Massport's Lisa Wieland leaving for job at National Grid

Massport Executive Director Lisa Wieland is stepping down from the quasi-public agency she has led for the past four years to take over National Grid’s New England operations.

Wieland has overseen Massport — which runs Logan International Airport, the Conley Terminal, Worcester Regional Airport, Hanscom Field, and the Flynn Cruiseport — through turbulent pandemic-era times in the travel industry when business activity plunged and financials became hard to manage.

“Because of our amazing team, we restored activity across our business lines, delivered strong financial performance, and invested in strategic initiatives to position the authority for future success and contribute to the commonwealth’s economic development, transportation and climate goals,” Wieland said in a prepared statement.

Massport Aviation Director Ed Freni will take over as interim chief executive officer when Wieland departs for National Grid. The Massport board is tasked with finding and hiring the next CEO.

Wieland first joined Massport in 2006 as the director of corporate planning and analysis and took over as the director of human resources strategy and employment in 2007. She was promoted to chief administrative officer for maritime in 2013 and in 2015, became port director for the port of Boston.

She was appointed chief executive officer of Massport in 2019 and has pulled in more than $330,000 a year since taking over the top staff position. Wieland earned $417,609 in 2022, according to payroll records.

Before Massport, Wieland worked for four years at the consulting firm Bain & Company and for five years at CNN as an assignment editor in Los Angeles and Atlanta, according to her online resume.

National Grid CEO John Pettigrew said Wieland will join the company in November.

“[Wieland’s] experience working with government and community partners, and in large-scale infrastructure projects will bring real benefit to National Grid as we work to help Massachusetts achieve its net-zero ambitions while delivering the safe and reliable flow of energy to our New England customers and communities,” Pettigrew said in a statement.

Wieland will succeed Steve Woerner, who plans to lead National Grid’s New England business through 2023. Woerner plans to leave the company at the end of the year, according to a statement.

Wieland earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California Los Angeles and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.

Massport board member John Nucci said Wieland showed extraordinary leadership during the pandemic, “when a lot of tough decisions had to be made.”

“Everything is an opportunity and we need to start thinking now about a search for a new CEO,” Nucci said. “One of the things I feel strongly about is that we should be focusing on people who are local, or even internal at Massport. We don’t have time for a learning curve for a new CEO.”

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