SCC Staff and Board of Directors
Staff Biographies
Helen Corrigan, Administrative Assistance
Helen joined SCC in September 2008 as assistant to the business manager. Prior to joining SCC, Helen worked as a health care administrator. An active and longtime Somerville resident, Helen was a member of SCC's Board of Directors from 1996 to 2008. She previously served on the Board of Directors of Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services, Somerville Living Wage Committee and the Somerville Board of Health, and she currently serves as vice president of the Board of Trustees for the Somerville Home. In addition, Helen was a Somerville Alderman at Large from 1985 to 1995. Helen and her husband John are the proud parents of five children, and grandparents of nine grandchildren.
Thais DeMarco, Program Coordinator, Community Asset Building
Thais, who grew up in Brazil and moved to Massachusetts in 2005, taught English as a foreign language for 11 years in her home country before joining SCC. Teaching is Thais' passion, and she brings her enthusiasm for sharing knowledge to her work at SCC. Thais works on two different, yet interrelated, fronts: homelessness prevention and asset building. The former involves working in coordination with other agencies to secure funding to prevent evictions and/or utility shut-offs. The latter includes a variety of asset-building tools such as financial classes, homebuyer education and individual development accounts.
Danny LeBlanc, CEO
Chief Executive Officer and lifelong Massachusetts resident, Danny moved to Somerville in 1977 after earning his bachelor's degree from University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has worked in community organizing, community development and nonprofit management over the past 30 years. Somerville United Neighborhoods, Mass. Fair Share, North Shore Community Action Programs and Merrimack Valley Project are among the several nonprofit organizations in eastern Massachusetts at which he has worked. Danny has served as SCC's chief executive officer since 2001. He also serves on the boards of the Somerville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, Metro North Regional Employment and the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC), for which he is also a former board chair. He teaches classes in nonprofit management and community development at Cambridge College. When not at SCC, Danny spends time with his wife, three daughters and four grandchildren.
Shannon Erb, Asset Building Specialist
Shannon LeBlanc started at SCC in November 2006 working as the Administrative and Financial Assistant. After her graduation from Framingham State College in May of 2009 she continued to work at SCC and in January of 2010 she got a job at SCC as the Marketing and Communications Coordinator. Shannon has lived in Somerville all of her life. Her passion is working with kids and she spends much of her free time with her nieces and nephews.
* Scott Hayman, Director of Real Estate
* Shaina Korman-Houston, Project Manager
Meridith Levy, Deputy Director
Meridith joined SCC's staff in 2003 as Director of Community Organizing, after holding the same position at Twin Cities CDC in Fitchburg. She started organizing in Minnesota with family farmers in the mid-90s. Meridith received master's degrees at Tufts University from the UEP and AFE programs. Meridith specializes in organizing around land use issues, and has led community participatory planning processes, including the Plymouth Street Initiative in Fitchburg, the ESI in Somerville and, currently, the Green Line Community Corridor Planning Project. She is committed to employing participatory and popular education methodologies as a means to inspire community action. Meridith is also keenly interested in community food security, kayaking and cross country skiing as well as being a brand-new mom.
* Rene Mardones, Lead Organizer
* Karen Narefsky, Community Organizer
A Chicago native, Karen moved to the Boston area in 2007 and has been living in Somerville for the last two years. She has been involved in many of Boston's vibrant and interconnected social justice movements, including labor organizing, transit justice, and immigrant rights. Through these movements, she has become dedicated to helping build power in working-class communities. She is multilingual (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French) and hopes to put those skills to good use at SCC.
Mashael Majid, Community Planner
Mashael joins us from California and is excited to be working with such an eclectic and committed group of people in Somerville. She recently earned her master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, focusing on community development and sustainability. She has experience organizing with diverse communities on issues related to environmental justice, youth empowerment, and housing displacement. Adhering to the ideology that transformative power comes from below, she finds Somerville residents resilient in their efforts towards creating just spaces for and by the people! When not working, you can find her supporting the UCLA Bruins, reading a good book, or catching up on missed ‘80s pop culture references via celebrity reality shows.
Julia Prange Wallerce, Marketing and Communications Manager
Julia is a trained urban planner with a diverse background in public policy, community organizing, transportation planning, and marketing. A native of Northern California, Julia earned her BA in Environmental Studies and Education at UC Santa Cruz and later an MA in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University. Since moving to Boston (for the second time) in 2007, Julia has worked for Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates, the City of Somerville, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation. She joined the team at SCC in February 2013 and is thrilled to be telling the stories and boosting the public profile of Somerville's only community development agency. When not working on the new website, engaging in social media conversations, or crafting news stories for SCC, Julia enjoys hiking and cooking with her husband and corgi, Oona, and preparing to become a 1st time mom in March 2014!
MaryAnn Sclafani
MaryAnn joined the SCC staff in April 2002. She is responsible for administrative functions, including budgets and contracts, accounting and finance. MaryAnn is proud to support the staff at SCC who devote themselves to enriching the lives of Somerville residents.
* Yara Vergucht, Project Manager
SCC Board of Directors
| President | Ezra Haber Glenn |
|---|---|
| Vice President | Stephanie Toews-Moeling |
| Treasurer | Glenn Morgan |
| Clerk | Jeannette Amazeen Thomas |
| |
|
| |
|
| Directors | Cassie Arnaud Jillian Moreira |