Session Bios – 2018

Joe Carleo
President and CEO
AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod

Joe Carleo is the President and CEO of the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, a position he has held for the past 7 years.  In his work Joe oversees all aspects of the operation of the agency Cape Wide.  Joe’s professional background includes over 25 years within the area of HIV/AIDS.

Prior to coming to ASGCC, Joe served as the Executive Director of the AIDS Housing Corporation (AHC) located in Boston.  AHC’s mission was to help facilitate the development of new housing opportunities for people living with HIV/AIDS all over New England and down the East Coast to the mid-Atlantic region.  One of the many projects that AHC helped develop was the Foley House program located in Provincetown, which is a program of ASGCC.  Joe also worked for many years for the AIDS Action Committee in Boston as the Associate Director of Public Policy and Legal Affairs.

Joe is a long-time HIV/AIDS advocate with a strong background in public policy.  He worked in the Massachusetts State Legislature before beginning with AIDS Action as a Government Affairs liaison.  During this time Joe was involved with helping to create many of the HIV/AIDS policies and programs that people continue to rely on today to access services.  During his time with the AIDS Housing Corporation Joe also served as the president of the National AIDS Housing Coalition in Washington, DC, an organization advocating for responsible housing policy and development for people with HIV/AIDS all across the United States.

At ASGCC Joe works with the entire staff and board to help the agency achieve its mission.  Joe has lived in Massachusetts for his entire life having grown up in Newton.  He has been a full-time resident of Provincetown for the past 14 years.

Matt Cronin
Founder and President
Boardwalk Business Group LLC
CCYP Ex-Officio (Former Board Chair)

Matt founded Boardwalk Business Group in 2014.  Boardwalk Business Group provides outsourced CFO, strategic advisory and bookkeeping services for nonprofits and small businesses.

Matt has served as CFO for two national nonprofit organizations, School Leaders Network and Resources for Human Development.  In addition, he served as CFO and subsequently CEO for a Cape based nonprofit, Living Independently Forever.

Matt started as an audit and business consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Philadelphia. While there, Matt obtained his CPA license. Matt has an Executive MBA from Boston University and a BS from Villanova University in Accountancy with an English minor. For ten years, he served as a volunteer for the Cape Cod YMCA, as Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Board Member, soccer/basketball/baseball coach.  Matt was also Treasurer / Board Member for the Community Leadership Institute of Cape Cod & the Islands for 4 years.

Matt has also served as a volunteer for Cape Cod Young Professionals.  He started as a volunteer on CCYP’s Scholarship Committee in 2011.  He subsequently became a Board member, served as Treasurer and as Board Chair for two years.  He currently is an Ex-Officio member of the CCYP Executive Committee.

In 2012, Matt was recognized by Cape & Plymouth Business Magazine as a “40 Under 40” Award Winner as one of the region’s young business leaders.

Judith Goetz
Director of Marketing, Public Relations & Communication
Heritage Museums & Gardens

Judith joined Heritage Museums & Gardens following a lengthy career in public relations and radio journalism. Currently, Judith handles marketing, advertising and public relations for the Museum. During her tenure in public relations she handled several high-profile clients in the business and non-profit industries, including the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Steamship Authority, Barnstable Municipal Airport and Calmer Choice. Judith’s areas of PR focus included account services, crisis work, and media training. Prior to joining the Marcom Agency in Boston, Judith served as Director of News Operations for Quantum Communications (WXTK, WCOD, WCIB, WEEI). During her tenure in radio, Judith received numerous AP broadcasting awards, American Red Cross awards and an AME-NE for a special report on homeowners insurance and its effects on Cape and Island residents. Before joining Quantum, Judith worked as a field producer for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in Washington, D.C. Judith has also worked for WHDH-TV in Boston and in the press office of Edward M. Kennedy in Washington, D.C.. Judith currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Club of Cape Cod. A graduate of The Putney School and Sweet Briar College, Judith holds a Master’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Public Affairs from American University in Washington, D.C.. Judith lives on Cape Cod with her two children and her Labradoodle Rosie.

