Meet the Team

Bill has been involved with Open Table pantry operations, community meals and fundraising for many years in various roles. Bill has a BS degree in Math and Computer Science from Colorado State University and an MBA from the University of Colorado. Retired from a career in information technology in healthcare, Bill now volunteers for non-profits operating in areas about which he is passionate, including Supportive Living, Inc., an organization that improves the quality of life for individuals with brain injury, The Hopkinton Center for the Arts, Concord REUSIT and Open Table.

Bill sums up his philosophy: “In today’s economic and political environment, with huge gaps between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, Open Table occupies an important and often unfulfilled void.  Our services certainly benefit our guests, but we, as a community, are equally enriched through our process of giving our time and money to make Open Table an asset that enhances the community while helping those in need.”

Bill is an enthusiastic traveler and enjoys outdoor activities especially running, biking and gardening.  When you pass the organic mini-farm stand in Concord with “Donations to Open Table” you know you’re in Bill’s neighborhood.

Patty Chambers is Vice President and Regional Bank Manager of Middlesex Bank in Maynard and has been with the bank in various roles since 1977. Well connected to the Maynard community, she has previously served on the town’s Finance and Facilities Committees and was a member of the Friends of the Maynard Public Library. Patty served on the Open Table Board from 2014 – 2019 serving as both Clerk and Co-Chair. She also served on the Assabet Vallley Chamber of Commerce and has been a Corporator with Emerson Hospital.

Lisette is the branch manager at the Hudson branch of Avidia Bank, and her family has roots in Hudson going back to 1890 (she has been there since 1980’s) She’s a member of the Assabet Valley Chamber of Commerce, a volunteer with Meals on Wheels, and the Furniture Bank, a program similar to Household Goods in Acton. Avidia Bank has a charitable fund which sponsors the Boys and Girls Club of Assabet Valley, which is partner in our mobile programs. “If she doesn’t know the right person to ask, she knows who to ask to identify who is”.

Gina Cummings is a 22 year resident of Maynard, MA. Currently, Gina is the Interim Vice President of Policy and Advocacy for Oxfam America. Oxfam is a global organization working to end the injustice of poverty. Prior to her time at Oxfam, she was the Chief Operating Officer for Physicians for Human Rights. Gina has a long history of service in the areas of hunger and homelessness, environmental justice, HIV/AIDS and the disproportionate negative health impacts on women of color from vulnerable communities.

Brendon Donnellan is an Investment Management Executive with extensive experience successfully collaborating with firms seeking to improve operational effectiveness, strategic development, regulatory compliance, and risk management.  He is currently a Senior Vice President and Risk Director responsible for risk management of Citizens Bank Capital Markets business. Prior to that he was a Managing Director at BNY Mellon and has experience in finance and financial services firms, including; Ernst and Young, PNC Financial, PwC, Equitable Resources, and the Bank of New York.  In addition, Brendon has served on a variety of for-profit Boards in a director and/or CEO capacity.

Brendon is a volunteer coach for Sudbury Youth Soccer and has helped organize the golf tournament fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club of Assabet Valley.  He was also named as the co-executive of the year for the New York Chapter of NBMBA for his work promoting diversity in hiring while at BNY Mellon.  Brendon has volunteered at Open Table unloading trucks and has made attendance at our events a family activity.  Brendon is looking forward to expanding his involvement in Open Table.

Brendon has an MS in Industrial Administration (MBA) from the Tepper School at Carnegie Mellon University and a BA in Economics from Boston College. He lives in Sudbury with his wife, Christa, and their two sons.

Michele currently works on the Community Initiatives Team at The Greater Boston Food Bank responsible for developing partnerships and managing programs at schools, community health centers, community colleges and senior centers in eastern Massachusetts. Michele has experience managing small residential properties, an activity she maintains to this day. Her volunteer experience includes work with Holy Family Parish, including serving on the Parish Pastoral Council, Concord public schools, Girl Scouts and she currently serves on the board of Bridges Together, an organization that provides & advocates for intergenerational programming. Michele’s first knowledge of Open Table came through one of her children who volunteered at the Concord site.

She lives in Concord with her husband, Chris, and her pet dog, Willow. Michele has four grown children.

Norma Tanguay Frye is a retired high tech marketing and communications professional who spent most of her career at Digital/Compaq/Hewlett Packard.  Her positions included building and managing a satellite broadcast television network, and developing and delivering a world-wide employee engagement program following the DEC-Compaq merger.  Post-retirement, she became involved with Open Table cooking SOS meals and joined the communications team in order to learn more about the organization and its mission.  Quickly hooked, she agreed to co-chair the 30^thanniversary Chopped for Charity event.

Norma’s voluntarism has included leadership roles in the Girl Scouts, church youth groups, fundraising for the Sudbury middle school and chaperoning a mission trip to Honduras.  She and her husband Bob (another Open Table volunteer) raised their son and daughter in Sudbury where they continue to reside. Norma also spends time doting on their 3 (soon to be 4) grandchildren, working in her son’s web development business, playing tennis, gardening.

