Board of Directors

	Gordon Burns, Clerk - Gordon Burns was a senior manager for a mid-sized manufacturing corporation for many years before it down-sized. Since then he has worked part-time for non-profit organizations serving senior citizens of Massachusetts and volunteered for: the Boston Pride Committee, Our Space Our Place (an afterschool program for blind children), Boston Prime Timers, Fenway Community Health, BAGLY, and the LGBT Senior Pride Coalition. He looks forward to applying his skills in marketing & sales, customer service, negotation, and management to Stonewall's mission of community-building for older LGBT people. He lives in Revere with his partner, Don. gordonkburns12@comcast.net

	Kara Cohen, M.S. - Kara Cohen is Community Service Director for AARP Massachusetts, the nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to making life better for people 50 and over. It provides information and resources; engages in advocacy on the state and federal levels; assists members in serving their communities; and offers a wide range of benefits, products and services to 40 million members. On the state level, AARP has been involved in a wide range of issues, including prescription drug affordability, driver safety, and employment of older workers. Before joining AARP in 2003, Kara was in charge of volunteer recruitment at the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, and before that the Boston University School of Law in the Dean of Students Office. Kara holds an M.S. in higher education from UMass/Amherst and a B.S. in education from the University of Vermont. She resides in Salem with her wife and twin boys. Kcohen@aarp.org
	Ed Ford - President For the past twenty years, Ed has been an advocate for LGBT Seniors. He was on the Board of Boston Prime Timers for 15 years, serving as president for the last 10. During that time he was invited to sit on the first LGBT National Aging Roundtable created by the National Gay and Lesbian Task force. He collaborated with other LGBT senior Boston groups at United So. End Settlements around intergenerational discussions, and moderated two Gay History of the So. End evenings. He was an early supporter of Community Development efforts of Stonewall Communities, and has been a participant in the LLI since its inception. Ed served on the Steering Committee of the LGBT Aging Project for nine years. During that time the first LGBT Senior Lunch Program at Cafe Emmanual was formed and the first LGBT Senior Pride T Dance began in 2002. Both of these programs are still successfully operating and have inspired the development of other meal sites throughout MA. Ed is a founding member of the LGBT Senior Pride Coalition that has enabled five LGBT Senior groups to participate in both the annual Pride Parade and Festival for a fraction of the cost. It was the Coalition that also enabled LGBT Seniors to participate in the parade by offering Trolleys, increasing the visibility and awareness of the growing senior LGBT population. For three years Ed served as an openly gay Board member on the Boston Partnership for Older Adults, and hosted a monthly cable news show “Agewise Boston - Bridging Generations”. Ed served on the Senior Council of United So. End Settlements for two years. Ed received the Distinguished & Dedicated Service Award from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs in 2008. fordedj@aol.com
	Laura Godtfredsen, Vice President, is a retired professor of politics and business. For 30 years she taught Entrepreneurship at Babson College. She has also taught and lived abroad in Denmark and Thailand. Over the past decade she has appeared in several productions as actor and stage manager in Cambridge and Chiang Mai, Thailand. She played Fonsia Dorsey in The Gin Game and Vixen in The Eight Reindeer Monologues with the Gate Theater Company; she acted and directed in several productions of the Vagina Monologues and That Takes Ovaries. teachette@gmail.com
	Alice Fisher, Ph.D. - Past Board Co-President - Alice spent 15 years building a successful catering business from startup to the third largest in Greater Boston. In previous careers, she worked in the public, non-profit, and academic sectors with populations ranging from lesbian mothers and gay fathers to refugees and immigrants and disabled people. Presently a "lesbian grandmother," she is exploring the development of services for her peers, in particular, seniors in the LGBT communities and in the South End. In the early 1980's Alice wrote her sociology thesis on lesbian mothers for the Union Institute. A personal message from Alice (PDF document). alicef8770@aol.com

John Montgomery	John Montgomery, MS, LCSW - Chair, Development Committee John, after graduating from the University of Maine ’67 with a degree in Business Administration, joined VISTA. He trained at Jane Adam’s Hull House in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. This experience helped decide his future___ business out, Social Work In. John left for Boston on the eve of the 1968 Democratic Convention to pursue his new career path in Social Work with Family Service Association of Greater Boston, Inc., in the Service for Older People Department, which was the prototype for the EOEA’s Homecare Model. Subsequently he received his BA in Psychology/Sociology from Emmanuel College and his MS in Human Service Administration from Springfield College. John had the good fortune to work in a wide variety of clinical and community settings as a geriatric social worker, manager, and consultant. Recently retired, John has embarked on a new journey in his passion for life long learning. He currently is active in various professional and social organizations and serves on several community boards, while working per-diem as a Care Manger for RPB & Associates, a Managed Health Care organization. He is pleased to be part of a vibrant, community building organization. jmontgomerylcsw@gmail.com
	Sue Reamer, Ph.D., Past Co-president - In retirement, Sue thrives on being part of Stonewall Communities’ good humored, lively conversations and collaborative planning – whether for LLI courses, Brown Bag lunches, special events, or new directions. As a former public health nurse and nursing home administrator, she looks forward to participating in the evolution of Stonewall Connections. In addition to her Stonewall involvements, Sue is an enthusiastic baby-sitting Grandma to grandson, Sammy and granddaughter, Alice. Sue also loves jogging, walking, hiking, or gardening in the great outdoors, and Sammy looks to be joining her soon in these passions. sbreamer@earthlink.net
	Bob Sessions For more than 25 years, Bob Sessions served as a vice president and head writer for some of Boston’s leading advertising agencies and corporate communications groups. After retiring from a full-time position 4 years ago, Bob has served as a communications consultant, strategist and writer for several national and international financial services firms, as well as handling creative assignments for one of Boston’s largest ad agencies. In addition to serving on the Board of Stonewall Communities, Bob is a member of the Arlington Street Church’s Prudential Committee – its governing board – and a Board member of the Lend A Hand Society, a charitable organization serving those in need in the greater Boston area. Bob is a native of Milledgeville, Georgia, and graduated from college and worked in advertising in Atlanta, before moving to Boston. RSessi4741@aol.com
	E. Denise Simmons, M.S. Denise Simmons sits on the City Council of Cambridge, Mass. and was the mayor of Cambridge during the 2008-2009 term. She was the first openly lesbian African-American mayor in the United States. She grew up in Cambridge and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and a Master's degree in Psychotherapy from Antioch College. In 1982, she established the Cambridgeport Insurance Agency which she still manages. Denise is also a photo archivist and family historian, and has facilitated workshops for public and private organizations both nationally and locally—including for the Cambridge Public Schools.
	Rowena Winik, Treasurer Rowena's career and profession in finance and accounting started about 55 years ago as an entry level general office worker. Over the next two decades she worked my way up the administrative ladder as a payroll/payable/receivable bookkeeper, then full charge bookkeeper, then accounting manager and treasurer. The next 25 years were spent in administrative/ executive positions which included Director of Physical Plant, Chief Financial Officer, Director of Finance and Administration. Her responsibilities included evaluating, streamlining, and overseeing accounting systems, budget preparation and variance analyses, grant management, personnel processing, reporting to and directly advising the presidents and executive committee of board, endowment fund financial director and all other related duties rowenawinik@comcast.net]