Leadership

Leslie Levenson, Board of Directors, Co-President

Leslie spent the first half of her career as an Occupational Therapist in the field of mental health. Earning her master’s from Tufts University, she managed inpatient programs and led vocational training at New York Hospital, Silver Hill Hospital, and Massachusetts Mental Health Center. Leslie embarked on her philanthropic career while raising three children in Boxford, volunteering and serving on boards at church, school, and in the community. In 2002, she founded Community Giving Tree, a non-profit organization serving children with low income, and Twice Loved Toys, a social enterprise supporting the organization. After 15 years as Executive Director, she stepped down when she and her husband moved to Brookline. Leslie is a founding board member of Asembo Skills for Hope, volunteers at the Brookline Food Pantry, and is a strategic planning consultant for Community InRoads in Lawrence. She enjoys traveling with her family and relaxing in Maine.

Kelsea Médard, Board of Directors, Co-President
Kelsea is an attorney and strategic consultant. She is the founder of Grow By Three, a consulting firm that seeks to promote social justice through professional and organizational development. Before founding Grow By Three, Kelsea worked as a commercial litigation associate in the Boston office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, and in the admissions office of Boston University School of Law. Throughout her career, she has also held roles at government agencies, small to midsize law firms, and within in-house legal departments. Her professional experiences activated her desire to increase access to insight in ways that maximize success and ultimately improve lives. Kelsea is certified in Diversity & Inclusion through Cornell University and is focused on promoting equity within all areas of society. Kelsea is a New York native but moved to Massachusetts to attend Boston University School of Law. Prior to law school, she attended Syracuse University where she studied advertising at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Cathy Konicki, CFA, CAIA, Board of Directors, Treasurer and Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee

Cathy has spent her career in investment consulting and is a partner at NEPC, LLC, an investment consulting firm. Cathy helps nonprofit organizations invest their endowment assets while meeting spending needs for grantmaking. Cathy has an MBA and a Bachelors degree in biology from Boston College. She is also on the Board of the Boston Area Gleaners (a former TPC grantee) and the Jeremiah Program – Boston. Cathy and her husband, Hayes Miller, split their time between the Boston area and the White Mountains of New Hampshire where they enjoy hiking, biking, and skiing.

Leigh Chandler, Board of Directors, Clerk, Co-Chair of the Marketing & Communications Committee
Leigh is a marketing and communications professional committed to mobilizing action toward social equity. Currently she serves as the Communications & Events Manager at the Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM). Prior to ELM, she was the Manager of Marketing and Communications at YW Boston. She also has experience in nonprofit development and as a public speaking coach. Leigh joined TPC in 2017 as a Fellow, and has served as a Grants Captain and on the Marketing Committee. In 2018, she represented the organization at Philanos’ conference, presenting on social media strategies for collective giving networks. Leigh grew up in a small beach town in South Carolina and graduated from Davidson College in 2016 with a degree in English. When not in nature, she prefers to spend her time at Boston’s local bookstores and cinemas.

Melanie Calzetti-Spahr, Board of Directors, Chair of the Governance Committee

Melanie spent her career at Fidelity Investments where she worked in the private equity investment arm of the organization. She left in 2013 and re-engaged in the non-profit sector and is a member of organizations that invest throughout the greater Boston area in the domains of education, poverty, and immigration. She is also actively involved with women’s reproductive health issues and advocacy and does pro bono consulting with ESC of New England and Community Consulting Teams. Melanie is a former fellow of Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, a new third stage of higher education designed to prepare experienced leaders to take on challenges in the social sector. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Smith College and an MBA with distinction from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She and her husband, Jay, live in Winchester.

Bridget Dunn, Board of DirectorsBridget is a software product management professional focused on building dynamic technology solutions for challenging user problems. Currently with Fidelity Investments, she has previously worked in the FinTech and P&C insurance software spaces. After joining TPC as a Fellow, Bridget has enjoyed serving the organization as a grant team captain, grantee liaison, and co-chair of the grants committee. Originally from Michigan, Bridget now lives in Groton with her husband and their dog, Harris – a frequent participant in TPC’s Zoom calls! Bridget holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Peace & Justice Studies from Wellesley College and an MBA from Bentley University, concentrated in Information Systems and Technology.

