Officer's Information
President
Beth Macaluso has been volunteering for Phinney's Friends since 2008. She is a civil engineer and works as a project manager in the Facilities Department at a local hospital. Her past work experience includes construction management for a utility contractor and design work for a consulting firm. She received her B.S. in civil engineering and environmental studies from Tufts University and her M.S. from Northeastern.
Vice President
Laura Hagen is an Animal Protection Issues Specialist and Program Coordinator at the MSPCA, where she has been since 2006. Before, she has worked in the Boston Animal Care and Adoption Center as the Project Coordinator. In that capacity she managed the volunteer program for the Adoption Center, managed the animal foster care program, and ran all of the adoption center fundraisers and outreach events. She is also an advisory council member for the board of the New England Federation of Humane Societies. Prior to animal welfare, she worked in community development, managing federally funded homeownership programs for low- and moderate-income clients. She worked for the City of Boston and for the nonprofit development arm of a county government in Ohio. In these jobs, she gained skills in large-scale program, project, and budget administration, as well as grant writing, and working with diverse populations of people.
Clerk/Secretary
Leah Ben-Ami has been a Phinney's Friends volunteer since 2008. She works at Northeastern University as an Administrative Assistant for the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and has been at Northeastern since 2006. She has also been in the part-time MBA program at Northeastern since 2007, with an expected graduation of May 2010 or January 2011. She is originally from Minnesota (Twin Cities), and graduated from Boston College in 2006 with a B.A. in Sociology. She is a freelance food writer for the Boston Phoenix.
Treasurer
Jennifer Couget has been volunteering with Phinney's Friends and the MSPCA Boston Animal Care and Adoption Center since 2008. She completed a Masters of Science from Johns Hopkins University in 1997, focusing her interest in genetics. Through her volunteer work, she seeks to widen education in animal health and advocacy for spay neuter programs.
Director's Information
Daniela Caride has volunteered at Phinney’s Friends since 2007, at MSPCA Boston Animal Care and Adoption Center since 2008 and at The Feline Adoption & Rescue Society since 2009. She has been a journalist since 1996. She works as a freelance editor and reporter, and blogs about her life with three cats and three dogs at TheDailyTail.com. She is also a technical writing editor. She holds a master’s degree in Environmental Sciences (taken in Brazil) and is finishing a master’s degree in Journalism at Harvard University, writing her thesis about animal rights and animal abuse.
Starr Maxwell has volunteered for Phinneys Friends since 2002. She is the Vice President of the Stow Garden Club and a member of a The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club. She has been a board member and training director of the Concord Dog Training Club. She owns three Cavalier King Charles Spaniels who work as therapy dogs for Pets and People Foundation and is involved in showing her dogs.
Heather McGann has been volunteering with Phinney's Friends since 2008 and with the American Cancer Society, as Chair of Publicity for the Relay for Life of Boston. She just completed her MBA at Northeastern this year. She works as Special Events Coordinator and Senior Healthcare Organization at Hebrew SeniorLife, where she plans fundraising events and works with a volunteer Board of Directors.