Governing Council
The Agency’s governing Council is a body of private citizens, appointed by the Governor for staggered three-year terms. Council members represent various regions of the state and have demonstrated distinguished service, creativity and/or scholarship in the arts, humanities, or sciences.
Che Anderson, Worcester Close Open Che Anderson is the Assistant Vice Chancellor for City and Community Relations at the University of Massachusetts Medical School where he serves as a human bridge between the institution and external stakeholders. In his former role as Deputy Cultural Development Officer for the City of Worcester, he focused on public art, special events, and cultural equity. An avid lover of street art, Che has led efforts to increase Worcester’s public art, most notably serving as co-founding Director of POW! WOW! Worcester, an annual placemaking festival that brings internationally acclaimed muralists, illustrators, and installation artists to Central Massachusetts in an effort to activate vacant and underused spaces, promote diversity and stimulate dialogue in the City of Worcester. His recent endeavors include serving on the Rose Kennedy Greenway Public Art Advisory Group and Food and Convo , a storytelling platform that explores the intersectionality of culture and cuisine through the lens of diversity with a focus on creatives, makers, innovators, and entrepreneurs.
Barbara Schaffer Bacon, Belchertown Close Open Barbara Schaffer Bacon co-directs Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts that inspires, informs, promotes, and connects arts and culture as potent contributors to community, civic, and social change. She has written, edited, and contributed to many publications including Civic Dialogue, Arts & Culture: Findings from Animating Democracy; Case Studies from Animating Democracy ; Animating Democracy: The Artistic Imagination as a Force for Civic Dialogue ; Fundamentals of Local Arts Management ; and The Cultural Planning Work Kit . She has delivered presentations and workshops for cultural, nonprofit, and foundation leaders nationally and internationally in Canada, Australia, and England. Since 1990, Barbara has worked as a consultant in program design and evaluation for state and local arts agencies and private foundations nationally and has served as a panelist and adviser for many state and national arts agencies. Barbara previously served as executive director of the Arts Extension Service at the University of Massachusetts. An arts management educator, she has served as a primary instructor for the Fundamentals and Advanced Arts Management seminars. Barbara served for 14 years on the Belchertown, MA School Committee. She is a board member of WomenArts. She serves as president of the Arts Extension Institute, Inc. A graduate of UMASS, Barbara was born and raised and has raised her family in western Massachusetts.
Karen Barry, Duxbury Close Open Karen Barry has held the position of Deputy Director for the Plymouth County Sheriffs Department in Plymouth, MA since 2011. Her primary responsibilities include being a community liaison, responsible for responding to press and the public’s inquiries and facilitating strategic planning for the Plymouth County Drug Abuse Task Force. During her professional career, Karen has developed communication and business plans for various applications and enjoyed expanding networks through the use of traditional and social media.
Her passion for advocacy work is most evident with communities that are in need of support for people with developmental disabilities, senior population, and education & policy initiatives to address the opioid epidemic.
Marc Carroll, Milton - COUNCIL VICE-CHAIR Close Open Marc Carroll is an award winning marketing and communications strategist. As the Founder and Principal of Carroll Communications Group, Marc works with leaders of small businesses and startups to help them grow and scale their business by building a process that allows them to convert cold sales leads into new clients.
He also works with government agencies and institutes of higher education to help them increase public awareness about various initiatives. Prior to founding Carroll Communications Group, Marc worked in sales for major media outlets, production at ESPN, and in journalism.
As a speaker, Marc has been invited to participate in a number of panel discussions and seminars on sales and marketing, entrepreneurship, and growing minority owned businesses. Marc lives in Milton with his wife and children.
Kathleen Castro, Fall River Close Open Kathleen Castro is an Adjunct Faculty Member at the Bristol Community College’s English Department and host of “Arts Alive” on local cable television. She is heavily involved in the community and is a former Board member of the Board of Directors of Little Theatre of Fall River, New Bedford Festival Theatre, and the New Bedford Educational Foundation. She is also a 27-year member of the Rotary Club, serving as a past president of the NB Club.
