Fenway CDC 51st Annual Meeting

Dear Fenway CDC members and supporters:

Join us at our 51st annual meeting to celebrate Fenway Community Development Corporation’s past year of accomplishments on Thursday, April 25th, in person at the Linda K. Paresky Conference Center at Simmons University, located at 300 The Fenway in Boston. Doors open at 5:45PM and the program starts at 6:30PM!

We hope that you will join us to connect with community members, elected officials, and partners. We will share Fenway CDC’s accomplishments of 2023, recognize our Community Service awardees, and get a preview from our new executive director, Steve Farrell, about this year and beyond!

The annual meeting is also an opportunity for Fenway CDC voting members to elect the Board of Directors (voting members must be 18 years or older, a resident of the Fenway neighborhood, support the mission of Fenway CDC, and sign up before March 25, 2024). The nominees of this year’s election are Eric Daniel, Robert Parker-Mason, Mary ElizaBeth Peters, Cathy Van Bui, Martin Ward and Tadesse Zerihun.

Members will also be voting on the revised by-laws this year. Scroll down for more details.

If you would like to sign up for FREE to be a member, visit www.fenwaycdc.org/become-a-member/ or contact membership@fenwaycdc.org.

To ensure a smooth entrance, we highly recommend that you obtain a FREE ticket through Eventbrite prior to arriving. Please find link to RSVP below. Doors open at 5:45pm, and the program begins promptly at 6:30pm. We welcome everyone to arrive early enough to mingle and meet fellow community members before the program starts. A light dinner will be served. We hope to see you there!

If you would like transportation to and from the event, contact Leo Ruiz Sanchez for details and to reserve a seat: 617-267-4637 x 24 or lruizsanchez@fenwaycdc.org.

We look forward to seeing you in person on April 25th!

Sincerely,

Fenway CDC Board and Staff

Additional Information/FAQs:

For directions by public transportation and car, and parking information, please refer to the Simmons University website here.

The food provided will include vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Children are welcome, though parents/guardians must be responsible for their children at all times.

2024 Board Of Elections

Eric Daniel worked for more than 30 years at Houghton Mifflin Company where he was executive editor for mathematics. Eric finds Boston a wonderful place to enjoy classical music and theater and studied Tai Chi for many years at the Chinese WuShu Research Institute in Chinatown. He has a B.A. from Lehigh University and an M.A. from Boston University. Eric has been a stalwart volunteer of the Urban Village Committee for more than five years where he has read and commented on hundreds of pages of technical development proposals. He has helped set up and clean up at numerous meetings, events and fundraisers, maintaining his signature affable, calm, and cheerful demeanor.

Robert Parker-Mason serves as a semiconductor Reliability Engineer at Analog Devices, Inc. and also as a Finance Consultant for the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color. Robert earned degrees from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and Morehouse College. He is interested in helping Fenway CDC develop co-op home ownership initiatives to foster intergenerational housing and a neighborhood with strong families as its backbone. Born and raised in the Fenway, Robert has firsthand experience of the challenges and opportunities of the community. With his educational, professional, and leadership background, he feels well-equipped to collaborate with fellow board members and staff in designing and implementing initiatives resulting in a thriving, inclusive community.

Mary ElizaBeth Peters has been a Fenway resident since 2013 and has worked in the Fenway since 2004 for the Wheelock Family Theatre. She is a teacher with the Boston Public Schools and also a playwright, teaching artist, and disability access and inclusion consultant. She holds a Masters Degree from Emerson College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is interested in joining the Fenway CDC Board because she has a deep interest in affordable housing and wants to become involved in the neighborhood community in a more substantial way. She lives in a limited equity coop and has enjoyed relationships with neighbors, businesses and local nonprofits in our neighborhood. She wants to deepen her participation in the community and work for affordable housing and resident empowerment.

Cathy Van Bui is a resident of 71 Westland Ave and moved to Boston five years ago. While she did not know anyone in the city, she considered herself lucky to find housing she could afford in the Fenway area which gave her easy access to everything she needs: grocery, health clinic, work, etc. About 2 years ago, Cathy started volunteering with Fenway CDC. She says that her experiences have been amazing and feels connected to so many people in the neighborhood. She hopes to contribute even more in tangible ways and make the neighborhood an even more vibrant and diverse place.

Martin Ward is a retired attorney who attended Georgetown University, and clerked in Washington DC. He practiced law in the federal government as well as in private practice. He was appointed to a bi-national panel on the Canada/U.S free trade agreement. Martin later moved to Boston, passed the Boston bar, began private practice here and volunteered as a Boston Bar Association Advocate, representing indigent defendants in criminal cases. He also devoted time to representing those involved in imports and exports to the United States in various state and federal courts and agencies. After returning to government service one more time, he retired from the Department of Homeland Security.

In 1987, he married Cindy Brophy, the love of his life, and became a Fenway resident. Now a widower, Martin looks forward to working to further affordable housing and increase community in the Fenway.

Previously a volunteer intern with Fenway CDC, Tadesse Zerihun has over 20 years of international work experience as a team leader, managing humanitarian and recovery projects devised for under-privileged communities of post-conflict countries located in Africa, Central and Southern Asia, as well as the Middle East. He is passionately interested in providing support to facilitate links with institutions that offer technical skills and capacity building to help get individuals ready for employment. He feels that his prior experience prepared him well to help Fenway CDC achieve its mission. He believes Fenway CDC can make a lasting difference with collaborative efforts toward affordable housing and building community.

Special Thanks to

Simmons University for the venue.