Our Board and Staff

Board of Directors

Martine Kellett, ArtCorps Treasurer and Founder
Executive Director, New England Biolabs Foundation

Martine has worked in the foundation world for over 23 years. She has been the Executive Director at the New England Biolabs Foundation since its establishment in 1983. As a environmentalist and extensive world traveler, her focus is global. She brings to ArtCorps her managerial knowledge of running a nonprofit from establishing fiduciary responsibility to helping grantees write effective proposals. She has first hand experience collaborating with charitable organizations in developing countries and understands their challenges. She is fluent in several languages and holds a French M.B.A. She has a strong belief, backed by experience, that art and culture must be integrated in order to be an effective means of change.

Carol Seitchik, ArtCorps Co-Chair
Director, Art Focus

Carol has a thirty-year background in the visual arts. Her work featured in many collections, and she recently became an award winning poet. In Philadelphia, her home town, she started one of the first artist-run women's cooperative art galleries in the country. In Boston, her present home, she completed a term on the policy board of the Boston Visual Artists Union and became a member of the artist run Bromfield Gallery. Presently, Carol is a visual arts curator for corporations presenting art programs and on-going rotating art exhibitions.

Linda Thomson, CFRE, ArtCorps Co-Chair
Executive Director, Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America

Linda has worked in the nonprofit arena for more than twenty five years. She has extensive experience initiating new organizations (e.g. Rowley Public Education Fund, Kids Kaleidoscope), and assisting other nonprofits in developing their programs, policies, procedures and management capabilities. With an established reputation as an entrepreneurial fundraiser, joined the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America after serving as Director of Development and Community relations for Mary Immaculate Health/Care Services, one of the largest senior care organizations in the state of Massachusetts. As one of the State's few designated "Masters," Linda is also known for her elegantly decorated wedding cakes in the English and Australian style. Linda is a graduate of the Northern College of Speech and Drama, (UK), holds a BA in business administration and is a Certified Fund Raising Executive. (CFRE).

John B. Denniston
Retired Partner, Covington & Burling LLP

Now a retired partner, John Denniston was a member of the government contracts practice group. His practice focused on contract claims and appeals, bid protests, Federal Supply Schedule contracts, contract cost accounting and pricing issues, contract fraud investigations, suspension and debarment proceedings, patent and technical data rights, classified contract security arrangements, and private supply and construction contracts. Mr. Denniston was extensively involved in the preparation, negotiation and litigation of large, complex claims for equitable price adjustments.

Currently, Mr. Denniston is working in a non-legal capacity on pro bono projects for organizations that are involved in addressing science and public policy issues, environmental issues and issues relating to developing countries. He also has been involved in fundraising for these organizations. Mr. Denniston has served as an arbitrator in resolving private contractual disputes.

Barbara Feldman
Director of Principal Gifts, Museum of Science

Barbara has worked in the performing arts, arts education, public relations, and non-profit fundraising for more than 25 years and is currently director of principal gifts at the Museum of Science. Working for many years in the museum world, she has a strong appreciation for the power of informal education and the role creativity plays in creating dialogue with a public. Having lived abroad for much of her adult life, she also understands the limitations of language, culture, and country and how art can transcend certain barriers and borders.

Juan H. Gonzalez
Director of Community Organizing, Jamaica Plain NDC

Juan has been involved in community development since he was a college student and later a professor in his native Guatemala at the Agronomy School of San Carlos University. He has also worked as a consultant and project director working for the United Nations Development Program and other nonprofit organizations. As a professor, he was in charge of the Supervised Professional Practice Department and the Natural R esearch Program. During this time, he collaborated with nonprofits and other institutions carrying out development projects in rural communities to develop leaders, conduct trainings, and organize presentations. He came from Guatemala to the United States in 1992, and since then he has worked with urban communities, especially Latino immigrants, about community organizing, educational activities and tenant's rights campaigns. Juan holds a BA in Agriculture from the "Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala" and a MS in Forestry from the University of Minnesota.

