Board Highlight: Jason Sandoval

Save the Harbor board member Jason Sandoval lives in the small city of Melrose, Massachusetts with his wife and two kids. He spends most of his free time with his family, attending local events, helping out at his children’s school and taking day trips to nearby cities. But at his core, he loves a great party. “I love to plan a good time for people,” he said. 

With a party planner personality, it's no surprise Sandoval found himself working in the live entertainment industry. Sandoval is currently General Manager at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, and has served as General Manager at four different venues.

His love for music and event planning drives his work. "The underlying goal is to provide a great experience for people to connect with music,” Sandoval said.

Prior to the Xfinity Center, Sandoval worked as General Manager at the Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston’s Seaport, where Save the Harbor’s All Access Boston Harbor program kicks off each week in the summer. His predecessor, James Jensen, had been on Save the Harbor’s Board of Directors and initially provided access to the Leader Bank Pavilion for Save the Harbor’s youth programs. 

“The venue is open, accessible, and at a great location for the youth program to meet up with a wonderful backdrop of the harbor,” Sandoval said. “I was happy to toe the line.”

The ability to use such a landmark as the Leader Bank Pavilion is incredibly valuable to our youth programs, as hundreds of young people navigate their way down to the waterfront each week to take part in our free community group cruise program. The pavilion is the perfect venue for our daily orientation to Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands. 

When Sandoval took over as General Manager of the Leader Bank Pavilion, he was recommended by Jensen to be on Save the Harbor's Board of Directors. Sandoval was immediately interested. He has always been passionate about the beach, stemming from his childhood growing up in Southern California.

“I grew up always having access to beaches. Being in California, although there are certain areas that are not as diverse, the beach was pretty diverse. That's kind of one of the basic principles to Save the Harbor’s work.”

Sandoval enjoys working with Save the Harbor because he understands the value of experiencing the water, having grown up regularly visiting the beach. “I think it's a great organization, because it continues to bring people to the water and the beaches in New England. I think that's a cool thing to work with the youth, especially youth that may not necessarily be coming to the water and trying to encourage that.”

When Sandoval moved to the Mansfield Xfinity Center, he was sure to pass on the important partnership between Save the Harbor and Leader Bank Pavilion onto his successor so that thousands of children are able to experience the accessible waterfront spaces that the Seaport has to offer.