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About UsCommissioner BiographiesClick on the name of the Commissioner below to read her biography or scroll down the page to read all biographies.
Ruth Bramson |
Linda Cavaioli |
Chris Chanyasulkit | Helen Corbett | Marisa DeFranco  Ruth N. Bramson
has spent her career advancing
the leadership of women and continues this legacy as the first Chief Executive
Officer of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts. Ruth’s past positions
include Executive Vice President of Human Resources for National Grid  Linda Cavaioli
has served as Executive Director of the YWCA of Central Massachusetts since 1992. In this position, Linda reports to a 31-member board of directors and oversees the daily operations of a $6.0 million non-profit organization dedicated to the empowerment of women and girls and the elimination of racism. Linda is active in the community and serves as a member on the board of directors of the United Way of Central Massachusetts. She is also a member of the Martin Luther King Community Breakfast Committee, City Manager’s Task Force on Bias and Hate Crimes, United Service Executives, and Worcester Women’s History Project. She also has served as regional chairman of the YWCAs of New England Council and is a member of the National Association of YWCA Executives. Currently Linda is the Chair of the YWCA USA Regional Leadership Committee.
Marisa A. DeFranco is an immigration attorney. After earning her Juris Doctor, cum laude from Suffolk University Law School in 1996, and a short stint as in-house counsel, she established her own law practice. The granddaughter of immigrants, Marisa has been an advocate for women, immigrants, and children in foster care. She previously served as the VP of Legislative Policy for Massachusetts NOW, as well as the Violence Against Women Task Force Chair. She also served as Chair of the New England Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), as well as a liaison to a Federal Government agency and as a Director on the AILA National Board of Governors. As part of the WBA Legislative Policy Committee and Mass NOW, she worked on a range of legislation from Breastfeeding laws to Contraceptive Coverage, and in her practice, she has represented immigrant women who have fled from their abusive marriages to U.S. Citizens and helped them file self-petitions under VAWA and served as a mentor to women solo practitioners in the field. During law school, Marisa worked in the Staff Attorneys office at the First Circuit Court of Appeals and as a Victim’s Witness Advocate in the Cambridge District Court as part of Suffolk’s Battered Women Clinic.  Deborah M. DiMasi
is
one of our region’s most effective advocates for suicide prevention and an
outspoken champion for veterans who experience post-traumatic stress disorder.
Motivated by the suicide of her brother Jeff, a soldier and veteran, Deborah has
testified publicly before the Massachusetts Legislature, urging a dramatic
increase in funding devoted exclusively to suicide prevention, and the creation
of a special commission to investigate the effects of war on returning
Massachusetts veterans.
Stacy Dixon is currently the Property Administrator for multiple buildings for one of Donna Finneran
is currently the co-owner of a small gift basket business called "Just Perfect!" She is active in the Dorchester YMCA and serves on the Board of Visitors of the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union. She is also on the Democratic State Committee and is involved in many local and neighborhood civic organizations. Donna is interested in adult education, and specifically in encouraging women to return to school to receive degrees, and helping them to do so. She is also concerned with and works towards improving the availability of shelters for women and children.
 Marianne Fleckner
is the Director of Administration and Finance at the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation. Before joining the MDCR, Marianne was employed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health as their Associate Commissioner of Management & Operations. Before that, she was with the Massachusetts Human Resources Division where she managed a staff that defined the Commonwealth’s Business Requirements for a new automated Human Resources/Compensation Management system. She has also worked for Governors Weld and Cellucci as their Deputy Chief Secretary. Marianne is
a member of the National Notary Association, member of the League of Women Voters, a Library Trustee for the Westford J.V. Fletcher Library and a volunteer with the Westford School system. The women’s issues she is most involved with are sexual harassment in the workplace, domestic violence and equal pay/equal work.
 Catherine Greene, Esq.,
has been an advocate for victims of domestic and sexual violence. She served as the Director of Public Affairs and the interim Executive Director of Jane Doe, Inc., and also as the first Executive Director of the Family Justice Center.
Commissioner Greene received her B.A. in Political Science from Brown University and her law degree from Boston University School of Law. Greene was appointed to the MCSW in 2003 and she has been an active member of the Legislative Committee, the Chair of the Unsung Heroine initiative for the past two years, and an Officer and member of the Executive Committee for the past four years.
