Navigating Life's Challenges

Board of Directors

The Maps Board of Directors is an integral part of the daily operation of Maps Counseling Services. Due to our size, Maps does not have administrative positions for finance, marketing, human services or other roles that many agencies take for granted. Instead, these tasks are the responsibility of board members in partnership with our Executive Director. For example, our Board Treasurer works closely with our Executive Director to help prepare our annual budget, and with our office manager to produce monthly financial reports. The chair of our Board Marketing Committee guides all of our marketing efforts, fundraising and our annual newsletter. This is a very “hand’s on” board that plays an integral part in our operations. Currently, Maps’ Board meetings are held every month on the fourth Tuesday of the month from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM.

The Maps Board has several committees in which board members may participate. Each committee meets on a fairly regular basis. Our committees are:

  • Executive Committee
  • Finance Committee
  • Fundraising Committee
  • Marketing Committee
  • Personnel Committee
  • Quality Assurance Committee

Maps currently has the following board members:

David Meader, Board Chairman

David Meader was born in Keene and attended local schools. After earning a degree in political science, he ended up with a career in retail sales. In the late 1970’s David started his involvement in local politics by winning an election to the Keene city council, eventually serving for 17 years. In addition, David was elected for nine terms in the New Hampshire legislature. Now retired, he is on the board of two non-profits. David expresses that having had close friends and colleagues experiencing mental health challenges, dedication to the goal of improving and expanding the services they can receive, both locally and statewide, is a top priority for him.

Carl Allen, Board Vice Chairman

With 50 years of experience, Mr. Allen has dedicated his career to college administration, housing, rural community service and helping the underserved.  After nine years of working in the collegiate residential life sector ending as the director of residential life at Keene State College, Mr. Allen began his 26-year career at RCAP Solutions as Director of Rental Assistance and through a series of promotions ended his career as Executive Vice President, responsible for a staff of about seventy employees and supervision of the Directors of all the mission related programs.  After his retirement in 2008, Mr. Allen took a part time position as a management specialist with Keene Housing which he currently holds.  This has given him an opportunity to lend his skills and experience to this nationally recognized leader in housing. He is a former board member of the National Rural Community Assistance Partnership, past member and president of the Massachusetts Rural Development Council, past president of the Regional Housing Network of Massachusetts, and a past board member of the Housing Information Center and is the past club president and active member of the Keene Kiwanis Club.  He has served on the Club’s board of directors, as well as chairing the community services committee and as a member of the membership committee. He is an active member of the United Church of Christ in Keene, NH, as a member and current chair of the church council, past ministry coordinator, and has served on several other committees including the executive committee of two capital campaigns that have raised over 2.3 million dollars between them. He also plays handbells and sings in the choir.  He has been a member of the Keene Pops Choir for 40 years.  Mr. Allen has respected and admired the work of Maps Counseling Services for many years.  He is honored to serve on its Board of Directors. Mr. Allen holds a B.A. in History from Bloomfield College, a M.Ed. in Counseling with an emphasis in College Student Personnel Administration from The Pennsylvania State University and has completed doctoral course work in educational administration at Michigan State University.

Michael N. Kapiloff, Board Treasurer

Mike was born and raised in Keene NH and is the owner of Kapiloff Insurance Agency, Inc., an independent insurance agency in Keene NH, where he has worked for 40 years. A graduate of Northeastern University with a degree in Finance and Insurance, his professional designations include Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Certified Life Underwriter (CLU), and Chartered Financial Consultant (CHFC). Mike is currently a member of Cheshire Medical Center’s Board of Directors and past president and board member of Congregation Ahavas Achim in Keene. He resides in Keene with his wife Tricia and is blessed with two children and two grandchildren. Mike is fortunate to work alongside his son Alex and daughter-in-law Sarah.

Marylouise Alther, Board Secretary

Marylouise Alther is the Secretary of the Maps Board. She lives in Keene with her husband and grandson, 2 cats and 1 dog.  Before she retired, Marylouise worked with Hospice as a grief counselor and volunteer director. At one point she also worked as the Director of Volunteers at Cheshire Medical Center. For fun, Marylouise enjoys being a member of the Super Seniors dance group at MOCO and playing the drums in the Monadnock New Horizons Band.  Additionally, Marylouise loves baking, gardening, reading, music, parties and especially attending parties with family and friends.

