Beacon Hill Village Expands Board

New Beacon Hill Village board members are (from left) Doug Fitzsimmons, Karen Garvin, Joanne Cooper and Murray Frank.

New Beacon Hill Village board members are (from left) Doug Fitzsimmons, Karen Garvin, Joanne Cooper and Murray Frank.

Four downtown residents recently joined Beacon Hill Village’s board of directors, expanding the number of board members to 17.

West End resident Joanne Cooper is a retired geriatric social worker and nursing home administrator. In 1979 she co-founded the Geriatric Resource Center, a private consulting service and home care agency. She has volunteered for many organizations, including the Museum of Science, the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and the Doric Docents, where she conducted tours of the State House, served on the board and edited their monthly newsletter. She joined Beacon Hill Village in 2012 and is active in several committees, including serving as vice chair of the Membership Committee.

Doug Fitzsimmons moved to Beacon Hill in 2012 with his wife Judy after living many years in Cambridge. He is retired from the Mobil Corporation, where he held HR managerial roles in New York, Libya, Ghana, Nigeria, London and Fairfax, Virginia. Doug has served on the boards of Cornell’s School of Advanced Human Resources Studies, the American International School in Lagos, Nigeria, the American School in London, the Cathedral Choral Society at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., the Beacon Hill Seminars and The Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge.

Murray Frank is a resident of Boston’s South End. He grew up in the Bronx, served in the army and attended New York University on the GI Bill. He then earned a social work degree from Columbia University and did stints as a community organizer in Brockton, MA and Chicago. Murray worked for the Peace Corps for four years—three of those in Nigeria. He then earned a Ph.D. in social policy from the Heller School at Brandeis University, taught at Rutgers University, and worked for the public employees’ union in New York. Murray completed his work life at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where he was Director of the Center for Social Policy. He is the chair of the Village’s Member Services Committee.

Karen Garvin, a Beacon Hill resident for 45 years, has had a career in facilities management and real estate, with more than 30 years experience in strategic planning, design services, strategic sourcing, and project management for State Street Corporation. She earned her B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Certification in Bank Operations from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Karen is active in the International Facilities Management Association, and has served as treasurer and a board member for Beacon Hill Seminars. She also serves on the Women for UMass Amherst Development Steering Committee. She is a member of Beacon Hill Village’s Program Committee.

These four new members will join other board members John Besser, Sally Brewster, Hal Carroll, Kitty Flather, Matt Liang, Susan McWhinney-Morse, Frank Mead, Marion Nierintz, Atheline Nixon, Betsy Peterson, Donna Petro, Stephen Roop, and Dan Taylor.

“I am delighted and honored to be on the Village board,” said Murray Frank. “The Village has been very good for me. I have taken advantage of much it offers. Now I have a chance to give back. It feels good.”

Beacon Hill Village is a member-driven organization for Boston residents 50 and over, and provides programs and services so members can lead vibrant, active and healthy lives, while living in their own homes and neighborhoods.

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