Barbara Gaskin, Board of Directors, TPC Co-President 2020-2022

Barbara is a management consultant who currently works with organizations on performance and social impact measurement, project planning, and management, and information technology/business strategy alignment. Previously, she served as CEO of Decision Support Technology (DST), a consulting firm specializing in the strategic use of information technology and the design and development of business intelligence systems for large corporations and government agencies. Barbara has also served as COO of Crosswind Investments, a start-up institutional investment firm based in Boston. Her philanthropic endeavors include working for an international philanthropy consulting firm on the development of social impact measurement methods and tools. In addition, she has served on the board of the Carroll School in Lincoln, was a tutor/mentor for Year Up students, and continues to support several non-profits in Belize. Barbara is an avid traveler and nature photographer and enjoys living in Newburyport.

Valerie Godhwani, Board of Directors, Co-Chair of the Marketing & Communications Committee
Valerie is an independent consultant with extensive marketing and brand experience. After leading products on brands such as Kraft, DiGiorno and Cracker Barrel, Valerie left the private sector and focused her skills and energy toward the nonprofit world. She mainly provided pro bono management consulting services both privately and through Community Consulting Teams of Boston. Valerie has her Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Illinois and her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. Valerie lives with her spouse, father, three kids, and rescue pup in Brookline, MA.

Tatiana Joyce, Board of Directors, Co-Chair of the Grants Committee
Tatiana is a Bostonian, proud aunt, and dedicated human service professional with a passion for supporting child, adult, and family health in urban areas. She currently works as an Associate Director for Commonwealth Corporation managing the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund. Through administering the WCTF, she champions the upward economic mobility of MA residents from the Berkshires to the Cape & Islands via grantmaking in workforce development. Tatiana earned her BA from Tufts University and continues to reside in Boston. She loves all things beach, biking, and brunch related.

Bodi Luse, Board of Directors

Bodi is a fundraiser by profession, and currently serves as Director of Development and Communications at the Boston Private Industry Council, a workforce development organization most known for facilitating private sector internships for Boston high school students. Previously, she was Director of Development for Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester, and before that was a development consultant in New York City for 10 years. Bodi received her BA in history from Yale University and her MS in nonprofit management from the New School. She lives in Brookline with her husband, son and cats and in her free time enjoys cooking, traveling and reading science fiction.

Sue Meehan, Board of Directors, Co-Chair of the Grants Committee

Sue is a Chief Operating Officer (COO) who specializes in helping entrepreneurial, early-stage organizations successfully grow. She has more than 20 years of experience building strategically focused, high performing cultures equipped to expand quickly. Sue is currently the Chief Operating & Financial Officer of iCivics, a national non-profit promoting civic education. Prior to that she was the COO for Year Up, an award-winning social enterprise organization working to close the opportunity divide. Earlier in her career, Sue was the COO at the Share Group where she played an integral role growing this start-up into an industry leader in fundraising for national progressive non-profits. Sue earned a BA from Colby College and her MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Jennifer Morrison, Board of Directors, Co-Chair of the Education Committee

Jennifer is a life-long educator, deeply committed to helping teachers develop their practice throughout their careers. She started her professional life as a classroom teacher before landing at Wheelock College as director of the Curriculum Resource Center. For the next 15 years, she worked on school reform in the Boston Public Schools. During this time, she served on the board of the Brookline Education Foundation. Currently she is a consultant with the Teaching and Learning Alliance and also works with BPS fellows in the Passion to Teach project. Through TPC she became interested in the foster care system and volunteers as a CASA worker and Special Education Surrogate Parent. She lives in Boston with her husband and in her free time enjoys making ceramics and playing with her new grandson.

