Meet the Team

President

Aileen Montour, B.S. Health Studies, M. Acupuncture,  is a retired registered nurse and licensed acupuncturist with experience in direct patient care as well as extensive management experience in health care, quality assurance and business settings.  She has a passion for community organizing and social justice activism, having served on the leadership team and the Immigrant Rights Working Group of RISE (Roslindale Is for Everyone). After attending the Shelter Institute she designed and built a passive solar home, in addition to other construction projects.

Vice President

Philippe Saad specializes in senior living design and community engagement at DiMella Shaffer Architects in Boston. With a Masters of Architecture from MIT, Philippe focuses on human-centered design. He takes pride in advocating for the rights of LGBTQ older adults and raising awareness nationally of the need for housing where LGBTQ people are welcome and supported. Working mostly in the Senior Living, Residential, and Corporate markets, Philippe has dedicated his career to innovative projects that make a difference in society.

Vice President

Keith MacDonald has over 35 years of healthcare experience encompassing executive leadership; market research; strategic planning; workflow redesign and improvement; operations management; information systems evaluation, vendor selection, planning, and project management/ implementation. He has served in an executive leadership capacity in both healthcare delivery and healthcare consulting organizations. After this successful career in consulting, information technology, operations, market research, and non-profit board leadership, he’s driven to serve community-focused organizations that support our most vulnerable populations. His goal is to help mission-driven organizations address their operational challenges, leverage key opportunities, achieve their strategic goals, and become more successful and sustainable.

Treasurer

Allison Bayer, MBA, MS, has 40 years of experience in healthcare operations, technology and management, serving in key executive roles in integrated healthcare systems, including large safety net organizations. She led hospital and physician groups transitioning to a Population Health approach to delivering care and managing finances, focusing on underserved communities. In addition, she has managed large technology projects to improve care delivery and the work of provider teams. She served as Board Chair for a local PACE (Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), serving over 150 individuals in a nationally known model of care, providing a full range of services to adults over age 55 with chronic care needs while allowing them to remain in their homes and communities for as long as possible. Now retired, Allison is an active member of the West Roxbury/Roslindale Progressive Massachusetts chapter, and is a certified SHINE counselor, working with Medicare-eligible individuals to identify and select their best options for Medicare gap coverage, and connecting them with public benefit programs to ensure their health care needs are met.

Clerk

Kyle Miller is an Assistant Vice President of Tax Credit Underwriting at PNC Bank. In this role, he partners with developers nationwide to provide low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) equity in support of income-restricted housing production and rehabilitation. Prior to joining PNC Bank, Kyle served as a Kuehn Fellow at Madison Park Development Corporation where he managed the financing, design, and construction of housing developments in the Nubian Square area of Roxbury. Kyle received a Master of Public Health and Master in Urban Planning from Harvard University. Using his education in urban planning and public health, Kyle seeks to further housing justice for historically marginalized communities.

Board Member

Chastity Bowick is an award-winning activist, civil rights leader, and transgender health advocate. Born and raised in Rochester, NY, Chastity began her own transition at the age of 18, moving to Boston to safely pursue her gender affirmation process. During her career, she has led the Transgender Emergency Fund of Massachusetts INC and transgender health programming at AIDS Project Worcester as well as used her immense skills as the Program Coordinator of TransCEND at AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts. She is now the Community Engagement Director at Massachusetts General Hospital’s CARE Research Center. Chastity has served as a board member of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, and was a founding board member of Trans Resistance MA. She was recently named among the 25 Most Influential LGBTQ+ People of Color in Greater Boston and remains dedicated to empowering and uplifting the voices of transgender individuals in our community through support and advocacy.

Board Member

Ben Demers is an urban planner for the City of Somerville, Massachusetts, where he coordinates private development projects to ensure public benefits. Prior to his work with Somerville, Ben managed educational resources for Out & Equal, a nonprofit focused on advancing LGBTQ workplace advocacy, and also received his Master of Urban Planner and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University. Ben is invested in building models for communal living and aging in place, particularly for marginalized communities.

Board Member

Dr. Brandi Derr is Director for the Leadership PsyD program at William James College. She additionally serves as a Senior Consultant for Cosmos Consulting, a local firm, providing organizational change management, and leadership/team development for organizations across the United States. She previously served as Director of Programs for Rogerson Communities, Adult Day Health Programs, a non-profit providing housing and health care for elders and low-income individuals and families. With over 20 years of non-profit leadership, for at-risk adolescents, elders, incarcerated adults, and other underserved populations, she continues to engage various communities by promoting and facilitating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in leadership and education. She currently resides in Pennsylvania.

