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.
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.
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 the Executive Director of the VHL Alliance (VHLA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing research, education and support to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life for those affected by von Hippel-Lindau Syndrome.
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.
Yolanda Coentro is the President and CEO of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice (INP), which equips promising nonprofit leaders with the skills, confidence, and resources they need to make their organizations effective, innovative, and sustainable. Under Yolanda’s leadership, INP is deepening programmatic impact, scaling nationally and is a leader in equity and inclusion work. She has consulted with organizations and companies across sectors to advance organizational change and actualize their equity and inclusion objectives. She is currently on the board of The BASE, the Needham Education Foundation, serves on Independent Sector’s Public Policy Committee and is an Advisory Board Member of Common Purpose Boston and The Center for State Policy Analysis. A graduate of Boston College, she has a Master’s in Social Work and is a proud alum of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice.
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.
Margarete Dupere is an accomplished human capital executive and leadership coach. She has helped leaders and teams make the cultural, behavioral and organization changes that create an inclusive, empathic, empowering work environment and improve business results.
Marge spent 18 years at State Street where she was Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources; she served as Global Head of Organization Development for Analog Devices, was a Consultant with Korn Ferry/Hay Group and was 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 a coach and facilitator for several of 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.
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.
Victoria Gonin Victoria Gonin currently serves as the Executive Director of Alumni Relations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a strategic and highly-collaborative leader with experience in corporate and higher education administration. As an innovative thinker, Victoria has the ability to inspire and mobilize teams, capitalize on individual strengths, and build mutually beneficial partnerships to implement change.
Victoria is committed to supporting women’s development through engaging women’s programming. She is particularly focused on connecting women leaders so that they can be inspired to have a greater impact in their communities and in the world. Victoria served as President and Co-Founder of one of the earliest women’s giving circles in Boston, Womenade Boston. She is a graduate of Middlebury College.
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.
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.
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.
Averil Spencer is the Executive Director of Launch gURLs, an experiential entrepreneurship program that provides adolescent girls around the world with access to future-focused resources. Averil has a proven track record of building and scaling mission-driven organizations that have a profound impact on girls’ and women’s livelihoods. Prior to founding Launch gURLs, Averil co-founded VOICE 4 Girls, a social enterprise focused on educating and empowering adolescent girls in India through life skills programming, and most recently was a Manager in Deloitte Consulting’s Digital Customer group. Averil received a BA from Dartmouth, an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.
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.
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.
Matt Verlinden is a business executive with a record of driving success in the biopharma and pharma industries as well as management consulting. He is currently a Senior Director at Ipsen Biosciences in Cambridge where he helps lead two global drug development efforts in oncology. Before that, Matt was a Director of Strategic Innovation at Biogen. He has his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management as well as two degrees in chemical engineering. He comes to Boston from Iowa where he grew up on a farm that raised Black Angus cattle, corn and soybeans.
Maryanne Waldman is a First Vice President – Financial Advisor for RBC Wealth Management. Prior to her current position, she was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. After graduating from Brandeis University in 1975, Maryanne began her career in financial services at Merrill Lynch in New York City. From there she returned to graduate school at Columbia Business School, earning her MBA in finance in 1979. After graduation, Maryanne joined Citibank in New York and two years later, relocated to Miami as part of the team that launched the bank’s first bond office outside of Manhattan. She later moved to Smith Barney as a full-service financial advisor before returning to the Northeast in 1991. She serves on the board of the Global Interdependence Center and currently resides in Boston.
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.
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.