Bill, a graduate of SUNY Stony Brook and Boston University School of Law, currently practices in Framingham with the firm of Krasnow, Keller and Boris, PC. His concentrations include real estate, Worker’s Compensation, and Social Security disability. Bill’s recognition of the need for organizations like Open Table harkens back to his days on the Board of Assessors when he conducted hearings on real estate tax abatement applications based on financial hardship (so called Clause 18 abatements). Bill has served in town government in several capacities including Selectman, on the Planning Board, and the Board of Assessors. He has been involved with many civic, youth sports, and charitable activities. He serves on the board of the Sudbury Friends of Park & Recreation. He joins the Board in hopes that his skills as an attorney and experience in local town government will help to promote the goals of ending hunger, caring for families, and creating community.

Bill and his wife Myra live in Sudbury where they raised their now adult children, Stephen and Marisa. Bill & Myra are members of Congregation Beth El and are proud of their congregation’s hosting of the MetroWest Free Medical Clinic.

Jonathan is the Managing Partner of R&J Holdings, a company that invests in and operates retailers selling on the Amazon.com platform. He is responsible for acquisitions and strategic decisions across the portfolio of companies as well as oversight of all operations. Prior to R&J, Jonathan was a partner in a National Consumer Electronics Distributor and has held Senior Executive positions with Sears Holdings Company and Staples. Jonathan also worked in management consulting at The Boston Consulting Group. He has volunteered at Open Table since the beginning of the Covid Pandemic in 2020 when he realized that “doing nothing was not an option”. He has been involved with Chopped for Charity and The Ride for Food and continues to fill bags on Thursday mornings!

Jonathan holds an MBA from The Wharton School of Business in addition to a BA in Political Science and a BS in Economics from The University of Pennsylvania. Having grown up in Natick, he now resides in Sudbury, MA with his wife Renee. He and Renee each have two grown children. He enjoys all things Boston Sports, skiing, golfing, cooking in addition to exploring new restaurants – particularly those featuring BBQ and Hand-Crafted Margaritas!

Stephanie is a retired psychologist and has volunteered at Open Table for several years in the Senior Pantry, now does Pick and Pack, and has also helped to coordinate with the Minuteman ARC cleaning team.

She has a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Case Western Reserve University, and did consultations and worked as a therapist with adolescents, adults, seniors and people with a variety of medical conditions for 40 years.

She’s a member of a local branch of the Medical Reserve Corps with a special interest in pet emergency preparedness and community emergency sheltering and also volunteers at her church library, and in the past was president and on the board of the Northern New England Down Syndrome Congress, and also a member of DBHRT, the Disaster Behavioral Health Response team in NH.

A particular area of interest she brings to Open Table is to explore how a community of diverse people with all different needs, skills and talents can come together, each providing their own unique contribution, for the benefit of the community as a whole.

She has three grown children, one of whom has Down Syndrome and lives in a lifesharing community, and she lives in Wayland with her dog Charlie.

MaryEllen has over 25 years’ experience in Human Resources, specializing in Training and Leadership Development for organizations such as Lahey Clinic and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, as well as independent consulting for various Human Resources projects. MaryEllen has an MSM in Management, specializing in Training and Development from Lesley University and a BS in Psychology from Bridgewater University.

After many years of volunteering on the board of The Community School, she agreed to take on the HR/Payroll functions as an employee after a change in management necessitated the need. In addition, she is a Foreign Exchange Coordinator with Educatius, Inc. for the program at Maynard High School.

Her volunteer work has included The Community School Board of Directors , Maynard (2004-present), Chairperson Maynard High School PTO (2006-present), School Site Council, Maynard High School, Town of Maynard Search Committees: Superintendent of Schools, Maynard Town Administrator (2x), Middle School Principal(2x), High School Principal, Town Manager, Registrar & Treasurer:  Maynard Youth Soccer Board, Maynard Food Pantry volunteer.

MaryEllen has lived in Maynard for 25 years with her husband and four children, one of whom is still in high school.

Joe Rigali has had careers in education, wealth management and non-profit management and promises to focus on something when he grows up. He was an English teacher in public and private high schools for a dozen years. After law school, he joined GW & Wade, a wealth management firm in Wellesley, MA, where he specialized in tax and estate planning and advised clients in Boston and across the U.S. He also led the firm’s Investment Committee and retired as a Principal in 2016 after 28 years with the firm.

From 2006 through 2017, Joe served on the board of Gaining Ground, a non-profit farm located in Concord, MA, that grows organic fruits and vegetables with the help of volunteers and donates all its produce to food pantries and meal programs in eastern Massachusetts, including Open Table. He became board president and unofficial executive director in 2011 and led the organization until 2018.

Joe has also served on the board of trustees for the Atrium School, a progressive school in Watertown, MA and The Italian Home for Children, a social service agency in Jamaica Plain, MA. Currently, he volunteers for Minuteman Senior Services and is a board member at the Williston Northampton School.

Lea is Vice President of Network Success at Aledade, a company focused on strengthening primary care to develop a more effective and efficient healthcare system. In this role she is responsible for enabling a network of over 800 primary care practices and community health centers nationally to accelerate their transition to value-based care, delivering better care at lower cost while also addressing healthcare disparities. Prior to Aledade, Lea was a Vice President of Programs at Health Leads, where she supported healthcare providers nationally to integrate support for social needs such as food, housing and transportation. Lea has also worked in management consulting at Bain & Company, and a variety of commercial roles in biotechnology and healthcare technology.

Lea holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, a Master’s in International Development and Global Health from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a BA in Biology from Duke University. She lives in Concord, MA with her husband and two kids. In her free time she loves skiing, running and traveling.