Vicki Goldsmith
Executive Director
Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod

Vicki Goldsmith has worked on Cape Cod in the field of affordable housing since 1983and has served as Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity since 1999 while it was completing its 19th home. The organization, which, to date, has developed 132 affordable homeownership homes spread across Cape Cod, has a model that uniquely relies upon many rich layers of partnerships and collaborations throughout the community and the world, including its well-known sweat equity requirement for home purchasers, broad-based community volunteerism, and a diverse funding stream with strong reliance upon the local community.  Habitat is an ecumenical housing ministry that welcomes all to participate in its work.

Vicki raised her three children in Brewster and continues to reside in the Lower Cape, enjoying family life, the great outdoors, music and the people of Cape Cod.

Mairead Graf
Development Officer
Animal Rescue League of Boston – Cape Cod

Mairead grew up in Manchester, N.H. She received her bachelor’s degree from Keene State College. After graduation, she moved to Peabody, Mass., and worked for Enterprise Rent A Car. Two years later she married her husband, whom she had met while studying at Keene State. He is from Dennis, works as a teacher and runs a charter fishing boat in the summer. The most logical thing for her to do was relocate to the Cape!

Mairead has been with the Animal Rescue League since September 2017.  She loves starting each day giving a “pat on the head” to our four-footed friends!  She is the first Development Officer the league has hired on Cape Cod.After building a career in banking followed by hospitality she realized she wanted to find a career that really meant giving back. She has always enjoyed volunteering with non-profits and also loves animals and has cares deeply about their welfare. So, when this job with the Animal Rescue League of Boston on Cape Cod became available, it was the perfect match! The league has been on the Cape for almost 100 years and Mairead is excited to work with their Cape donor base and assist in keepinganimals happy and healthy in their habitats and homes.

Mairead has lived on the Cape for over 12 years. She resides in East Dennis with her husband, their 6 year old boy, and almost two year old girl! Mairead is also an active member of the Cape Cod Young Professionals and served on their board for over five years. She is a current board member for the Community Leadership Institute.  In 2013 she was recognized by Cape and Plymouth Magazine as one of the Cape’s top “40 under 40.” She also sat on the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce board for four years and currently spends one day a week doing project work for them. Her favorite time of the year is the summer, when she enjoys spending time on the beach and boat with family and friends.

Ian Ives
Director
Ashumet, Barnstable Great Marsh and Skunknett River Wildlife Sanctuaries on Cape Cod
Mass Audubon’s Long Pasture

Ian Ives is the Director at Mass Audubon’s Long Pasture, Ashumet, Barnstable Great Marsh and Skunknett River Wildlife Sanctuaries on Cape Cod.  His job responsibilities include overall management of the sanctuaries and staff, community outreach, development, advocacy, environmental stewardship and education.  One of his primary goals is to engage the community in Mass Audubon’s mission work and expand activities at the wildlife sanctuaries he oversees.

He holds a Master’s degree in conservation biology from Antioch University – New Hampshire.

In his 12 years of development work for Long Pasture, Ian has created fundraising plans to meet the needs of a rapidly growing and autonomous Sanctuary budget, in line with the mission work of Mass Audubon, and overseen strategies to meet annual, programmatic, capacity building and capital goals.  During the first year of operations in 2006, his goal was to raise, $8,836.00. Ian now leads a comprehensive development program which exceeded the FY’18 goal by more the $25,000, raising over $178,000 in unrestricted support. Next up is an ambitious $1.3 million campaign for the Long Pasture Discovery Center.

Fiona Jensen
Founder and Executive Director
Calmer Choice

Fiona Jensen, OTR/L is the Founder and Executive Director of Calmer Choice, a non-profit organization that provides mindful awareness and social and emotional learning programs to students throughout Barnstable County in Massachusetts. Fiona started Calmer Choice in 2009, in response to the emotional devastation experienced by the community after the tragic deaths of several Barnstable High School students and graduates. To date, Calmer Choice has reached over 21,000 students in 10 different school districts across Cape Cod. Beyond its work with children and adolescents, Calmer Choice provides programming for parents, educators and community members.

