Our Board of Directors

Joseph Wadlinger, chair, has over 35 years of experience in business strategy and banking.  Throughout his career, he has served on the boards of several organizations focused on underserved populations.  Joe is currently executive vice president and chief lending officer at North Shore Bank.  He lives in Beverly with his wife, Maria.  They enjoy getting together with their large and active family.  Joe somehow finds time to volunteer for causes that are important to him and to stay physically active with a variety of sports.

 

 

Susan Flannery, vice chair, served as director of libraries in Cambridge for over 23 years.  She was honored by the American Library Association as one of the 20th century’s outstanding library advocates. As a librarian, Susan learned first-hand about the helpful role libraries can play for people who are homeless and/or have a disability.  Susan remains very active in the local community, serving on two other boards. She resides in Cambridge with her husband Stephen and chairs the Riverside Community Council–Cambridge/Somerville.  She enjoys painting and reading and the company of extended family and lifelong friends.

 

 

Mark Whalen, treasurer, retired as CEO of Needham Bank and continues to serve on its board of directors. He is also on the board of advisors at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham and the board of the Dedham Historical Society, and he is a trustee of the Needham History Center & Museum.  Mark holds a fourth-degree black belt in karate.  He lives in Weymouth with his wife, Tina.  Mark has a long history supporting Riverside both professionally and personally.

 

 

Melody Mak-Jurkauskas, clerk, is senior director of regulatory affairs, WuXi Apptec, which serves the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries.  She received her postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and started her pharmaceutical industry career in Cambridge and never left.  A member of the Riverside Community Council–Cambridge/Somerville, she says, “Riverside’s services are important and the staff members are not only highly competent, but they’re creative, smart and care a great deal. I find the organization incredibly inspiring!” Melody lives in Cambridge with her husband Valdas and their two sons, and is an active parent volunteer at her boys’ school. She also fills her downtime playing the piano and practicing yoga.

 

Rosemary Anderson served as a middle school teacher in the Boston Public Schools for 36 years. Now retired, she volunteers with the Boston Nature Center and the Mass Audubon Sanctuary Committee.  She is the mother of two adopted girls – her oldest is a social worker and her youngest receives services from the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) and Riverside. Rosemary is committed to Riverside because it has given so much to her family. “Without Riverside my family would not have survived the physical and emotional damage inflicted on my youngest daughter as a baby,” she states. Rosemary was honored at a past Riverside CARE Awards, an annual ceremony that celebrates exceptional Riverside employees, friends of the organization, and people served.

 

Fran Arnold is a clinical psychologist counseling adults, children and families at her private practice in Harvard Square.  She was first drawn to Riverside by the Cambridge Guidance Center, a “local gem,” and is passionate about the larger mission of Riverside Community Care.  Fran is on the faculty of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute; a lecturer in psychology at Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry; and a clinical associate in psychology at McLean Hospital.  Her areas of special interest are women’s psychological development, personality disorders, and infant-parent mental health.  Fran and her husband Bob Stern raised their three daughters in Cambridge and now enjoy spending time with their seven grandchildren. You can also find them hiking in the Adirondack Mountains, relaxing on Martha’s Vineyard, and attending performances at the American Repertory Theater.

 

Megon Barrow is a Riverside Early Head Start parent and community advocate. She juggles her role as a mom of two rambunctious toddlers and working with young children on the autism spectrum.  Caribbean in origin, she was brought to the US as a teenager, grew up in a Jewish household, and speaks Italian!  Megon earned a BA in Psychology from Northeastern University and recently received an MA in Education from Cambridge College. She has held various human service positions including providing support to children and parents as a Therapeutic Mentor/Family Partner for Riverside. Megon is a believer in life-long learning and in the collective strength of the human spirit.

 

Jack Connolly is CEO of insurance agency WCCIA, Inc., and a notary public in Davis Square in Somerville. A lifelong Somerville resident, Jack is active with the Somerville Chamber of Commerce and served as a ward and at-large alderman for more than 32 years.  He notes, “It is a joy to see Riverside making a major difference in Somerville and other communities with much-needed behavioral health and human services.”  Jack serves on the board of Teen Empowerment and is a former board member of the Somerville Home, which merged with Riverside.  He and his wife Gail are ever-active athletes – Jack has completed 18 marathons and hundreds of road races, and earned a third-degree black belt in karate. He has been an internationally certified tournament-level basketball referee since 1972, and does TV commentary for the Somerville High School Basketball Program on City Cable station EDTV.

 

James (Jim) Hardeman  is a licensed clinical social worker, and works with students in seven school districts on the South Shore. He grew up in Athens, Georgia and Hartford, Connecticut, and graduated from Howard University in Washington, DC.  Many of his classmates there became civil rights leaders, and Jim attended his first civil rights march in Biloxi, Mississippi in 1969.  He spent four years in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War, achieving the rank of captain.  Jim’s long and varied career includes work in state government and in advocacy – he worked with former President Bill Clinton to pass the Violence Against Women Bill, and he founded the South Shore Shelter for Battered Women. He enjoys attending the Summer Olympic Games every four years with his four grandchildren – as well as football, basketball, and hockey games at Boston College, his graduate school alma mater.  Jim is also an avid jogger.

