Friends, advisors & committees

Friends, advisors & committees2022-06-29T22:08:44-04:00

Friends of BCF are champions of our work – supporting our collective efforts and strategy.

  • Alan Morse
  • Ali Dorf
  • Andrea Goodman
  • Andrew Bernstein
  • Anne Covert
  • Anne Turner
  • Annie Short
  • Ashley Mason
  • Barry Berger
  • Barton H. Tayer
  • Betsy DeWitt
  • Bill Coughlin
  • Bo Winiker
  • Buks Moolman
  • Cecily Morse
  • Charlie Walsh
  • Chobee Hoy**
  • Chris Chanysulkit
  • David Wood
  • Deborah Brooks
  • Frank Steinfield
  • Gerald Davidson
  • Guus Driessen
  • Harry Margolis
  • Hsiu-Lan Chang
  • Jay Lebed
  • Jim Grace
  • Jim Slayton
  • Joanne Sullivan
  • John Christian
  • John Gallagher
  • John Grew Jr.
  • John Hodgman
  • Josh Miller
  • Judith Alper Smith
  • Judith H. Kidd
  • Judy Bullitt
  • Kristen Hess
  • Linda Olson Pehlke
  • Liza Connelly
  • Lloyd Dahmen
  • Lynn Osborn
  • Mary Dewart
  • Maureen Mayotte
  • Melissa Langa
  • Michael Maynard
  • Michael Robbins
  • Mike Lindstrom
  • Mike Sandman
  • Mini Kolluri
  • Nat Gardiner
  • Patricia Meaney
  • Paul Saner
  • Rosamond Vaule
  • Sandra Saner
  • Susan Manaras
  • Susan Porter
  • Sytske Humphrey
  • Tom Mendelsohn

** Deceased

BCF committee members bring community voice, experience, and insights to our work.

  • Ann Coles (Chair)
  • Bob Weintraub
  • Jerry Davidson
  • Emily Dolbear
  • John Hodgman
  • Kathleen Whelan
  • Marcia Hertz
  • Mark Gray
  • Michele Friedler
  • Nancy Van Zant
  • Oliver Scholle
  • Robin Macilroy
  • Scott Butchart
  • Skye Kramer
  • Stephen Cirillo
  • Tony Wells
  • Wallis Raemer
  • Ollie Scholle (Chair)
  • Ali Dorf
  • Dennis Mendoza
  • Don Nowill
  • Jay Lebed
  • Kimberly Clouse
  • Petra Bignami
  • Vic Viktorov
  • Bonnie Bastien
  • Christina Kovach
  • Giselle Ferro Puigbo
  • Grace Yung Watson
  • Kim Barnum
  • Lloyd Gellineau
  • Raul Fernandez
  • Rob Daves
  • Wallis Raemer
  • Zoraida Fernandez

BCF strategic advisors bring expert guidance to support key areas of our work.

Ann Hetherwick Cahill, Vice Chair

Ann Hetherwick (“Hether”) Cahill, Vice Chair is a Partner in the Private Client Group at Day Pitney LLP, where she focuses on all aspects of estate and trust litigation, guardianships, and conservatorships, elder financial exploitation, and family law. Before entering private practice, she clerked for the Honorable Joseph A. Trainor of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. Hether received her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School and her B.A. from Skidmore College. As of September 2023, she will serve a three-year term as the Editor-in-Chief of the Massachusetts Law Review. In addition, she has served as the Co-Chair of the Fiduciary Litigation Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the Boston Bar Association and was a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce’s Women’s Leadership Program. Hether lives in Brookline with her husband and two children, and she ran the 2019 Boston Marathon with Team Brookline.

Ben Stern

Ben Stern is a partner in Nutter’s Litigation Department. He focuses his practice on intellectual property (patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets) and has extensive trial experience representing multinational and entrepreneurial companies in federal and state courts nationwide, as in contested administrative proceedings. Ben combines his courtroom experience with knowledge of complex technologies that allows him to translate sophisticated subject matter into understandable concepts for judges and juries. He is also on the boards of Crossroads, a non-profit empowering young people to unlock their potential and positively impact the world. Each year, Crossroads engages over 1,000 young people in summer and school-year programming. He is also on the board of the Brookline Innovation Fund, a nonprofit that provides grants for Brookline High School faculty and administrators to develop new courses and programs that are innovative, interdisciplinary, and forward-thinking  Ben and his wife, Karen, live in Brookline Village with their three boys. He enjoys coaching his children in sports and participating in their activities.