Calmer Choice has collaborated with researchers at Tufts Yale, MIT and Harvard Universities to establish precedents for the impact of mindful awareness on overall health, wellbeing, and academic performance in young people. A graduate of Tufts University, Fiona is a tireless advocate for children, and was featured in the April 2013 issue of Mindful Magazine, Cape Cod Life and various other publications over the last 4 years. In 2014, Fiona Jensen received the Courage of Conscience award on behalf of the Peace Abbey, an international humanitarian award presented to the likes of Mother Theresa and Maya Angelou. She has been a guest lecturer at Tufts University and has been invited to present at numerous regional conferences around the country, including a Keynote speaker at the Bridging Hearts and Minds Conference in San Diego in February 2017 as a thought leader in bringing Secular Mindfulness into Education.

Ira Kantor
Account Manager
Porter Novelli

Ira currently serves as an Account Manager in Porter Novelli’s Boston office, primarily working with technology companies on day-to-day media activity, outreach, and strategy. Previously, Ira served as an Account Supervisor with Greenough Brand Storytellers and a Senior Account Executive with Regan Communications Group. Ira’s PR experience covers several industries, including healthcare, law, education, insurance, and government affairs. Ira also spent five years with the Boston Herald, most recently as a business reporter, where he was a Sigma Delta Chi Award recipient with the paper’s staff for coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing. Ira’s work has also been published in the Cape Cod Times, New York Daily News and Village Voice. A graduate of Boston University and Binghamton University, he is also the creator of “Ira Kantor’s Vinyl Confessions,” a music column for the website VintageRock.com.

Peter Karlson
Founder/CEO
NeuEon, Inc.

Peter is the founder/CEO of the technology consultancy NeuEon, Inc.  NeuEon specializes in providing strategic advisory services to technology product companies and private equity firms.  Peter currently serves on the executive committee of MassHire Cape and Islands Workforce Board and the board of directors of Cape Abilities as well as an adjunct professor at the Charlton College of Business at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Heather Kelsey
Latham Centers

Heather has over 20 years’ experience working with non-profits including secondary schools, hospitals, colleges and universities, arts organizations, and human services agencies. Heather studied English and theater at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She began her career at the Bridge International School in Denver, Colorado teaching English as a second language to foreign executives and university students. While at Bridge, she expanded their homestay program and created a series of special events designed to build relationships and facilitate cultural connection. This experience provided the catalyst for Heather’s career in fundraising.

Prior to relocating to Cape Cod in 2011, Heather worked in Boston at EF Foundation, Roxbury Comprehensive Community Health Center, and Hebrew Senior Life. In 2001 she launched an independent consulting business providing counsel in the areas of grant writing, special event fundraising, major gifts cultivation and solicitation, annual fundraising, and capital campaigns. Heather served as the capital campaign consultant for the Cape Cod Community College Educational Foundation’s Dental Hygiene Clinic renovation campaign. Upon the successful completion of the campaign, Heather was hired as Director of Development at Harwich Junior Theater/Cape Cod Theater Company and then returned to consulting in 2015 serving as Major Gifts consultant for Latham Centers’ Expanding Our Circle campaign for the Latham Community Center. In 2017, Heather joined the Latham staff as Director of Development.

Heather has been involved with several community groups, serving on the Board of the Brewster PTO, Lower Cape Figure Skating Association, and Mars Area Youth Lacrosse. She serves on the Annual Fund Committee for The Rectory School and is a Parent Agent for the Pomfret School. Heather Lives in Brewster with her husband and three children.

Katie Leeman
President
Leeman Communications

Leeman Communications Collaborative (LCC) was founded in 2011 by Katie Leeman. LCC helps individuals and organizations of all shapes and sizes communicate more strategically and creatively. Over the last 18 years, Katie has worked with multi-national banks (BBVA, SunTrust Bank), high-tech brands (Dell, Microsoft), insurance companies (Amica Insurance, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care), large arts organizations (Boston Symphony Orchestra, Trinity Repertory Company), universities (Michigan State University, Harvard Business School) and many other non-profits (Greater Boston Stage Company, Charles River School).

Katie has spent nearly 15 years as a professional improv comedian, performing and directing over 700 shows with ImprovBoston and at other improv theaters around the country.

Katie holds a B.A. in Theater from Ithaca College and an MBA with concentrations in Marketing and Organizational Behavior from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. She also has a certificate in Mediation and Conflict Management from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.

