Team
Advisory Council
The Advisory Council of the Women’s Foundation of Boston is an active volunteer group formed to provide advice and support to the organization.
Nancy Adams holds many leadership roles in the community, including as a board member of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center and co-director of the PAO Arts Center Leadership Council, which celebrates and strengthens the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community of Chinatown and Greater Boston.
She is a Board member of Harvard Medical School, Medscience Program and a member of the Women’s Health Advisory Board at the Brigham. Nancy has served as member and Chair on various Boards and Councils in Greater Boston.
Martha (Marty) Blue is an accomplished Board and Executive Team member with significant leadership experience in rapid growth environments. Until June 2019 she was SVP of Business Development at CarGurus, where she also launched the Sales, B2B Marketing, Product, and Industry Relations functions. Prior to CarGurus, Marty spent 16 years in licensing at Reebok International. She is currently an Independent board member at Openbay, a Senior Advisor at Boston Consulting Group, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Harvard Business School, and a member of the Board of Directors at Good Sports. Marty holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Harvard University and has a Masters in Business Administration from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College.
After a career working at real estate investment advisory firms, Cherise Bransfield shifted to work in fundraising, first as a development director for a local private school and then as a nonprofit fundraising volunteer. Currently, she is chair of the development committee at Rosie’s Place. She also serves on the Advisory Board for Waypoint Adventure, a nonprofit based in Lexington, whose mission is to lead youth and adults with disabilities on outdoor adventures. Finally, Dartmouth College has been the focus of many of her volunteer fundraising efforts, including leading reunion campaigns and becoming one of the founding members of the Centennial Circle, the first women’s giving group of its kind among Ivy League institutions. She is also a board member for the 90-year old Dartmouth Women’s Club of Boston.
JocCole “JC” Burton, LEED AP BD+C, is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Maven Construction, the full service general contracting firm under the Woodline Solutions umbrella. Maven Construction, a women-owned Boston, Massachusetts based company provides full service general construction management, energy solution and energy retrofits in the built environment. Over her 20+ year career, Ms. Burton has acquired invaluable expertise from the most competitive general contractors where she has completed more than 65 projects with more than a billion dollars of construction.
Her leadership is recognized by industry peers and organizations. Ms. Burton has won numerous industry awards including the coveted Associated Builders & Contractor’s Eagle Award, White House Champion of Change, Clean Energy, Women’s Magazine Business of the Year, ABL Non-Traditional Business of the Year, Associated General Contractors and Urban Land Institute, among others.
Ms. Burton brings these experiences and her personal commitment to excellence to every opportunity. She attended the University of California, Berkeley and has a MBA Certificate of Finance & Accounting from Georgia State University.
Ellen Calmas brings 30 years of brand building experience with Fortune 500 and entrepreneurial companies to her role in strategic planning, marketing and sales support for Neighborhood Pay Services (NPS), the company she co-launched in 2008. Products created by NPS have helped increase access to housing for U.S. renters with less than perfect credit by reducing upfront costs and payment friction. Ellen is also part of the NPS team working to assist renters avoid eviction due to outstanding rental balances during the recent pandemic. She is active in health, civic, and arts organizations in the Greater Boston area and holds board positions for the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Emerson College, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation/New England Chapter, and the Boston Arts Summer Institute.
Chandra Clark is President of the Corey C. Griffin Foundation, a nonprofit organization that makes strategic investments to improve the lives and opportunities for youth with a focus on education, healthcare, and faith & character development aimed at making a transformative impact on “Corey’s Kids” at crucial times in their lives.
For the past 17 years, Chandra has served in nonprofit leadership roles, developing innovative programs and creatively cultivating opportunities in the community to support the advancement of underserved populations. Her passion lies in advocating for equity in healthcare, education, and economic access. Her diverse professional background includes business and talent development, fundraising, marketing, and external relations with experience in collaborating with corporations and organizations to develop and implement multi-level projects, partnerships, programs, and community initiatives.
Katherine Collins
Katherine Collins is the first Head of Sustainable Investing at Putnam Investments and Founder of Honeybee Capital Foundation. After many years serving as head of research and portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments, Katherine set out to re-integrate her investment philosophy with the broader world, traveling as a pilgrim and volunteer, earning her MTS degree at Harvard Divinity School, and studying biomimicry and the natural world as guides for investing in an integrated, regenerative way, beneficial to our communities and our planet. Katherine is author of The Nature of Investing, and serves on the boards of Last Mile Health, the Omega Institute, the Santa Fe Institute, and the Harvard Divinity School Dean’s Council. She is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School and Wellesley College, and is a CFA charter holder and a beekeeper.