Bill Friedler

Bill Friedler is currently counsel at Verrill Dana. Previously, he was a Shareholder in Ruberto, Israel and Weiner’s PC Trusts and Estates Group in Boston. Bill has concentrated his practice in the areas of complex estate planning, probate and trust administration, planning for adults or children with special needs and disabilities, elder law and Medicaid planning. Bill represents his clients for their corporate estate planning needs and is knowledgeable about business succession planning. Prior to joining RIW, Bill founded and served for 25 years as the Managing Partner of The Friedler Law Group, a boutique law firm specializing in Trusts & Estates. Bill has been recognized  as a Massachusetts “Super Lawyer” in his field as an Estate Planning and Probate Attorney for the years 2009 through 2019. He has also been selected to be included in the 2015 through 2019 publication of “Best Lawyers In America” in the field of Elder Law. Bill had served as President Of Temple Beth Avodah, in Newton, MA from 2009-2011. He also served as Chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Taxation Section Council from 1995-96 and again from 1997-98. He is a honors graduate of Wesleyan University in CT (BA 1978) and Suffolk University Law School (JD 1981) and Boston University School of Law (LLM in Taxation 1983).

Charles Evangelakos

Charles Evangelakos is a wealth manager who specializes in working with the unique complexities of highly affluent families, business owners and corporate executives. Charles has a five-step planning process that allows him to understand his clients’ needs and their visions, values and goals. Through a comprehensive analysis of the information that his clients provide, he is able to deliver sound advice customized to his clients’ needs. With 20 years of experience and a team of advanced case design experts and professionals, the advice delivered is of top caliber. Charles is committed to putting his clients best interest first. He is a member of the Boston Estate Planning Council and many other local organizations. He serves as a board member of Mercantile Bank of Boston and on the Boston Advisory Committee for Commerce Bank of Worcester, Massachusetts.

Craig Harsfield, Chair

Craig Harsfield works with individuals, families, and small businesses advising them on investment, retirement, and risk mitigation strategies. He specializes in designing tailored long term care solutions for seniors and their families, especially those experiencing transitional needs due to Alzheimer’s and Early Onset Dementia. Craig has a proven track record throughout his 15+ years in the financial services industry, and continues to advise hundreds of clients, in making smart decisions about their investments so they can seek to maximize their financial growth and work towards creating more certainty for their future. He received his business degree from Babson College and holds the designations of Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor and Certified Long Term Care Planner. He is involved with and serves on numerous non-profit boards including serving as a past President of the Brookline Chamber of Commerce. Craig lives in Brookline with his wife and their two young children. Saying Craig is an avid Boston sports fan would be an understatement. In his free time he enjoys an active lifestyle including, coaching various Brookline youth sports teams, traveling and spending parts of his summers on Cape Cod and the Martha’s Vineyard.

Jacob Walters

Jacob Walters is an attorney who has been practicing in Brookline since 1984. Jacob was a partner with Goldenberg & Walters from 2001-2011, then a partner with Walters, Shannon & Jensen, who had offices in Brookline Village. A graduate of DePaul Law School (1975), Jacob has appeared numerous times before the Brookline Zoning Board of Appeals on behalf of residential and commercial property owners and before the Brookline Select Board on behalf of restaurant owners seeking food and alcohol licenses. Jacob has also represented buyers, sellers and mortgage lenders in residential real estate transactions, and additionally handles civil litigation in the District and Superior Courts of the Commonwealth. Jacob and his wife Laura have lived in Brookline since 1979. Their children Christopher and Leah are both graduates of Brookline High School.

Keith M. Pauletti

Keith M. Pauletti is the Vice President of the Boston Metro Branches of HarborOne Bank. In this role, he leads the bank’s engagement in the market and surrounding communities. Keith comes to HarborOne Bank with over 15 years of experience in the banking industry. Prior to joining HarborOne Bank, he served as the Regional Manager, Vice President at Century Bank’s East region where he managed 14 branch locations and 75 employees. He also participated in quarterly profit-vision meetings, presenting branch efficiency ratios and performance, and provided direction to teams working in lending, business banking, investments and human resources.

