Our Staff and Board
Meet our Affiliate Consultants and Trainers
Santiago Bunce Support Partner
Santiago Bunce is a man with a heart who is working for change. After accomplishing the goal of making the soccer team at Boston College, this Argentine decided to leave the team in order to travel to the US American-Mexican border. The trip started a transformation for Santiago, who quickly nurtured a passion for justice, sustainability and love, spread through the world. His experience has blessed him with the opportunity to travel to Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, and Venezuela, as well as other countries. Santiago has also had exposure to an eclectic array of literature ranging from Antoine de St. Expurey to Che Guevara to Jon Sobrino. Santiago graduated with a degree in Theology, and later worked with Rostro de Cristo, a volunteer program in Ecuador. He is ready to make positive change through deliberate action, and lives ad majorem Dei gloriam, for the greater glory of God, who/whatever God is.
Inspiration:
Family, present and future.
Quote:
“Know that God is faithful, even if you don’t have faith yourself.” -MXPX
Daryl Campbell Senior Associate; Co-Lead, Education Practice
A native of Georgia, Daryl brings an intense passion for learning and educational equity to IISC. Prior to joining IISC, Daryl was an educator and administrator in the Public Schools of Brookline (MA), where he also served as the Teacher Leader for the Educational Equity Project , a system-wide collaborative project to eliminate the racial achievement gap. As a classroom teacher, Daryl was inducted into the Aula Laudis Society, the American Chemical Society’s Hall of Fame for high school chemistry teachers. In his last year in Brookline, he served as the Interim Director of METCO, a 40-year old Boston-area school integration program. Daryl holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Wofford College in South Carolina and a Master of Education from Harvard University Graduate School of Education. While studying to be a teacher, Daryl was deeply inspired by the work of Paulo Freire. It is Freire’s notion of education as freedom and transformation that continues to guide him today.
Past and current clients include:
- Boston Parent Organizing Network (BPON)
- Boston Schools Leadership Institute
- Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Inc.
- Center for Collaborative Education
- Citizen Schools
- New Leaders for New Schools
- New York State Black Gay Network
- Rochester City School District (NY) – Rochester Children’s Zone
- The Steppingstone Foundation
- U-46 School District
Greatest Life Achievement:
Serving as a public school teacher.
Inspirations:
“The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice.”
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity, or [education] becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.”
- Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator
Jennifer Fischer-Mueller Senior Associate; Co-Lead, Education Practice
Jennifer was drawn to IISC’s vision and commitment to supporting public schools in their quest to achieve educational equity. As co-lead of IISC’s Education Practice, she believes a good education provides life-defining opportunities and is a cornerstone to a democratic society. Prior to joining IISC, Jennifer was the Deputy Superintendent for Teaching and Learning in the Public Schools of Brookline, MA, for six years. She worked with others to establish educational equity as a core value within the school system. Jennifer was a founding faculty member at Souhegan High School in Amherst, NH, a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools. Later she served as the school’s Dean of Faculty. Jennifer then became Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction in NH SAU 39. She also serves as a facilitator for the National School Reform Faculty (NSRF). Jennifer received her Bachelor of Science in Biology and Master of Education degrees from the University of New Hampshire and her Doctor of Education from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. With thirteen years of experience as a teacher, ten years as an administrator, and ten years as an educational consultant/facilitator for urban and suburban schools, Jennifer brings a deep understanding of the current challenges and potential of schools and school systems.
Greatest Life Achievement:
Continuously learning to be a good partner and a good parent.
Inspiration:
My family, daily.
Quotes:
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
- Nelson Mandela
“Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better, or equal, hope in the world?”
- Abraham Lincoln
Linda Guinee brings to her work a passion for social justice and peacebuilding, a lifelong commitment to social change and a belief in the potential of groups of people coming together to create powerful approaches to social issues. Prior to coming to IISC, Linda was the Associate Director of Client Services at the AIDS Action Committee, the largest AIDS Service Organization in New England. She also worked as a tour manager with the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, traveling with the Quilt and organizing volunteers and displays around the United States. In a previous life, Linda worked at the Long Term Research Institute, where she was the senior researcher on a project studying the songs of humpback whales and co-discovered that humpbacks use rhymes as mnemonic devices in their songs. Linda was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh and is a member of the lay Buddhist order Tiep Hien. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Humanism and Cultural Change from the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay and a Master of Arts degree in Conflict Resolution at Antioch University - McGregor. She is a trained and practicing mediator and a member of the Public and Intense Conflicts Committee of the Association for Conflict Resolution. Linda delivers facilitation services and helps manage the content of collaborative efforts with a wide variety of IISC’s clients.
