Mary Timmons, Board President
Mary is the Director of Learning and Development for The Chartis Group, a healthcare consulting firm. She has spent her professional life helping people develop new skills and knowledge that allow them to do what they do, better. She has worked in several national and global management consulting firms.
Mary holds a BA from Wellesley College, an MA from the School for International Training and a Ph.D. in Adult Learning from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Mary moved to Groton 20 years ago and now lives in Harvard with her husband, Chris Frechette. She is active in the First Parish Church of Groton and volunteers with Friends of the Harvard Public Library. She loves to spend time with her grown children and her dogs, gardening and making music! She looks forward to supporting the critical mission of Loaves & Fishes as a board member.
Hugh Silk, Vice President
Hugh is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Clinically he sees patients at the Homeless Outreach and Advocacy Program in Worcester, MA. He also teaches at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM). He is originally from Canada and received his MD from McMaster Medical School and his MPH from Harvard School of Public Health.
He now lives in Harvard with his wife and two daughters. He has been involved with Loaves & Fishes by volunteering at his church with his daughter to organize their monthly church food drive for years.
Alexis Forest, Treasurer
Over the past 15+ years, Alexis has worked to build-out and optimize accounting, finance and operations functions for global companies in the not-for-profit and technology sectors. Her favorite part has always been looking for a clear path in the numbers, while understanding the human aspect of decisions.
Born in Ayer, Alexis had an adventurous childhood living in many of the communities serviced by Loaves & Fishes, including Groton, Shirley and back to Ayer, where she now lives with her family. Her husband, Nick, is a teacher at Ayer-Shirley Regional High School and two sons attend ASRSD. Her dog, Spot, has never been to school but tries to catch the bus daily.
When she’s not geeking out over excel spreadsheets and after school activity calendars, Alexis loves to garden and takes pride in sharing some of the ugliest tomatoes and spiciest pesto with the whole neighborhood.
Beth Walker, Clerk
Beth is a retired software professional with experience in banking, finance and eCommerce. She spent her early career in education, teaching middle and high school math and served as a private school administrator. Since retiring in 2015, Beth served as a volunteer EMT in Harvard, taught various water sports at LLBean’s Outdoor Discovery School, and has participated on a number of committees and projects for local non-profits.
In the early 90’s, Beth lived in New Mexico where issues of equity, access, and privilege became tangibly real. Since then she has been actively involved in philanthropy, focusing primarily on education and fighting poverty.
Beth received her BA from Amherst College and MEd from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She lives in Harvard with her husband, Dan, and their dog, Teddy. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family, cycling, hiking, traveling and being outdoors as much as possible.
Susan M. Edgett
Susan is a local criminal defense attorney who specializes in drug related cases, probation cases and protection orders. She has been the Ayer District Drug Court Defense Attorney for the past several years and has spoken about treating drug offences through a treatment model rather than custodial punishment. She has represented clients for criminally related charges in Middlesex, Suffolk and Worcester counties. She was previously an RN working at Emerson, Veterans Hospital, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Human Resources Department. She owned her own company, Executive Home Management, for several years after returning from living in Tokyo for three years. Susan is also interested in local and state politics and has been a campaign manager for State Rep. Sheila Harrington and has worked on Senator Scott Brown’s campaigns.
She has an ADRN from Middlesex, a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Fitchburg State, Masters Degree in Business Management from Lesley University, graduate courses in Counseling from Liberty University and Juris Doctorate from New England Law in Boston.
She has previously served on the Boards at The Groton Community School, The Granite State Ballet in Nashua, Tokyo Union Church, and the New England Association of Drug Court Professionals.
Susan grew up in Littleton and graduated from Littleton High School and has lived in Groton for many years. She and her husband, Mark, live in Groton and have four adult children and seven grandchildren. They both enjoy their family and traveling.
Jeff Howe
Jeff has recently retired as a Human Resources Manager and Compensation Specialist. His 40+ year career included many challenging assignments working for several large tech companies. As a leader in Human Resources, Jeff enjoyed the many settings where HR played a vital role in facilitating changes in the workplace in order to keep up with the dynamics of a business. Prior to retirement, he was employed at Deluxe Corporation (formerly NEBS), Groton, MA.
Jeff started stocking shelves for Loaves & Fishes in 2017. He wanted to contribute his time in a role that included more direct client contact. He currently fills that role as a Food Distributor at the Pantry and he finds this experience very rewarding.
Jeff resides in Stow, Massachusetts. He also volunteers at other agencies helping those in need. He enjoys keeping active and spends time biking, golfing and playing tennis.
Patrick Kelly
Pat is a Customer Success Executive with over 20 years of experience with Global B2B SaaS companies. He believes in servant leadership and partnering to build high-performing teams that surpass organizational goals and customer expectations.
Pat earned is BA in Psychology from Boston College and his MA in Counseling Psychology from the University of San Francisco. He has previously served on the School Committee for the Ayer Shirley Regional School District, the Ayer Shirley Regional High School Building Committee and the Parish Council for St. Nicholas Parish of Ayer and Shirley.
Pat and his wife Sheila live in Ayer and have two adult children. They love to watch great movies, travel, and spend time with family.
Merle Adelman
Merle Adelman is a marketing consultant providing marketing services to medical and high technology companies, marketing agencies and non-profit institutions. Prior to starting her practice, Merle was Vice President, Marketing for the Heart Rhythm Society, a professional medical association, and held a variety of management positions in the medical technology industry. She holds a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College.
Merle and her husband Ron Menner live in Ayer. In addition to her work for Loaves & Fishes, Merle volunteers for Dartmouth College, the American Diabetes Association, and the Nashoba Valley Pedalers, a local bicycle club.
Heidi Siegrist
Heidi has lived in Harvard for 30 years in what is known as “the old goat farm.”
She holds a Bachelor of Science from Middlebury College and a Masters of Science in Administration and Education from Wheelock College. In her 20+ year tenure at the Stride Rite Corporation, Heidi served as Director of the Stride Rite Intergenerational Center, one of the first corporate sponsored non-profit intergenerational centers in the United States, professionally combining her passions across the age spectrum.
Heidi is actively involved in several non-profit organizations in Harvard, including leadership roles in the Harvard Woman’s Club and the Friends of the Council on Aging. She currently serves on the Harvard Schools Trust board, the Fruitlands Museums property committee, the Virginia Thurston Healing Garden advisory board, Fivesparks Board, The Garden Club of Harvard Board, the Harvard Lions, and is a Corporator of Emerson Hospital.