Elizabeth Hart
is the
Founder and Executive Director of Tailored For Success, Inc., a nonprofit
organization dedicated to helping economically disadvantaged women enter or
reenter the workforce. During her legal career, she volunteered for various
legal services organizations such as Volunteer Lawyers Association by providing
indigent clients with legal assistance. Liz also served as a Guardian Ad
Litem for the Court Appointed Special Advocate program in Boston where she
advocated for the rights of children in abuse and neglect cases. In 2002, Liz
was awarded the Women Making a Difference award from the Malden YWCA for
her work at Tailored For Success, Inc. Liz received a Masters of
Management Degree from Cambridge College and a Bachelor of Science in Business
Administration from Northeastern University. In addition to her work with the
Commission Liz is currently the First Vice President of the Zonta Club of
Malden, and is a board member of the Malden YMCA, the Malden Chamber of Commerce
and The Women’s Alliance.has been employed by Tapestry Health since 1986 and currently serves as the organization’s Director of Administrative Services. Active in her community, Lucy has served as a member of the Northampton School Committee since 1999 and was elected to serve as Vice Chair for four consecutive years. Lucy has been a member of the Civil Rights and Equity Committee,  Elizabeth Houlihan,
MCSW Treasurer, is the President and Owner of E. H. Houlihan & Associates, a
business consulting firm. She was the Chief Operating Officer for CO Space,
Inc., Burlington, MA. She had a twenty eight year career with Nynex (known now
as Verizon). Liz held numerous Senior Management positions at Nynex. She was the Vice President of Enterprise Markets, Vice President of Consumer Sales and Service for New York and New England overseeing 98 offices and over 6000 employees. She was the Vice President/General Manager of Operations for five New England states. Mrs. Houlihan has served on numerous boards, public and private over the last 15 years. She presently is the Vice President of the Women's Overseas Service League, Boston Chapter, serves as a director on the board of the Matthew W. Houlihan Foundation Inc. and the President's Advisory Board at her alma mater, Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth,
MA. She was the recipient of the YWCA 1993 Women’s Achievement Award in New York City. She holds a BSE from Salem State College and attended Harvard Business School PMD 56 serving for the past 18 years as the class agent. She served in Vietnam during the war as a Dept. of Army Civilian, and taught third grade in New Bedford MA. She and her husband William, raised four sons, and now reside on Cape Cod.
 Joanne Fitzgerald McCrea was
appointed to the MCSW by Senate President Murray whom she met while working on
her Masters Degree at the Heller School at Brandeis University. Born and raised
in Framingham, Joanne is a graduate of Regis College. Currently a community
activist in Salem, serving on city economic development and neighborhood
committees, and appointed by the Mayor to the Salem Historic Commission and the
No Place for Hate Committee. Before moving to Salem in 2000, Joanne was an
advisor to the Acton Housing Authority for the Single Parent Advisory Council.
Previously, Joanne was an executive with the States of Ohio and Vermont
Development Departments. She has long been involved in small businesses issues
and was asked to Chair the Women in Business Committee for the first White House
Conference on Small Business. Joanne was awarded a Certificate of Achievement by
the US Department of Commerce, and was appointed to the National Advisory
Council of the US Small Business Administration. Joanne is a single parent with
three grown children, two sons and a daughter, and five grandchildren.
Angela Menino
has more than thirty years experience in the field of accounting with John
Hancock Financial Services. She is a Founding Member of the Boston Women’s
Commission, the Boston Community Schools (now called Boston Community Centers),
and the MCSW. Angela has been active with a number of Boards in Boston. She was
recently appointed to the Advisory Board for the Massachusetts Women’s Political
Caucus and serves on the Board of Dress for Success in Roslindale. She serves as
First Lady on committees supporting a number of programs that benefit women and
families, including, the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence, the Jane
Doe Foundation, the Patriots’ Trail Girl Scouts, the Big Sister Association of
Greater Boston, and the Boston Women’s Memorial. As First Lady of the City of
Boston, she frequently hosts dignitaries and neighborhood groups and keeps an
active public schedule, often appearing and speaking on behalf of the Mayor.
is a resident scholar at  Greer Tan Swiston
is a software engineer by training and is currently a Realtor with CENTURY 21
Commonwealth. She graduated from MIT and has worked on projects such as the Space Flight Operations Center at NASA JPL, an image processing software package for a startup company, as well as the Y2K intiative at Fidelity and the MLDirect online trading project at Merrill Lynch. She was recently awarded the Outstanding Leader award by the Newton Girl Scouts. She currently serves as: advisor for Asian SistersParticipating in Reaching Excellence (ASPIRE); President of the Chinese Alumni of MIT; Chair of the Newton Republican Ward Committee; and is a board member of the Newton West Little League. Formerly she was: President of the Boston Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers; an Aid for Dependent Children (AFDC) mentor; and on the Executive Committee of the Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association (GBCCA). She was the first Asian woman to run for state office in 2004 and is currently
serving as an Alderman-at-Large in Newton.
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