Christina Dervin
Christina Dervin is Executive Director of the Analog Devices Foundation at Analog Devices, Inc., a global semiconductor leader that bridges the physical and digital worlds to enable breakthroughs at the Intelligent Edge.
In this role, Christina is responsible for workplace giving and volunteer programs supporting more than 27,000 employees around the world and the communities where they live and work.
With a mission to engineer a more sustainable future for our planet and people, the Analog Devices Foundation under Christina’s leadership focuses on initiatives that protect the environment, improve access to education, and advance societal change.
A 22-year veteran of ADI in a wide variety of roles, Christina also is the founder and co-chair of the company’s Community Activities Board, a volunteer organization that supports employees serving as ambassadors in initiatives with local groups.
Christina serves on the Board of Advisors at The S.E.A.L. Foundation in Lakeville, MA, whose mission is to create and fund educational and social opportunities for students who learn differently.
Christina earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts, and a Certificate in Corporate Citizenship Practice from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.
Margarete Dupere is an accomplished human capital executive and leadership coach. She is Founder of Leadwell, a coaching practice for leaders and teams making the cultural, behavioral and organization changes that create an inclusive, empathic, empowering work environment.
Marge spent 18 years at State Street where she was Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources, was Global Head of Organization Development for Analog Devices, a Consultant with Korn Ferry/Hay Group and Managing Partner for a Boston-based professional services firm.
She holds an MA in Organizational Psychology and a BA in Psychology, is a graduate of the Columbia University Coach Intensive Program and served as coach and facilitator for Harvard Business School’s Executive Education programs. Her board and non-profit work has focused on women, education, wellness and food insecurity.
Rana el Kaliouby is co-founder and CEO of Affectiva. Having defined the category of Emotion AI, Rana is now pioneering Human Perception AI: technology that can understand all things human. A passionate advocate for innovation, ethics in AI and diversity, Rana has been recognized on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 and Forbes America’s Top 50 Women in Tech. Rana is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and a Post Doctorate at MIT.
Sakina Evans
About Sakina Sakina Evans is Founder & President of EvansOne, an executive search and Human Resource consulting firm helping companies thrive by recruiting top-talent, building high-performing teams, developing leadership, and integrating common-sense diversity programs across their organizations. With 25+ years of experience in Human Resources, Sakina is a recognized, proven leader with a deep understanding of the business challenges and needs of early-stage companies, non-profits, and large corporations. Prior to founding EvansOne, she served as the Vice President of People at Bose leading all global HR functions during the largest transformation in the company’s 55-year history. Sakina is a passionate thought-leader, speaker, and advisor, particularly in the areas of unbiased succession planning, empathetic management, and empowering high-trust cultures. Sakina attended the University of Toronto, graduating with a degree in Psychology and Sociology, is a Board Member of Cardinal Cushing Centers, Inc. and is a Clean Energy Venture Group Fellow. Sakina is an avid sports fan, Netflix watcher and dog lover – she lives outside Boston with her husband and son.
Janice Fidalgo
About Janice Janice Fidalgo works as a Product Marketing Manager on the Grow with Google team focused on creating economic opportunity. She partners with non profit organizations, educational institutions, and workforce development organizations to bring in-demand training to their communities. She has a passion for understanding people and our various influences to find solutions and achieve common goals. This passion has translated into interests in studying interstate interactions in global politics, analyzing consumer behavior in marketing, and creating inclusive communities in my schools and workplaces. Janice attended the Winsor school and went on to Dartmouth University, where she studied Government and Romance Languages and was a founding member of the Women’s Professional Circle, as well as receiving a certificate from the Tuck School of Business.
Nicole Fitzpatrick is deputy general counsel at Akamai Technologies, and sits on the Diversity and Inclusion Executive Steering Committee within the company. She joined the Akamai legal team a decade ago, following spending over ten years working in private practice, both as a partner at Goodwin Procter, and a junior partner and associate at WilmerHale. Nicole serves her community by sitting on the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of the Meadowbrook School, the Board of Directors of Girls on the Run, Greater Boston, and is a class manager for the University of Virginia School of Law. She earned degrees from the University of Virginia School of Law and Boston College.
Laurie Glimcher
about Laurie
Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, was named President and CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2016. She is also Director of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Previously, she was the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean and Professor of Medicine of Weill Cornell Medicine and Provost for Medical Affairs of Cornell University. Dr. Glimcher is a distinguished immunologist, widely renowned for her work in one of the most promising areas of cancer research.