Clare Rager, Board of Directors
Clare is the General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer of Intuitive Health, LLP, which partners with health systems nationwide to establish combined emergency room/urgent care locations that provide a full spectrum of medical care while keeping costs down for patients. Clare also maintains a thriving pro bono practice providing legal advice to 501(c)(3) nonprofit entities on issues of entity formation, federal and state tax compliance, corporate governance, and contractual negotiations. Prior to joining Intuitive Health, Clare worked for five years as a Healthcare Associate at Foley & Lardner, LLP. In her spare time, she enjoys quilting, reading dystopian science fiction novels, and chasing her son around playgrounds regardless of weather. Clare earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. Clare lives in Cambridge with her husband Kyle, son Jack (age 2), and daughter-on-the-way (due in 2022!).

Sarah Rahman, Board of Directors
Sarah has been a member of TPC since 2017. Her professional background is in public policy and urban and regional planning, and she has worked on economic development issues at the federal, state, and local levels. She has her Bachelor of Science degree from Brown University and her Master’s degrees in Public Policy and Urban and Regional Planning from Princeton University. Most recently, she was the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Innovation Institute at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. Previously, she was a Senior Policy Analyst at The Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program. She currently serves as Vice-Chair for the City of Newton Economic Development Commission. She had also been a Trustee for Wellan Montessori School. Sarah enjoys reading, travel, volunteering at her children’s schools, and learning about and supporting nonprofits that give back to her different communities.

Annemieke (Mieke) Rice, Board of Directors, Grantee Liaison Coordinator
Mieke is an educational technology professional who has spent her career helping higher education institutions elevate their use of data to advance student success. She worked at colleges in the Boston area before joining an early-stage edtech start up where she eventually became the chief customer success officer. As part of that work, she’s travelled to and consulted with hundreds of colleges and universities across the United States and Canada and remains passionate about the opportunities we have to improve equitable outcomes for all college students. She received her Masters in applied educational psychology from Northeastern University and a Bachelor of Science from Lehigh University in journalism and behavioral neuroscience. Mieke and her husband Ryan recently relocated to the Boston area after stints in Buffalo, New York and Fort Wayne, Indiana. They live in Reading with their brand-new baby girl, Inneke. In her free time Mieke loves hiking with their adopted dog Bubba, an Australian Shepherd.

Cassandra Trujillo, Board of Directors, Chair of the Young Philanthropist Initiative

Cassandra loves helping exceptional individuals and ideas reach their full potential, and appreciates that TPC lets her play a small part in supporting non-profits as they grow into theirs. She currently works in marketing at Wayfair, prior to which she spent seven years in education, teaching in San Francisco and then mentoring teenagers at Summer Search Boston. She draws inspiration from the many dedicated individuals she has been lucky enough to encounter, and is especially energized by the challenge of meeting the needs of gifted students from low-resource backgrounds, and the promise that new technology holds for fields like transportation and health care. Originally from New Jersey, Cassandra earned a BA in English from Yale and an EdM in Education Policy & Management from Harvard. She is now a proud Bostonian and feels grateful to live in a city that invests so heavily in the non-profit sector.

Penny Weeks, Board of Directors

Penny Weeks (she/her) is a Certified Financial Planner and has spent her career in financial services working with individuals and organizations focused on effectively leveraging their resources to meet their strategic objectives; she is currently a nonprofit lender with Silicon Valley Bank.  She joined TPC in 2014 and has been a grant team member and team captain for a number of years, grantee liaison and a member of the DEI and Education Committees.  Her volunteer board leadership experience includes a range of organizations with annual revenue from startup to $20MM, focused primarily in the education and social services sectors and committed to empowering members of under-resourced communities.  She is a Lead Boston alumna, completed the Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management Program jointly sponsored by HBS and The Kennedy School and in 2019 received a Certificate in Nonprofit Board Consulting from Board Source.  Currently, she is Governance Committee Chair, member of the DBIE Committee and Minds Matter Boston’s Board (a current TPC grantee), and Finance Committee Co-chair and a member of the Board of Empower Success Corps.  Now a Boston resident, she is originally from New York City and is an avid international traveler, having most recently been to South Africa with her daughter.

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