Board of Directors
Cynthia Barakatt, Chair
Cynthia Barakatt is Associate Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future at Boston University. The Center serves as an interdisciplinary catalyst for increased understanding of complex global interactions of politics, economics, technological innovation, and human ecology and how those interactions influence human development. Barakatt started out her career as a newspaper reporter and subsequently worked in communications and policy positions for state government, including for five years in the Massachusetts Office of Technical Assistance, part of the state’s Toxics Use Reduction Program. She was Director of Training for the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program at Stanford University where she ran training programs for both experienced and younger academic environmental scientists to communicate effectively with journalists and policymakers.
Lawrence N. Bailis, Ph.D., Director Emeritus
Lawrence Bailis is a senior research associate at the Center for Youth and Communities and an associate professor at the Heller School of Brandeis University. In recent years, he has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator of more than a dozen evaluations in a range of youth development, education, and workforce-development–related fields. In 2005, Bailis was selected as the John Glenn Scholar in Service-Learning at Ohio State University. He also serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Service Alliance, Clerk of the Board of the Waltham Partnership for Youth, and board member of Bend the Arc (formerly Jewish Funds for Justice) and JOIN for Justice.
Ellen S. Calmas, Clerk
Ellen S. Calmas is the founding Chair of the Friends of Silent Spring Institute and the 2007 recipient of the Institute’s Rachel Carson Advocacy Award. She is Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of Neighborhood Pay Services, where she oversees marketing for Rent Assurance™, an innovative payroll direct deposit program for the multifamily industry. Ms. Calmas is also a dedicated supporter of other health, community service, and cultural organizations, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where she chairs the Women’s Cancers Advisory Committee. She can be followed on twitter at @itakeaction2 as an advocate for environmental health policy change and improved consumer choices, and at @rentassurance as an observer on market trends in serving consumers with less than perfect credit.
Sarah Colao, Esq.
Sarah Colao is Associate General Counsel of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, a quasi-public agency that supports the growth and development of the clean energy sector in Massachusetts. She previously was a tax attorney for the Boston office of the law firm Proskauer Rose, LLP, where her practice included tax planning for U.S. and non-U.S. private equity funds and other investment partnerships, as well as for corporate and other transactions.
John K. Erban, M.D.
Dr. John Erban is the Clinical Director and Associate Director for Clinical Science at the Tufts Medical Center Cancer Center, and Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, both in Boston, MA. He previously served as Director of Clinical Programs and Co-Director of the Gillette Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and was Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Erban’s research focuses on clinical investigations of locally advanced and metastatic breast cancer. He has published numerous articles, book chapters and abstracts, and has served on several editorial boards including the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the American Journal of Clinical Oncology and Oncology, Index & Reviews. He is past president of the Massachusetts Society of Clinical Oncology.
Ellie Goldberg, M.Ed.
Ellie Goldberg, M.Ed., is an education and environmental health advocate working for healthy children, safe schools and sustainable communities. In 1989 she founded www.healthy-kids.info to promote a better understanding of the health and educational needs of students with asthma and other chronic health conditions. Ms. Goldberg also created Lessons of the 1937 Texas School Explosion, a campaign dedicated to eliminating chemical hazards and unhealthy school conditions, and What Would Rachel Say?, a blog dedicated to the legacy of Rachel Carson. She serves on the board of Clean Water Action/Massachusetts, the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, Laboratory Safety Institute, and the advisory board of the National Healthy Schools Network and the Green Decade Newton.
Jennifer Gorke
Jennifer Gorke is chief operating officer of the Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis. She previously served as chief of staff, chief operating officer, and then chief brand and marketing officer of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, a quasi-public state agency focused on accelerating the growth of the clean energy sector and promoting green jobs. Gorke’s extensive political and organizing experience has included such roles as legislative director for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, environmental advocate for Environment Massachusetts and MASSPIRG, and organizer for Grassroots Campaigns Inc.
Margaret Kripke, Ph.D.
Margaret Kripke is chief scientific officer of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, where she oversees the institute’s research portfolio, which is the second largest funding source for cancer-related research in the United States. Kripke retired in 2007 from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where she served as executive vice president, chief academic officer, founder of the Department of Immunology, and a professor of immunology. A year after her retirement, the center established the Margaret L. Kripke Legend Award to honor individuals who have enhanced the careers of women in cancer medicine and science. Kripke recently completed a nine-year term on the three-person President’s Cancer Panel, an honor reserved for the most distinguished oncology scientists in the United States. She served on the panel that produced the path-breaking 2009 report, Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now, which alerted the nation to the enormous potential for reducing the nation’s cancer burden by preventing environmental cancers. A world-renowned expert in the immunology of skin cancers, she holds a doctorate in immunology from the University of California at Berkeley.
Jeanne L. Mockard, C.F.A., Vice Chair
Jeanne Mockard is a Private Investment Manager. Previously she was a Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager at Putnam Investments where she was the Lead Manager for The George Putnam Fund of Boston, a $4.2B balanced fund. She is a C.F.A. charterholder and has 23 years of investment experience. Mockard also serves on the endowment committee for The Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, Maryland.
Cathie Ragovin, M.D., Treasurer
Cathie Ragovin is a psychiatrist in private practice in Weston, Massachusetts. She a co-founder of Silent Spring Institute and has served on a variety of committees for various organizations, including the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program, the California Breast Cancer Research Program, the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Research Program, The National Action Plan on Breast Cancer, and the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
Former Board members
Bev Baccelli
Bev Baccelli has spent her social work career helping children and their families. In 1982 she co-founded Southeastern Adoption Services. As director of that agency, she has helped hundreds of individuals and couples, nationally and internationally, become parents through adoption. In 2009 the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women named her an Unsung Heroine. She is a past president of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition.
Catherine Farrell, Esq.
Catherine Farrell is an assistant city solicitor with the city of Newton’s law department. She has more than 30 years of experience in managing legal matters for corporations and government agencies, with a particular focus on environmental issues. She previously held positions as vice president and general counsel at Fluor Daniel GTI, Inc., an environmental consulting company, and she has served as general counsel for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
Ellen Parker
Ellen Parker, a social worker in private practice in Newton, Massachusetts, specializes in psychotherapy with individuals and couples. She is a former president and founding board member of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition. She is also a founding board member of Silent Spring Institute. Parker has served as director of social work services for the Tufts–New England Medical Center. In 2008 the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women named her an Unsung Heroine. She has also been recognized with the American Hospital Association’s Eleanor Clark Award for Innovative Programs in Patient Care and with the National Association of Social Workers’ Social Worker of the Year Award.
Amy Present
Amy Present is a psychotherapist in private practice in Newton, Massachusetts. She is a former board officer and founding board member of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, and she is a founding board member of Silent Spring Institute.
Anne Speakman
Anne Speakman is the director of marketing at Children’s Hospital Boston. She has more than 20 years of experience in health care marketing and communications. She previously has held positions as director of marketing and public affairs at New England Medical Center (now Tufts Medical Center) and as director of national promotion at WGBH.