Jo-Ann W. Davis, Springfield - GRANTS COMMITTEE CHAIR Close Open Jo-Ann W. Davis , JD, EdM, previously served as the senior vice president and chief administrative officer of Baystate Health, Inc., prior to her retirement in 2020, where she provided leadership and management oversight for human resources, legal services, risk management, audit/compliance, and governance, as well as serving as a member of the senior leadership team, chief legal advisor to the CEO and Board of Trustees. Prior to her work at Baystate Health, she was an attorney in private practice with a focus on human resources, employment and labor relations matters. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Art History from Wheaton College, a Master of Education from Harvard University, and a Juris Doctor from Western New England University School of Law. In 2018, she was appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker to the Mass Cultural Council, currently serving as Chair of the Grants Committee, and she is a Board Member of MASSCreative. She is on the Board of Trustees of Bay Path University, and on the Headmaster’s Visiting Council of the Williston Northampton School, as well as formerly on the boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampden County, and the Center for Human Development.
Lillian Do, Greenfield Close Open Lillian Do is a successful businesswoman in the food industry and is heavily involved with the community.
Sherry Dong, Boston - ADVOCACY COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR Close Open Sherry Dong has held the position of Director of Community Health Improvement Programs for Tufts Medical Center in Boston, MA since 2008. She is a familiar face around the blocks of Boston’s Chinatown.
Known for her dedication to promoting Asian-American health, Dong’s involvement in the community goes above and beyond her role at Tufts Medical Center.
She was born and raised in New York City, on the Lower East Side, Chinatown and holds a Masters in Public Administration at Northeastern University.
Simone Early, Essex Close Open Simone Early has been an architect with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since 2010. She is the Assistant Director of the Architecture, Engineering and Sustainability Unit in the Bureau of Housing Development and Construction (BHDC). She oversees a team which provides design oversite on the capital and sustainability projects at local housing authorities across the State. Through her work, Simone is deeply invested in advancing environmental justice and equity for low-income families. Simone holds a B A. In Philosophy/Architecture from Yale University and a Masters of Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Before settling in Massachusetts, Simone practiced architecture all over the country – Michigan, Alabama, and New York – and out of the country in Florence, Italy.
Simone is currently the President of the Board for the Gloucester Writer’s Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to the mission of encouraging writing and citizenship in the belief that all our voices count.
Simone is also a lifelong landscape painter and a backdoor poet.
Nina Fialkow, Boston - COUNCIL CHAIR Close Open Nina S. Fialkow is an Emmy Award winning producer and an independent filmmaker who worked for many years at Boston’s public television station, WGBH. Currently, she is a member of the film partnership, Impact Partners, which focuses on social justice-themed documentaries.
An avid supporter of the Arts, Mrs. Fialkow is on the National Committee for Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and sits on the Executive Committee. As a longtime trustee of the Boston Ballet, she is the past Chair of the Board of Overseers. She is also an Overseer at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and is a member of the Fashion Council at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Education is another area of interest for Mrs. Fialkow and her husband, David Fialkow. In 2005, they founded the Margot Stern Strom Teaching Award for Facing History and Ourselves, an internationally taught social justice curriculum. She sits on the board of two schools, Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, MA and the Cambridge School of Weston in Weston, MA. Mrs. Fialkow resides in Boston, MA with her husband David Fialkow and has two grown children.
Karen Hurvitz, Esq., Concord Close Open Karen Hurvitz is a trial attorney and artist. After law school she taught substantive law and trial skills to third year students at Georgetown Law School and supervised them in the Juvenile Justice Clinic while earning a Masters of Law in criminal defense and clinical teaching. In addition to private practice, she has been a professor of law at Boston University School of Law and at Suffolk University Law School, where she also directed the Voluntary Defenders Program. She was a founding board member of Suffolk Lawyers for Justice, which oversees the provision of counsel to indigent defendants in Suffolk County. Currently, Karen is counsel for Education Without Indoctrination, a grass roots organization which examines high school course content for biased, non-factual material in order to eliminate propaganda, and which works to protect college students from the rising antisemitism on college campuses.
