Board of Directors
MATT PRITCHARD
PRESIDENT
Matt Pritchard is the President and Executive Director of HomeStart. Matt’s commitment of serving Greater Boston’s most vulnerable neighbors began in the late 90’s when, while leading the social enterprises and training programs within a Boston-based homeless shelter, Matt moved into the bunks of the shelter for 12 months to better understand the path and challenges associated with homelessness. Since that time, Matt has worked in leadership and operational roles within the social sector with a focus on social innovation and scaling social impact. "
“HomeStart is the most proficient organization in New England at placing and stabilizing homeless families and individuals into permanent housing, and our innovative work in preventing homelessness is stunning. HomeStart’s unique, three-prong approach of prevention, housing placement, and stabilization is showing that a net-negative growth rate of homelessness is possible. We are on the path to permanently end homelessness, and that work could not be more thrilling!”
Prior to joining HomeStart, Matt served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Victory Programs, Inc., a Boston-based nonprofit organization with 18 programs dedicated to helping homeless individuals and families with varying disabilities and chronic health issues. Matt also worked with REDF, a San Francisco-based venture philanthropist that launches social-cause business ventures, a Cambridge, MA-based family foundation where he led consulting engagements with clients across the arenas of homeless services, education, and community organizing, and Youth Villages, an innovative child welfare organization that strengthens youth who are aging out of the foster care system and restores families who are otherwise likely to be disrupted by residential treatment.
Matt holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Business from Wheaton College (IL) and an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. He lives with his family in Quincy, MA, and is involved in foster care advocacy as well as supporting social entrepreneurs in Boston and various other community building activities, including consulting to a Social Innovation Award recipient with Root Cause’s Social Innovation Forum.
KENAN BIGBY
BOARD CHAIR
Kenan Bigby is a Managing Director at Trinity Financial. Working with the Housing Authority of the City of Newport, he successfully developed 299 units of mixed-income housing on the former campus of the distressed Tonomy Hill public housing development. Kenan’s experience also includes the Trinity Terrace project in the Four Corners neighborhood of Dorchester, MA. He successfully structured a complex financing package for the construction of 62 affordable units while conducting an extensive community outreach process."
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Prior to joining Trinity, Kenan worked in the field of affordable housing development and management. He has worked with various Boston area non-profit organizations where his responsibilities included the management of several supported housing programs as well as property oversight ensuring compliance with state and federal housing quality standards.
MARY MAHONEY
BOARD VICE–CHAIR
Mary is the former Senior Vice President, General Counsel at Tufts Health Plan, a nonprofit managed care company in the Boston area. Since joining Tufts Health Plan in 1995, Mary has served as counsel to numerous areas of the company. She was previously deputy general counsel, responsible for the day-to-day management of the legal department and all its functions. Along with her responsibilities for all legal issues involving the company, Mary provides legal guidance to the company’s board of directors and management on corporate governance and transactions, and financial and tax matters, and oversees the fraud prevention and recovery unit and the compliance department.
Mary received her J.D. from the University of San Francisco and her B.S. in nursing and philosophy from the University of Scranton, where she was a graduate of the Special Jesuit Liberal Arts Honors Program. Mary also previously served as a director and board chair of A Place To Turn, an emergency food pantry that serves the Metrowest region of Boston. Mary was introduced to the great work of HomeStart many years ago through the Winter Walk, from Sherborn to Holliston. “I am excited bring the skills and experience from working with A Place To Turn and as counsel to a nonprofit to HomeStart. HomeStart is a wonderful organization which changes lives every day, and is poised to really solve the problem of homelessness.”
MATTHEW GOTTESDIENER
TREASURER
Matthew directs all aspects of Northland’s investment activity including acquisitions, dispositions and financings, and plays a leading role in setting and monitoring the company’s vision and strategy. He is also responsible for overseeing fund-level risk management and pursuing new business development, including capital formation and strategic partnerships."
Since joining Northland, Matthew has been responsible for the acquisition of 5,300 units, the disposition of 3,330 units, and the financing of over 50 properties, totaling more than $3 billion in capital events.
Matthew is a full member of the Urban Land Institute, where he serves on ULI’s Multi-Family Blue Product Council, and is a Board Member of the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC). Matthew also serves as a member of the Board of Directors at Homestart, a not-for-profit that provides a comprehensive system of housing search, support, and stabilization services to the homeless and indigent in the Greater Boston area.
Prior to joining Northland, Matthew worked at Goldman Sachs, where he developed and employed volatility trading strategies for the firm’s high net worth and family office client base. In his role, he was also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Corporate Derivatives trading book, executing and hedging over $40 billion in transactions with more than twenty Fortune 100 companies.
MARIANNE AJEMIAN
CLERK
Marianne Ajemian is a partner at Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP in the Real Estate and Finance Department. Her practice is focused on the representation of clients locally and nationally in complex transactional matters. She represents financing institutions, real estate investment funds, developers, real estate investors and advisors, pension fund advisors and their institutional investors, REITs, healthcare and senior housing companies, and nonprofit institutions.
