Who We Are

Agnes Lugira and her husband are from Uganda and have served on various committees for Winchester’s St. Mary’s Parish. She has been an instructor in the Early Childhood Education Program at the Urban College of Boston. Lugira is a past board member and was instrumental in initiating Winchester’s Black History Month celebration.

Judy Manzo is the owner of Book Ends in Winchester.  Judy served as President of the Chamber of Commerce, and for the past 22 years, has collaborated with the Network in supporting numerous events including the Annual Winchester Reads Program. Judy is a longtime resident of Winchester.  She and her husband are the proud grandparents of three grandchildren and three step grandchildren.

Shukong Ou has lived in Winchester nearly 30 years with his wife Joan and raised two kids. His work is in network security for private global wide area networks provided by AT&T and holds two patents relating to security technology.   In Winchester he is an advisor to the Multicultural Network and the Winchester Community Music School, mentors students at local elementary schools in origami, helps out at the Winchester Farmers Market, was awarded “Producer of the Year 2013” at WinCAM, and has started a group  playing ukulele for fun  Shukulele .  Shukong is also a member of the Community Ethics Committee in the Boston area.

Dr. Christopher Palmer is a psychiatrist at McLean Hospital, Director of the Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education, and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has worked for years with numerous organizations on Diversity and Inclusion, especially relating to the LGBT population, including work with the Massachusetts Medical Society, the American Medical Association, Washington University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Lexington Montessori School, the Lexington Public Schools, and the Winchester Multicultural Network. He has lived in the Boston area for over 18 years and currently resides in Lexington.

Jeanne Phillips is the Human Resources Manager/Director at Winchester Hospital.

Allan Rodgers retired at the end of 2010 after serving for 42 years as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, a statewide legal advocacy nonprofit which carries out systemic advocacy on behalf of the poor. He recently published a book about his law reform experiences, called RAP-UPS of a Retired Reformer: Stories About How Legal Services Advocates Transformed the Laws for Poor People in Massachusetts.  A resident of Winchester for 51 years, Allan is a student at the Music School; his late wife, Sandy Rodgers, was one of the founders of the Highland Avenue facility; and he is a member of many boards of nonprofits in Winchester and Boston, including the Board of Overseers of the New England Conservatory.

Elisabeth Sayre has been teaching English to Adult non-native speakers during her 20-year career as a tutor, conversation group leader, and classroom instructor. As a member of the Network’s original Board, she spearheaded its outreach to international residents and continues to welcome our diverse community through International Connections’ activities. She has served in various positions on Winchester ABC’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee since Winchester’s program began in the 70s.

John Suhrbier was a member of the Winchester Multicultural Network’s Board of Directors for eight years and currently is on the Network’s Finance Committee. He chairs Winchester’s Housing Partnership Board, a group established by Town Meeting to help expand housing opportunities in Winchester for low, moderate, and middle income households. He previously was a Commissioner of the Winchester Housing Authority and was a co-founder of the non-profit Winchester Housing Corporation. His professional work for thirty-five years focussed on the relationships between transportation and the environment, including issues of civil rights, environmental justice, community impacts, air quality, and climate change. Within the National Academy of Sciences, he is an emeritus member of the Transportation Research Board’s Transportation and Air Quality Committee.

Rosemary Sullivan is past president of the Winchester Seniors Association and the present chairman of the WSA Human Resources Committee.  She has taught in the Newton and Belmont Public Schools and served as a project manager in Training and Development at Verizon. At Verizon she facilitated a 2  day workshop in Diversity and a workshop in Ethics. Originally from Northern New York, she is a long time resident of Winchester.

Paula Tognarelli is the Executive Director and Curator of the Griffin Museum of Photography. The Griffin Museum of Photography located in Winchester outside Boston, Massachusetts, is a small nonprofit photography museum whose mission is to promote an appreciation of photographic art and a broader understanding of its visual, emotional and social impact. The museum houses three galleries and maintains four satellite gallery spaces and several virtual on-line galleries as well. Ms. Tognarelli is a resident of Cambridge, MA.

Fred Yen started the farmers market and initiated the climate action plan for the town of Winchester. He has a background in art and photography, the restaurant business and as a licensed contractor in the residential sector. Fred has lived in Winchester for over 25 years.