Past and current clients include:
- The Peace and Security Initiative
- The Public Schools of Brookline (in a process to eliminate the racial achievement gap)
- The Ford Foundation
- Connect US
Greatest Life Achievement:
Getting my grandmother up out of her hospital bed and walking again.
Inspiration:
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there’s a field. I’ll meet you there.”
- Rumi
Marianne Hughes Executive Director
Marianne Hughes is the Executive Director of the Interaction Institute for Social Change where she combines her social policy expertise, organizing skills, devotion to social justice, and deep faith in the human capacity for goodness to furthering IISC’s mission. Marianne’s professional commitment to social change began in 1966, during an early life-directing experience as one of the original VISTA Volunteers. She followed this with years of anti-war, disarmament, and low-income grassroots organizing. From these experiences, a spiritual and political direction emerged and her work has followed. In 1993, Marianne was hired by Interaction Associates to launch the Interaction Institute for Social Change as a nonprofit partner organization to work in the social and public sectors as well as local communities. Since that time, she has taken IISC from its start-up phase and a staff of two to an organization with offices in Boston and Belfast and fifty staff and affiliates, serving hundreds of clients annually across the country and world. In addition to network building, consulting, facilitating, and training, Marianne builds strategic alliances and fosters connections among social change agents and organizations, and leads the development of new products and initiatives as well as organizational thinking and learning about innovative ways to create high impact social change.
Past and current clients include:
- Barr Foundation - Fellows Program
- Ford Foundation - Laboratory for New Thinking on Foreign Policy
- Ford Foundation - Social Justice Philanthropy
- Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
- Institute for Civic Leadership
- Institute for Public Health, Dublin, Ireland
- Nathan Cummings Foundation
- Peace and Security Initiative
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- The Ten Point Coalition
- Workers Educational Association, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Quote:
Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Charlie is a member of the support staff, lending administrative skills to IISC’s Senior Associates and service delivery support to clients. Prior to joining IISC, Charlie worked for eight years in the supported housing industry as a member of MMA Financial’s operations team. In addition, Charlie has worked in various capacities as a gardener, substitute teacher, waiter, short order cook, and as a laborer on a concrete placement crew. Charlie is also a guitarist & songwriter. He has played in numerous rock bands over the last 20 years and currently can be found playing around Boston with a local indie-pop group called the Mercy James Gang.
Sekou oversees IISC’s day-to-day financial and accounting operations. He began as a volunteer with a vision of giving back to the community. He wanted to work for a non-profit and be a player, not a spectator, in life. IISC has made that possible. Sekou feels very fortunate to be part of the IISC family. He is originally from Liberia, West Africa, and was brought up to value family. When he first began work with IISC, Sekou was overwhelmed by his colleagues’ outlook, attitudes, the ambiance of the work place, and the diversity that surrounded the organization. He strongly believes that we can get along and work toward a common goal of social transformation. Prior to working for IISC, Sekou managed a couple of family owned filling stations in Monrovia, Liberia.
Eileen Mayko Director of Finance and Administration
Eileen comes to the Institute with a passion for the contributions that nonprofits make to the world. She has focused her professional career on working within and in support of the nonprofit sector. She began with Facilities Resource Management Company, a small consulting firm based in Connecticut. There her clients ranged from Rockefeller University and Barnard College to the School District of Sarasota County and Ringling School of Art and Design. Eileen also has worked in the education sector for University of Pennsylvania, Sylvan Learning Centers, and Harcum College. Eileen received a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a master of science degree in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania. Outside of work Eileen serves as a member of the board of two Philadelphia-based arts organizations. Originally from New England, Eileen recently relocated back after spending ten years living in Philadelphia. She is thrilled to be a part of the Institute and is inspired by the work that the Institute is doing in the world.