 

Kimberly Herman is a corporate attorney at Sullivan and Worcester and leads the firm’s Intellectual Property, Technology, and Media & Entertainment Groups. She has been ranked as a leading professional in World Trademark Review 1000 each year since 2015, and in 2021 was named a “Go-To Intellectual Property Lawyer” by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. As a guest speaker at Northeastern University, she addresses developments in intellectual property law, copyright, fair use, and First Amendment issues. Kim is the daughter of Scott M. Bock, Riverside’s founder and longtime CEO, who died in 2021. She says, “I grew up with Riverside and know first-hand that the organization makes a profound difference in thousands of lives – I want to help further my father’s remarkable legacy.” Kim lives in Needham with her husband Elliot; they have two children.

 

Shaheen Lakhan is a physician-scientist and clinical development specialist with over 15 years of diverse experience in clinical practice, academia, and industry. He is board-certified in both neurology and pain medicine. He currently serves as chief medical officer at Click Therapeutics, a biotech developing therapeutics for schizophrenia, depression, addiction, and other neuropsychiatric diseases. He also continues to serve patients as a practicing neurologist and pain specialist at Cambridge Health Alliance and Mount Auburn Hospital.  Shaheen was drawn to the Riverside board because of the organization’s mission as a community-based behavioral healthcare and human services organization.

 

Rod Laurenz is an independent wealth advisor and has worked as an internal auditor and in a financial executive development program at a Fortune 50 company.  He grew up working on his family’s 2,000-acre farm, where he learned the value of hard work, patience, and persistence through times of uncertainty, and now combines those disciplines with an analytical background and love of people to help clients build, manage, and protect their financial security. In his free time, Rod enjoys all types of outdoor activities including running, hiking, swimming, cycling, and sailing. He believes in giving back to his community and has served on many boards.

 

 

Eric R. Morse has over 35 years of experience in strategic development for leading financial services companies in North America. Most recently he led an initiative to transform Needham Bank into one of the leading community banks in the country. He is a trustee of the A.C. Ratshesky Foundation, one of Boston’s oldest private charitable foundations. Closer to home, he founded the Dover Neighbor’s Fund, a nonprofit providing temporary financial aid to residents of Dover, Massachusetts.  About joining Riverside’s board he notes, “Now that I am retired with the ability to choose how I spend my time, it’s an honor to do whatever I can to support such an incredible organization.” Eric lives in Dover with Mary Crane and enjoys time with his family, as well as a life-long passion for the Boston Bruins!

 

Alan Posner is widely respected as one of the most effective litigators in Massachusetts and is currently of counsel at the law firm Rubin and Rudman in Boston, where he was a partner for many years. He has served in government positions including assistant counsel at the Department of Mental Health, Massachusetts assistant attorney general, and counsel at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance. Alan’s inspiration for his work with Riverside is his younger sister, who was born with cognitive disabilities and now lives in a group setting in Rochester. Alan and his wife Suzanne live in Newton.  He plays the trumpet in the Shpilkes Klezmer Band, made up of musicians from the Boston suburbs, and he is also an amateur comedian!

 

 

Joel Rubinstein served as a medical director at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care for 20 years.  A psychiatrist, Joel now works as a consultant on behavioral health issues.  Throughout his career he has focused on health policy and on the goal of ensuring quality care that is cost effective.  His extensive interests include study of Japanese history and art, and he practices Chinese calligraphy.  Joel and his wife Lisa, also a psychiatrist, have two adult children, and love to travel.

 

 

Ellis Seidman had a long career in labor relations in government before completely reinventing himself – as chef/owner of Inman Square restaurant institution Daddy-O’s in Cambridge!  Now retired, he speaks warmly about the Riverside Early Intervention services provided for his family when they faced the challenge of prematurely born twin boys.  Both are now successful young men, a significant reason why serving on Riverside’s board is incredibly important to him. Ellis and his wife Jenny live in Cambridge, where he rides his bike every day and prepares elaborate meals for the family and anyone else who may show up at his table.

 

Annette Shine is a retired critical care nurse.  She has devoted her time to numerous volunteer roles with Moms Demand Action, Be My Eyes, the Kindness Coalition, and in local schools and her church. She and her husband Bill have three grown children.  Annette was motivated to join the Riverside board through her commitment to the goal of behavioral healthcare access for everyone. She knows from personal experience the hurdles involved in finding care for a child struggling with mental health, even with the knowledge and resources she and her husband have as medical professionals.  She and her husband Bill, a cardiologist at Milford Regional Medical Center, live in Shrewsbury.

 

Hao Wang is the former Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health. He has worked for more than 20 years managing information technology, data analytics, and information sharing across large organizations including health and hospital systems, universities, and state governments. Beginning his career in Massachusetts, he created one of the first health information exchanges in Central Mass. Originally from China, Hao received his PhD from MIT and an MPA from Harvard University.  He lives in Cambridge and commutes to Manhattan during the week.  An engineer by training, Hao is also a bilingual poet who writes in both Chinese and English.