2015
Gerardo Loza and Hilda Torres, My Little Best Friends Early Learning Center, 2016
Josefina Luna, CEROCoop, 2017
Umesh Bhuju, Zumi’s Espresso, 2018
Yessy Feliz, Tails, Inc., 2019
Jitka Borowick, Cleangreen, Inc., 2022

High-Tech / Life Science:
Dr. Amar Sawhney, Ocular Therapeutix, Inc., 2012
Dr. Chiang Li, Boston Biomedical, 2013
Dr. Fauzia Khan and Mansoor Khan, Alere Analytics, 2014 High-Tech
Josef von Rickenbach, PAREXEL International Corp., 2014 Life Science
Dries Buytaert, Acquia, 2015 High-Tech
Laxman Desai, Toxikon Corporation, 2015 Life Science
Mihael Mikek, Celtra, Inc., 2016 High-Tech
Garo H. Armen, Agenus, Inc., 2016 Life Science
Sandro Catanzaro, DataXu, 2017 High-Tech
Johannes Fruehauf, BioLabs, 2017 Life Science
Bettina Hein, Pixability, 2018 High-Tech
Michael Koeris, Sample6, 2018 Life Science
Larry Kim, MobileMonkey, Inc., now Customers.ai, 2019 High-Tech
Bernat Olle, Vedanta Biosciences, Inc., 2019 Life Science
Ling Chai Maginn, Jenzabar, Inc. and All Girls Allowed, 2022 High-Tech
Avak Kahvejian, Flagship Pioneering, 2022 Life Science

To see a complete list of previous nominees, click here.

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Who is Barry M. Portnoy?

Barry M. Portnoy was the founder of The RMR Group, an alternative asset management company, and a founding board member of The Immigrant Learning Center. As a consummate entrepreneur, he built businesses in multiple industries, employed thousands and contributed mightily to local economies. His steadfast support of The ILC gave thousands of immigrants a voice. Because of his unwavering belief in immigrants and the transformational impact of entrepreneurship, The ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards were renamed after his death in 2018.

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What are full-time-equivalent employees?

One full-time-equivalent (or FTE) employee is equivalent to one employee working full-time. If you have part-time employees, they each represent a fraction of an FTE. For example, if you have five full-time employees who each work 40 hours a week and five part-time employees who each work 20 hours a week, you would have 7.5 FTEs.

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What is gross revenue?

Gross revenue equals all of the revenue received during a given time frame, before any deductions for taxes, operating costs, etc.

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Will my financial information be confidential?

Financial information will not be shared outside of the selection committee if the nominee requests confidentiality.

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How are the awards judged?

Four selection committees of experts have been convened, one for each award category. The committee reviews each nomination and selects as the winner the nominee who is making the biggest impact .

The business growth award selection committee members are:

  • Herby Duverné, Windwalker Group
  • Jose Luis Rojas Villarreal, Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF)
  • Debi Kleiman, The Upside Angels

The neighborhood business award selection committee members are:

  • Eduardo Crespo, Hispanic Market Solution
  • Mahsa Khanbabai, Khanbabai Immigration Law
  • Elsabel Rincon, Mill Cities Community Investments

The technology business award selection committee members are:

  • Doug Banks, Boston Business Journal
  • Abi Barrow, Cambridge Innovation Partners
  • Kathleen Hagan, Hagan and Company

The life science business award selection committee members are:

  • Lauren Celano, Propel Careers
  • Alison (Ali) Farquhar, GTL Coaching & Consulting, LLC
  • Michelle Linn, Linnden Communications
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More questions? Contact [email protected].

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