Who We Are
Liora Norwich
Susan K. Lewis
Sahar Ahmed Awerbuch
Robin Smith
Juanita Zerda
Michael Bettencourt
Charlie Danzoll
Deirdre Giblin
Wei Han
Shawn Macannuco
Elena Varipatis Baker
Phil Coonley
Karen Hirschfeld
Raegan McCain
Rebecca Slisz
Hillary Turkewitz
Dennis Brett
Terry Marotta
Kaye Nash
Felicity Tuttle
Sandy Thompson
Lily Yamamoto
John Swan
She is the Founder and President of Managing across Cultures, a consulting firm, specializing in training, coaching and developing leadership and teamwork for Senior Executives. Dr. Araoz is originally from India. She has consulted in over 25 countries and has a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology and an LL.B.
She is retired from her job as Vice President for Carlson GMAC Real Estate. Her real estate career began in Winchester Center and spanned 30 years. She is a Trustee of the Arthur Griffin Foundation which gives grants for beautification projects in Winchester and for scholarships for students going on to college majoring in photography-related fields. She chaired the Winchester Council on Aging for several years.
is the President of Autism Housing Pathways, a non-profit that works with families to create housing solutions for their family members with developmental disabilities. A 20-year resident of Winchester, she serves on the Winchester Housing Authority, and is the WHAs representative to the Winchester Housing Partnership Board. She was a member of the Adult Services Subcommittee of the Massachusetts Autism Commission.
Kristine Bremer is a consultant specializing in media, communications and development. Her firm, Oceanside Partners USA, LLC, helps build the capacity of organizations to increase sources of support, grow programs, engage stakeholders, and communicate impact and outcomes.
Cari is the rabbi of Temple Shir Tikvah, the reform Jewish congregation in Winchester. Before her arrival in Winchester she was the associate rabbi in Princeton Junction NJ. Rabbi Cari lives with her family which includes a husband, two children, dog and cat in Arlington.
Dotty Burstein served on the Winchester Multicultural Network for 13 years and is now a Community Advisor for the Network and a co-editor of The Journey. She works as a volunteer for the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, where she is editor of the Young Adult Resource Guide and the Resource Guide for Older Adults–publications for homeless and poor individuals. Dotty is a member of the Winchester League of Women Voters, where she served as president, editor of its newsletter, and Steering Committee member. For four years, she was also a member of the State League’s Administration of Justice Committee. As a member of the Winchester Democratic Town Committee, Dotty has served as a delegate to several state conventions. She has lived in Winchester for 30 years.
Doug Cromwell is a retired law librarian from the U.S. Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit. He has lived in Winchester for 30 years in the family home (which has been in his family since the mid-1920s). He was a founding member of the board of The Winchester Multicultural Network and served for a number of years after which he became a Community Advisor.
Marianne DiBlasi was born with a disability, Spina Bifida, which rendered her legs partially paralyzed. She grew up and still lives in Winchester. Marianne is currently pursuing a Masters of Divinity program at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge MA. She is the president of Disability Visibility, a consulting, training, and coaching company that helps organizations enhance communication skills, value differences, and leverage the unique contributions of their disabled employees. She is also the editor of Disability Issues, a quarterly newsletter devoted to providing disabled individuals, their families, and advocates with relevant information to improve their quality of life. Prior to founding Disability Visibility, Marianne worked in corporate America for 22 years in various human resources, sales and marketing positions.
Harris Gibson, MD, who recently retired, is Chief of Thoracic Surgery Emeritus at Winchester Hospital, Lawrence Memorial Hospital, and Melrose-Wakefield Hospital. He taught Surgery at the Boston University School of Medicine. After completing his residency as a Fellow in thoracic surgery at Boston City Hospital, under the direction of Boston University, Tufts University, and Harvard Medical School, he joined the professional corporation of Cardio-Thoracic Associates and was with the group until he retired.
Rick Goldberg has a PR consulting practice in which he helps semiconductor and high tech companies reach their target customers through web-based articles and social media. He is the program chair of the Boston IEEE Consultants Network and has leadership roles in several diversity organizations including GBIO (Greater Boston Interfaith Organization), MoveOn, AARP and the Winchester Democratic Town Committee. He has lived in the Boston area since 1973 and in Winchester since 1979.
Tom Howley is a Panera Bread franchisee with restaurants in CT, RI and southeast MA. Tom and his wife Nancy have two children, Patrick and Brett. Tom is a Town Meeting Member and has served on the Planning Board and Board of Selectmen.
Heather Janules is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister. She began her ministry with the Winchester Unitarian Society in August of 2015. Her social justice ministry is motivated by a vision of inclusion in our multicultural world. A native of nearby southern NH, she lives in Wakefield, MA with her elderly Labrador retriever.
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.
Peter F. MacDonnell is the Chief of Police in Winchester. Peter joined the police department in 1988, and was appointed Chief of Police on July 1, 2016. He was born and raised in Winchester, and graduated from Winchester High School in 1978. He is a graduate of both the University of Massachusetts/Boston and Anna Maria College, and holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology, and a master’s degree in criminal justice.
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.