United Way Elects New Members to Board of Directors

BOSTON – United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley today announced the eight members recently elected to serve on the organization’s Board of Directors. The region’s largest United Way partners with communities to be a force of economic justice so that all residents can thrive. The Board of Directors provides strategic leadership for the organization to help ensure financially vulnerable individuals and families have access to resources and support to achieve prosperity.

“We are so excited to welcome the new members of our Board of Directors, eight community leaders with successful and influential careers in finance, education, healthcare, and science, who have each demonstrated their commitment to community service and improving the lives of households across the area,” said Bob Giannino, President and CEO at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. “I look forward to the leadership and expertise of these new Board members as United Way continues to reposition our community impact agenda to best address the profound inequities persisting throughout our region.”

Richard H. Moche currently serves as Chair of the Board and Tammi Wortham is Vice Chair. Each of the new members will serve a three-year term ending in 2025. Brief biographies are below:

Beth Babcock, PhD
Beth Babcock is a consultant for Babcock Strategies, and recently retired as President and CEO of Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath), an international charitable organization dedicated to creating new pathways to economic independence for low-income families. EMPath remains a United Way community partner, was a recipient of United Way’s Covid Relief Funds, and has partnered with United Way and UTEC, a Lowell youth organization, to advocate for the establishment of a special commission on two-generation approaches to breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty.

Michael Brooks
Michael is a consultant at Deloitte and is currently the communications chair of United Way’s Emerging Leaders program, which brings together young professionals who advance United Way’s mission through volunteerism. Michael is especially passionate about governance and organizational effectiveness and is an active member of a number of community development and young professional organizations in the Boston area.

Lorenna Buck, PhD
Lorenna is Managing Director at Ariel Alternatives, the private equity subsidiary of the nation’s first Black-owned investment firm. Lorenna has been a member of United Way’s Community Impact Committee since 2020 and has supported United Way in other capacities, as a leadership donor and supporter of the Community Impact Tax Credit program.

Magnolia Contreras
Magnolia works at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as Vice President of Community Health, a role in which she is charged with helping the organization execute its community benefits mission through the delivery of evidence-based cancer prevention, screening, and early detection programs. Magnolia is incredibly active in community service and social justice issues in her hometown of Lynn, Mass., and has numerous awards and recognitions for her professional and volunteer endeavors.

Dan Gilbane
Dan is executive vice president for Gilbane Building Company, leading the company’s strategic initiatives as part of the firm’s global growth strategy. Dan has served on multiple company and nonprofit community, hospital, museum, and school boards. Dan is currently the executive sponsor of Hol@, Gilbane’s Hispanic employee resource group, and was previously the campaign chair for United Way of Greater Houston.

John Madondo
John is the CEO of the UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Massachusetts. John has extensive experience leading community health organizations, with specific expertise in private duty nursing and custodial care for elderly and physically disabled individuals. Before moving to Mass. in 2021, John lived and worked in Tennessee, where he was on the Board of Hands on Nashville, focused on disaster relief and humanitarian efforts. He is currently on the board of the Mass. Association of Health Plans.

Dananai Morgan
Dananai has extensive experience in nonprofit and community leadership, and currently works as an associate director at the Museum of Science. In the role she cultivates relationships with a broad range of philanthropic and community stakeholders, securing leadership and planned gifts annually, and advancing the organization’s mission. Dananai also serves as an advisor for Neighborhood Birth Center, which works to improve birth experiences and outcomes through the integration of a freestanding Birth Center. She was born and raised in Zimbabwe and currently lives in Dorchester with her family.

Tara Parker, PhD
Dr. Parker is the Chair of the Leadership in Education Department and Professor of Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Her research focuses on race and higher education, and Dr. Parker has several published works on both subjects. Dr. Parker was awarded the 2020 Presidential Medal Honorable Mention at the Association for the Study of Higher Education and currently serves on the editorial board for the Review of Higher Education and the American Educational Research Journal. She lives in Dorchester with her teenage daughter.

The new members were elected at the June 28 meeting of the Board of Directors. For more information on United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley’s Board of Directors, click here.

###