Board of Directors

BOARD OFFICERS

Lauren Coughlin Unsworth

Lauren Unsworth is the Office Manager and Senior Executive Assistant at Bessemer Venture Partners in Cambridge.  She is the Co-President of the J.R. Lowell School PTO and Vice President of Nuova Associazione San Donato, a local organization committed to maintaining connections between Italian immigrants and their homeland of San Donato, V.C., Italy. Lauren is also on the annual Watertown Unity Breakfast Planning Committee.  She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Assumption College and Master’s degree from Regis College.  Lauren is a lifelong resident of Watertown where she resides with her husband and two sons who attend Watertown Public Schools.

Mary Ann Mulligan

Mary Ann Mulligan is a partner and co-owner of the Boston-based lobbying firm, Governmental Strategies, Inc with over 30 years of experience providing lobbying, public policy and legislative consulting services to her clients spanning the spectrum of health care, human services, homelessness prevention and affordable housing. For over a decade, Mary Ann and her family have joined forces with their neighbors to co-host an annual neighborhood block party with funds raised for the Watertown food pantries. She has lived in Watertown for 25 years with her husband and their two college-aged children who attended Watertown Public Schools from kindergarten through high school.  

BOARD MEMBERS

Nathalie Highland

Nathalie Highland is Senior Director of Donor Engagement and Events at Environmental Defense Fund. Previously, she worked for twenty-five years at the Union of Concerned Scientists, most recently as Deputy Director of Development. Her work focuses on fundraising, strategic planning, board development and management, and creating connections and community. She served on the board of the Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge for eight years, including five years as president. She holds a master’s and PhD in Theatre from Bowling Green State University. As Watertown residents since 2009, she and her husband are raising two children who attend Watertown Public Schools.

BOARD MEMBERS

BOARD MEMBERS

Leah Pennino

Leah Pennino is the Vice President of Marketing and Communications at YouthBuild Global, the headquarters for more than 320 YouthBuild programs around the world. Leah brings 25 years of marketing and communications experience with a diverse background in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. She previously held positions at Suffolk Construction, The Princeton Review, Lois Paul & Partners, and GBH-TV, where she oversaw publicity for the Emmy Award-winning series This Old House and 11 other national TV brands. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a graduate certificate in public relations from Emerson College. A resident of Watertown for 20 years, Leah lives with her husband and two children who attend Watertown Public Schools.

Lora Sabin

Lora Sabin is an Associate Professor at Boston University’s School of Public Health, where she teaches in master’s degree and doctoral courses, directs a certificate on program management, and conducts applied research on infectious diseases, maternal health, and child survival in low-resource settings. She is a former Board member of the Watertown Children’s Theatre, Watertown Youth Soccer, and Palfrey Pre-school. Lora has lived in Watertown since 1994 with her husband, Jon Hecht, and has four children who attended the public schools in Watertown.

Bob Shay

Bob Shay is the former Director of Electronic Banking at BayBank and Bank of Boston.  He is currently Chairman of the Board of Trustees of First Parish Church of Watertown, a member of the Executive Committee Boston SCORES, and serves on the boards of the Marshall Home Foundation and the Woodson Foundation.  He is a former member of the board of the Arsenal Center for the Arts, and past Chairman of the Watertown School Committee, America SCORES New England, and the Parish Committee of First Parish Church.   

BOARD MEMBERS

David Siegel

David Siegel is a Professor of Law at New England Law | Boston, where he teaches criminal justice-related courses and directs the Center for Law and Social Responsibility, which develops opportunities for public interest legal work by students and faculty. He co-chaired the Hosmer and Middle School Site Councils and was a citizen member of the Watertown Charter Review Commission.  Both his children attended Watertown’s public schools from kindergarten through graduation at the Watertown High School.