The EBC Daniel K. Moon Lifetime Achievement Award – Posthumous Presentation
2025 Award Recipient: Mary K. Ryan
Mary K. Ryan was preeminent in her field and for a good reason. Beloved by clients, she made her career at Nutter. It is impossible to overstate how Mary’s extraordinary dedication and selflessness inspired meaningful change. She was a trailblazer for women in the legal profession and at Nutter. A pillar of the environmental law community, Mary was a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Environmental Lawyers and a Director of the Environmental Business Council of New England for over 25 years, serving as Clerk for much of that time.
For Mary, it was important to be engaged in the profession. She was active in local, national, and specialty bar associations. To name just a few of her leadership roles, she was a past president of the Boston Bar Association and Women’s Bar Association. Mary served on the ABA Board of Governors and as a member of the ABA House of Delegates. She also served on the SJC’s Access to Justice Commission, was a former clerk and board member of the Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts, and the founding co-chair of its Environmental Committee.
Mary set the gold standard for pro bono and public service. She was passionately committed to pro bono efforts and helping those in need. Mary was a force of nature so once again it is impossible to list all of her impressive work, but some notable examples include serving on the ABA Commission on Immigration and co-chairing the ABA’s Working Group on Unaccompanied Minor Immigrants. She demonstrated an unwavering commitment to improving our legal system to make access to justice a reality for all.
Over the course of her career, Mary received numerous accolades for her professional accomplishments, including ABA’s John H. Pickering Award of Achievement, BBA’s Thurgood Marshall Award, Dennis Maguire Pro Bono Award, Stephen G. Lewis Environmental Award, Chambers USA, BTI Client Service All-Star, Client Choice Award, The Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, Boston Magazine’s “Top Lawyers,” WBA’s Leila J. Robinson Award, Acritas Stars, and Lawdragon 500. The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce honored Mary with the Pinnacle Award for Achievement in the Professions for her outstanding achievements in the workplace, leadership that made a difference, and commitment to enhancing the quality of life in the region. Additionally, Mary was named to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s “Circle of Excellence.”
Upon graduation from law school, Mary served as law clerk and then chief law clerk to the Justices of the Superior Court of Massachusetts and as law clerk to the Honorable Ruth I. Abrams, former associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Mary earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from Boston College Law School and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Tufts University.
Award Photos
In 2022, the EBC Lifetime Achievement Award was named for Daniel K. Moon in recognition of his notable leadership in the environmental and energy industries. Dan was the force behind the Environmental Business Council of New England (EBC), the first organization in the United States established to support and foster the development of the environmental industry. Over his 31 year tenure with the EBC, Dan grew the organization from less than 50 member companies to over 200 and grew the programming from one or two meetings a month to over 100 per year. Combining drive, ambition, and the ability to bring together all parties, Dan had an immense influence on the growth of the environmental and energy industries in New England.The EBC Daniel K. Moon Lifetime Achievement Award
2024 Award Recipient: Arthur N. Mabbett
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mabbett & Associates, Inc.
Founding President, Environmental Business Council of New England, Inc.
The EBC Daniel K. Moon Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded to Arthur N. Mabbett in recognition of his notable leadership in the environmental industry as a small business entrepreneur and award-winning provider of environmental consulting, health and safety, and architectural/engineering design services to federal, state, and local agencies, and private commercial, institutional, and industrial clients nationally.
In Arthur’s junior year at the University of Massachusetts Boston, after planning to be a dentist, he was encouraged to explore the nascent environmental field by Dr. Herbert Lipke, his academic advisor. He took that advice and became one of U.S. EPA’s first scholarship recipients in a graduate degree program at Rutgers University. In 1970, he joined the U.S. Army as an Environmental Science Officer and served on active duty for six years. He was awarded the Meritorious Service and Army Commendation Medals for his distinguished service and remained in the Army Reserve until 1989.
Upon conclusion of his active duty, Arthur worked as an Associate at Symmes, Maini and McKee in Cambridge, founding their Health and Environment Group in 1976, before establishing in 1980, Mabbett, Capaccio & Associates, Inc. which in 1992 became Mabbett & Associates, Inc. As a regional New England firm, his business was negatively impacted by the offshoring trend during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. After considering various options, he decided to enter the Federal market and became one of the first companies to achieve Verified status by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business. Since entering the Federal market, the firm has grown five-fold. Today, Mabbett has 80 staff members with 75% of its work in the Federal sector. The firm has won two major Federal SBA Awards as New England Veteran Firm of the Year and as the Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year, Northeast Region. In 2021, the firm was named as one of the top three veteran-owned companies, all sectors, in the USA by the US Chamber of Commerce. Arthur has also spent countless hours grooming the next generation of his staff for a bright future.
Arthur played a critical role in the history and growth of the EBC. In 1989, Arthur participated in several meetings with environmental company leaders in consulting, engineering, and manufacturing, UMass Boston, the late attorney Donald Connors, Esq., and Governor Michael Dukakis. In November 1990, the Environmental Business Council of New England, Inc. was incorporated with Arthur as Founding President. He has maintained a position on the Board of Directors ever since, seeing the organization through the twists and turns of the environmental industry and economy.
In 1990, Arthur expanded internationally and in 1996 he established Mabbett & Associates Ltd, which when sold in 2021 was the largest privately owned environmental consulting and engineering firm in Scotland, the North of England, and Northern Ireland. The firm still trades under Arthur’s name.
The Environmental Business Council of New England is deeply grateful for Arthur’s commitment and leadership to the organization and the industry. In addition to the EBC Lifetime Achievement Award, Arthur’s accomplishments were recognized in 2022 with the Environmental Business Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
The EBC is proud to present the Daniel K. Moon Lifetime Achievement Award to Arthur N. Mabbett in honor of his leadership and success in the environmental industry over the past 54 years.
Presenting the Award:
Daniel K. Moon (Retired)
Past Executive Director & President
Environmental Business Council of New England
Award Photos