Board Member

Jean E. Dolin is a multidisciplinary Creative Director, Social Impact, Entrepreneur, and the visionary Founder of the newly launched Boston LGBTQ+ Museum of Art, History, and Culture. Dolin has been recognized by Forbes Magazine for his exceptional leadership, creative acumen, and dedication to celebrating and preserving the rich heritage of the LGBTQ+ community through art curation and production

Board Member

Dorothea Keeling, M.Ed, has devoted over 20 years to educating and counseling in a variety of specialized human services inspiring positivity in clients, patients, community residents and female inmates. She has been a community activist for many years and actively participates in several professional affiliations in the Boston community. She currently volunteers for Roslindale is for Everyone (R.I.S.E.) Criminal Justice Reform Working Group and is a board member of LGBTQ Inc. Elders of Color Flashback Sunday, a social group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender older adults, their friends, and allies.

Board Member

Lisa Krinsky, MSW, LICSW, Director of the LGBTQIA+ Aging Project, a program of the Fenway Institute at Fenway Health in Boston,  works toward equity, inclusion, and community for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and intersex older adults, ensuring that they can age with the dignity and respect they deserve.   As a leader in the field of LGBTQIA+ aging, she presents nationally on LGBTQIA+ cultural competency for aging service providers, as well as a variety of practice and policy issues impacting LGBTQ older adults. With attention to intersectional identities, she has prioritized outreach, engagement, and program development for LGBTQ elders of color and transgender and gender diverse older adults. Krinsky is a subject expert in the award-winning LGBTQ aging documentary Gen Silent, and a member of the Massachusetts Special Legislative Commission on LGBTQ Aging.

Board Member

Tej Nuthulaganti is a global public health professional currently working for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a multi-billion dollar philanthropy supporting global health programming in developing countries. At the Global Fund Nuthulaganti serves as a senior specialist focused on health workforce development and health systems strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America. He formerly served as a Senior Director at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) for Health Workforce programs and co-chair of CHAI's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. A graduate of the Harvard School of Public Health and Rutgers University, Nuthulaganti previously served as an education instructor in global health at Harvard University and a Research Assistant to Dr. Paul Farmer, the founder of Partners In Health.

Emerita Board Member
Sue Reamer, Ph.D., Human and Organizational Development, is a retired nursing home administrator and public health nurse.  In retirement, she has been dedicated to community building activism in her older LGBTQ community through extensive LGBT board and volunteer experience in the Greater Boston area.  She co-founded RALLY, a six-year old social organization for lesbians 55 and over with 750 members to help prevent isolation among older lesbians.  In 2019 she was the recipient of the LGBT Senior Pride Coalition’s Jim Campbell Award for dedication, leadership and service to the LGBT community.  Now she also enjoys being with her two grandchildren. 

Executive Director

Gretchen Van Ness is a civil rights attorney and past president of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts and Hyde Jackson Square Main Street.  Honored as a Best of Boston lawyer and Super Lawyer and recognized as one of Boston's top LGBT leaders by Boston Magazine, Gretchen has decades of experience in community activism and representing and advocating for the LGBTQ community.  She has written and lectured on topics ranging from equal marriage to small law firm practice. Gretchen lives in Hyde Park with her spouse Sharon. 

Director of Programs and Services

Isabelle Thibault has a background in the fields of education and mental health, working in elementary schools, high schools, and treatment centers. In addition, she is experienced in recruitment and career development, connecting people with meaningful work opportunities and exploration opportunities throughout New England. Isabelle has completed a death doula course and is passionate about end-of-life planning and care, ensuring that all people - especially those marginalized by oppressive systems - are able to live and die with dignity

Operations Manager

Jessica Abeita, MPH is trained in public health with a focus on Maternal and Child health. She spent many years working in public health, focused on cancer prevention and early detection with national non-profits and at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Most recently, she worked as a consultant with the National LGBT Cancer Network. She is excited to continue to contribute in a meaningful way to the LGBTQ+ community. Jessica is a member of Laguna Pueblo and a current resident of Roslindale where she lives with her wife and two young children.

Program Assistant

Kirsten is a lifelong musician and academic, with her background in Music, Ethnographic studies, and Korean Language and Culture. After graduating from Princeton University, Kirsten completed a Fulbright research project in Seoul, South Korea on the relationship between Black people, Black musics, and Korea. Back in the States, she’s worked within marginalized communities and student facing roles in various higher education institutions. Most recently, with the Bard Queer Leadership Project at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. Kirsten is a passionate advocate for accessibility in the arts and higher education– believing that absolutely everyone should have the joy of making music and the tools for college access and success.

Gerontology Advisor

Kristen Porter, PhD, MS, MAc, LAc celebrates thirty years of leadership, advocacy, and service in the LGBTQ arena as a clinician, former healthcare nonprofit executive director, social entrepreneur, and gerontologist. Her research on resilience in LGBTQ older adults, and those aging with HIV, has been published in numerous peer-review journals including The Journals of Gerontology, The Gerontologist, Research on Aging, Journal of Applied Gerontology, Journal of Aging and Health, and the Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging. She has been an invited speaker throughout the U.S. and in countries spanning six continents. Dr. Porter is a visiting fellow at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, Department of Gerontology, at the University of Massachusetts Boston and is an advisor to NHAHA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee and to LGBTQ Senior Housing.