Some of New England’s best leaders in inclusion and equity and advocates of LGBTQ+ professionals make up the Pride in Our Workplace leadership team.
John Basile
Diversity Inclusion Leader and Executive Coach
PIOW President
(he/him/his)
John Basile brings over thirty years of human resources management expertise including his most recent role as Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Fidelity Investments. Throughout his career, John has led teams focused on talent acquisition, business unit HR support, talent management, organizational effectiveness, and employee engagement.
Matthew McTygue
Managing Partner, Boston Office of Locke Lord LLP
PIOW Assistant Secretary
PIOW Treasurer
(he/him/his)
Matt McTygue is the managing partner of Locke Lord’s Boston office and has practiced corporate law at the firm for more than 20 years. Matt also serves on the Executive Committee and as Secretary of the Boston Bar Association, where he previously served as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Section co-Chair. Matt is also a member of the board of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.
Wendell K. Chestnut
Market Manager, Senior Vice President at Bank of America
PIOW Board Member
(he/him/his)
Wendell K. Chestnut served as the first President of Pride In Our Workplace and currently serves as a Board Member. He is an avid champion for LGBTQ+ rights and works professionally and personally to ensure equality for all marginalized communities. He works with the PIOW Board to ensure a network is being created to support LGBTQ+ employees throughout the Commonwealth within their working environments as well as championing the PIOW mission!
Karen Young
Leadership, Business Strategy and Inclusion Consultant and Executive Coach
PIOW Board Member
(she/her/hers)
Karen Young leads a firm specializing in building inclusion capability as an innovative and strategic lever for business and professional results. Throughout her career, she has focused on understanding and improving the capability of individuals and organizations to understand themselves through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion, focus on progress, utilize their strengths and achieve results.
Ashley Hackett
Business Operations Coordinator at the City and County of Denver
PIOW Board Member
(she/her/hers)
Ashley Hackett is a Virginia native and graduate of James Madison University with a degree in Kinesiology. Her career began in nonprofit work as an AmeriCorps member with City Year, where she led corporate volunteers in transformative service. Before joining the City and County of Denver team, Ashley spent six years at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Foundation supporting their philanthropic efforts through community event planning and grant-making throughout New England.
Tori Kaufmann-Paulman
Senior Director Analyst at Gartner
PIOW Board Member
(they/them/theirs)
Tori Kaufmann-Paulman serves as a Senior Director Analyst at Gartner. Tori is a practitioner of Humanistic IT, a term they coined to describe an approach to Information Technology service providing that emphasizes the inclusion of each end user as a whole individual.
Colleen T. Simonelli
Chief People Officer at Wolf & Company, P.C.
PIOW Board Member
(she/her/hers)
Colleen T. Simonelli serves as Chief People Officer for Wolf and Company, one of the top regional certified public accounting firms in the Northeast, New York and New Jersey. She is responsible for the Firm’s people strategy and talent programs. Her duties aim to attract and inspire a diverse and inclusive culture where employees can share their passion and thrive in their careers.
Dimitri Makris
Branch Lead and Systems Engineer at Odyssey Systems
PIOW Board Member
(he/him/his)
Dimitri Makris is the Branch Lead and Systems Engineer for Odyssey Systems supporting the Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR) System at Hanscom AFB, MA. In this role, he leads a team supporting the government Program Office to support and sustain five radar systems across North American and Europe, providing early-warning detection and tracking of ballistic missiles and interceptors, as well as classification of space objects.
Jonathan Allen
Co-founder & Director of Philanthropy and Partnerships at Leadership Brainery
PIOW Board Member
(he/him/his)
Jonathan L. Allen is a champion for equity. He is Co-founder and Director of Philanthropy and Partnerships for Leadership Brainery, a Boston-based nonprofit fostering equity by providing diverse talent with opportunities to advance their education, build inclusive networks, and gain access to impactful high-wage careers. Jonathan is committed to public service and ran for Boston City Council in Fall 2019. In response to the pandemic, Jonathan worked at Partners in Health as a supervisor on the Community Contact Tracing Collaborative to develop protocols and train teams for equitable data collection.
Cheryl Katon
Vice President of Resource Development and Donor Engagement at Fenway Health
PIOW Board Member
(she/her/hers)
Cheryl Katon recently joined the Fenway Health team as Vice President of Resource Development and Donor Engagement. Prior to working at Fenway, Cheryl provided professional leadership for youth service non-profits, serving 30,000 youth annually through outdoor education and community parenting programs.
Bryan Vermes
Senior Manager, Employee Experience & Social Impact at Mimecast
PIOW Board Member
(he/him/his)
Bryan Vermes serves as the Global Senior Manager of Employee Experience and Social Impact at Mimecast, a cybersecurity company based out of Lexington, MA. His areas of responsibility include the management of corporate social responsibility partnerships, employee communications strategy, and organizational culture. Bryan is the Chair of the PRIDE (LGBTQ+) Employee Resource Group.
Katie Martell
Marketing & Communications Consultant
PIOW Board Member
(she/her/hers)
Katie Martell is an unapologetic marketing truth-teller. As marketing evolves in a digital age, she partners with brands to amplify stories of transformation and trends in customer experience. You may see her hosting Experience TV, a live show about the experience economy in partnership with Oracle, or hosting the annual Adobe Experience Maker Awards gala event. She is the author and producer of Woke-Washed, a book and documentary exploring the collision of marketing and social movements, and the author of Trust Me, B2B a short book about building long-term trust through marketing.
Emma Callahan
Strategic Initiatives Project Analyst at Suffolk Construction
PIOW Board Member
(she/her/hers)
Emma Callahan is a founding member and co-captain of Build Pride, Suffolk Construction’s business resource group. Build Pride’s mission is to provide a platform of awareness supporting the voice and professional growth of the Suffolk LGBTQ+ community and continue to foster an environment of inclusion and safety. Build Pride advises the business on policies and practices affecting the LGBTQ+ community and promotes continuous education and cultural awareness.