Outside of her legal practice, Karen is a mixed media artist whose work has been selected for solo exhibitions as well as juried shows. As well as teaching art, she exhibits in local galleries and on her website .
Cecil Barron Jensen, Nantucket Close Open Cecil Barron Jensen has worked for cultural and educational organizations on Nantucket since 1996. She is currently the executive director of ReMain Nantucket, an island-based organization dedicated to strengthening the lasting economic, social, and environmental vitality of downtown Nantucket, while preserving its unique character and spirit.
Prior to joining ReMain, Cecil was the executive director of the Artists Association of Nantucket for ten years. She oversaw the association’s efforts to open the Island’s first visual arts center. She was also on the development staff of the Nantucket New School and the Nantucket Historical Association.
Cecil also helped to establish the Nantucket Cultural District with the support of the Mass Cultural Council.
Matthew D.M. Keator, Lenox Close Open Matthew D.M. Keator
Matthew is the Managing Director and Owner of Keator Group, LLC. a nationally recognized wealth management firm located in Lenox, MA.
He holds his series 7, 63 and 65 securities registrations and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business Executive Education Program and West Virginia University’s Eberly College of Arts with a degree in Political Science and Communications. He holds his Certified Fund Specialist® (CFS®) designation and is a member of the Fixed Income Analyst Society and is frequently quoted as a source in major financial news outlets such as: Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, BusinessWeek, MarketWatch, Smart Money, and Reuters.
Matthew is currently serving appointed terms by the Massachusetts Governor to the boards of the Mass Cultural Council as well as the Advisory Council on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). In addition, he serves on the board and Chairman of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee of the Pittsfield Cooperative Bank and is a Trustee of the Berkshire Housing Inc. He formerly served on the boards of the historic Lenox Library Association, Country Club of Pittsfield and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Berkshire County where he was also a Big Brother.
Prior to his work in the securities industry, he worked in Washington, D.C. with lobbyists and legislators across the country helping to educate them on a wide range of legislative matters.
Matthew and his wife Hannah live in Lenox with their 3 children.
Susan Winston Leff, Boston Close Open Susan Winston Leff is an independent consultant with over 30 years’ experience in commercial real estate finance, having served in senior positions at several national commercial banks. Her experience encompasses both conventional and innovative capital structures for private and nonprofit developers and investors. She has worked in depth on affordable housing.
She was originally trained as an art and architectural historian and has taught those disciplines at Princeton, UMass/Boston and Wellesley College. Susan graduated from the University of Chicago in General Studies in the Humanities and has Master’s degrees in Art History from the University of Chicago and from Princeton University. She has an MBA in non-profit management from Boston University. She is a co-author of the inaugural volume of ‘This Old House,’ the companion book to the award-winning PBS TV series about adaptive use.
Susan is a past board chair of Mass Humanities, the List Visual Arts Center at MIT, and The Boston Children’s Museum. She is the current Board Chair of Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston. She also serves on the board of Tufts Medical Center and the Healthy Neighborhood Investment Fund. She is a founder of New England Women in Real Estate and a former President of the Real Estate Finance Association. She is a frequent speaker on topics in management and commercial real estate finance.
Susan lives in the Leather District in Boston.
Ann S. Murphy, Waltham Close Open Ann S. Murphy is a senior vice president in the communications practice at O’Neill and Associates. She brings to her role more than 25 years of experience with the media including professional roles in print and broadcast news as well as government, political and corporate public relations. Women’s Business Boston has featured Ms. Murphy in their annual “Top 10 PR Specialists” list twice in three years.
Prior to joining O’Neill and Associates, Ms. Murphy was the director of media relations at Cablevision in Boston, Massachusetts. In this capacity, she served as the company’s chief spokesperson, coordinated media events with cable partners such as C-SPAN and Home and Garden TV, and supported marketing efforts to launch new products such as digital television, cable modems and other high tech options.
