Board of Trustees

Deborah Avery, MBA

Deborah is the SVP and Senior Financial Advisor for Enterprise Bank and Trust Company. She works within a team providing comprehensive wealth management for individuals, families, and business owners. She has worked with several non-profit organizations to support their fiduciary responsibilities. Deborah has been working in the banking industry for over 35 years.  She graduated from Babson College with a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance.

Deborah has the FINRA Series 7, 63, and 66 licenses and spent time working for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, LLC implementing Alternative Workplace Strategies for Fortune 50 financial services firms.  Deborah resides in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts with her family.

Deborah brings financial management and growth experience to the Board of the Healing Garden.

Eric Brown

Eric is a marketing, technology, product and business innovator. As the founder of It’s Possible Media, Eric focuses on helping businesses attract their ideal customer through carefully crafted marketing messaging and proven customer attraction systems.

A graduate of Babson College and The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, Eric has a unique interest in businesses at the intersection of marketing, technology and food.

Eric joins the Virginia Thurston Healing Garden Board of Trustees with the mission of expanding the reach of client services through the use of technology and providing care opportunities to historically underserved populations.

Eric lives in Harvard with his wife, Elizabeth, and his children Jeremy (5yrs), Malcolm (3yrs) and Evelyn (1yr).

Cynthia Burghard

Cynthia is a long-time resident of Littleton where she raised her daughter and two dogs. She has been a professional market researcher for nearly 30 years exclusively in the healthcare technology industry, for Cynthia full-time work was replaced with opportunities to use her analyst skills in a variety of new part-time ventures. She is committed to keeping her mind sharp and her soul fed. Cynthia has been involved with the Healing Garden since 2002 when she became a client and organized the original “Healing Gardeners” group that maintained and enhanced the gardens around the cottage – well before the professionals transformed the property. While gardening remains a passion, Cynthia recently applied her market research skills by conducting a survey for the Healing Garden board and staff. She was honored to receive the “Steward of Hope” award in the fall of 2022 and joined the Healing Garden Board of Trustees in January 2023.

Marcia B. Croyle, Clerk

Marcia Croyle has been involved in volunteer activities for a variety of non-profit organizations. In addition to her work for the Healing Garden, she has been active in fundraising and event planning for the Nashoba Brooks School, Sandy Spring Friends School, and the Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church, where she was part of a successful capital campaign for a new Fellowship Building. In addition, Ms. Croyle was a corporator and a trustee of Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA.

Professionally, Ms. Croyle has worked as a writer and project editor for publishing companies and non-profit organizations in the Boston and St. Louis areas. A long-time resident of Harvard, Marcia is married and the mother of two adult daughters. She has also walked in six of the Just Cause Walks (3 days–60 miles) that benefit the Healing Garden.

Sarah K. Hindle, Past Board Chair, Board Member Emeritus

Sarah Hindle joined the Board of the Healing Garden in the fall of 2003, just three years into its founding.  She was introduced to the Garden through a meeting with her friend and co-founder Betsy Tyson-Smith, and Bill Thurston which resulted in a passionate interest in the unique mission of the Garden. The added benefit of working with Betsy and the vision she had for the Garden was a bonus. Hindle jumped in quickly as the Chair of the Board, recruiting new members and building the committee. In time, she also offered her leadership on the Finance Committee and Events Committee. In 2008 she co-chaired a $1M Capitol Campaign resulting the renovation and expansion of the Garden’s beautiful facility. Today, she remains involved on the Board and Executive Committee.

“My “work” during my life has been in the role of a Volunteer – several different committees at my church, the Board of the tennis club in Siasconset, MA, the Board of the Concord Free Public Library, various garden clubs, the Junior League in which I was Head of the Area, and the Concord Museum where I headed up the Ladies Association, two search committees for a Director, was Head of the Board of Governors, developed the Advisory Committee, and am presently on the Board of Trustees.”

Shannon Kelley

A former retail executive whose journey has led her to the social service world, is a new addition to YW Boston, joining September 2023. Shannon brings almost 30 years of experience in both the corporate and, most recently, nonprofit sectors.
Shannon’s finance career has been marked by success in developing and seamlessly executing plans in complex organizational structures. She has been recognized as a highly organized, creative, problem-solver who excels at guiding her teams through challenging projects.

Shannon has held an executive position at a midsize retail chain, for which she helped navigate a challenging private equity acquisition.