Quote:
“You must do the thing that you think you cannot do.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt
Andrea loves people and life. She is driven by a need and desire to challenge inequity and bridge the divisions among and between peoples. Born in Chile and transplanted to the suburbs of New York at the age of 8, her boundary crossing experiences began at an early age. Andrea believes in the possibility of community because of her own experiences bridging cultural and socio-economic differences. Andrea began organizing around Latin American issues in college and then shifted her focus from global to local efforts in Roxbury, MA at the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, a multicultural resident-led community-based planning and organizing organization. Andrea delved more deeply into leadership development activities at YouthBuild USA, where she served as a program advisor and training associate. In addition to delivering training, consulting and facilitation services to IISC clients, Andrea manages the Community Building Curriculum, a grassroots leadership development project. She offers many of these services in both Spanish and English. Andrea holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University and a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When not working, Andrea enjoys dancing, running, dabbling in jewelry-making and sharing her home with family and friends.
Past and current clients include:
- CARE
- East Boston Ecumenical Community Council
- English for Action (Providence, RI)
- The Hyams Foundation
- Lawrence Community Works (MA)
- Local Initiatives Support Corporation-Detroit
- New York State Black Gay Network
- Rochester City School District (NY)—Rochester Children’s Zone
Sara Oaklander Senior Associate
Sara Oaklander was first inspired by IISC when, as a senior manager in a nonprofit human services agency, she participated in a Facilitative Leadership® workshop and realized that it was offering compelling new ways of thinking about and approaching common leadership and organizational challenges. With a clear intention in mind to merge her interests in organizational development and social action, she jumped on the chance to join IISC’s strategic planning team as a content manager. She has since considered it a privilege to be part of the IISC team where she does client content and project management and works on marketing, fundraising, and special projects. Prior to coming to IISC, Sara held a variety of organization and program management positions in local nonprofit human services organizations, did grant writing for several others, and was trained and served as a court-based mediator. Over the course of those 18 years, Sara pursued her longstanding interest in organizational development by participating in and leading the design and facilitation of processes to improve organizational effectiveness – both at work and in community settings. Sara holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Master of Public and Private Management from Yale University.
Past and current clients include:
- Barr Foundation
- The Boston Foundation
- Ms. Foundation for Women
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- U.S. Climate Action Network
Curtis brings to IISC his experience in education, community building, leadership development and program design, as well as a passion for efforts that support environmental sustainability. He has worked as an independent research, evaluation, and training consultant to a number of civic engagement and nonprofit support initiatives, including the Building Movement Project (currently housed at Demos) and Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University. Prior to joining IISC, Curtis was the Program and Knowledge Manager of the Building Excellent Schools Fellowship for aspiring urban charter school founders. The son of two teachers, Curtis was raised in Flint, Michigan, and benefited from early experiences living overseas. After college, he returned to Africa to do community and youth development work in Zimbabwe through Silveira House, where he was introduced to and deeply influenced by participatory action research and Training for Transformation methods. This inspired him to later create ImPACT, a model youth service learning program based at The Learning Web in Ithaca, New York. In addition to providing consulting, facilitation, and training services to clients, Curtis is engaged in documenting and communicating IISC’s impact. He has a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a Master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School.
Past and current clients include:
- Center for Collaborative Education (MA)
- Conservation International (DC)
- Ford Foundation (NY)
- Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (DC)
- William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund (CT)
- Institute for Civic Leadership (ME)
- Maine Network Partners
- Newton Public Schools (MA)
- Trust for Public Land (MA)
- Union of Concerned Scientists
Greatest Life Accomplishments:
Meeting and marrying my wife; fathering a happy and healthy daughter.
Inspirations:
“I’ve grown impatient with the kind of debate we used to have about whether the optimists are right or the pessimists are right. Neither are right. There is too much bad news to justify complacency. There is too much good news to justify despair.”
- Donella Meadows
“It is difficult to get the news from poems, yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there.”