Jennifer Graf

Jenny brings a broad array of talents in fundraising, networking, business development and human resources. Jenny left her position as a Director of Recruitment for the Federal Reserve Bank in New York to pursue graduate work at Columbia in early childhood education and to raise her daughter, Abby. Jenny has worked with a variety of non-profit organizations helping to coordinate fund raising and strategic planning efforts. Most recently she has served as an advisor to PACTS Women's Empowerment Program (WORTH), a groundbreaking savings-led microfinance program in Nepal and Africa. Her exposure to WORTH solidified her commitment to work with organizations like ArtCorps that seek to empower individuals and communities. Having studied voice and participated in community theater throughout her life, Jenny has seen first hand the power of the arts to educate and inspire.

Shaun Paul
Executive Director, EcoLogic Development Fund

Shaun Paul co-founded EcoLogic Development Fund in 1993 and currently serves as its executive director. Mr. Paul has extensive experience in rural Latin American economic development, environmental protection, and natural resource management. Prior to launching EcoLogic, he served as a field representative for social service organizations working in Central America. Mr. Paul has also held positions with the United Nations Non-Governmental Organization Liaison Service, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Inter-American Foundation. He has an M.A. in natural resource and development economics from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in international relations from American University. He is fluent in Spanish and a recent Rockefeller Next Generation Leader Fellow.

Rachel L. Pohl, ArtCorps Clerk
Philanthropic Advisor, Hemenway & Barnes

Rachel Pohl works with Hemenway & Barnes lawyers and trustees to counsel clients on charitable giving in a variety of fields. In addition, Ms. Pohl is a senior program officer for the Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust, focusing on health care fields of interest, and Jane's Trust, with an emphasis on grantmaking in the health and welfare fields. Ms. Pohl graduated from Trinity College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1978 and from Columbia University with a Masters in Public Administration.

Ms. Pohl's experience prior to Hemenway & Barnes includes four years as an administrator at Grants Management Associates where she provided program support for the Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust. From 1991 until 1992, she consulted with the Collaboration of Community Foundations for the Gulf of Maine Ecosystem, a U.S./Canadian philanthropy partnership. From 1987 until 1991, she managed the national grantmaking program of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation with an emphasis on environment, health and community development priorities. Ms. Pohl has also worked in the nonprofit and private sectors managing community development and energy-related programming and providing environmental consulting to public sector agencies. Ms. Pohl is active in philanthropic networks, including Associated Grant Makers, Council on Foundations, Grantmakers In Health and Environmental Grantmakers Association.

Staff

Clare Dowd
Executive Director

Clare brings a strong background in international marketing and development to ArtCorps, coupled with a passion and commitment to arts for social change. Clare's interest in international development began with her work as a teacher in Colombia in the mid 80's followed by her years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya in the late 80's. After obtaining her MBA in international business, she worked in international trade, developing and managing contracts throughout the world and as an international marketing consultant with a wide array of private sector companies aiming to penetrate and develop international markets. Seeking the opportunity to return to the nonprofit sector, Clare began a series of consulting opportunities with a variety of NGOs, including PACT and Cultural Survival, rounding out her experience in fundraising, project development and management, and evaluation. She is ecstatic about promoting the use of art for social action throughout the world.

Blanca Estela GarcÌa
Regional Coordinator

Estela has 16 years of experience coordinating the activities between nonprofit organizations in the United States and Guatemala. She completed university studies in sociology and has wide knowledge of intercultural issues, which allows her to connect with people of different cultures with ease. She believes in the necessity of improving society in order to bring about a better life, and she found an innovative way of doing so in the ArtCorps program. For this reason, she has been with ArtCorps since its founding.

Suzanne Jenkins
Program Officer

Suzanne manages artist recruitment and project evaluation for ArtCorps. Her background in dance and social anthropology give her passion for art for social action. Prior to ArtCorps, she was Programs Manager for the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston, where she was responsible for all aspects of recruitment, placement, management and evaluation for the Business Volunteers for the Arts program and also gained nonprofit marketing and management experience. She is proficient in Spanish and holds a BA from Harvard University.