Three Members with Diverse Experiences and Deep Commitment to OLLI are Tapped for Board
Three retirees who have deep ties to the Berkshires, a commitment to service and interests as varied as birding, lacrosse and construction have been tapped to join the OLLI Board of Directors.
With their addition, the board will grow to its full strength of 19 members. The three candidates were recently recommended for the board by the OLLI Governance Committee and must be elected by OLLI’s full membership. You should receive your online ballot the week of April 27th, and can vote up to our Annual Meeting on 5/22. The annual meeting will be conducted online, via Zoom, on May 22, starting at 4:00 PM.
The candidates are Bruce Cohen, Erin McNamara and Steven Tobin, according to OLLI Vice President and Committee Chairman Gordon Josephson. In addition, the committee recommended the reappointment of three incumbent board members whose terms are expiring – Shel Goldberg, Art Sherman and Will Singleton, Josephson said.
“I believe we’ve found three highly qualified and energetic individuals to serve on our board,” said Josephson.
ERIN McNAMARA has been an OLLI member since 2017, when she relocated to her home in Lenox following her retirement from a career in financial services. McNamara was Director of Human Services and Director of Continuous Improvement at Prudential Financial in New Jersey and California. A Pepperdine University graduate with a bachelor degree in business management, McNamara says she enjoys the opportunity retirement gives her to be of service to her community. Examples of her service include being a leader of the Mentoring for Success program at Berkshire Community College and volunteering as a tutor for the Literacy Network of South Berkshire. McNamara also is a member of the Lenox Cultural Council and a trail steward for Mass Audubon, a nationwide wildlife organization whose motto is: “Where birds thrive, people prosper.”
BRUCE COHEN is a long-time Berkshire hand, having owned a vacation home on Stockbridge Bowl with his wife Joan since 1977. Nearly three years ago, the Cohens became permanent Berkshire residents. Cohen worked in sales and sales management for IBM in the New York City area before moving to Boston, where he held positions of increasing responsibility in several technology companies. He became the chief executive officer of two start-up companies and later an executive consultant. He earned bachelor and master degrees in mechanical engineering at Cornell University. Sports are a huge part of Cohen’s life. While an undergraduate at Cornell, Cohen played soccer and was a standout lacrosse player, winning induction into Cornell’s Athletic Hall of Fame, the Jewish Athletic Hall of Fame and the National lacrosse Hall of Fame. Cohen was on the 1974 world championship USA lacrosse team and now volunteers as an assistant lacrosse coach at Williams College. Besides coaching, Cohen bicycles for various fund raisers. Cohen says he particularly enjoys OLLI’s political science and humanities courses and is impressed by the quality and credentials of OLLI’s instructors.
STEVEN TOBIN, a long-time active member of OLLI at BCC, comes to the board with a strong background in fund raising, development and marketing. Tobin spent many years in real estate development and nationwide sales. At the same time, he was active in his community, helping found and then serve on the board of Temple Solel in Hollywood, Fla. His service to the congregation of Temple Solel included overseeing the development of its new social hall. Tobin’s fund-raising experience includes helping raise money for his temple, and for Israel Bonds and the March of the Living. Tobin presently serves on the board of OLLI at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, Fla. In the Berkshires, Tobin was a co-creator of the summer Encore program, which offers courses to members who come to the Berkshires during the summer months. Additionally, Tobin is a facilitator of the “In-the-News” course and has been an active participant with the popular “Science Conversations” course. Tobin has served on OLLI’s Development Committee since 2017. He has been on the Curriculum Committee since 2019.