- William Carlos Williams
Cynthia Silva Parker Senior Associate
Cynthia Parker delivers training, consulting, coaching, and facilitation services that foster collaborative processes and support cooperative learning in the nonprofit and public sectors. Cynthia also assists with the development of internal systems and new products. She led the effort to develop IISC’s Diversity in the Collaborative Organization: Leveraging the Power of Difference workshop, which focuses on applying personal awareness skills to diversity in collaborative organizations. Cynthia’s prior experience as a senior leader in nonprofit organizations includes serving as Director for Boston Freedom Summer, the Ten Point Coalition’s faith-based youth leadership and community development project. Her responsibilities included senior administrative leadership, fundraising, and oversight for all program development and curriculum design. Prior to that, she served as the Project Administrator for the Algebra Project, Incorporated, a nonprofit education group with sites across the nation. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Boston School of Public and Community Service, where she taught strategic planning. Cynthia holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges and a Master of Public Policy in city and regional planning from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Past and current clients and partners include:
- Annie E. Casey Foundation
- Berklee College of Music
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation-MA Institute for Community Health Leaders
- Center for Effective Philanthropy
- Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation-Children’s Investment Fund
- Darfuri Leaders Network
- Deaconess Foundation
- Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation
- The Medical Foundation
- My Sister’s Keeper and The Sisterhood for Peace: Transforming Sudan
- The Renaissance Project
- Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group
- Third Sector New England
- Year Up
Greatest Life Accomplishment:
My most important accomplishments are a work in progress: the ongoing journey to build a solid spiritual foundation, nurture a loving family, and carry hope into the world through my life and my work.
Inspiration:
“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
- Jesus
Toni Phillips Education Associate
Toni is a member of the support team and co-manages the information, administrative and financial systems for the Education Practice. In addition, she is responsible for the implementation of human resource systems. Prior to joining IISC, Toni was the Office Manager for Interaction Associates, IISC’s for-profit partner. She led the support team, working in numerous positions during nine years of employment. While at Interaction Associates, she traveled to the Sudan, Ethiopia and Nairobi as a member of a peace-talk delegation led by former President Jimmy Carter. This delegation facilitated conversations between Ethiopia and Eritrea as they worked toward peace agreements. Toni partnered with the Ethiopian delegation to manage their communications with other delegates. Toni is the church secretary at the historic 123 year-old Union Baptist Church in Cambridge and serves on the Board of Directors of the Cambridge Community Center, a 70 year-old organization providing after-school services to children. She also is a member of numerous community and fundraising committees. Toni graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts-Boston with a Bachelor’s degree in Black Studies, and a certificate from the Teacher Certification Program. She will complete her Master’s degree in American Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Boston in December of 2006.
Greatest Life Achievements:
Watching with pride as my sons entered manhood, and enjoying my grandchildren.
Inspiration:
“Choose to live each day in purpose, on purpose.”
- Michelle McKinney Hammond
Gibrán Rivera Senior Associate
Gibrán X. Rivera was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in the U.S. mainland. He has devoted his life to the idea of democracy and to the work of emancipatory politics among Boston’s communities of color. A graduate of Boston College and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Gibrán has been recognized for his scholarship as well as his grassroots work for social transformation. He has worked on community engagement at Roxbury’s La Alianza Hispana, served as the Executive Director of Iniciativa, the Massachusetts Education Initiative for Latino Students, and has taken time away from the social sector to explore the life of a start-up entrepreneur. Gibrán served as the founding board chair of MassVOTE, a nationally recognized effort to increase voter participation in urban centers, he currently serves as President of the Board of the Center for Nonprofits and Voting, and is an officer on the Board of the Schott Foundation for Public Education. In 2005, Gibrán was a candidate for the Boston City Council in what was widely recognized as a movement building campaign and a new approach to politics. He comes to IISC with great interest in the application of network theory and a desire to bring skillful means for social transformation to grassroots efforts throughout the country.
Past and current clients include:
- Barr Foundation
- Ford Foundation
- The Gathering for Justice
Greatest Life Achievement:
Daring to love with all my heart and committing my everyday to meeting others at a deeper place.
Inspiration:
“See God even in that moment of great loss, in profound pain, just as you visualize God in profound ecstasy.”
- Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
Christina Savage Operations Manager
Christina is responsible for the integrity of IISC’s systems, including contracting, invoicing, and technology. In addition she leads the IISC support team to ensure smooth communication with Senior Associates and service delivery to clients. Christina also contributes to the organization’s finance team and is a member of the implementation team overseeing IISC’s strategic plan. Prior to joining IISC, Christina held a number of diverse and interesting jobs, each one contributing to a rich background and variety of skills. These include managing director of a small theater, catering temp, medical receptionist, professional (non-equity) actor, box office manager, and candy store manager. Christina has a B.A. in Theater Arts from the University of Massachusetts.
