staff bios

Karley Ausiello is a Director of Community Impact with a focus on Increasing Youth Opportunities. She manages Business Meets Community, an initiative to engage corporate volunteers in mentoring and other positive youth-adult relationships. Karley brings to UWMB a background in forming college-community partnerships across the state of Massachusetts , in depth knowledge of service-learning and civic engagement and experience with statewide advocacy for afterschool programs. She has a B.A. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University , a M.P.A. from Harvard University , and a M.S. in Higher Education Administration from Syracuse University .

Don Buchholtz is a Senior Director in the Community Impact Division, focusing on United Way of Massachusetts Bay 's strategies to articulate and measure the impact of its investments. Don has been with UWMB since 1997, leading the effort to help affiliates and other non-profits learn and apply outcome measurement practices to improve their programs and communicate the difference they make for individuals and communities. Don is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College and the State University of New York.

Nicole Shiner is the Operations Coordinator to the Vice President of Operations and the Operations Team, providing technical assistance to agencies during the Request for Proposal (RFP) process along with administering the Volunteer Solutions website. Before joining the United Way of Massachusetts Bay , Nicole worked as a paralegal in Washington State . She has also earned multiple awards in the area of outstanding customer service.

Bithiah Carter is a Director of Community Impact at United Way of Massachusetts Bay (UWMB). Her area of concentration is Increasing Youth Opportunity, where she leads program development for UWMB's Today's Girls...Tomorrow's Leaders initiative. Prior to joining UWMB, Bithiah was Program Director at the Girls’ Coalition in Boston , a non-profit research and advocacy organization concerned with the welfare of girls. In that position, she worked on programs to provide services to system-involved girls and to heighten awareness of racial and ethnic issues facing that population, conducted development work and led legislative efforts of behalf of the coalition.

Annie Chin-Louie is a Director of Community Impact. She’s a member of the Building Family Assets Team, focusing on the Sustainable Employment issue area. Annie has an extensive background in adult education and workforce development. She joined United Way in 2000 after a long tenure at the Asian American Civic Association where she worked as an ESL teacher, program coordinator, and director of operations. Annie holds a B.A. from Smith College and a M.B.A. from Simmons Graduate School of Management. She serves as vice-president of the Board of Directors of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) and as co-chair of the Diversity Initiative Steering Committee at the Third Sector New England. She is also a member of the Mass. Asian Americans/ Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP).

Liz Curtis is a Director of Community Impact for Affordable Housing, wherein she helps guide UWMB's strategies and execution in the areas of housing and asset building. She provides leadership in UWMB's housing initiatives, including homelessness prevention and Housing First, gaining access to the Earned Income Tax Credit, and increasing household incomes for eligible families' by improving access to public benefits. Liz came to UWMB with experience in working with homeless populations and public policy advocacy. She has a Master's Degree in Social Work from Boston College . Liz also currently serves as a member of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation's Boston-area Housing Committee, the area's Earned Income Tax Credit Coalition, and has participated in the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance's Housing and Homelessness Committee.

Kory Eng currently serves as a Director of Community Impact in the Affordable Housing area. Kory currently works with ten non-profit groups and community-based organizations in providing strategic funding for affordable housing initiatives. Prior to joining UWMB Kory served as Housing Director at Quincy Community Action Programs Inc. At QCAP he oversaw the most comprehensive Housing Program in Norfolk County including all affordable housing development, management of 53 units of affordable housing, housing search and stability services for homeless and at risk families, first time homebuyer education and homeownership support services for low to moderate income homeowners. He is the prior Chairman of both the City of Quincy ’s Fair Housing Committee and the Massachusetts Family Housing Assistance Network. Kory holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with concentrations in Welfare Policy, Government and Community Ecology.

Paola Ferrer serves as Director of Community Impact, specializing in Basic Needs. Her responsibilities include the administration of the federal Emergency Food and Shelter Program for Suffolk, Middlesex, and Norfolk counties. She is involved with the Utilities and Tenancy Preservation Workgroups of the City of Boston Homelessness Prevention Clearinghouse, the Department of Housing and Community Development's Energy Policy advisory group, and sits on the board of directors of Mass 211. Paola graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in International Relations and Latin American Studies, and then went on to earn her M.A. at Boston University in Criminal Justice, followed by a law degree from Suffolk University. She was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 2003. Paola has worked at the Juvenile Justice Center, the Judge Baker's Children's Center, the Attorney General's Office, and the MATCH School in various positions as an attorney, a hotline screener a consumer information specialist and a teacher.

Christie Getto Young is a Senior Director of Public Policy in the Community Impact Division, where she conducts policy research and advocacy activities that support UWMB's work for children, youth, housing and employment. Before joining UWMB's staff, Christie practiced law, representing low-income parents in family law cases and working as a law clerk for the Massachusetts Probate & Family Court. Prior to attending law school, she worked as a Research Analyst for the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on Human Services & Elderly Affairs. Christie is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and holds a M.S.W. degree from Boston College as well as a J.D. from Northeastern University .

As Senior Vice President of community impact at United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Jeff Hayward is responsible for the oversight, coordination and execution of overall public policy efforts for each of the organization's impact areas. He also oversees United Way 's investments and the strategic direction for the affordable housing and sustainable employment impact areas, as well as asset building and basic/emergency needs. Jeff's professional background is a hybrid of public, private and nonprofit sector service. He served as chief of staff to the mayor of Lynn for five years before being elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. After leaving public life, he was the New England vice president for marketing and business development for a national publicly held emergency medical services company. He now takes what he has learned from this diverse background and applies it toward fulfilling the United Way mission.