Robert Donnelly

Robert Donnelly serves as a personal risk manager for high net worth individuals and families. In this capacity he delivers tailored risk management solutions that protect the wealth and physical assets of his clients, while freeing them of the administrative burdens associated with policy issuance and billing. Robert joined Marsh USA Inc. as Office Head, Private Client Services in 2008 bringing with him more than twenty-four years of insurance industry experience. The Private Client Services division of Marsh has national capabilities and expertise with twenty-seven locations and 350 licensed professionals in all fifty states. Robert is a graduate of Villanova University, earned his MBA at New York University and successfully completed the Executive Program in Strategic Sales Management at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He resides with his wife and daughters in Brookline, where he often walks with his family to Fenway Park to catch a game. Robert is the vice chair of the professional advisors committee.

Shannon McAllister

Shannon McAllister is a Senior Vice President at UBS Private Wealth Management where she employs 20+ years of banking and wealth planning experience to provide financial advice to individuals and business leaders. She is responsible for developing and overseeing every detail of successful client relationships and offers highly sophisticated goals-based financial advice on all aspects of her clients’ balance sheet. Prior to joining the Private Wealth division of UBS/Boston, Shannon served as a Managing Director at First Republic, Private Banker and team lead at JPMorgan, and as a Wealth Advisor at Athena Capital LLC and The RINET Company, both independent multi-family offices, and began her career as a Financial Advisor with Ayco / Goldman Sachs in New York.

Shannon was Vice Chair of the USGA US Open 2022. She is an active fundraiser for several organizations including the Ireland Funds, the Esplanade Association, Girls on the Run, American Cancer Society, and is involved with the Boston Estate Planning Council, CREW, NAIOP, and REFA among other professional associations.  Shannon graduated magna cum laude from Union College with a double major in Mathematics and Managerial Economics, and was elected to Omicron Delta Epsilon, International Honors Society in Economics.  She went on to receive her M.B.A. at Union Graduate College. Shannon holds current NASD Series 7 and 63 licenses.

Shannon is an avid golfer and pickle player, and enjoys running, yoga and time with family.

Steven E. Gurdin

Steven E. Gurdin is a partner at Fitch Law Partners LLP (“Fitch”).  Steven’s civil litigation practice is concentrated in the areas of complex Family Law and Probate and Estate Litigation. Steven has almost 25 years of experience as a practicing attorney.  He has served as Co-Chair of the Family Law Section of the Boston Bar Association and Co-Chair of the Fiduciary Litigation Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the Boston Bar Association. Steven is also an active member of the Family and Probate Law Sections of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Boston Estate Planning Council and the New England Advisory Board of the American Academy of Certified Financial Litigators – AACFL.  He is recognized as a leader in the Massachusetts legal community, consistently named a top lawyer and a “top volunteering individual”.  Steven is a 1990 graduate of Emory University (B.A.) and a 1994 graduate of Albany Law School of Union University (J.D.).  He now lives in Brookline with his wife, Lisa and their three children (all of whom attend the Brookline Public Schools).  Steven has been a Brookline resident for 16 years.

Tatyana Karayeva

Tatyana Karayeva is a Morgan Stanley employee. She is dedicated to the process of educating people to a wide range of topics that affect their financial life. Tatyana is a strong advocate of issues surrounding diversity, inclusion and environmental protection. Currently she is working toward a designation at Yale School of Management. Tatyana is a member of the Boston Estate Planning Council. She resides in Brookline with her husband, who is working on cancer research at Dana Farber, and two children, one at the Brookline High school and one at Brookline middle school. In her free time she enjoys yoga, traveling and having an active lifestyle with family and friends.

Urban Larson

Urban Larson is a seasoned investor who is in the process of launching his own independent investment firm, White Pine Advisory. Urban has worked around the globe for various firms, including five years spent in London and six in Mexico City. He was most recently employed by Standish Mellon Asset Management in Boston. Urban has expertise in emerging markets and has earned his professional certification in sustainable investing. Urban is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and French, and conversant in other languages. He earned his MBA from HEC in France, and has a BA from the University of Chicago. Urban currently chairs the Board of Investment of First Unitarian Univeralist Society in Newton and is a member of the investment committees of the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry and Urban Edge, both in Roxbury. Urban and his family have lived in Brookline since 2012, and he is very interested in BCF and the BCF PAC, as he has been looking for a way to become more involved in Brookline and Brookline’s issues and needs.

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