Inspiration:
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
- Sweet Honey in the Rock
Chris Toppin Public Workshop Coordinator
Chris handles logistics, marketing, and communications for IISC’s Public Workshops in Boston and in San Francisco. In addition, she is a member of the support team, lending administrative help to IISC’s trainers and consultants. Chris also manages the organization’s website, coordinates staffing for trainings and helps to manage the pool of affiliate trainers and consultants. Prior to joining IISC, Chris was the Public Workshop Coordinator for Interaction Associates. Chris is a musician and recording artist. In the early 1990’s she toured the United States and UK, promoting releases for the Atlantic recording rock group Fuzzy. She is currently putting together a children’s compilation with musicians in and around the Boston area. Chris’ most cherished undertaking is raising her two daughters, Ella and Lucinda. She and her husband revel and delight in the daily inspiration their children bring.
Melinda Weekes Senior Associate
Melinda brings a diverse set of skills to her work at IISC from professional experiences in the areas of law, community development, urban ministry and non-profit consulting. At IISC, Melinda is engaged in training, consulting, facilitation, content management, case study writing, and new market strategy development. In her native New York City, she operated her own law practice for several years before moving to Boston to pursue graduate work and ministerial training. While in Boston, she has been privileged to work as a social enterprise consultant for non-profit organizations such as the Boston Capacity Tank, the Pine Street Inn, the Root Cause Institute, and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay. In addition to serving on the ministerial staff of Bethel AME Church, Melinda is a member of the Board of Directors for a women-led humanitarian action group, My Sister’s Keeper, and the Boston Urban Youth Foundation. A writer and a gospel music theorist, she has published works for Harvard University, the Journal for Black Music Research and Oxford University Press. Melinda holds a Bachelors of Arts degree from Wesleyan University, a Masters of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School, and a Juris Doctorate from New York University School of Law.
Past and current clients include:
- Springfield Holyoke Workforce Development Initiative for Healthcare
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Berklee College of Music
- Steppingstone Foundation
- William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund
- Ford Foundation
- Mass Mentoring Partnership
Inspiration:
“To whom much is given, much is required.”
- Luke 12:48
Jennifer Willsea Senior Associate
Jen is inspired by people working creatively together to challenge the urgent problems of racial, economic, and gender injustices. She was raised in Rochester, NY and spent time in the San Francisco bay area working with organizations including Peace Action West, Critical Resistance, the Challenging White Supremacy Workshop, and Community United Against Violence. At IISC, Jen does client content and project management and works on fundraising initiatives. Outside of work, Jen organizes around issues of extreme wealth concentration and class and race privilege. She also serves on the board of RESIST, Inc. and is a passionate cook.
Andria Winther Managing Director
Andria Winther is Managing Director of the Interaction Institute for Social Change and Director of IISC’s Education Practice. Andria has experience in private, public, and non-profit sectors, and brings an expansive range of skills to her work with both IISC clients and staff. Interested in exploring other cultures at a young age, Andria participated in a life-changing semester to India during college, which woke her up to the concept of “privilege” and has influenced all of her subsequent pursuits. As a marketer and trainer with the Experiment in International Living, Andria articulated the benefits of cross-cultural experiences and prepared students and leaders for trips overseas. Her later introduction to Paulo Freire’s writings as an ESL graduate student and teacher fueled her desire to work for greater equity in education. Just prior to joining IISC, Andria led City Year Boston’s Education and Corps Resources Department through a transition to teaching Corps members enrolled in ESL and GED classes through a learner-centered, participatory approach that created conditions for self-empowerment. She also helped teams of Corps members to work across their internal differences and do service work in communities. In addition to her work with clients as a consultant, trainer, facilitator, and coach, Andria leads the development of IISC’s services to schools and school systems, and also manages internal operations for the organization. Andria has a B.A. in Sociology from Hartwick College and a Master’s degree in TESOL from the University of Massachusetts-Boston.