Megan MacDavey
Program Officer
The Peter & Elizabeth Tower Foundation

Megan MacDavey is a program officer at the Peter & Elizabeth Tower Foundation, a family foundation located in Buffalo, New York. With a background in nonprofit program management and development, she thinks every day about how to make life a little easier for nonprofits in her role in philanthropy. She spends most of her time at community meetings wearing an imaginary sandwich board that reads “Don’t forget about young people with disabilities!” or “Don’t forget about young people with mental health issues and substance use disorder!” depending on the day. She loves talking/thinking/reading about capacity building, creative problem solving strategies, and redesigning systems. Megan received her MS in Social Administration with a focus on community development from Case Western Reserve University and a BA in sociology from the State University of New York College at Geneseo. When she isn’t working, she is wrangling two small, wild children and curating her ever-growing list of podcasts to listen to while washing dishes – in peace.

Lynn Mason-Small
Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
Rogers & Gray Insurance

Lynn is the Chief Marketing Officer at Rogers & Gray Insurance, where she oversees the marketing efforts and community relations efforts of the company as well as the Rogers & Gray Charitable Foundation.

She is a founding Board Member of the Cape Cod Young Professionals.  In addition to her 6 years of leadership with the organization, she has served on Boards and Committees for local non-profits including the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Cape & Islands, Community Visions, the Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, the United Way of Cape Cod and The Cape Cod Foundation. She chaired Philanthropy Day on Cape Cod in 2016 and 2017.

Lynn is a Cape Cod native and graduate of the University of Massachusetts.  She lives with her husband, Nathan Small and 2 sons in South Yarmouth.

Mark O’Donnell
Big Brothers Big Sisters

Mark oversees the entire Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay development department consisting of individual giving, annual fund, special events, advancement services and corporate and foundation relations. Mark joined Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay in March 2011 and brings fifteen years of successful non-profit management and fundraising experience. In his previous role, he held the position of Associate Dean of Advancement at Northeastern University. Prior to Northeastern, Mark was the Executive Director of Development at Bentley University and has also held the positions of Associate Director of Leadership Giving and Leadership Giving Officer at Babson College.

Mark Pearson
Artistic Director
College Light Opera Company

Mark received his MFA in theatre design from BU.  Mark has had an active career as a designer, stage manager, assistant director and arts administrator at such houses as Musik Theatre in Revier in Gelsenkirchen, Germany; the Aalto Opera in Essen, Germany; and the prestigious Deutsche Opera in Rhein in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Charlie Summer
Executive Director
Pleasant Bay Community Boating

Born and raised in Waltham, MA, Charles attended undergraduate school at Suffolk University and graduate school at Northeastern University. He served as the Chief Administrative Officer for the towns of Acton, MA and Littleton, MA from 1980 to 1986. In 2015 he retired as the Town Administrator for the Town of Brewster after 30 years of service. Currently Charles is employed by Pleasant Bay Community Boating as the Executive Director. He resides in Brewster with his wife Cynthia Johansen where they raised three children.

Currently he is volunteering in the following areas: Brewster Town Moderator, Brewster Ladies Library Building Committee; Cape Cod Regional Technical High School Building Committee; Brewster Fire Station Building Committee, Brewster Conservation Trust and the Association to Preserve Cape Cod.

Sarah Swain
Founder and CEO
Cape Wellness Collaborative

“Inspired to make a difference in her community after losing her mother to ovarian cancer, local musician Sarah Swain created the Cape Cod Women’s Music Festival<http://www.capecodwomensmusicfestival.com/> in 2012. In 2014, Sarah founded the Cape Wellness Collaborative, which works with a team of outstanding local wellness professionals to provide free-of-charge integrative therapies to those facing cancer on Cape Cod and the Islands.”

Jill Talladay
Director
Care for the Cape and Islands

In 2012, Jill Talladay founded CARE for the Cape and Islands, a destination travelers’ philanthropy organization to help inspire stewardship to further the well-being of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard & Nantucket’s natural environment, culture and historic places. Jill has spent more than twenty-five years with travel industry organizations. She received her Masters in Tourism Administration with a concentration in Sustainable Destination Management from The George Washington University in 2011, trained with Al Gore to become a Climate Reality Leader in 2015 and is a 2018 graduate of Tufts Institute for Nonprofit Practice.

