BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Board of the Marginal Way Preservation Fund is comprised of dedicated and talented members who are all passionate about ensuring that the beloved coastal treasure of the Marginal Way remains accessible for all to enjoy for many years to come.

John is the CEO of Convergence Inc., the leading provider of data-driven research and insights into the fast-growing Alternative Investment Manager market. It’s CMDX Database and Products (TM) are refreshed and published daily and contain over 15mm data artifacts on 35,000 Registered Investment Advisors. Convergence is proud to serve the industry’s leading firms among its growing client base.

Before founding Convergence, John was a senior executive at many of the world’s leading investment managers including Apollo Global Management, The Rohatyn Group, JPMorgan, and Fidelity Investments. John serves as the MWPF’s Treasurer and oversees its Investment Committee and Endowment. He and his wife Cynthia are active volunteers with organizations including The School Sisters of Notre Dame, The Family and Children’s Agency of Wilton, The Community Nursery School of Wilton, The Charles River School, The Dover Country Day School and have served as Board Members at the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset, Maine and the Villanova School of Business (VSB) Deans Advisory Council. John and Cynthia reside in Wilton, Connecticut and Ogunquit, Maine.

John Phinney, Board President & Chair

Charlie resides in Florida but has maintained a summer residence in Ogunquit for 25 years. He has been an active member of the community returning to the MWPF Board after an absence of a few years. He is engaged with the Playhouse and The Ogunquit Museum of American Art. A retired Financial Services Executive he brings many years of Not for Profit board experience in the Arts, Healthcare, Child Services, and Musical Theater. He is passionate about maintaining the Marginal Way for many generations to come and Ogunquit his beautiful place by the sea.

Charlie Hindmarsh, Vice-President

Barbara O’Leary retired from Cruise International/CI Travel as Vice President of Public Relations/Special Projects and served on the Board of Directors for 30 years. At present, she is Vice President of CI Travel’s four locations in Naples, Florida, and a lector for All Saints Catholic Church in Ogunquit. She has been a summer resident on the Marginal Way for 25 years. She also has a home in Naples, Florida.

Barbara O’Leary, Secretary

Chris has served as the Marginal Way Preservation Fund’s Certified Public Accountant, responsible for the financial books and records of the Fund, as well as the publication of the financial statements and annual tax filings. He was extended an invitation by the Board to serve as the Treasurer in 2022 and is excited about his evolving role with the organization. Chris is a CPA and runs MCM, a regional accounting and advisory practice specializing in small-business and non-profit strategy, financial operations and compliance. He brings a wealth of experience to the Fund, having served as a partner in KPMG’s Management Consulting practice for over 15 years, where he assisted several public and private organizations run more efficient and effective back-office functions. Chris earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Accounting from Boston College, serving on the university’s budget committee, responsible for the annual operating budget and endowment strategy, for two years. He, his wife, Allison, and his children love making the short drive to Ogunquit to visit friends and enjoy the town.

Chris Mello, Treasurer

Scoop Carlile graduated from Haverford College, followed by a long career managing systems and data for healthcare enterprises, most recently as CIO for El Centro de Corazon, a non-profit group of clinics serving primarily the uninsured or Medicaid insured in Houston. He previously worked as the Director of Informatics at a consulting firm specializing in profiling the relative risk of pharmaceuticals using analysis of medical records. Scoop has resided in Houston, Texas since the early 2000s and started visiting the “Beautiful Place by the Sea” Ogunquit, Maine several years ago and he and his family now own a home in Ogunquit.

Scoop Carlile

Louesa Gillespie has served as president of Ogunquit’s Beachmere Inn since 1982. She graduated in 1958 from Cornell and earned a graduate certificate in landscape design in 1981 from Radcliffe. She is a general partner of the Beachmere Family Limited Partnership. In years past, she also owned the Lookout Hotel and the Ontio Motor Inn, both in Ogunquit. For more than 30 years, Gillespie has served on Ogunquit’s Marginal Way Committee, which oversees the care and maintenance of the mile-long footpath. In addition, she is Vice-President of Trustees of St. Peter’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, a board member and former president of the Piscataqua Garden Club, and a board member and former president of the Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America. Since 2009, Gillespie also has served as a director of the Ogunquit Museum of American Art. She has held previous positions on the Ogunquit Planning Board and the Barn Gallery in Ogunquit.

