Massport Announces New Port Director

BOSTON –The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) announced today the appointment of Lauren Gleason to Massport Port Director, overseeing all Maritime business areas. Gleason has been at Massport since 2017, serving as Interim Port Director, Chief Administrative Officer and Deputy Port Director of Business Development during her tenure. The search firm Shey Harding advised Massport on the recruitment for this position.

The Port of Boston generates $8.2 billion in annual economic impact and supports more than 66,000 jobs. Keeping the Port competitive to generate additional economic impact and grow jobs is an essential part of the Authority’s mission. As Port Director, Gleason will lead all business planning and development, strategic initiatives, financial management, and the safety and security and day-to-day oversight of Massport’s Maritime division.

“Lauren has been a steadfast champion for the Port, showcasing her valuable expertise in the many areas of our maritime operations,” said Massport CEO Rich Davey. “I know she will continue to work tirelessly to expand Massport’s presence and influence in both the cargo and cruise industries, drive economic growth for Boston and Massachusetts, and improve the overall position of the Port of Boston on a global scale. I’m thrilled to have her on my leadership team and confident that she will continue to harness new opportunities to keep connecting New England to the world through our maritime facilities.”

Conley Container Terminal enables more than 2,500 businesses throughout Massachusetts and New England to ship and receive products globally, including furniture and home goods, footwear, clothing, office supplies, wine and spirits, recycled fibers, sporting goods, seafood and more.The Conley Terminal Modernization Project has been essential in growing the footprint for New England’s only full-service container terminal, solidifying the port’s role as an economic engine for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the New England region. These investments included:

• The Butler Freight Corridor, a dedicated truck route to keep container trucks off residential roadways and allow trucks to access the highway system in minutes;
• Two 50-foot-deep berths to accommodate larger ships;
• Three new ship-to-shore cranes, commissioned in the fall of 2021,  are servicing vessels with capacities of over 12,000-14,000 TEUs. The new cranes are fully electric and produce no diesel emissions;
• The Boston Harbor Deepening project, a multi-year, multi-phase partnership between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Massport, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, completed in June 2022 to deepen the main ship channel and the reserved channel to -47 feet and the outer harbor to -51 feet; and
• Other terminal improvements, including hybrid retrofits for rubber-tire gantry (RTG) cranes, expanded container storage, and new refrigerated container storage.

Since joining Massport, Gleason developed and implemented the Maritime Business Development strategy for Conley Terminal and Flynn Cruiseport Boston. At Conley, this has resulted in expanding the Terminal’s global direct connectivity from seven ports to 40 ports weekly, and growing the business by 18% over the past 12 months and 84% over the past 24 months. At Flynn Cruiseport, the business has expanded to become a nine-month season, and through a collaboration with Norwegian Cruise Line, the Cruiseport will welcome its largest homeport ship to Boston in 2026, the 4,500 passenger Norwegian Breakaway. Gleason will continue to work with multiple stakeholders intersecting business, industry, government, environmental, non-profit, community, and others with the same goal to preserve and protect the working waterfront while providing a sustainable asset for generations to come.

Flynn Cruiseport Boston continues to serve more passengers and cruise ships each year, anticipating a total of 167 vessels from 24 cruise line and approximately 470,000 passengers this 2024 season, which ends in November. Flynn Cruiseport Boston supports $135.5 million in annual economic impact. Flynn Cruiseport Boston is home to nearly 2,200 jobs (direct, induced, and indirect jobs) and generates $40 million in federal, state, and local tax revenue, according to the 2018 Economic Impact Report by Martin Associates.

Gleason began her career in supply chain and transportation at Hanjin Shipping. She spent nearly six years as the New England Sales Manager and was responsible for all sales, strategic initiatives, and operations for New England and Eastern Canada-based importers and exporters. Her role also included increasing the footprint and market share for Hanjin in the Northeast as well as facilitating peak season planning meetings on behalf of Hanjin’s customers throughout Asia. Prior to joining Massport, Lauren worked at Wayfair building the foundation and groundwork for their international supply chain program.

Massport, as part of our Maritime mission, also hosts a cluster of seafood processing companies across multiple facilities on the South Boston waterfront. This seafood processing hub, one of four major hubs in the United States, provides seafood to customers locally, nationally and internationally. In Boston, these businesses are strategically located near both Logan International Airport and Conley Terminal, accessing global markets with the convenience of direct connectivity.

Gleason is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island, receiving dual degrees in Global Business Management and Spanish Language and Literature. She serves on the boards of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts International Business Council and The Propeller Club of the Port of Boston. Lauren also co-leads Massport’s Female Employee Resource Group. She is also involved with industry associations such as Coalition of New England Companies for Trade (CONECT), Cruise Canada New England Association(CCNE), American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), The Women’s Edge Leadership Program, and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Women’s Leadership Program.