Board of Directors

RETIRED MEMBER OF THE EAST BOSTON COMMUNITY

Jo Ann Fitzgerald | Chair

  • Jo Ann lives with her husband, Michael, as retired members of the East Boston community where she grew up. Prior to her retirement in 2018, she spent 25 years in her career with the Massachusetts Teachers Association as an advocate for the advancement of public education, public school employees, and public school students. As the Director of MTA’s Grassroots Campaign Division, she worked directly with MTA’s Senate District Coordinators to develop and implement Senate District plans for outreach, member recruitment, coalition building, and political action for each election cycle.

    Her work with MTA provided her with the opportunity to work in MTA’s Governmental Unit as a registered lobbyist and as a retired members service specialist. She was responsible for the active engagement of active and retired members in the legislative process. In addition she developed and provided training for active and retired members. As a Field Consultant she was responsible for the delivery of the full services of MTA/NEA including collective bargaining, processing grievances and arbitrations.

    Jo Ann also spent 16 years as a middle school reading and language arts teacher.

MAVERICK LANDING RESIDENT

Robert Schmidt | Clerk

  • Robert Schmidt is a long-time East Boston resident whose actively involved on a number of boards and community groups. In addition to serving on the board of MLCS, Robert is also a member of the board of trustees of NOAH.

DIRECTOR OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT, BOSTON HOUSING AUTHORITY

Joe Bamberg | Director

  • Joe Bamberg oversees stratigic planning and real estate develpoment initiatives aimed at perserving BHA’s portfolio of over 10,000 public housing units. Much of Joe’s work for over fifteen years has focused on the transformative redevelopment of physically distressed public housing communities across the city, including BHA’s HOPE VI program at Maverick Landing. Increasingly BHA is engaged in public-private partnerships to support its entire portfolio, while furthering its core mission to provide healthy and supportive housing to low-income Bostonians. Before coming to BHA, Joe worked at NOAH, a community development corporation in East Boston.

Brigid K. Bowser | Director

ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY, PIERCE ATWOOD

  • Brigid is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School, where she served as a student attorney with the Suffolk University Juvenile Defenders Unit. While in law school, Ms. Bowser worked as a fellow with Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project. Additionally, she served as a Judicial Intern to Retired Associate Justice Geraldine S. Hines, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and to Judge William G. Young, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

APPOINTED DIRECTOR, EAST BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (EBCDC)

Ruth Capone | Director

  • Over the past 30 years, Ruth Capone has dedicated her time to working within the Maverick Tenants Organization Inc. as a Tenant leader, Chairperson, Interim Director, and Volunteer. She has an extensive history of helping tenants to access resources through her tenure with formally the Maverick Tenants Organization and currently with the Maverick Association of Residents (MAR).

Alex DeFronzo | Director

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PIERS PARK SAILING CENTER

  • Alex leads Piers Park Sailing Center in East Boston, a community nonprofit that works to make Boston Harbor welcoming, accessible, and fun for everyone. He loves his work and getting to see kids from the community grow up in the program and enjoy the harbor. Alex lives in East Boston with his wife, Sara. He graduated from UMass Lowell (BS/BA) and Suffolk University (Master of Public Administration) and has been doing nonprofit work for ten years. MLCS and Piers Park Sailing have partnered on several programs and Alex also loves seeing all the awesome work going on at Maverick Landing.

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT / OFFICE MANAGER, ACCORDION

Shawndy Pierre | Director

  • Most recently serving as the Executive Assistant for the Executive Director at Maverick Landing Community Services, he brings forward an extensive experience in marketing, event management & coordination, as well as youth services.

    Shawndy graduated from Bentley University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing as well as a minor concentration in Informational Design and Corporate Communication. He is a former Student Director of the Bentley Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Center and a recipient of the Falcon Society Award.

Victoria Phillips | Director

PROJECT MANAGER II, RENEWABLES & ENERGY EFFICIENCY, CET.

  • Victoria is the Zero Waste Coordinator for the City of Boston’s Environment Department. As the Zero Waste Coordinator, Victoria is involved in the implementation of Zero Waste Boston, the City’ first ever zero waste plan, which includes developing waste reduction public education and policy. Victoria has also worked as a city planner for the Boston Planning & Development Agency to support inclusive engagement engagement strategies. Victoria received her bachelor’s from Cornell University in City and Regional Planning concentrating in Environmental Sciences and Sustainability. Victoria lives in East Boston.

Tommy Welsh | Director

INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT / OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT, BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

  • Tommy Welch has a network of 16 schools including 8,000 students and all grade levels. He transitioned to Boston Public Schools in 2015 after 16 years with the Los Angeles School District. During his time in LA, he taught and served as a school sight leader, including elementary through adult school. During his final years in LA, he worked within the pilot school network as the founding principle of a middle school from 2011 to 2014, and later opened a high school in 2014. Mr. Welch has dedicated his career in public education, and by remaining student-focused he strives to provide excellent services to the students and parents of traditionally underserved communities.

Megan Johnson | Director

WRITER AND REPORTER

  • A Connecticut native, Megan moved to Boston in 2003 to attend Simmons College. She has called East Boston home since 2014. She strongly believes in knowing one's neighborhood inside and out, and that means understanding the issues that affect its residents. Megan worked at the Boston Herald until 2013 and has been a self-employed writer and reporter for the last decade. She is a regular contributor to People Magazine, Architectural Digest, the Boston Globe, and more. As a child, her parents cut her hair short, and an old man at the grocery store said, "Move along, son." She was also left on the school bus once. She is Boston's premier Scholar of Saved by the Bell.