Louesa Gillespie

Lauren brings to the Board a background in real estate and events planning. Lauren is a graduate of Merrimack College, where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Secondary Education. She has her Real Estate Brokers license in Massachusetts and has been selling real estate for over 20 years. She founded “Errands and Events by Lauren” 12 years ago. Lauren has a home in Ogunquit with her husband, enjoys the ocean, and takes pride in Ogunquit and serving on the Preservation Fund Board.

Lauren Hajjar

Mary Kett is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. After a brief teaching career, Mary was recruited into the financial services industry, ultimately rising to the position of Senior Vice President of UBS Financial Services. During her 35-plus-year career, she advised a broad range of institutional clients including tax-exempt, governmental, and faith-based organizations. She served on fiduciary boards including Preservation Worcester, the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, Becker College, and Worcester Academy. She has also served in a non-fiduciary capacity to investment, development and other advisory boards and committees for the likes of the American Heart Association, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester, and St. Vincent’s Hospital. While retired, Mary remains active in fund-development for numerous non-profits and currently serves as a member of the Development Committee of the Ogunquit Playhouse.

Mary Kent

We are excited to announce Katlyn Mitsch as the newly elected member of the Board. Kate brings with her an extensive background in Finance and Accounting and is also a licensed CPA. Kate earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Accounting from Penn State University and has worked at KPMG, LLP over the past 9+ years within their Advisory Management Consulting practice. Kate is also closely rooted in the community of Ogunquit, as a resident and local business owner of Coastal Wine on Shore Road.

Kate Mitsch

Sumner graduated from the Fryeburg Academy and the University of New Hampshire. In the 80s Sumner was President of Entertainment Media and a stockholder in Boston’s Club Cafe. In the mid-’90s, he helped form and operate a manufacturing and distribution company, Orion Caskets, pioneering in the retail sales of caskets throughout the United States and Canada. Though Sumner has been retired over the last twenty years, he has remained actively engaged and dedicated to giving back to his community. Since settling in Ogunquit, Sumner has been an integral part of the local community, serving on various committees for the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, the Marginal Way Preservation Fund, and the Ogunquit Playhouse. He has been an appointed member of the Ogunquit Historic Preservation Commission for ten years, six, as its Chairman.

D Sumner Nystedt

Jim Oliver has over 35 years of experience designing and implementing enterprise network systems for clients across many verticals including financial services, utilities, and health care. After working in a technical role in Boston radio during and after college, the idea for a touchscreen-based studio control system was born.

Jim left radio to form Media Touch Systems, where the development of the touch screen system continued. Jim served as the Director of Systems Integration for the company overseeing the design, installation, and training for systems installed globally.

In 1989 Jim joined Alpine Computer Systems as a technical systems architect and worked to grow the consulting business until its sale in 1996. Alpine was honored by INC Magazine for three years in a row as one of the 500 fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States. After the sale, Jim remained involved in the new company in a consulting role. The company was again sold to Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH). Jim served as Manager of IT Infrastructure Solutions while with Cognizant through 2007.

In 2008 Jim joined the Advocator Group as Executive Vice President of Information Technology. During his four-year tenure, the Advocator Group streamlined operations with technology and grew from a $9m to $35m business, and increased its profit margin by 10%. The Advocator Group was acquired by Brown & Brown Insurance (NYSE:BRO) in 2010. Jim remained with The Advocator Group after the acquisition and was the chair of the Brown & Brown technology steering committee.

Jim is in his 17th season of owning and operating Bessie’s Restaurant in Ogunquit and is also involved in the operation of six RE/MAX Realty One offices located in southern Maine with his husband Don Wunder.

Jim Oliver

Nan Ramsey

New bio coming soon

Bill Sawyer grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland; earned a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California; and served seven years as an officer in the United States Navy. After leaving the service, he became the Supervisor of Maintenance for a nuclear power electric generating plant in Pennsylvania. He joined a small software company, MRO Software, Inc., in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1978, helped the company go public in 1994, and served on the management team there for many years. The company was acquired by IBM in 2006, and he served as a Vice President for IBM until retiring in the summer of 2011.