A trailblazer in cancer research, Dr. Glimcher’s research identified key transcriptional regulators of protective immunity and the origin of pathophysiologic immune responses underlying autoimmune, infectious, and malignant diseases. Dr. Glimcher speaks nationally and internationally on cancer, immunology, skeletal biology, and translational medicine, and has contributed more than 350 scholarly articles and papers to the medical literature.
Dr. Glimcher is a magna cum laude graduate of Radcliffe College, and holds an MD degree cum laude from Harvard Medical School.
Loretta Greco
about Loretta Loretta Greco is the Artistic Director of The Huntington, Boston’s leading professional theatre. A director and producer, Loretta’s passion for championing groundbreaking artists and fostering nurturing, rigorous artistic homes for theatre-makers, has made a significant impact on the field. In her 12 years as artistic director at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre, she is proud to have developed and premiered some of the theatre’s most visionary writers. Loretta served as producing artistic director of New York’s WP Theater and associate director and staff producer of the McCarter Theatre. She is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect and the recipient of Bay Area Critic’s Association Awards, a Drama League fellowship, the Princess Grace Award, a Sundance/Luma Director’s fellowship, and the 2018 Zelda Fichandler Award.
Diane Hessan
about Diane Diane Hessan is an award-winning entrepreneur, researcher and author. She is the founder and Chairman of C Space, formerly Communispace, which was the first company to build online communities for market research. Diane was CEO of the company during 14 years of exponential growth, as the company’s 700 employees worked with hundreds of global brands to gain insight and inspiration from their consumers. She was also CEO of Startup Institute, which designed and ran bootcamps for people who needed the skills and connections to work in tech. Diane has consolidated all her investment and advisory work into a company, Salient Ventures, which helps accelerate the next generation of growth companies in tech.
Diane is author of the recently published book, Our Common Ground: Insights from 4 years of Listening to American Voters. She also co-authored the book Customer-Centered Growth: Five Strategies for Building Competitive Advantage, a Business Week best-seller that is published in 11 languages.
Diane serves on the boards of Panera, Eastern Bank, Brightcove, Schlesinger Group, Tufts University, Mass Challenge, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She received her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and her B.A. in Economics from Tufts University.
Beth Humberd
About Beth
Beth Humberd is a tenured Associate Professor of Management and Department Chair at the Manning School of Business at UMass Lowell. She is an expert on issues of worker identity, gender and diversity, relational dynamics in organizations, and the changing nature of work. Her research is published in the top academic journals in her field and has been featured in popular press outlets including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, the Boston Globe, and more. She was a leading voice on the impact of pandemic on women and their careers, including national features on NPR Marketplace, NBC, and ABC news.
Prior to earning her Ph.D. in Organization Studies from Boston College, Beth worked in the consulting practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers and in Corporate Finance at Boston Scientific Corporation. In addition to conducting research and teaching, Beth also advises a variety of businesses and non-profits on issues of worker engagement, career development, and the future of work.
An accomplished CEO, executive coach and business consultant, Jamie excels in organizational design, business and board development, strategic communications, and relationship management. Since 2003, she has been President of Jamie Jaffee Enterprises, an executive coaching and advisory firm. Her clients span corporations, foundations, and nonprofit organizations. Previously, Jamie worked at Fidelity Investments, where she built and led the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund serving as its first President. Fidelity Charitable is now the largest grant maker in the country with $20B donated to charities world-wide since inception; charitable assets grew from $0 to $2 billion during Jamie’s tenure. Throughout her career, she has remained committed as a leader and mentor to women at all stages of their careers – many have grown to become senior executives within their organizations. A graduate of Michigan State University, Jamie has also held senior positions at Bain/Bridgespan, State Street, Massachusetts General Hospital, and The Boston Foundation and has served on numerous nonprofit boards.
Julie Joyal, RN, M.Ed. is the Founding Executive Director of HMS MEDscience, a non-profit located on the Harvard Medical School campus. HMS MEDscience is a high school STEM initiative with the mission to increase diversity in the sciences. Julie has been a registered nurse for over 30 years and enjoyed a rewarding career in the ICU of Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston. Moved by the educational disparities that she witnessed in the Boston Public School District, she earned an Ed.M. in Education Policy & Management from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Julie’s multi-faceted background in nursing and education, combined with her unconventional pathway towards her life’s passions and her fight towards addressing educational disparities in Boston position her to make an especially meaningful impact on our community.
