Valley Neighbors Board of Directors

Valley Neighbors is community organization founded in 2019 by local residents and is incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit tax-exempt organization.  It is run by a volunteer Board of Directors who serve two-year terms.  Below are the current board members and officers.

Neal Abraham (Treasurer) is Five College Professor of Physics and Executive Director Emeritus of Five Colleges, Inc. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics and was previously a faculty member at Swarthmore College and Bryn Mawr College, and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Executive Vice President of DePauw University.  He currently serves as Steward for the Whately Town Hall and is a Cemetery Commissioner.

Michael Archbald is a registered nurse with two decades in community health care, and a member of the Board of Health for Whately.  He is also a Public Health Nurse for the Foothills Health District. He and his family have a small hobby farm, raising various animals.

Debra Carney has been a West Whately resident since 1984. In addition to serving on Valley Neighbors' Board of Directors, she is the Chair of Whately's Zoning Board of Appeals and a Trustee of the S. White Dickinson Memorial Library in Whately.  She holds an MFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.  She taught writing at Smith College and in the Smith College School for Social Work and continues to work in faculty development at Smith.

Fran Fortino (President) is an instructor at the University of Massachusetts, and previously helped start the University Translation Center there.  He is also the long-serving chair of the Whately Board of Health and town solid waste management committee as well as an active gardener, hiker and kayaker

Larry Kuttner is the Information Technology Manager at the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, in Greenfield, Massachusetts.  He joined NESEA in 2017, following many years in corporate information technology. Prior to that, he worked as a photographer, journalist, and in broadcasting. He has a long history with non-profit organizations as a co-founder and board member of several grassroots community groups.

Ann F. Lomeli grew up in Whately and has a B.A. from Yale and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law.  She practiced law in Connecticut for 16 years, then joined Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company upon its merger with her then employer, Connecticut Mutual, ultimately becoming Senior Vice President, Co-General Counsel and Secretary. She also served for 15 years on the Board of Williston Northampton School.  After retiring from the practice of law, she returned to Whately.

Gale Mason is a retired Registered Nurse of 35 years, the last 20 years of which as a Nurse Practitioner.  She has served as a volunteer for Lifepath (Rides4Health, Classes in Chronic Disease management), Hospice of Franklin County, Sunderland Council on Aging, and Valley Neighbors.

Nancy Maynard (Secretary) holds a BA and MA from the University of Massachusetts. She served as Associate Director of Highland Valley Elder Services from 1997 to 2016, where she supervised all clinical programming Information and oversaw Referral, Home Care, Protective Services, Ombudsman, Nursing, Adult Family Care, and Quality Assurance. Retired in 2016, she currently volunteers for Lifepath - Development and Rides for Health Program and other organizations.