Jill is a committed volunteer, Co-chair of the Yarmouth Recylcing and Solid Waste Committee, past president and scholarship chair for Cape Cod Hospitality Marketing Association, Philanthropy Day of Cape Cod Committee member, and was founder and president of Single Volunteers of Cape Cod. Passionate about using green practices she works hard to educate her friends as well as the public on simple steps they may take to make a difference on a daily basis.

Larry Thayer
Interim President and CEO
Cape Abilities

Larry Thayer served as the President/Executive Director of Cape Abilities for 25 years and recently stepped into the Interim President and CEO role with the organization.  He has been a Cape resident for 44 years and currently resides in Cummaquid with his wife, Beth. He earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science in 1970 from Assumption College, and also a Masters & CAGS in Rehabilitation Counseling from Assumption College in 1972.

In 1974, Larry was appointed the Area Director of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission and supervised all vocational rehabilitation services on Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and Cape Cod. From 1978-1989, he held a number of positions with the Department of Mental Health including; Director of Outpatient Services, Director of Inpatient Psychiatric Care, and Director of Administration.

He is the founder and current Board member of the Cape Cod Disability Network as well as a member of the Board of The Cape Cod Foundation, where he serves as Clerk, the Cape Cod Association, the Cultural Center of Cape Cod,

Previous activities include being the co-chairman of the Exit 6 ½ Committee, member of the Executive Committee of the Barnstable County Health & Human Services Committee, past president of the Barnstable Civic Association, a member of the Board of the Cape Cod Art Association, past president of two homeowners associations, member of the Board of the Cape Cod YMCA, the Fitchburg-Leominster Detox Center, Board member of the Barnstable Village Business Association, and past chairman of the Workforce Investment Board.

David Troutman
Co-Owner
Scargo Café

David Troutman has worked in the restaurant industry for over 45 years; the last 32 of which were spent as co-owner of Scargo Cafe.

A 1976 graduate of Barnstable High, he received his bachelors degree from Suffolk University in 2006 and is a graduate of the class of 2015 Community Leadership Institute.

He is a founding member and immediate past Chair of Calmer Choice and as such was the United Way recipient of the Ron Reed award for dedication to a board.  David is also an active member of the YMCA Teen Achievers steering committee.  He is also this Year’s Honorary Chair of ASGCC’s “Night at the Chef’s Table”.

David lives in West Barnstable with his beautiful wife Pam, and his lovely daughter Kate.

Anne Van Vleck
Chief Development Officer
Housing Assistance Corporation

Anne joined Housing Assistance Corporation in the summer of 2017, after almost seven years as the Executive Director at CCYP (Cape Cod Young Professionals).  While at CCYP, Anne was able to lead and promote a culture focused on addressing the Cape’s workforce issues through mentoring, civic engagement programs, and creating opportunities for housing that are affordable, accessible and available to young professionals on Cape Cod.  Anne lives in Chatham with her family.

Elizabeth Hardy Wade
Land Acquisition and Permitting Manager
Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod

Elizabeth (Beth) Hardy Wade is currently Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod’s Land Acquisition and Permitting Manager.  She is the former Executive Director of CHAMP Homes, Inc.  Before joining CHAMP Homes, Beth was Vice President and General Manager of the Real Estate Brokerage, John C. Ricotta & Associates.  Beth also acted as consultant and then Designated Broker for the start-up of Maine Farms Realty, a for-profit real estate company in service to the non-profit, Maine Farmland Trust. Beth remains licensed as a Broker in Maine. Through the years, Beth has served in various capacities for Cape Cod organizations working on economic development and housing.  She currently serves on the Board of the Community Development Partnership and is a member of its Executive Committee.  She has also served organizations involved in Suicide Prevention.  Beth is a graduate of Cape Cod Community College (A.A.) and Emmanuel College (B.A).

