Skip to content

Open Table Board of Directors

Open Table is managed by an active Board of Directors, whose members represent diverse backgrounds in business, law, public relations, education, healthcare and technology. Many have extensive volunteer experience either with Open Table, with other organizations, or both.

Day to day operations of the Open Table food programs are run by a small paid staff, a group of dedicated and experienced volunteer leaders, and over 500 volunteers who work together to assure that our clients are served each week.

Some of Open Table's FY24 Board of Directors

Open Table Board of Directors, pictured in June 2023. Back row: Norma Frye, Glen Murphy, Gina Cummings, Jonathan Magasanik, Alissa Weinberger, Mary Siegel Front row: Alex DePalo (Executive Director), Barbara Fisher, Lisette Arbelli, Patricia Chambers, Lea Tompsett
Missing: Bill Thornburg, Brendon Donnellan, Vivek Kamath, Stephanie Lynch, Joe Rigali
Photo by Colin Valentine, https://www.valphoto.us/ 

Mary Cornish Siegel

President

Mary has been volunteering with Open Table for many years in a variety of roles and has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2018. She has an…

Read more

Barbara Fisher

Vice President

Barbara Fisher is a retired health care executive who spent the last several years as a Senior Vice President at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. In this role she…

Read more

Alexandra DePalo

Executive Director

  Alexandra DePalo brings over twenty years of experience in public and community health to Open Table.  She has worked in academic, philanthropic, government and community based organizations to improve access to…

Read more
Members of the Board in the Open Table kitchen in November 2022
Members of the Board in the Open Table kitchen in November 2022
Open Table Annual Meeting 2023
BOD and Executive Director at Open Table's 2023 Annual Meeting

Board of Directors

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.

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 30thanniversary 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.

Vivek Kamath is an accomplished Supply Chain Executive with a 27 years career spanning seven unique industries with teams he led in over 30 countries.  In his roles, Vivek transformed supply chain organizations and operations to become more aligned to the business and delivering consistent and measurable results.  Vivek was an early adopter of building expertise and career development for supply chain professionals and through out his career has always had a passion to help his colleagues realize their full potential and meet their career aspirations.

Today, Vivek is an Executive Supply Chain Partner with Gartner, Inc., providing advisory services to Chief Supply Chain Officers from around the world.  In his spare time, Vivek likes to golf, cook and volunteer in the community.  He is happily married for 28 years and has two amazing and accomplished daughters and two fur babies that keep him and his wife young and busy.

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.

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!

Glen spent 30 years in the financial investments industry focusing on institutional and mutual fund portfolio management.   This included being Global Head of Portfolio Management for the Invesco Quantitative Strategies Group, managing a team of portfolio managers based in the United States and Europe.  Post his financial industry career, he helps run Blue Meadow farm, his family’s farm which is a combination of equine facility (training, boarding, and lessons) and “U-Pick” blueberry farm.Glen enjoys community service with volunteer experience with the Boy Scouts of America, Boston Cares, Smile Mass, in addition to Open Table.  His volunteer efforts with Open Table began when a blueberry customer recommended Open Table as a benefactor of their farm’s “Pick for the Community” efforts, donating blueberries picked by volunteers to local food pantries.  Glen was impressed by the scope of activity and organization when he delivered his first batch of blueberries to Open Table.  He asked to learn more about their organization and quickly became an active volunteer, assisting in the unloading of trucks and preparing mobile food pantry deliveries.

Glen has a BA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a MSF from the Boston College Carroll School of Management, and is a CFA charter holder.  He lives with his wife and daughter in Sudbury.

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.

Alissa Weinberger is a staff attorney with MetroWest Legal Services’ Immigration Unit in Framingham, MA where she represents immigrant youth before the Boston Immigration Court. In addition to her legal work, Alissa previously worked with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault providing individual counseling, and led batterer intervention groups.

In 2020, Alissa moved to Maynard with her partner. Shortly after moving to Maynard, she began volunteering with Open Table on the pick and pack team and helped take phone orders in English and Spanish. Alissa was drawn to Open Table’s model of promoting food security in a manner that fosters autonomy, dignity, and meets the community’s diverse needs. Alissa is excited to support Open Table’s mission and crucial community work.

Alissa also serves as secretary on the Board of Directors for MetroWest Worker Center in Framingham. Alissa holds a J.D. from Northeastern University’s School of Law, a Masters in Community Counseling from New Mexico State University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. In her free time, Alissa loves to hike, dance, knit, and bake.

Open Table Staff

Good news is, Open Table is feeding more people than ever and growing as an organization. The challenge? Having the staff to handle all that growth. For a long time we’ve been a fully volunteer organization. But to handle the increasing need, we had to have a better plan. So we worked with consultants, and looked at what other food organizations do, to understand we needed to hire staff to handle key positions. We think this will better enable us to fulfill our mission of getting food to people who need it.

Pictured in June 2021 are Gretchen Findlay, Volunteer Manager, Jessica Kirkwood, Development Assistant & Grant Manager, Aiko Pinkoski, Business Manager, Jeanine Calabria, Executive Director, Rob Slattery, Operations & Facilities Manager, Christine Evans, Marketing & Development Manager, Jill Tsakiris, Program Manager, Jeff Geraghty, Truck Driver & Pantry Assistant, and Mark Valentine, Kitchen Manager & Head Chef
Photo by Colin Valentine, https://www.valphoto.us/

Contact the Team

Have a specific question for Open Table? Try emailing the related director or volunteer as listed here:

Programs Manager;

Operations Manager;

Communications Team

Events Manager

Grant Writers

Volunteer Management

Website Design

Not sure who to contact? You can always reach us at info@opentable.org and we’ll sort things out!