In addition to serving on the Board of the Marginal Way Preservation Fund, Bill is a member of the Outreach Committees for the Towns of Wells and Ogunquit and Holy Spirit Parish. He is a volunteer at St. Mary’s Ecumenical Food Pantry in Wells; Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Ogunquit Sewer District; Chair of the Ogunquit Charter Review Commission; and a member of the Diocese of Portland Finance Council where he serves as the Chair of the Audit Committee.

Bill and his wife, Pamela, now reside in Ogunquit, Maine. They have two grown sons and two beautiful daughters-in-law. They also have four lovely granddaughters, one of whom is attending the U.S. Naval Academy and her twin sister is attending the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Bill Sawyer

Lisa spent time living in Belgium and Italy while growing up. She returned to the US for university and graduated from NYU Stern in 1984.

She worked at Citigroup for many years including managing the financial institution’s relationships with banks in France, Italy, and Greece. Following Lisa was syndications head of Citigroup’s aircraft lease financing group. Lisa later worked for two years in mergers and acquisitions at The Geneva Companies as Vice President and Acquisitions Director for the east coast.

In 1996 Lisa and her husband Eric decided to move overseas with their two children Alex and Natalie, and have been living in Tunisia, Morocco, Argentina, England, and the United Arab Emirates. While living in these various places Lisa served on the following Board of Directors:

American Cooperative School Tunisia – President. Constructed a new building and held the school’s first graduation.

Head of the International Women’s association- honored by the country’s president as a female leader

American School Morocco- President. Built a new building and managed the school’s curriculum committee and scholarship fund.

Lincoln International School Argentina – Board member

Habitat for Humanity – active member and team leader for several international builds including Mozambique, South Africa, Lesotho, Nepal, and Malawi.

Lisa was born in Maine and has spent every summer of her life in Ogunquit. Her grandmother bought a house on Shore Road in 1940 and the family has been coming to Ogunquit ever since. She walks the marginal way every day and holds it near and dear to her heart.

Lisa Stoclet

Carol Leary has a passionate dedication to the advancement and education of women. Since 1994, she has served as President of Bay Path University, named by the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the 20 fastest-growing baccalaureate colleges in America in 2014 and 2015, and in 2017 and 2018 one of the fastest-growing “private nonprofit master’s institutions” in the United States. Bay Path is the only women’s college in New England to be included in these rankings. Under her guidance, Bay Path launched The American Women’s College in 2013, the first all-women all-online baccalaureate program in the nation, and has overseen the development of over 30 graduate programs at the University.

Carol has served as chair of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts. Currently, she is the chair of the New Presidents Program under the auspices of the Council of Independent College and chairs the board of the Association of American Colleges & Universities.

An emerita trustee and former chair of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Carol served on the board of the Beveridge Family Foundation, Inc., and was President of the Board of Tribunes for WGBY/PBS. Currently, she is a member of the board at United Bank.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Boston University, she earned her MS at the State University of New York at Albany and her Ph.D. at The American University in Washington, DC.

Carol and her husband, Noel, first visited Ogunquit in 1972, and they were instantly taken by its charm and beauty. Shortly thereafter, they purchased a condominium, and then a home in 2000. They both are committed to celebrating, enhancing, and preserving Ogunquit’s unique character not just for the present day, but for future generations to come.

Dr. Carol Leary, President Emerita

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Allison is a local resident of Ogunquit where she resides with her husband and their two rescue dogs. A graduate of the Manhattan College School of Business where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management, Marketing, and Psychology, Allison has worked in Corporate Human Resources and Project Management for a Fortune 500 Company for several years helping to integrate new and innovative business lines into the organization. As a local resident of Ogunquit, she is passionate that the unique treasure that is the Marginal Way continues to be a special place for all to enjoy for many years to come. Allison is also a proud aunt of 7 nieces and nephews who all come to visit her in Ogunquit and enjoy the Marginal Way each year.

THE FOUNDERS