ANN DUFRESNE left her communications director post at the Department of Revenue in late February and is now communications director at the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, working for Secretary Rachel Kaprielian. She joined DOR in July 2012 after ten years of working in state government. Dufresne previously worked for Kaprielian at the Registry of Motor Vehicles. She was also a top communications aide to former Senate President Robert Travaglini.
MARY-LEAH ASSAD was recently named deputy chief of staff and communications director at the Department of Children and Families, where she will work on operations and media relations. Assad formerly worked as press secretary in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and as a communications specialist in the Department of Housing and Community Development. She is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
After ten years at the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, TIM SULLIVAN last month joined Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s administration as chief of staff for intergovernmental relations and senior advisor for external affairs. Mayoral aides say Sullivan will focus on managing, strategizing and assisting the mayor’s intergovernmental relations team on city, state and federal legislation, as well as developing policy priorities.
New Bedford City Councilor DANA REBEIRO was named statewide communities of color director for the Massachusetts Democratic Party. Rebeiro will try to engage underrepresented populations to increase voter participation, according to the party. Democratic Party Chair Thomas McGee announced the appointment in early March. “So much is at stake in November and in order for communities of color to have our voices heard on education, job creation, healthcare and public safety, we need to elect Democrats,” Rebeiro said in a statement. “The Democratic Party is committed to the kind of grassroots campaigning that generates participation and I’m excited to get to work.”
KIMBERLY MOOERS joined MassDevelopment as the agency’s vice president of infrastructure and governmental finance. She will manage MassDevelopment’s infrastructure and governmental finance programs, such as I-Cubed, and work with state and local officials and developers of large-scale real estate projects. She has more than 15 years of investment banking experience, most recently at Roosevelt & Cross in Boston. Mooers received her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and an MBA from Boston College.
KATHERINE FICHTER, a former employee at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Mass. House of Representatives, was recently named the new executive director of the Esplanade Association, the non-profit group that supports the Charles River Esplanade Park. Fichter will become the third executive director of the association since its formation in 2001. She graduated from the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Fichter, a native Bostonian, will be in charge of the direction of all the operations of the organization, including capital projects, program activities, care for the park, and advocacy.
Retired LT. COLONEL MATTHEW McSWAIN last month joined MassDevelopment and the Department of Energy Resources as project manager for the Clean Energy Assessment project. He will work with the state’s six military installations to identify energy efficiency opportunities, renewable energy, and technology pilots to reduce operating costs and increase energy security. McSwain recently retired as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He graduated from the University of Texas-Arlington. He lives with his family at Hanscom Air Force Base.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley last month appointed REV. JAMES FLAVIN as the Episcopal Vicar of the central region of the Archdiocese of Boston. The appointment was effective March 17. Flavin has experience as a parochial vicar and a pastor at parishes in Boston and Brockton. Flavin, 52, a Billerica native, was ordained to the priesthood in June 1987. He holds a master’s of divinity from Saint John’s Seminary, and a master’s in pastoral counseling from Boston College.
Former Boston Mayoral candidate CHARLOTTE GOLAR RICHIE was named to the board of directors at Tufts Health Plan Foundation. She will help the foundation in grant-making, policy initiatives, and overall strategic direction, according to the foundation. Previously, Golar Richie was senior vice president for public policy, advocacy and government relations at YouthBuild USA, where she oversaw national and state advocacy. She is a former state representative from Dorchester and Roxbury, elected to represent the Fifth Suffolk District from 1995 until she resigned in 1999 to become the executive director of the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) for the City of Boston. For eight years she served as chief of housing and director of the DND in Mayor Thomas Menino’s cabinet, where she advised him on city policy, legislation and community relations.
JENNIFER SAUBERMANN was hired as the associate general counsel and director of intra-governmental affairs for the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech). Saubermann was previously the director of program integrity/deputy general counsel at the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, and worked as general counsel for both the Senate and House committees on Ways and Means. She also is a member of the executive board of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, where she has served as treasurer since 2012.