Ms. Murphy also served as director of communications for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue where she was instrumental in developing the public information/education campaign on the agency’s innovative tax filing technology. At the D.O.R., she contributed to numerous awards including the Computerworld/Smithsonian Award for Telefile, tax filing by telephone.
She also served as press secretary for former U.S. Senate candidate Mitt Romney and was deputy press secretary for Gov. William Weld and Lt. Gov. Paul Cellucci.
Ms. Murphy’s experience extends to the working media as she was an assignment editor at WBZ-TV, an assistant news director at WBZ radio and a news reporter at radio stations in Brockton, Fitchburg and on Cape Cod. She started her journalism career as a newspaper reporter for the Cape Cod Independent in Buzzards Bay.
Ms. Murphy is a board member and past president of the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus. She served on the advisory board of GRLZ Radio, a radio station originated and operated by teenage girls in Boston to give them a voice in their community, and the board of the Under the Tree Foundation, a nonprofit that provides disadvantaged 12-17 year olds with gifts during the holiday season. Additionally, she serves on the board of Razia’s Ray of Hope Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of women and children in Afghanistan through community-based education. Ms. Murphy also serves on the board of Bridge Over Troubled Waters.
Ms. Murphy holds a bachelor’s degree in journalistic studies and English from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She resides in Waltham, Mass.
Allyce J. Najimy, Boston Close Open Allyce J. Najimy is the CEO and Executive Director of the Foundation To Be Named Later (FTBNL). Named after the Major League Baseball trade term, “player to be named later,” the foundation was launched ten years ago by Theo Epstein, former Red Sox EVP and General Manager and current Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations and his twin brother Paul Epstein, MSW, with the mission of supporting youth and families from disadvantaged neighborhoods. The foundation raises money and has donated over $7.3 Million in grants to more than 200 innovative, creative, effective non-profits that promote education, leadership and healthy development in Boston and Chicago. FTBNL also sends deserving young people to college through their Peter Gammons’ College Scholarships, which Allyce created. FTBNL hosts bi-annual concerts and baseball and diversity panels, celebrating music, baseball and giving back to raise awareness and funds.
Allyce has spent the past two and a half decades working in sports, higher education and community service organizations to live up to her hero Jackie Robinson’s words that, “the importance of one’s life is measured in the impact it has on other lives.” After beginning her career as a teacher, she joined City Year as a founding staff member in 1990 and later worked as the COO for the Center for Sport in Society at Northeastern University.
Today, in addition to her work at Foundation To Be Named Later, Allyce is an adjunct professor in Assumption College’s MBA Program, consults with UMASS Boston developing their new Sport Leadership Bachelor Degree Program and works on events for Chicago Children’s Choir, Hot Stove Cool Music, The Pearl Jam Foundation and Jake Peavy’s Concert Series. She serves on the board of Beacon Academy, the National Consortium for Academics and Sports, The New England Sports Museum and the Mass Cultural Council. She has her Masters in Education from UMASS Boston and Bachelor in Psychology from Assumption College.
Robert L. Price, Sharon Close Open Rob Price has been CEO of School of Rock since 2017 and relocated the company’s headquarters to Canton, Massachusetts to harvest the Commonwealth’s unique combination of talent in the arts and business. The company teaches music and life skills through a patented performance-based learning approach. The brand is growing rapidly, with over 350 schools open or in development in 15 countries. Prior to School of Rock, Rob was President of Edible Arrangements, and served in senior leadership roles at CVS/pharmacy, Wawa Food Markets, and H-E-B Grocery.
Rob began his career as a strategy consultant at Monitor Company in Cambridge.
Rob is active on corporate boards and has treasured his community service efforts that have included leading corporate fundraising campaigns for Easter Seals and United Way, serving as a host parent for the Chernobyl Children’s Project and board membership for Junior Achievement of the Delaware Valley. In 2010, Rob collaborated with his wife and three sons on a CD of original music to raise awareness and funds for Haiti earthquake relief. This effort was recognized by the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and President Préval of Haiti.