Past and current clients include:
- ALS Therapy Development Foundation
- American Embassy School (New Delhi, India)
- Atlanta Public Schools
- Commonwealth Corporation
- Cairo American College
- Cherish Every Child in Springfield Initiative
- Citizen Schools
- Leadership Enhancement Opportunities
- Public Schools of Brookline
- United Way of Rhode Island
Greatest Life Achievement:
I am tremendously grateful for the 20 years of marriage my husband and I have shared.
Inspiration:
Go with the people.
Live with them.
Learn from them.
Love them.
Start with what they know.
Build with what they have.
And of the best leaders,
when the job is done, the task accomplished,
the people will all say: “We have done this ourselves.”
- Lao Tsu, China, 700 b.c.
Sharon Duffy Administration Support, IISC Ireland Office
Sharon is the newest member of Interaction Institute for Social Change’s Ireland Office. Prior to joining IISC, Sharon worked as an IT trainer for 7 years before taking time out to travel. Since then she has worked for Oxfam Northern Ireland and is currently also working with Belfast’s South Eastern Education and Library Board as a Library Assistant. When not working, Sharon likes to cook for friends, take walks with her dog and read novels.
Stevie Johnston Senior Associate
Stevie Johnston is IISC’s new Senior Associate in Ireland. Until recently, Stevie was the Director of the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) in Northern Ireland, an adult education body whose mission is simply to ‘make learning irresistible.’ Before becoming director he ran community leadership programs for the WEA, and while on a research visit to Boston in 1995 to look for new leadership models, discovered IISC. A partnership quickly followed and since then thousands of participants in Ireland have had the opportunity to benefit from IISC’s workshops. As a long standing affiliate trainer with IISC, Stevie has delivered Facilitative Leadership many times.
Stevie holds a BSc in Social Administration, an MSc in Social Administration, Policy and Planning and an MBA from the University of Ulster, where he specialized in strategic development for not for profit organizations. He has attended the Federal Executive Institute’s Charlottesville, VA campus and graduated from their Leadership in a Democratic Society program (where he also got to see round the Pentagon on an electric buggy!). Steve has also worked in Eastern Europe helping build civic democracy in Russia, Lithuania and Georgia (where he ran collaborative leadership training in Stalin’s summer house!).
Active in community life, Stevie is treasurer of his local community development association and chairperson of Community Places, a not for profit agency that enables communities to have a voice in planning and regeneration.
Inspirations:
Stevie’s favorite quote is Ghandi’s “live every day as if it were your last and learn as if you’ll live forever”. As such he’s working hard to master Peter Senge Five Disciplines and draws something new from Gareth Morgan’s ‘Images of Organizations’ every time he lifts it.
Louise O'Meara Regional Director, IISC Ireland Office
Louise is the Regional Director of the IISC Ireland Office. She comes to IISC with a background in strategic planning, organizational development, evaluation and policy impact assessment. In addition, she has considerable expertise in the area of gender equality work, including the “gender proofing” of policies. Louise has worked as an independent organizational consultant, trainer, and facilitator; a rural development officer; and as an urban community development officer. Her experiences in the private, public and voluntary sectors in Ireland convinced her of the need for developing effective relationships and structures within and between agencies, organizations and groups, in pursuit of social justice. Furthermore, her international consulting work in Russia, Georgia, the Czech Republic, and other countries has deepened her commitment to ensuring that skills for collaboration are tailored to local cultural contexts. Louise received her Bachelor’s degree from University College Cork where she studied sociology and social policy. She is an active member of a number of nonprofit organizations and serves as a board member of the Belfast Film Festival and the Women’s Resource and Development Agency.
Past and current clients include:
- Age Concern Northern Ireland
- Institute for Public Health Ireland
- Belfast Community Safety Partnership
- Changing Aging Partnership
- Fabry International Network
- Pavee Point Travellers Centre
- Southern Health & Social Services Board Public Health Department
- West Belfast Advice Forum
- Worker’s Educational Association
- Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Dublin
Inspiration:
“In times of change, the learners will inherit the earth, while the knowers will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”
- Eric Hoffer
Art McCabe Secretary of the Board
Art McCabe is president and senior attorney with McCabe Associates. He has practiced business, corporate and family law in the United States since his admission to the Massachusetts Bar in 1974, and has worked extensively with senior executives, owners, and their families, of closely-held corporations since that time. In the course of his work, he has practiced extensively with local, state, and federal agencies, and state and federal court, particularly with regard to economic development matters and the creation of strategic alliances and public/private partnerships for the accomplishment of his clients’ personal and business objectives. He has served as advisor to governmental institutions and business and political leaders, and participated in numerous public and private trade missions and fact-finding trips to the North, West and Border Counties of Ireland. In his private practice, Art represents and interacts with many national and international companies, and respected business, civic and governmental leaders. He has also served as family advisor and in a fiduciary capacity for many of his clients.