Josh Kraft recently transitioned into the role of President of Kraft Family Philanthropies, after having served and steered the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston (BGCB) for nearly 30 years. As Founding Executive Director, he spearheaded the construction of today’s state-of-the-art Gerald and Darlene Jordan Boys & Girls Club. As Nicholas President and CEO of BGCB, Josh continued his service for the 12,500 youth served there each year. Josh also serves on the boards of Brandeis University, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Herren Project, and is a co-chair of the Hate Crimes Task Force for Massachusetts.
Caroline Kung
about Caroline
Caroline Kung (Strategic Initiatives Manager) is passionate about partnering with, investing in, and advising women entrepreneurs to scale and grow businesses with positive impact. Caroline was a Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital, a global private investment firm, and has served on the boards of numerous companies. Earlier in her career, Caroline worked in investment banking at Merrill Lynch and business planning at Armani. Caroline is a member of the Advisory Board for the Center for Women and Enterprise and Treasurer of the Boston Chapter of Alumnae-i Network for Harvard Women. She also volunteers with Beacon Hill Village and FriendshipWorks to help alleviate elder challenges. Caroline has an A.B. in Psychology and East Asian Studies from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Nancy Leeser is the Principal at Meaningful Meetings, an organization focused on building professional connections through networking with image and styling confidence. She enjoys making connections and establishing partnerships along with building teams, business development and business strategy. Her corporate career included multiple leadership positions in call center management and customer service for the high tech, transportation and bio-tech industries. She then transitioned to higher education, where she developed corporate relationships for the Simmons Leadership Conference, growing the dollar volume of sponsorships by 500%. Nancy earned a marketing degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and an MBA and Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Northeastern University.
Katie Lemaire
Katie Lemaire worked for more than 35 years as a management consultant for Hay Group and then Korn Ferry, where she helped leaders build their organizations, ensure that they have the right capabilities in place and leverage their leadership teams. Over her career, she led multiple global teams and helped build the firm’s thought leadership in areas such as performance management and executive team performance. As part of the Korn Ferry team, she collaborated with the Rockefeller Foundation on research to identify the qualities that drive women to become CEOs of the world’s largest companies. Katie has also served as an advisor to many Boards of Directors, helping them improve their governance practices. Since retiring in 2020, she is an advisor to multiple organizations and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Youth Foundation. Katie earned her BA from Colby College and her MBA from Babson College.
Jennifer Lum is an investor and entrepreneur. She co-founded Forge.AI and Adelphic (acquired by Time) and was an early team member at Quattro Wireless (acquired by Apple), m-Qube (acquired by VeriSign) and WebHosting.com (acquired by AT&T). Jennifer previously worked as a management consultant with financial services and technology companies.
Jennifer is an angel investor as well as an advisor to startups and venture capital firms. She is an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) at Harvard Business School and an advisor to student entrepreneurs at MIT.
Melissa Luna is Executive Director of GreenLight Fund Boston. Prior to joining GreenLight, she led programming and managed a national portfolio of grantees in the fields women and politics, and sex trafficking at Swanee Hunt Alternatives. Melissa has more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit management, strategic planning, and program evaluation. She launched programs focused on youth development, civic engagement, and broad systems change in the city of Boston during her 10-year tenure at Sociedad Latina. Melissa credits her passion for social justice and civic engagement to her years spent during her undergraduate studies serving in Boston’s communities as part of Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA). She currently serves on the boards of PBHA and March Forward Massachusetts. Melissa graduated from Harvard University and is an alumna of the Institute of Nonprofit Practice.
Neela Montgomery is an experienced Global CEO who is passionate about growing and scaling digital consumer businesses, innovating for customers and leading large transformational change particularly in retail.
She is the Executive Vice President and President of CVS Pharmacy/Retail and previously served as CEO of Crate & Barrel. Neelas has been recognized as a progressive leader in the Retail/ Consumer space, with a focus on digital acceleration, international expansion, building outstanding leadership teams and fostering a diverse and inclusive company culture. Neela is a Board partner at venture capital firm Greycroft and serves on multiple public and private boards.
Nicole Obi is a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded several venture backed start-ups. Until 2018, she was Vice President of Customer Insights & Engagement Strategy at Fidelity Investments, and she is currently the Lead for Strategic Initiatives at the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts. Nicole is a member of the Boston Chapter of The Links Inc, a volunteer service organization for professional Black women. She also serves on the Intensive Community Program Committee of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and is on the Board of Advisors for WGBH. Nicole earned master’s degrees from the MIT Sloan School of Management and the MIT School of Urban Planning & Design, and she holds a BS degree from Hampton University.