Rob holds a B.S. in Applied Economics from Cornell University. He earned an M.B.A. with High Distinction from Harvard Business School, where he was named a George F. Baker Scholar. Rob served for two years as a guest faculty member in the Wharton M.B.A. program. He is a 2012 Henry Crown Fellow and Braddock Scholar at the Aspen Institute.
Troy Siebels, Shrewsbury - ADVOCACY COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR Close Open Troy Siebels serves as President and CEO of The Hanover Theatre, a 2,300-seat world-class performing arts center in downtown Worcester which opened in 2008 following a $32 million dollar historic restoration. The theatre presents more than 140 performances to audiences of more than 180,000 annually. The theatre is a key catalyst to the city’s revitalization, and anchors Worcester’s new Theatre District. Troy serves as Chairperson of Discover Central Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Performing Arts Center Coalition, on the Boards of Directors of the Worcester Cultural Coalition and MassCreative, and as a member of the Mass Cultural Council.
Governing Council Meeting Schedule
Fiscal Year 2022 Close Open Tuesday, July 13, 2021 10-11:30AM
Executive Committee Meeting
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
10:30AM-12PM
Executive Committee Meeting
1-2:30PM
Grants Committee Meeting
Tuesday, August 24, 2021, 10AM-12PM
Full Council Meeting
Monday, September 13, 2021, 2:30-3:30PM
Special Executive Committee Meeting
Tuesday, September 21, 2021, 3-4PM
Special Council Meeting
Fiscal Year 2021 Close Open Monday, July 13, 2020 10:30AM-12PM
Special Meeting
Monday, November 23, 2020 1:30PM
Thursday, December 10, 2020 2PM
Executive Committee Meeting
Thursday, December 17, 2020 2PM
Grants Committee Meeting
Friday, December 18, 2020 10:30AM
Special Meeting
Thursday, January 7, 2021 2PM
Full Council Meeting
Tuesday, March 2, 2021 10AM
Executive Committee Meeting
Friday, March 5, 2021 11AM
Advocacy Committee Meeting
Tuesday, March 16, 2021 10AM
Full Council Meeting
Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Executive Committee 9:30am
Grants Committee 3pm
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 10AM
Grants Committee Meeting
Tuesday, May 18, 2021 11:30AM
Full Council Meeting
Tuesday, June 15, 2021 10AM
Grants Committee Meeting
Fiscal Year 2020 Close Open Monday, July 22, 2019 10-11:30AM
Executive Committee Meeting
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
10AM-12PM
Executive Committee Meeting
12:30-2:30PM
Grants Committee Meeting
Tuesday, August 27, 2019 12-3PM
Council Meeting
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Council Retreat
Wednesday, December 18, 2019 1-2PM
Advocacy Committee Meeting
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
10-11:30AM
12-1:30PM
Tuesday, January 28, 2020 1-4PM
Council Meeting
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
10-11:30AM
12-1PM
1:30-3PM
Friday, March 13, 2020 12:30-3:30PM – Cancelled due to State Emergency, will be re-scheduled
Coucil Meeting
Monday, March 16, 2020 2-3:30PM – Cancelled due to Governor Baker’s 3/15/20 Order, re-scheduled for March 24
Special Executive Committee Meeting
Tuesday, March 24, 2020 12:30-2PM
Special Executive Committee Meeting
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
2:30-4PM
4-5:30PM
Tuesday, April 7, 2020 1-3:15PM
Monday, April 27, 2020 11:45AM-12:45PM
Special Executive Committee Meeting
Wednesday, April 29, 2020 11AM-12PM
Special Meeting
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
1:30-3PM
3:30-5PM
Tuesday, June 9, 2020 1-2:30PM
Grants Committee Meeting
Thursday, June 18 , 2020 1-4:30PMCouncil Meeting
Fiscal Year 2019 Close Open Tuesday, August 28, 2018 12-3PM
Council Meeting
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Council Retreat
Tuesday, January 15, 2019 12-3PM
Council Meeting
Tuesday, March 19, 2019 12-3PM
Council Meeting
Tuesday, May 21, 2019 12-3PM
Council Meeting
