Dominican Republic

When Wendy Estrella opened her own law practice in 2005, she was one of only a handful of Latina lawyers in Greater Boston. Estrella Law hasbeen so successful that it more than tripled its staff since 2019. Wendy and her husband also launched a real estate development and property management firm, Estrella Enterprises, that currently has a $30 million real estate portfolio in Lawrence.

Wendy was among the first to make a prominent investment in Lawrence’s downtown, and her commitment to Lawrence has been unwavering. She is a founding member and recent chair of the Lawrence Partnership and a board member of North Essex Community College.

Vietnam

Son Vo’s mother ran a restaurant in their native Vietnam. After serving in the U.S. Army, he followed in her example and opened his first restaurant, Kaizen Sushi Bar & Grill, in Sturbridge in 2007. His second restaurant, Pho Sure, opened in Shrewsbury in 2014. His third restaurant, Chashu Ramen & Izakaya, opened in downtown Worcester in 2019 and quickly became an anchor business in that neighborhood.

Son prides himself on being a mentor to his employees, encouraging both their professional and personal growth. He was one of five recipients of the Worcester Business Journal 2019 Business Leaders of the Year awards.

Netherlands

Frank van Mierlo’s first business success, the autonomous underwater vehicle company Bluefin Robotics, positioned him well to do just about anything. He wanted to help transition the energy sector, and CubicPV was his solution. The company and its technology portfolio promise to underpin the next wave of solar growth, reducing cost while increasing the power output of solar installations.

Not satisfied with one company’s success, Frank wants to see the whole industry succeed. To that end, the U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded CubicPV and MIT a multi-million dollar grant to establish the ADDEPT Center at MIT to accelerate the commercialization of tandem solar technology. CubicPV is also focused on building a U.S.-based silicon wafer facility that is expected to be the largest outside of China.

Uruguay

Dr. Isabel Aznarez co-discovered Stoke’s TANGO technology (Targeted Augmentation of Nuclear Gene Output). Their unique scientific approach aims to address a broad range of severe genetic diseases by increasing, or stoking, protein output from healthy genes to compensate for the non-functioning copy of the gene. Isabel and her team have identified approximately 6,500 genes that may be amenable to TANGO. She holds 29 patents.

As a woman, a lesbian and a Latina in biotech, Isabel has been vocal about topics of diversity and inclusion and has been a mentor to many. The Boston Business Journal honored her as a 2022 LGBT Trailblazer as part of its annual Business of Pride program.