Donna Quirk is Head of Business Development for Yot.me, a virtual events/events management platform and experience marketing CRM for nonprofit organizations. She is responsible for partnerships with nonprofits and brands. Donna has spent over 20 years in the nonprofit world, serving as Director of Corporate and Foundations at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts, Head of Development at Big Sisters Boston and Development Officer at City Year Boston. She has served on the Board of Directors at Heading Home Inc. for the homeless and The Vincent Club, supporting Women’s Health at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her academic focus was on teaching and library work and culminated in a master’s degree in Education Administration from Boston College.
Audrey Epstein Reny serves as Co-CEO and managing partner at The Abbey Group, a Boston based real estate development, management, and investment firm. With over 25 years of experience, she drives the strategic vision, leads the firm’s overall operations, and oversees performance of the firm’s portfolio of assets. She has expertise in strategic planning for new development projects, product development, community relations, permitting, marketing planning and implementation, and retail, residential and commercial leasing. Prior to The Abbey Group, Audrey taught at Northeastern University and worked for Bain & Company, American Express, and Johnson & Johnson. Audrey has served on the Boards of Mass General Hospital for Children, Horizons for Homeless Children, Boston Ballet and as a member of the Boston’s Women’s Workforce Council. She has led fundraising efforts and run the Boston Marathon eight times to support many local charities, and founded the the Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital where she is also on The President’s Advisory Council. She serves on the Undergraduate Financial Aid Leadership Council at the University of Pennsylvania where she earned both a BA from the College and an MBA from the Wharton School.
Jane Rhodes, PhD, MBA is Chief Business Officer at Verge Genomics. Jane has more than 25 years of drug discovery, company building and strategic leadership in the biotech industry, including 18 years at Biogen. Jane’s passion lies at the intersection of technology and life science with a particular focus on developing novel therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. Based on her work in the digital health space, she co-founded Qr8 Health, a software development company pioneering the development of clinically validated patient cognitive assessment tools. Jane currently serves as Executive Chair of the Board at Pheno Therapeutics.
Jill Roberts worked for many years in marketing positions at Hill, Holliday Advertising, Epsilon Database Management and Fidelity Investments before taking time off to raise four children. She is very active in the nonprofit world as a member of the Boston Ballet Board of Trustees and Chair of the Boston Ballet Gala, Chair of the New England BRIF Council, member of the Jewish Federation National Women’s Philanthropy Board, and past president of Women’s Philanthropy for the Combined Jewish Philanthropies. Jill is also actively involved with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Huntington Theatre Company and YPO Gold. She is a graduate of the MIT Sloan School of Management and Wellesley College. She lives in Newton with her husband, Mitchell, and in her free time, she is a choreographer for local musical productions.
Jill Shah
about Jill Jill Shah is the President of the Shah Family Foundation, which supports innovative and transformative work where education, healthcare and community intersect in the city of Boston. The foundation’s primary work and support is centered on Boston’s schools and community organizations, with the goal of sharing broadly the programs and solutions that prove successful. Jill’s civic interests include healthy food in schools, food access in high-needs neighborhoods, rigorous and successful public schools for all kids, and a deeper collaboration between education and healthcare around issues of physical, mental, emotional, and social health.
Jill is a graduate of Providence College where she earned a B.A. in English. Before launching the foundation, Jill was an entrepreneur in Boston, involved in internet start-ups, including iXL and RxCentric. She also served on the executive team during the turn-around and sale of Mercator Software. She sold her last company, Jill’s List, to MINDBODY in 2013.
Jill is the recent recipient of the Boston Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Bostonian award and the Playworks Game Changer award. She is an overseer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the overseers of the Museum of Fine Arts, and serves on the boards of the Belmont Hill School, and the Winsor School.
Kimberly Sherman Stamler
about Kimberly Kimberly Sherman Stamler is the president of Related Beal, the Boston office of Related Companies, where she is responsible for the overall management of the firm. Ms. Sherman Stamler leads the company in its pursuit of new development and opportunities and in all financing activities across New England. Related Beal is active in various asset classes including residential, life science, office, hotel, senior housing, retail, public realm and mixed-use.
Ms. Sherman Stamler has worked on various transactions across all asset classes including The Beverly, Boston’s largest affordable and workplace housing development in 25 years, The Whitney Hotel in Beacon Hill, The Quinn and The Harris in the South End, and The Clarendon and One Back Bay in the Back Bay. Other recent projects in Boston include Lovejoy Wharf, home to residences and the new headquarters for Converse, Inc. atop a restored and activated wharf, the redevelopment of Congress Square in downtown Boston, and Innovation Square and the Innovation and Design Building in the Seaport.