Prior to joining YW Boston, Shannon was the Director of Finance at The Virginia Thurston Healing Garden Cancer Support Center, a nonprofit organization that provides programs and services to all those affected by cancer. Shannon’s experience at The Healing Garden inspired her to continue her professional work to social projects, after working many years in the finance and retail industries.

Shannon continues to sit on the Board of Directors of The Healing Garden. In addition, Shannon has been actively involved in her community, most notably serving on the Board of Directors of the Harvard Conservation Trust and the Harvard Farmer’s Market.

Holly Kouvo, Board Chair

Holly Kouvo is a certified personal trainer and nutrition specialist. She started her own personal training company, Fitting Fitness In®, after working in management for 16 years in the high-tech industry as owner/manager of Acadia Software and Vice President of Client Services for SmartTime Software.

Using her entrepreneurial business experience, she has been pursuing her passion: helping people fit fitness into their lives. Holly has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from State University of New York at Potsdam.

Holly is an author, speaker, and media personality (radio and TV). Holly’s TV show “Get Healthy with Holly” airs on Cable Access TV to over 3 million households across the United States.

Holly lives in Stow, Massachusetts with her family. Holly brings her entrepreneurial business skills and experience to the board at the Healing Garden.

Caroline Leggett

Carrie has been a clinical social worker for over 25 years with a focus on special health needs. She was an assistant director at the office of health and disability at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health after taking time off to have children.

She returned to direct care and for the past ten years has been a social worker at a local primary care office providing individual psychotherapy, case management, and crisis intervention for all ages.

Her recent philanthropic efforts have centered on children and families in need (Room to Grow Boston and New York City as well as community enrichment programs (Concord /Carlisle Community Chest).

David Martin, MBA

David Martin is a retired business analyst with expertise in project management, business process redesign, quality management and organizational change.  David began his career as an analyst and trainer in the Educational Services division of Digital Equipment Corporation.   While at DEC, David became an internal consultant in quality management and business process redesign. He left DEC to join Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (now merged into Point32Health) where he held a variety of positions in quality, organization development and project management.  He finished his career as a Senior Business Analyst serving HPHC’s operations as an employee of NTT DATA, a global IT services company.

David graduated from Williams College and earned his MBA from Clark University.  He is the former Chair of the Board of the Virginia Thurston Healing Garden.  David is a resident of Westford, Massachusetts.

Sharon Murphy

Sharon is the Regional Vice President for the Massachusetts Branch of Acadia Insurance, a member company of W.R. Berkley Corporation, located in Marlborough Massachusetts.  She has been working in the Property & Casualty insurance industry for nearly 30 years servicing the needs of businesses throughout the Northeast with strong emphasis on customer service, community involvement and employee engagement.  Through her work with Acadia Insurance, Sharon is a member of the Massachusetts Insurance Federation and she also serves on the Commercial Automobile Advisory Committee.

Sharon graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a BS in Business Management and resides in Stow, Massachusetts with her husband Dennis.  She loves the spending time with her family as well as exploring adventures in nature.

Anand Rao, Ph.D.

Anand is a senior executive, advisor, and thought leader in digital transformations and emerging technologies. He is currently the Global Artificial Intelligence Lead for the PwC, a leading global professional services firm. Passionate about people and technology, and how best each can help the other towards a better tomorrow; passionate about technological innovation, but applied in a responsible manner for societal good; passionate about data science that is applied to solve real-world business problems; rooted in solid academic foundations, but also pragmatic in transforming and disrupting industry; passionate about western philosophy and thinking while rooted in the age-old wisdom of the eastern Vedantic tradition.

Anand has received widespread recognition for his extraordinary contributions in the field of consulting and Artificial Intelligence Research. He serves on the Advisory Board of Oxford University’s Institute for Ethics in AI, World Economic Forum’s Global AI Council, OECD’s Network of Experts on AI (ONE), and other prestigious forums. He has co-edited four books and written over fifty refereed papers. He is a frequent speaker at academic, policy, and business forums.

Anand graduated from BITS Pilani in India and subsequently obtained his Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Sydney and an MBA from Melbourne Business School in Australia. Anand has lived and worked extensively in five different continents – North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Anand currently lives in Lexington with his wife Sumana. They have a son who lives in Canada and a daughter who lives in San Francisco and are the proud grandparents of two grandchildren.