Becky Barrett, Board Member

Becky was born and raised in Keene, NH.  She attended Keene High School and graduated from University of Vermont in 1977 with a BS in Physical Therapy.  She worked in several states in the northeast before returning to the Keene area.  She worked at Cedarcrest and then Rise for baby and family for 26 years, retiring in 2020. At Rise, Becky worked with some of the most vulnerable families in the area.  Her job went far beyond providing physical therapy for the children, as she also supported and assisted families in seeking out the resources they needed to thrive.  Becky joined the Maps board in 2020.  Having lived here most of her life, Becky is well connected to the community through church and other social activities.  When she is not busy with a church, Maps or family/friend activity, she can be found outdoors skiing, golfing, hiking, biking or ice/rock climbing!

Daniel Aronson, Board Member

Rabbi Dan is the spiritual leader of Congregation Ahavas Achim in Keene. His passions for social justice and recognizing the innate worth of all human beings find expression in his participation on the Maps board of directors, the Cheshire Medical Center ethics committee, and the City of Keene Human Rights Committee, in addition to the work he does with his beautiful congregation. Dan brings to the Maps’ board extensive experience in pastoral care to the aged, infirm, and bereaved, having completed a residency in Clinical Pastoral Education at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, and having specialized in geriatric chaplaincy while in rabbinical school. As a consumer of psychological counseling and a staunch advocate for accessible mental health care, Dan shares Maps’ commitment to providing quality care to all who are in need. Dan serves on the center’s diversity, equity, and inclusion committee as well as the finance committee. Family is at the center of Dan’s life; his wife is a psychologist, and he has two children, one adult and one teen. The Aronsons share their lives with two geckoes, two cats and a dog who can’t get enough of the outdoors.

Sofia Cunha-Vasconcelos, Board Member

Sofia has been a Board Member for Maps since May of 2019. She is a Family Lawyer in Keene.  She graduated from UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law in 2021, which she attended after leaving a career in engineering.  She received her undergrad degree in physics from Smith College.  Having Grown up in Cambridge MA, Sofia made Keene her home in 2008.  Sofia also currently serves as the chair of the Human Rights Committee for the City of Keene, as well as being a member of the City’s Historic District Commission.

Athari Alyazidi, Board Member

Dr. Athari M. Alyazidi, is the Medical Director to the Behavioral Health Services clinics in New Bedford, Fall River, Hyannis and Harwichport.  She received her Medical Degree from King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. She served as a fellow in: Geriatric Psychiatry in Lebanon, NH, Addiction Psychiatry in Tampa, FL. and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in Boston MA. Dr. Alyazidi is a member of the American Psychiatric Association, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, and the Massachusetts Medical Society.

Kelly Lynch, Board Member

Kelly Lynch grew up in Keene in a neighborhood surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins, and good neighbors. She graduated from Syracuse University with a BFA in illustration and design and has worked as a graphic designer for over 25 years. She art directs, designs identities, visual branding, campaigns, books and events, products and experiences all driven by unique narratives for national and international clients. She has worked with well known and diverse brands such as EILEEN FISHER, Pentagram, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Putumayo World Music, and J. Walter Thompson in New York, as well as a cutting-edge marketing firm in Amsterdam and a boutique design studio in Paris. Currently Kelly is a Creative Director at Workman Publishing, part of Hachette Book Group. She is also an author with her first non-fiction book due to be released in the autumn of 2024, published by Storey Publishing and a second book published by Workman Publishing will be out in the autumn of 2025.

 

Maps board members have been active partners in many of the changes Maps has accomplished and in several important projects. These include website development, planning our Annual Meeting events, Fundraising Events such as our Wellness Festival, community outreach activities, strategic planning retreats, marketing and newsletter development, recruitment efforts, annual budgets and financial reports, a new brand audit, and grant writing.

Maps is seeking additional board members to help us continue our mission. We seek individuals who share our commitment to supporting affordable mental health care, who appreciate the unique spiritual perspective that Maps brings, and who want to belong to a board where they can be an active part of directing our future. We welcome all inquiries and are especially interested in finding board members with connections to the social services, to medical services, legal services, and with experience in finance, recruitment, fundraising, grants, capital campaigns, and construction or architecture.

Would you like to be a part of our mission and join the Maps Board of Directors? For an information packet about Maps and to initiate a meeting with our board, please email us at Office@mapsnh.org or call our Executive Director, Gina Pasquale, PsyD, at (603)355-2244, Ext. 8315.