WILLIAM BOYNTON
William Boynton is Senior Vice President for Morgan Stanley. After fifteen years as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the New England Region of the American Diabetes Association, Bill was looking for a new organization to become involved with. That’s where HomeStart came in. Initially, Bill discovered HomeStart while working out at Fitness International. He saw signs for HomeStart’s annual ICycle event and immediately loved the concept and signed up. Bill believes HomeStart is one of the few organizations that could realistically end homelessness."
Bill has been on the board for the past 9 years, and is a strong asset to the organization. As a member of the Development Committee he leads HomeStart’s fundraising efforts in expanding HomeStart’s collaboration with the private sector.
“I’m a strong believer in giving back, that’s one of my strongest passions, to give back to society, and this is one of the best ways for me to do so, because I truly believe in [HomeStart’s] mission.”
DAVID MORSE
David Morse retired from Fidelity Investment in 2021 after 25 years of service where he served in a number of positions including President of Fidelity Management Trust Company, Chief Compliance Officer, and Chief Ethics Officer. Among other responsibilities at Fidelity, David was the Executive Sponsor of Fidelity's Boston ASPIRE (black and Latino) Employee resource group where he co-facilitated and co-led Fidelity's Boston diversity, equity, and inclusion priorities.
A native of Boston, David is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University and is involved in a number of Boston-based charities. "I jumped at the chance to join the HomeStart Board because of the unique impact opportunity to dramatically reduce homelessness in Massachusetts and beyond.
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JOHN STADTLER
John is a senior partner in PwC’s Financial Services Industry group with 30+ years of experience in Financial Services, working with asset managers, banks and insurance companies. He has served as PwC's Global Relationship Partner (responsible for all aspects of engagement delivery and service) on some of their largest asset management clients and banks. His areas of expertise include SEC assurance, regulatory matters, financial reporting, corporate strategy, product management, and service provider operations."
John is a graduate of Villanova University and he, his wife and two children live outside Boston, Massachusetts. John is a frequent speaker at industry events and is an active board member of HomeStart and as well as, the American Red Cross (in Massachusetts where he is the board chair), the New England Council and other local community boards.
KEVIN STONE
Kevin Stone is a Director with CrossHarbor Capital Partners LLC, responsible for facilitating debt financing and managing lender relationships for CrossHarbor’s transactions and investment vehicles. Prior to joining CrossHarbor, Kevin was a Vice President with KeyBank Real Estate Capital. Since joining KeyBank in 2007, Mr. Stone amassed expansive real estate experience from his work across a wide variety of business units, such as healthcare real estate finance, real estate market research, and asset recovery.
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Kevin received a BA in Economics from Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a Board Director of the Real Estate Finance Association (“REFA”), serving as the Co-Chair of REFA’s Mentor Program. He is a former trustee of the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, and also previously served as the President of Minds Matter of Cleveland.
MARI VAZQUEZ
Mari Vazquez is an artist, instructor, and small business owner. As the founder of Arty Mari and MBFUN, she encourages bold, joyful creativity through instructional painting, face painting, and maternity painting, as well as creating window art, resin sculpture, custom apparel, and more. In her own words, “HomeStart is close to my heart because without them I wouldn’t be where I am today. 11 Years ago I was homeless, and Homestart gave me the opportunity to get back on my feet. Now I’m a board Member, have my own house, and started my own business! Thank you.”
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Tina Zhang is a resident physician at Boston Medical Center, the largest safety net hospital in New England. She cares for patients in both the inpatient and outpatient settings, and she strives to deliver quality healthcare with a biopsychosocial perspective. Tina frequently navigates social determinants of health when working with some of Boston’s most vulnerable patients. Her research has focused on the effect of stable housing on healthcare utilization and health outcomes, as well as improving representation of minority populations in research.
Tina graduated from Bowdoin College and Boston University School of Medicine. Prior to medical school, Tina served as a HomeStart housing advocate for veterans. She has a long history of engagement in community service and first became involved with HomeStart as a volunteer. Through working at HomeStart, she gained a much better understanding of the cycle of poverty and the challenges around maintaining stable housing in the Boston area, and this continues to inform her work. She is excited for this opportunity to continue working with HomeStart and furthering its mission of assisting people with finding and sustaining stable housing.
TINA ZHANG
Susan Zimmerman is a Managing Director at Boston Financial Management; an independent Wealth Management firm. Susan is involved in the strategic direction of the firm and works with individuals and families to develop and execute wealth planning and investment strategies. She serves as a Trustee on several client trusts and is a member of the firm’s Corporate Trustee subsidiary, Boston Fiduciary Services, LLC."
Susan was first introduced to HomeStart by Nancy Ludwig and after attending HomeStart’s Gala as her guest and she knew it was time to get involved. “The message delivered that evening was powerful---here was an organization that has an ability to make a difference; an
organization that has made major inroads in preventing homelessness yet I knew so little about HomeStart before that evening”
She joined the Board in 2018 and currently serves on the Development and Finance
Committees. Prior to HomeStart she was an active Board member and served as Chairman of the Board of the National Kidney Foundation of New England.
SUSAN ZIMMERMAN