Ms. Sherman Stamler is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in Urban Studies. Ms. Sherman Stamler sits on the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, A Better City, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Boston Municipal Research Bureau. Ms. Sherman Stamler is a member of NAIOP Massachusetts and the Sam Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Sherman Stamler previously sat on the boards of Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston and the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy.
Christina Heenan Suh holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in English and Marketing and a master’s from Columbia University. A former management consultant, her work focused on strategy and implementation projects for Fortune 100 clients. She was also an account executive at Hill+Knowlton (WPP) marketing consumer packaged goods. As an Executive Board Member of the Brookline Education Foundation, which funds professional development in the Brookline Public Schools, Christina led their Grant and Oversight Committees. She currently sits on the board of the Brookline Library Foundation and teaches ESL at Rosie’s Place in Boston.
Goldie Taylor
about Goldie Goldie Taylor currently serves as the Chief Communications and Marketing Officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and has cross-sector experience delivering integrated consumer brand marketing, digital engagement, public relations, and social innovation programs. Goldie is a pioneer in culturally-relevant and purpose-driven marketing and is a sought-after public speaker.
Dune Thorne is a Partner at Brown Advisory where she serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. In 2010 she founded Invest in Girls, a nonprofit focused on financial literacy for under-represented high-school girls that now works with over 4,000 girls across the country. She has given a TedX talk on gender diversity in leadership, published articles in Financial Planning and Forbes.com, been a guest multiple times on Bloomberg TV, and was featured on Wharton Business Radio Dollars and Change Podcast. Dune earned her BA at Dartmouth College and her MBA from Harvard Business School, where she completed independent studies on women and investing.
Alexandra Valdez is the Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement in Boston. She leads her team to advance gender equity by empowering women and those who identify as is by removing systematic barriers.
She has a long history with the City of Boston as the past Director of Engagement for the Economic Mobility Lab and as the Latina Liaison and Coordinator for Jamaica Plain.
Prior to joining the City of Boston, Alexandra worked as a field organizer for Boston City Councilor Matt O’Malley’s re-election campaign in 2014, and later as his Latino Liaison. Alexandra volunteers her time as the President of FUNDOARCU, a Dominican nonprofit in Boston that elevates civic engagement, arts, and culture in the Dominican Community.
Alexandra also served as a Public Information Officer for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department where she provided outreach and information to the Latino community and assisted in the coordination of civic engagement events and programs for the Department.
Born in La Vega, Dominican Republic, Alexandra immigrated to the United States at the age of 10, carrying with her a drive and desire to serve her community and the City of Boston. In what could be described as only the beginning of her professional life, Alexandra Valdez has already established herself as a committed community activist and experienced advocate for civic participation. Alexandra holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Suffolk University. Alexandra currently resides in Hyde Park with son and partner.
Sheila Walsh
about Sheila Sheila Walsh (Senior Manager of Operations, Finance & Marketing) holds a B.A. from Brown University and an MBA from Georgetown University. She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNING™ professional and a popular national speaker helping individuals understand money and build healthy financial habits. She has been featured in publications such as Business Insider and Yahoo! Finance and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Prior to founding the financial education firm Walsh Wealth & Wellness, she worked with prominent investment firms such as Capital Group/American Funds and Fidelity Investments. Sheila is a former competitive rower and was part of the team that won the first ever NCAA Division I National Championship trophy for Brown University, where she is a member of the Athletics Hall of Fame. Sheila enjoys volunteering as a mentor to college students, as a Girls On the Run community coach and as a Second Chance Cars counselor.
Jane Wilkinson is a scientific operations and alliance management executive with 20+ years of creating and delivering complex scientific goals. Her unique bi-cultural background and global experience brings a focus on strategy and execution, utilizing clear and collaborative communication.
As Executive Director at the MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Jane plays a key role in helping to build and manage relationships between academic, government, industry, and clinical institutions within and outside of MIT. She also oversees the Koch Institute’s media relations, education, and community outreach. Jane’s career began at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Genome Center, UK where she worked closely with Sir John Sulston on the C.elegans genome project – the first multi-cellular organism to be sequenced. From there she was an early leader on the Human Genome Project leading the Chromosome 1 initiative. In 1998 she made the leap across the pond to Cereon Genomics/Monsanto Company, USA where she led a new directive in plant genomics. Jane was at the Broad Institute for eighteen years as the Senior Director for Genomic Alliances where she created and led many collaborative initiatives across Cancer, Mendelian, Infectious and Common Diseases. Her collaborations and partnerships have spread across the globe and have touched many groups from non-profit research teams to large pharma.