Gus Newport is a program consultant to the Vanguard Public Foundation and the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation. He is also an MLK Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Gus was the first “fellow” of the Mabel Louise Riley Foundation and he has served in many professional capacities including: consultant to East Bay Funders (a foundation partnership); executive director of the Institute of Community Economics; general manager of radio station KPFA in Berkeley, the oldest listener sponsored radio station in the country; the first Senior Fellow of the William Monroe Trotter Institute, University of Massachusetts at Boston; lecturer in residence at the University of California; a member of the faculty at Portland State University to the HUD Senior Managers Seminars and a member of the Yale Community Fellows program faculty; executive director of the Partnership for Neighborhood Initiative (PNI) Palm Beach County, FL; executive director of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI), Boston, MA; Mayor of Berkeley, CA (1979-1986), during which time he served on the advisory board of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and chaired the sub-committees on Education and Employment.
Gus’ areas of focus have included neighborhood planning and development and economic development. He has lectured at numerous colleges and universities and served on several national policy boards and United Nation committees. He is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Graduate Program in Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University and Chair of the board of the Algebra Project. Gus served as the Vice-President from the U.S. to the World peace Council 1980-1986.
Thomas Rice Chairman of the Board
Thomas J. Rice, Ph.D. is a co-founder and Chairman of the Interaction Institute for Social Change and CEO Emeritus of Interaction Associates, Inc., IISC’s for-profit partner and an employee-owned consulting and training firm. Thomas’ specialty is consulting with leaders and leadership teams to forge value-based strategic alignment and building collaborative work cultures that achieve breakthrough results. Through a combination of organizational assessment, personal coaching, reframing issues and modeling new behaviors, Rice has established a reputation in private, public-sector and community-based organizations for catalyzing rapid and lasting change.
Before joining Interaction Associates, he was a Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University and a Research Associate at Harvard University School of Education. He has published over fifty articles and reviews (topics include: Leadership; American Public Policy-making; Education; Workplace Democracy; Processes of Social Transformation) and has contributed chapters to five books, including; Using Sociology (R. Straus, ed. General Hall, ‘92) The Post-Bureaucratic Organization (C. Heckscher & A. Donnelon, eds. Sage, ‘94), and The Collaborative Leadership Fieldbook (D. Chrislip, ed. Jossey-Bass, forthcoming, 5/02). Current projects include: Strategies to end homelessness; Civic leadership; Grassroots leadership in Northern Ireland, Disruptive innovations (in private and public organizational contexts) and Leadership wisdom. Thomas is an inspirational keynote speaker at national and international conferences and has conducted workshops in over twenty countries over the past twenty-five years.
Past and current clients include:
- Benjamin Moore & Company
- Oxfam America
- Irish Public Health Institute
- Du Pont
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Institute for Civic Leadership, Portland, ME
- Belfast Regional Stewarship Initiative
- Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.
David Straus Treasurer of the Board
David Straus is the founder of Interaction Associates, Inc. and has over the years served in every major leadership position, including President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board. Under his guidance, Interaction Associates has become a recognized leader in organizational development, group process facilitation, training, and consulting. Under grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Carnegie Corporation, David has conducted research in creativity and developed training programs in problem solving. Mr. Straus coauthored the bestseller, How to Make Meetings Work (Wyden Books, 1976) and has just completed a new book, How To Make Collaboration Work: Powerful Ways to Build Consensus, Solve Problems, and Make Decisions (Berrett-Koehler, 2002). David’s service with nonprofits includes: The Interaction Institute for Social Change (on going), Shady Hill School (late 80’s), Boston Institute for Psychotherapy (early 90’s), Cambridge Center for Adult Education (mid 80’s), Mt Auburn Cemetery (current), Mass Audubon Society Council (current).