JULIE DONOVAN was named communications director for Senate Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Sen. Stephen Brewer (D-Barre). Donovan, of Bridgewater, previously interned at PowerOptions, an energy-buying consortium of non-profits and government entities. She received her master’s degree from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree from Stonehill College. Donovan replaces former Senate Ways and Means spokeswoman MEGHAN KELLY, who left in January for a job in the Patrick administration as deputy director of communications for the Executive Office of Administration and Finance.
Sen. Benjamin Downing has named a new senior district aide and casework director, VASUNDHRA SANGAR. She replaces CHRISTINE MONSKA, who left the position in late January to study for a graduate degree in global affairs at New York University. Sangar, of Windsor, recently graduated from Boston University. After serving as a volunteer intern in the Pittsfield office, she joined Downing’s staff as a full-time district aide and casework manager earlier this month.
A former spokesman for Suffolk Downs has joined the Lottery as director of communications. CHRISTIAN TEJA took over for BETH BRESNAHAN, who was recently named executive director of the Lottery. Teja spent 12 years at Suffolk Downs. He also has experience in programming and production experience with ESPN. The Lottery also named MICHAEL LORDEN as the new director for sales and operations. Lorden has more than 25 years of retail management and sales experience, and was a regional sales manager for Irving Oil.
CAYCE McCABE has joined Putnam Partners as a senior associate. Putnam is the firm responsible for the television ad with state Rep. Carl Sciortino and his Tea Party Dad during the younger Sciortino’s congressional run. Putnam Partners’ local clients include Warren Tolman in his race for Massachusetts attorney general. McCabe most recently managed Mike Ross’ Boston mayoral campaign, and managed Linda Dorcena Forry’s state Senate campaign. McCabe will be working out of the company’s Washington D.C. office.
Tufts Health Plan appointed three executives to senior positions. MARY MAHONEY was promoted to vice president and deputy general counsel. She previously worked as associate general counsel. Mahoney will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the legal department. DAVID WEBSTER was appointed vice president of finance and business performance for Network Health, where he is responsible for leading the business and financial performance management activities. Network Health is a Tufts Health Plan division that provides access to health care for more than 220,000 Massachusetts residents with low and moderate incomes. HELENE FORTE was appointed to vice president of care management for Network Health, where she will be responsible for leading clinical services and programs overseeing integrated care and behavioral health management.
Beginning at the end of April, JEFFREY MCDONALD will join ISO New England as the new vice president of market monitoring. He succeeds DAVID LAPLANTE, who will retire this summer after a 30-year career in the power industry. McDonald currently serves as the manager of market analysis and mitigation at California ISO, where he has worked for 14 years. Previously, McDonald worked for the state of California as a staff economist in the Department of Industrial Relations and Department of Transportation. He earned a doctorate degree in agricultural and natural resource economics from the University of California, as well as a bachelor’s degree from UC. He received a master’s degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The Massachusetts Pension Fund recently filled two vacancies in its private equity team. The Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) hired MICHAEL McGIRR and ERIN McCAFFERTY. McGirr comes from Bain Capital in Boston, where he was an investment manager in partner investments since 2011. Prior to working at Bain, he was a portfolio manager of a $9 billion alternative investments portfolio for the Minnesota State Board of Investment. McGirr was a pitcher in the Oakland Athletics system. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond and a MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He lives in Jamaica Plain with his family. McCafferty joins PRIM after receiving her MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University. Prior to earning her MBA, she was a vice president at Bank of America Capital Advisors in Boston, where she managed a $4 billion portfolio of buyout, venture capital and real estate private equity funds. McCafferty previously worked at Silicon Valley Bank and at Citigroup as an analyst in institutional equity training. She has an undergraduate degree in economics from Harvard University and lives in Lexington with her family. Both McGirr and McCafferty start working at PRIM on April 7.
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