Anand joins the Virginia Thurston Healing Garden Board of Trustees with the mission of expanding its services and serving a larger group of diverse communities.

Heidi Segrist

Heidi has lived in Harvard for 30 years in what is known as “the old goat farm.”  She holds a Bachelor of Science from Middlebury College and a Masters of Science in Administration and Education from Wheelock College.

In her 20+ year tenure at the Stride Rite Corporation, Heidi served as Director of the Stride Rite Intergenerational Center, one of the first corporate sponsored non-profit intergenerational centers in the United States, professionally combining her passions across the age spectrum.  Additionally, Heidi served as Director of Evergreen Garden, a Waldorf inspired early childhood education program.

Heidi is currently involved in several non-profit organizations in Harvard, including leadership roles in the Harvard Woman’s Club and the Friends of the Council on Aging.  Heidi currently serves on the Harvard Schools Trust Board, the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry Board of Directors, The Virginia Thurston Healing Garden Board of Trustees, the Fivesparks Board, the Fruitlands Museums property committee, The Garden Club of Harvard Board, the Harvard Lions, and is a Corporator of Emerson Hospital.

Karen Engly Shea, Board Vice Chair

Karen is a licensed realtor in Massachusetts with over 30 years of experience. Previously, she worked in medical sales and served as a development officer in higher education. Born in Galveston, Texas, and reared in Columbia, Missouri, Karen went to school in Switzerland before attending Skidmore College and The Museum School of Fine Arts (Boston).

Karen has served on the Healing Garden Board of Directors for 15 years where she is currently the Co-Chair. A resident of Harvard, Karen is an active member of local organizations including the Harvard Schools Trust, Harvard PTO, Harvard Women’s Club, and the Harvard Garden Club. Additionally, she has been a Trustee of the Fruitland’s Museum.

An avid birder and naturalist, Karen walked in numerous Just Cause Walks (3-days/60 miles) to benefit the Healing Garden.

Pamela P. Sawyer, RN, B.S.N., M.H.A., Past Board Chair, Board Member Emeritus

Pamela has been on the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Thurston Healing Garden for eight years, and for the last three years has been the Chair of Board. She describes herself as being passionate about the Healing Garden’s mission and the work it does to support people with cancer and their families.

Ms.  Sawyer was the owner and Principal of Sawyer HealthCare Consulting. Previously she was the Vice President of Business Development for the Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA), a national non-profit membership organization representing not-for-profit community based home care providers.  She has over thirty years of experience in home health care administration. Ms. Sawyer received a Master’s in Healthcare Administration from Simmons College in Boston, MA.

Her publications include “Cases in Long- Term Care Management”, “A Comparative Analysis of Home Care versus Hospital Care of Technology-Dependent Children” and “Clinicians’ Forum: Bioterrorism: Are We Prepared?”  She has served on the advisory council for National Medicare Education Task Force.

Ms. Sawyer was a Corporator for Emerson Hospital, Concord, MA.  She is also an avid fan of the theatre and has served on the Board of Directors of the Ogunquit Playhouse, Ogunquit, ME

Jon Way, M.D.

Jon is a retired physician. He received his medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine and practiced primary care/internal medicine at Acton Medical Associates for 35 years after a Medical Residency in Boston. During his career he was active on the Emerson Hospital medical staff serving on multiple committees. At various times these included Chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, Chair of the Primary Care Service, member of the Professional Review Committee, Chair of the Department of Medicine, and Co-Chair of the Health Information Systems Committee. He was also on the Emerson Hospital Board of Directors for a number of years. Jon’s wife Chris was a cherished client of the Healing Garden for many years until she passed away in late 2015. Jon’s interests include hiking, photography and helping care for his grandchildren.

Tim Wondolowski, CPA, Treasurer

Tim  is a Managing Director in FTI Consulting’s Forensic & Litigation Consulting segment and is based in Boston. Tim has over twenty years of experience in providing accounting, auditing and litigation consulting services, including forensic accounting and matters involving securities fraud. Tim currently focuses the majority of his time providing accounting advisory services to biotechnology, medical device and technology companies that are embarking on their initial public offering, as well as providing technical accounting and financial reporting assistance in the periods after a successful IPO.

Tim graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a BA in Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts.  Tim resides in Lexington, MA with his wife and their three children where he enjoys coaching youth baseball and basketball, working in the family gardens and maintaining their historic home.