On Monday, May 9, our Big Sister Boston family–staff, Board of Directors, Advisory Board, Young Professional Board, Diversity Council, and Alumnae Association–convened at Merengue Restaurant in Roxbury for our 2016 Annual Meeting. In addition to mixing and mingling while enjoying Latin fare in a neighborhood where 24% of the girls we serve live, guests enjoyed the highlights below.
- We honored our Big Sister of the year, Talia Doucette, who has been matched with Little Sister Leila since 2012. Their relationship is supported by Senior Match Support Specialist Helen Fullerton.
- We recognized our Above & Beyond staff, Coordinator of Human Resources & Administration Caitlin Terry and Senior Match Support Specialist Courtney Leonard.
- We thanked Board president Tom Barrette for his service. Tom’s two-year term ended and he has now assumed the role of Board chair.
- We introduced new Board leadership: Deborah Daccord, of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo, P.C. is Board president; Wellesley resident, Mariann Youniss, is vice president; Aileen Keaney of Audax Group is continuing in the role of treasurer; and Christina Lewis of Hinckley Allen, is clerk.
- We welcomed new Board members: Carolyn Clancy, EVP, FundsNetwork at Fidelity Investments; Carey Cort, managing director of the Webb Innovation Center for Dyslexia; and Andrew Graff, CEO of allen & gerritsen.
- We debuted the next slate of Young Professional Board leadership and members, which includes: president Christina Fish of O’Neill & Associates, vice president Christopher Nabhan of Eaton Vance Management, secretary Lily Lynch of the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, and recruitment chairs Jackie Bright of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Jen Smith of United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. We also thanked outgoing president Megan Cooney of Merrill-Lynch, who will remain active on the Young Professional Board.
The meeting also featured the debut of our 2015 annual report and recognition of Professor Don White and his student team of Alen Dizdarevic, Marissa Murphy, and Russell Thompson who developed a marketing plan to engage more women to become Big Sisters in our priority neighborhoods. Part of their plan included a mural on the exterior wall of Merengue that will be created by the Mayor’s Mural Crew this summer!