Ross Wilson is the Executive Director of the Shah Family Foundation. Prior to this position, Ross Wilson spent almost two decades serving the Boston Public Schools in a variety of roles in including Deputy Superintendent, Chief of Staff, Assistant Superintendent for Human Capital, Principal, kindergarten teacher, literacy specialist, and teacher of students with disabilities. Ross holds Bachelors Degrees in Special Education, Elementary Education, and Psychology, and a Masters Degree in Educational Psychology from Marist College; a Masters Degree in Education Leadership from the University of Massachusetts Boston; a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Boston College and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School. Ross is the president of the Boston chapter of Achilles International.
Ross and his wife, Lesia, live in Boston and are the proud parents of three boys who attend Boston Public Schools.
Eileen Wynne is a CPA and qualified financial expert. Her expertise includes high-tech and industrial manufacturing, higher education, public and municipal utility, and nonprofit sectors. She most recently was the Chief Accounting Officer and first internally-promoted female executive officer of Analog Devices, Inc., a Fortune 500 semiconductor manufacturing company. Her nonprofit experience includes servicing clients including Oxfam America, Project Bread, and Cambridge College; serving on the board of The Resource Partnership whose mission was to improve the quality of life of individuals with disabilities through employment; membership on the audit committee for the Old Colony Boy Scout Council; and as a Partner for Social Venture Partners-Boston. She has also mentored students in the MIT FUSE program and supports many local organizations. She earned an MS from Bentley University and a BA from St. Anselm College.
Tatiana Yglesias
about Tatiana Tatiana Yglesias is an executive leader currently performing as principal consultant for business transformation. She has +12 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry across multiple areas of the value chain, from research to sales and marketing. In her pharma career at Novartis, Tatiana has had the opportunity to lead across multiple organizational areas, countries and roles; leveraging strategic and organizational agility to accelerate results.
Originally from Costa Rica and having moved around the globe; Tatiana feels at home in Boston, where she currently lives. She holds an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering, an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a MSc. in Chemical Engineering from MIT’s School of Engineering.
Mariann Youniss
About Mariann Mariann Youniss has been actively involved with a number of nonprofits in the Boston and Wellesley area. She currently serves on the Board of the Women’s Lunch Place, and past Board Chair for Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, is a member of the Exceptional Care Trust Board at Boston Medical Center, and is a board member for Literations, Inc. Mariann has also served as chair of the Scholarship Committee for the Wellesley Scholarship Foundation, served as co-chair of the Lovin’ Spoonfuls Tailgate fundraiser, and co-president of Wellesley A Better Chance.
Previously, Mariann worked in systems and management consulting for American Management Systems and PricewaterhouseCoopers. In 1991, Mariann began working for Rocket Software, a software company that her husband, Andy Youniss, co-founded in 1990. Mariann wore a number of hats in that organization from sales to development to support.
Mariann received a BS in Computational Mathematics and Economics from Tufts University and is a member of the Tufts University Board of Trustees, various Committees and Board of Advisors of the School of Arts & Sciences.
Nora Yousif
About Nora Nora Yousif is a Partner and Senior Financial Advisor at the Empow(Her) Wealth Group of RBC Wealth Management. She was honored as a top “40 Under 40 Professional” by Boston Business Journal as well as by her industry for going above and beyond to serve her clients. Nora is committed to empowering women and her community through financial literacy having presented to over 300 organizations and frequently contributing to TV and radio shows like Channel 5 News. She has also been published in Yahoo! Finance and Forbes. As for volunteering, Nora serves on the board of the Women’s Bar Foundation and Boston Economic Council. Finally, she is MIT Sloan trained, having been immersed with some of the brightest minds in the world of finance.
Jordan Zaslow
About Jordan
Jordan Zaslow is the Founder and Executive Director of HER BOLD MOVE, an organization filling a critical gap in the support pipeline for women in American politics.
Jordan began her work with female candidates at the start of the 2020 election cycle, leading a group of eager volunteers from the media, entertainment, and production industries determined to use their skills to help more women get elected. By the end of the 2020 cycle, the group had produced more than 75 pro-bono campaign videos for candidates across 15 states including Cori Bush, Pat Timmons Goodson, and the entire Democratic slate of candidates running for Federal office in West Virginia and had rallied thousands of people to join their coalition.
