Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), New England's leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status and gender identity and expression, elected its board of directors for 2007 at an annual board meeting held on December 14, 2006.  The newly elected board members are:

Officers:

Johanna Schulman, MBA, CFP, ChFC, President.  Johanna was elected to a two-year term on the board. She is a Senior Financial Advisor for Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. in Cambridge, and holds an MBA cum laude from Simmons Graduate School of Management, an MS in Human Service Administration from Wheelock College and an English degree from Oberlin College. Johanna is a past co-chair of GLAD’s Spirit of Justice Dinner, the Fenway Women’s Dinner Party, and the GBBC Awards for Excellence.  Johanna also sits on the Board of MassEquality, where she is a member of the Development and Finance committees.  Johanna and her wife are the parents of an adopted daughter from China.
Peter E. Kassel, Vice President, elected to a one-year term, received his BA from the University of California at Los Angeles and his Psy.D. from the University of Denver in 1988. He is a clinical psychologist, and holds academic, hospital and health care appointments, including Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Medical Center. He formerly served on the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth.  
Rick McCarthy, Treasurer, was elected to a one-year term on GLAD’s board.  He is a Senior Vice President at Bank of America.  Rick is a relationship manager covering Global Financial Institutions. Rick holds a BS from Merrimack College and a Masters degree from Syracuse University.
Renda Mott, Clerk, elected to a one-year term, is a software implementation project manager at Eagle Investment Systems, a subsidiary of Mellon Financial. She has an MBA and Bachelor of Science degrees. She has served on the Board of Governors of the Human Rights Campaign and Fenway Community Health. She lives in Arlington, Massachusetts.

Board Members:

Sandy Anderson is a Vice President and Director of Marketing at GE Healthcare in Boston.  Having worked in the field of healthcare IT since 1984, she has held customer focused senior leadership roles in service and implementations as well as marketing.  In her current role she is responsible for strategies centered on growth of revenue and market share through marketing operations, strategic marketing, and channel management.  Sandy was elected to a one-year term.

David Brown, owner and president of Guidance Mortgage, was elected to a one year term on the board. He co-chaired GLAD’s Spirit of Justice dinner in 2004 and 2005. He is also a supporter of local community-based groups including the Community Research Initiative, South End Historical Society, and Youth Workers Alliance. He is also on the board of the South End Business Alliance where he has served as Treasurer. He has a BA from Cornell University and an MBA from Wharton.

Jo Davis, MSW, works as a Senior Vocational Counselor at the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission in Roxbury. A longtime community activist, she has been a board member at the Women of Color AIDS Council (as President), Parents and Children’s Services, and New England Home for Little Wanderers.  Jo holds a BS in psychology from the University of South Alabama, a master’s degree in Social Work from Simmons College, and is a graduate of the Urban Fellows Ministry Program at Harvard Divinity School.  She was elected to a two-year term on the board.

Lisa J. Drapkin is a Vice President with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Cambridge. Her focus is helping people buy and sell residential real estate in Cambridge and Somerville. Lisa holds an MBA from Babson College and earned her BA at Georgetown University. She is an active member of Arlington Street Church, a Federal Club member of the Human Rights Campaign and a volunteer mediator in the small claims court system. She lives in Cambridge with her wife, Debbie.  Lisa was elected to a two-year term on GLAD’s board.

Peter J. Epstein, who will serve a two-year term on GLAD’s board, is an attorney in private practice in Boston specializing in telecommunications law, primarily representing municipalities. He is a graduate of George Washington University and Suffolk University Law School. Peter is also on the Board of Trustees of the Point Foundation, where he serves on the Mentoring Committee.  He is the former long-time Chairman of the Brookline Public Library Board of Trustees.

Joanne Herman is the Controller for New England Foundation for the Arts. She holds a BA in Government and Economics from Dartmouth College and an MS Accounting/MBA from Northeastern University. Joanne is the first transgender member of the Board of The Point Foundation, where she serves on the Development Committee, and the first transgender member of Old South Church in Boston (United Church of Christ) where she serves on the Finance Committee. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of the National Center for Transgender Equality and a supporting member of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association. She was widowed in 2006 from her wife of 30 years, Barbara Herman. Joanne resides in Boston.  She will serve a two-year term on the board.

Wilbur Herrington, elected to a one-year term, is a management consultant whose work focuses on diversity and organizational development. He was one of the first members of the Diversity Office at Lotus Development Corporation, and is the former board chair of the Top Center, a dance organization that uses dance to foster self-esteem and interracial understanding among adolescents.

Jane Hiscockis vice president at Truman Company, a company dedicated to executive-level marketing to help companies sustain meaningful relationships with executive influencers and decision makers.  She is a longtime management and marketing professional specializing in technology and health care.  As a volunteer, she recently headed up the Boston Immigration Group for Lesbians and Gays (now known as Immigration Equality). Jane was elected to a one-year term.

Chuck Latovich, elected to a two-year term on the board, has managed and implemented diversity communication strategies, designed and conducted corporate training in diversity issues, and consulted on diversity strategies and goals. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in education from Boston University, and lives with his husband in Brighton, Massachusetts.

Navah Levine is a rabbinical student at Hebrew College.  She was formerly a managing director and consultant with Cambridge Associates of Boston, Massachusetts, which provides advisory and consulting services for non-profit institutions and family trusts. She resides in Providence, Rhode Island and will serve a one-year term on GLAD’s board.

Marianne Monte is Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Bank RI. Formerly with Meeting Street School, in East Providence, she has also worked for Liberty Mutual Group in Boston and PepsiCo in New York. She is a graduate of Providence College and Suffolk Law School. Marianne lives in Providence, Rhode Island with her partner. Marianne was elected to a one-year term.

Steven Patrick, who will serve a two-year term on the board, is the Associate Director of Development at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Network, a non-profit member of Partners HealthCare System that provides a comprehensive growing rehabilitation network of inpatient and outpatient services with collaborative relationships throughout eastern New England. Steven is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the New England Association of Healthcare Philanthropy, the Association of Multicultural Members of Partners Healthcare and Member of the Corporation at Tenacre Country Day School in Wellesley. He holds a BS degree in Biology and Psychology from Tufts University. Steven and his partner are the parents of an adopted son from Vietnam.

Dianne R. Phillips is partner in the Boston office of Holland + Knight, where she practices regulatory, energy, and environmental law. She co-chairs the firm’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Workgroup, whose mission is to develop and promote GLBT lawyers. The group has participated in GLBT-focused activities such as pro bono representation of HIV positive asylum seekers and led the firm to sponsor the annual Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network "Respect Awards."  Dianne was elected to a two-year term.

Interviews with board members can be arranged by calling Carisa Cunningham at 617-426-1350. 

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England’s leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and HIV status.  GLAD is active in all six New England states.

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