Julie Wake
Executive Director
Arts Foundation of Cape Cod

As the Executive Director of the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, Julie believes the arts make us stronger and more vibrant and allow us to grow, both individually and as a community. Julie began her career in high-tech marketing and spent many years in Boston and San Francisco before transitioning into the nonprofit sector in 2008. Since then, she has worked in organizations focused on seniors, families, housing and homelessness, and now arts and culture. Julie holds a BFA in architecture from Massachusetts College of Art & Design in Boston and is a 2017 graduate of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice program, which is affiliated with Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life.

Anita Walker
Executive Director
Mass Cultural Council

Anita Walker has served as Executive Director of the Mass Cultural Council since April, 2007. Walker is the Commonwealth’s highest ranking cultural official, overseeing a range of grant programs, services, and advocacy for the arts, humanities, and sciences in communities across Massachusetts.

Walker has raised the visibility of the nonprofit creative sector as a driving force for growth and prosperity in Massachusetts. She led advocacy for the Mass. Cultural Facilities Fund, which has invested $91.9 million in arts and cultural building projects statewide over eight years. CFF grants are leveraging more than $1.9 billion in spending on cultural building projects, providing more than 21,000 jobs, restoring many important historic structures, and attracting more than 28 million cultural tourists to Massachusetts annually.

Walker also launched Mass Cultural Council’s Cultural Districts Initiative to help cities and towns attract new visitors and commerce through new arts and cultural activity. And she led the creation of a new Cultural Investment Portfolio for more than 400 outstanding nonprofit arts,

humanities, and science organizations that simplified the state’s support system for the nonprofit cultural sector. Coupled with DataArts <http://culturaldata.org/>, it is helping organizations better understand their finances and become better advocates for their work and the sector as a whole.

Under Walker’s leadership, Mass Cultural Council also has put new emphasis on defining and building a new field of practice called Creative Youth Development. As part of that effort Mass Cultural Council launched SerHacer  <http://www.massculturalcouncil.org/programs/serhacer.asp>, a program to support intensive, aspirational, ensemble music making as a vehicle for education and social change.

Walker also led development of Mass Cultural Council’s UP Initiative <http://www.massculturalcouncil.org/services/up.asp> to support organizations that recognize the power of inclusive design to grow audiences and enhance cultural experiences for all, and embrace inclusivity as core to their mission. The intent is to generate transformational experiences for participants that will not only build capacity but fuel insight and action.

Before coming to Massachusetts, Walker was director of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs for seven years, serving as executive director of the Iowa Arts Council, administrator of the State Historical Society, and the state historic preservation officer. Walker is a native of California and a graduate of The University of Arizona. She lives in Beverly.

Maureen Wallbeoff
Nonprofit Strategist & Technology Coach

A resident of Sandwich, Maureen started her nonprofit career at Planned Parenthood of Connecticut, rising from counselor to eBusiness Director over a seventeen-year tenure.

In 2008, along with several silent business partners, she opened the doors to Firefly Partners, a creative digital agency for nonprofits. Maureen has worked with hundreds of organizations across every mission and vertical, including Be The Match, UNICEF USA, Tufts Medical Center, New Hampshire Public Radio, and the American Kidney Fund.

A skilled facilitator and warm national presenter, she loves to bring people together to breathe fresh life into their digital programs and grow through the right use of technology. Maureen has authored two guides to nonprofit engagement software, along with the newly-released Grassroots Galvanizer Playbook.  She regularly blogs at her website and is a regular contributor to Nonprofit Pro and NP Engage.

Maureen has recently left her role as Vice President of Firefly and is now working as a solo practitioner focused on helping the accidental techies working at nonprofits learn to navigate today’s complex technology platforms, design the right digital strategy, and get a good ROI on their technology investments. Contact Maureen: [email protected]

Cynthia Wigren
CEO & Co-Founder
Atlantic White Shark Conservancy

Cynthia holds a Master of Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University and Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Management from University of New Hampshire. Cynthia spent twelve years working for online trading companies in the energy industry, with a focus on project management and strategic planning. She is an avid traveler and a scuba diver with a deep appreciation for wildlife on land and sea. Her underwater experiences with whale sharks, great hammerheads, nurse sharks, and great white sharks, inspired her to leave the corporate world and establish the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy to support shark research and conservation. Cynthia also serves on the Massachusetts Ocean Advisory Commission.