Merle Jones Lindsay is a Director of Community Impact, with emphasis on Building Family Assets. Merle serves as relationship manager to ten agencies. She is also the manager of United Way of Massachusetts Bay’s Funding Futures Initiative that will provide nearly 500 low income Greater Boston area families matched savings toward the purchase of housing, post-secondary education or capitalization of a business. Merle has been with UWMB for 19 years. Prior to UW, she served as a consultant and trainer to non-profits in volunteer management for 16 years.

Laurita Kaigler-Crawlle is a Director in Community Impact Department, managing the Faith and Action initiative as well as a portfolio of affiliate agencies. Laurita comes to the United Way with several years of management experience in non-profits serving youth. At Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay she managed the Amachi Faith Based mentoring program and at the Fenway Community Development Corporation she was the Workforce Development Specialist managing several community based job skills/placement projects. Laurita received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Michigan , Ann Arbor .

Mollie McAlpin is a Director of Community Impact for Community Engagement. She works with both internal and external partners on community engagement and volunteer activities that support UWMB's impact agenda. Mollie comes to UWMB after five years of program and volunteer management and fundraising experience at Junior Achievement of Eastern Massachusetts. She graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in Sociology, a minor in English, and a certificate in Markets and Management.

Chris O'Keeffe is Vice President of Community Impact at United Way of Massachusetts Bay (UWMB). In this role he manages research, measurement, community engagement, organizational capacity building and grant-writing for UWMB. He also oversees the team responsible for the development and execution of UWMB's Community Impact investment strategy. He has been with UWMB for 15 years, playing staff and leadership roles in both Fund Raising and Community Impact. He is a resident of Marlborough , MA , where he volunteers as an English as a Second Language Instructor and serves as President of the Marlborough Community Development Corporation.

Ligia Pena is an Administrative Assistant to the Community Impact department. She provides administrative support for Peg Sprague, Vice President of the Healthy Child Development and Increasing Youth Opportunities teams. Ligia came to the United Way with a degree in Computer Science from Roxbury Community College . She has also earned an Executive Assistant Certificate from Burdett College .

Caroline Ross is a Senior Director of Community Impact. Her leadership responsibilities include developing strategies and initiatives, particularly in the areas of children's mental health, family support and early childhood systems of care. Prior to joining UWMB in 2001, Caroline directed directed an early childhood family support center in Cambridge where she oversaw advocacy and community engagement for the Boston regional office of the former Massachusetts Office for Children. She also served as a research and policy analyst on children's and welfare issues for the Joint Committee on Human Services and Elder Affairs in the Massachusetts Legislature. Caroline has a Master’s Degree in Public Policy.

Clare Sanford serves as a Director on the Healthy Child Development team in the Community Impact division. After teaching at an inner city elementary school in Houston , TX Clare attended graduate school in order to facilitate effecting change on a larger scale. After coming to the Boston area to earn a M.A. in Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Clare joined UWMB because of its commitment to providing a continuum of services and policies that support families and children from birth through adulthood. Her special interest include early childhood mental health and workforce development in the field of early childhood care and education.

Lisa Silverman Pickard is a Senior Director in the Community Impact Division with over 20 years experience at United Way . Her job is to coordinate, integrate, and track United Way 's Increasing Youth Opportunities goals and measures and assist in developing strategies and initiatives in the youth impact area. She manages the Connecting Schools and Afterschools Initiative, The Massachusetts Afterschool Research Study, the Lynn Pilot Initiative and participates in our youth policy work. She is a member of the Governor's Afterschool Commission, the Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership, the Boston Full Service Schools Roundtable, the EEC/DOE Afterschool Working Group, and the DOE/UW/DSS Commissioners staff workgroup.

In Peg Sprague's role as vice president of community impact. Her responsibilities include oversight for UWMB's community impact strategies focused on healthy child development and increasing youth opportunities. Peg's career has been dedicated to the study and practice of early childhood development. Before joining UWMB in 2003, Peg was a senior associate at Families and Work Institute in New York where she developed Minds in the Making, a series of learning modules for early childhood practitioners designed to link what is known from science with best teacher practices. Peg also worked as a practice leader, in community development, at the Boston-based consulting firm that staffs the American Business Collaboration, and as a consultant to National Association for the Education of Young Children and the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood National Quality and Technical Assistance Center . She advised on the development of the national accreditation standards and process for out-of-school time programs. Peg holds a B.A. from Simmons College and completed her graduate studies at Wheelock College where she has also worked as a member of the adjunct faculty.

Elena Sokolow is a Director in the Community Impact and Marketing Departments, providing research support and managing the implementation of the Healthy Eating and Active Time (HEAT) Club curriculum that promotes healthy fitness and nutritional behaviors in after-school settings. Elena comes to the United Way of Massachusetts Bay with several years of work experience in youth serving non-profits. She holds a B.A. from Barnard College at Columbia University and a M.P.A. in Non-profit Management and Public Management from Indiana University 's School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Donna Stiglmeier is a Director of Community Impact, with a focus on Building Family Assets and Sustainable Employment. More specifically, Donna leads the Financial Education Initiative linking the impact areas of affordable housing and sustainable employment. Donna is involved with the City of Boston 's Working Group on Economic Self-Sufficiency of the Boston Homelessness Prevention Clearinghouse and FDIC's Boston New Alliance Task Force Working Group on Financial Education. Donna brings with her experience from three other United Ways , ten years directing social and economic justice initiatives at the Paulist Center . Most recently, Donna lead the Worker Education Program, a labor-management not-for-profit organization affiliated with Service Employees International Union Local 1199 which brought education and training to health care workers and employers. Donna earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame, a Master of Social Work at Boston College , and a Master of Theological Studies at Weston Jesuit School of Theology.