The experience of working with so many female candidates opened Jordan’s eyes to the sexism, misogyny, and unique challenges women face when they enter politics in this country. After witnessing female candidate after female candidate lose their races, she decided to formalize the coalition to become the support she wished to see in the political world. Her Bold Move officially launched in January of 2021.
Under Jordan’s leadership, Her Bold Move has supported more than 150 female candidates in 3 years, becoming one of the fastest-growing support networks for women running for office. They’ve had a hand in notable and historic campaigns like LA Mayor Karen Bass, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and countless other historic and successful efforts to shatter glass ceilings across the country.
Prior to politics, Jordan was an award-winning Director and Producer best known for a series of social impact pieces she created and directed with the support of Ashton Kutcher and his company, A Plus. The series became an instant phenomenon, accumulating an audience of more than 30 million, and was nominated for a Cynopsis Social Good Award. Her work in the entertainment industry includes numerous television shows including CBS’s Emmy-nominated series “Hidden Heroes”, FOX’s “Rake” starring Greg Kinnear, “Blissful Thinking,” and “The Jim Gaffigan Show.”
Jordan frequently speaks at colleges, conferences, on panels, and at press conferences about Her Bold Move and their candidates, women’s issues, and women in politics.
Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, was named President and CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2016. She is also Director of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Previously, she was the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean and Professor of Medicine of Weill Cornell Medicine and Provost for Medical Affairs of Cornell University. Dr. Glimcher is a distinguished immunologist, widely renowned for her work in one of the most promising areas of cancer research.
Linda Henry is the CEO of the Boston Globe Media Partners. She is a co-founder of HUBweek, a civic collaboration between the Boston Globe, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and MIT that explores the future being built at the intersection of art, science and technology. Linda is also an early-stage impact investor, an Emmy-Award winning television producer with two shows currently airing, and a community activist. She serves as a director of the Red Sox Foundation, is a trustee of the Liverpool Football Club Foundation, chair of the Boston Globe Foundation, and chairman of the John W. Henry Family Foundation. In addition, she is a founder of the Boston Public Market, serves on the advisory board of MassChallenge, and is on the board of the Engine at MIT. She earned a BS from Babson College and her MS from MIT.
Bekah Salwasser joined the Red Sox Foundation as the Executive Director in January of 2018. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from Brown University and has extensive experience in philanthropy and both professional and semi-professional sports. After four years working as Community Relations Director for the Boston Celtics, Bekah went on to lead Scholar Athletes as its Executive Director, a program that supports public high school athletes with both their athletic and academic achievements. Earlier in her career, Bekah served as a professional soccer player for the Boston Breakers and as Executive Director of the Charlestown Lacrosse and Learning Center.
Kimberly Fay Boucher is a business executive who has driven high performance organizations in technology, consumer products and social enterprise/nonprofit industries over the past 25 years. She is currently the Technology Commercialization Business Leader for the CTO at Analog Devices, where she is responsible for driving new technologies from incubation stages to successful businesses. Kim is also a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where she teaches Disciplined Entrepreneurship in the Martin Trust Center. She holds a BS in Management Industrial Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is a NCAA Academic All-American Women’s Basketball player and has been inducted into the WPI Hall of Fame.
Ami Kuan Danoff (Co-Founder and CFO) is a private investor and the trustee of a foundation. She is a Harvard Quantum Founder and a member of the Harvard FAS Dean’s Council. Ami earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in Visual and Environmental Studies and holds a dual master’s degree in Applied Economics and International Finance from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. She was a portfolio manager in global equities at Putnam Investments and co-manager of the Putnam International New Opportunities Fund, and also worked as an international equities analyst at Fidelity Investments.
Christina Heenan Suh holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in English and Marketing and a master’s from Columbia University. A former management consultant, her work focused on strategy and implementation projects for Fortune 100 clients. She was also an account executive at Hill+Knowlton (WPP) marketing consumer packaged goods. As an Executive Board Member of the Brookline Education Foundation, which funds professional development in the Brookline Public Schools, Christina led their Grant and Oversight Committees. She currently sits on the board of the Brookline Library Foundation and teaches ESL at Rosie’s Place in Boston.
Christina Gordon (Co-Founder and CEO) holds a dual master’s degree in International Finance and Applied Economics from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Boston University and also studied for a joint master’s degree in Women’s Studies and Sociology at Brandeis with a focus on women in the workplace. Christina is a former assistant fund manager and technology industry equity analyst at Wellington Management. She also worked as a stock analyst at Fidelity Investments. She is a trustee of a private foundation, a member of Women Moving Millions and currently sits on the board of Rosie’s Place, a sanctuary for poor and homeless women in Boston.