Philanthropy Massachusetts Announces New Board Members

For Immediate Release

October 21, 2020

Philanthropy Massachusetts Announces New Board Members

Special Meeting of Members Held Virtually to Elect New Members

Watertown, MA – On Tuesday, October 20, 2020 Philanthropy Massachusetts announced the new appointment of its board members at its special meeting of members which was held virtually. Over 50 members participated via Zoom in the business meeting portion of the event followed by an open discussion with updates from board leadership and Philanthropy MA staff.

Joining the board for a three-year term are:

Eric Esteves, Executive Director, The Lenny Zakim Fund
Lisa Jackson, Managing Partner, The Imago Dei Fund
Jay Kim, Chief Operating Officer, Foundation for MetroWest
Alexandra Piñeros Shields, Executive Director, Essex County Community Organization
Bryan Spence, Senior Program Manager, Liberty Mutual Foundation

At the September 2020 board meeting, the following officers were elected to a one-year term:

Lynne Doblin, Chair (The Richard & Susan Smith Family Foundation)
Audrey Shelto, Vice Chair (Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA Foundation)
Rob Zaccardi, Treasurer, (JP Morgan)
Denise Porché, Clerk (The Island Foundation)
Tref Borden, Immediate Past Chair (Fish Family Foundation)
Stephen Chan, At Large Executive Committee (The Boston Foundation)
Giles Li, At Large Executive Committee (The Barr Foundation)
Jeff Poulos, Chief Executive Officer (Philanthropy Massachusetts)

In addition, the following board members are returning directors for a second three-year term:

Josie Green, Trustee of The Josephine & Louise Crane Family Foundation
Kate Grundy, Executive Director of the Devonshire Foundation
David Howse, Executive Director of Arts Emerson
Audrey Shelto, President of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA Foundation

For a complete list of Philanthropy Massachusetts’ Board please click here.

Philanthropy Massachusetts is honored to have such dedicated and knowledgeable colleagues working to advance effective and responsible philanthropy in our region. We extend our gratitude and appreciate the time and service given by those members leaving the Board this year:

Chris O’Keeffe, Greater Worcester Community Foundation, served on the board for six years.
Lori Gazzillo Kiely, President of the Berkshire Bank Foundation, served on the board for six years, including two years on the Executive Committee.
Alicia Verity, Chief Program Officer at Yawkey Foundation, joined the board while at Bank of America, and served for six years, including two years as Vice Chair of the board and as a member of The Summer Fund Advisory Committee.

Following are the biographies of Philanthropy Massachusetts’ new board members:

Eric Esteves

Eric is the Executive Director of the Lenny Zakim Fund, a public charity that provides grants and capacity-building support to grassroots organizations addressing social, racial, and economic justice. Previously, Eric was Director of the Social Innovation Fund at the Boston Foundation, where he led the scaling of the Success Boston college completion initiative. He has served as a consultant and coach for Root Cause, Harvard Business School’s Interpersonal Skills Development Lab, and the Boston Impact Initiative. In 2019, Eric co-directed LeadBoston, an experiential professional development program focused on socially responsible leadership, based at YW Boston. He spent the early part of his career in educational technology, including leadership roles at Lesley University and Boston Public Schools. Eric earned both his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Northeastern University and lives in Roxbury with his wife and two sons.

Lisa Jackson

Lisa is the Managing Partner for the Imago Dei Fund based in Boston, MA. Lisa has worked in the social sector for over two decades in a variety of roles. She began her career in education and psychology as a professor at Boston College. Her research there was focused on agency and self-efficacy in youth at the intersection of racial and gender identity. Realizing how much she enjoyed working with youth and being more directly engaged with schools, Lisa decided to leave academia to manage a federally funded college access and success program for the Boston Public Schools (GEAR-UP). As her eclectic trajectory evolved, Lisa stepped into organization leadership positions focused on evaluation and assessment, risk management, research and strategy development. Prior to joining the Imago Dei Fund (IDF) in 2018 as its Managing Partner, Lisa served as the Vice President for Research at The Center for Effective Philanthropy, and the Managing Partner for Portfolio Investments at New Profit, Inc. Both of these experiences shaped her perspective on philanthropy providing a solid foundation for her to step into her role at IDF. Lisa serves on several boards including College Advising Corps, SPARK Microgrants, My Life My Choice, Boston Schools Fund, and 10Thousand Windows. She is also a former elected member of the Brookline School Committee. Lisa has a Ph.D. in Education from Stanford University, and a B.S. in Psychology from Howard University

Jay Kim

Jay serves as the Chief Operating Officer at the Foundation for MetroWest, leading the day to day operations. Prior to joining the Foundation, Jay led fundraising and development work for nonprofit organizations in the Greater Boston area. He has spent time fundraising for specific programs at The Boston Foundation and has also worked in corporate philanthropy at Target Corporation. Jay spent a few years at the Fannie Mae Foundation working on homelessness initiatives and worked for Public Allies – a national AmeriCorps program. He began his career as a Corps Member at City Year Boston. He has a bachelor of arts degree from Brandeis University and currently lives in Sherborn with his wife and two kids.

Alexandra Piñeros Shields

Dr. Piñeros Shields brings over 30 years of experience working to advance the human and civil rights of oppressed communities through innovative practices that create spaces and processes for deep meaningful civic participation and democratic decision-making. As Executive Director of the Essex County Community Organization (ECCO), an interfaith, interracial, and interclass network of 40 congregations whose mission is racial and economic justice, she transformed the organization into a “laboratory for democracy”. By centering people who are most affected by our systems of mass incarceration, ECCO leaders of color created and led campaigns that produced impressive policy changes. Most recently those include the establishment of two Sanctuary cities, Salem and Ipswich (MA), and the institutionalization of implicit bias trainings for the entire police department in Lynn, MA. Dr. Piñeros Shields has held leadership positions at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Advocacy Coalition and the International Irish Immigrant Center. She has also worked at Catholic Charities Immigration and Refugee Services, and the Central American Refugee Center in Washington D.C. She served on Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s design team for the New Americans Agenda, an executive order that produced an immigrant integration policy agenda for Massachusetts. Finally, Dr. Piñeros Shields is also a Senior Lecturer on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Master of Public Policy program at the Heller School for Social Policy, Brandeis University.

Bryan Spence

Bryan Spence serves as Senior Program Manager of the Liberty Mutual Foundation. Our charitable giving is focused on empowering individuals who are experiencing homelessness, advancing access for people with disabilities, and expanding educational opportunities for underserved students. Prior to joining Liberty Mutual, Bryan was Chief Development Officer at Ellis Memorial, an Early Education and Care Center in Boston’s South End. He has also worked in development at EdVestors and Northeastern University, and in corporate philanthropy at New England Financial/MetLife and Delta Dental of Massachusetts. Bryan has served on numerous boards and committees including the Clipper Ship Foundation, Family Service of Greater Boston, Steppingstone Foundation, Associated Grant Makers (Philanthropy Massachusetts), Neighborhood Development Support Collaborative, and grant review committees at the United Way of Massachusetts Bay. Bryan is a graduate of Brown University with a BA in Urban Studies.

About Philanthropy Massachusetts

Founded in 1969, Philanthropy Massachusetts, promotes the practice and expansion of effective and responsible philanthropy to improve the health and vitality of its region. With a diverse and vibrant membership of engaged philanthropic-serving organizations, Philanthropy Massachusetts serves as catalyst and model for collaboration for greater understanding, efficiency and impact in the philanthropic community.