Board Chairperson

Yesenia is a local artist and worker in healthcare for people experiencing homelessness in the Greater Boston area. They have experience providing direct service to immigrants who are victims of crimes, as well as people experiencing homelessness who may also have Substance Use Disorders (SUDs), behavioral health diagnoses, and/or complex health needs. They are currently a program director of Trangender Services at a federally qualified health care center. Yesenia has acquired specialized community-oriented intervention skills and restorative frameworks from their professional and volunteer roles.

Board Treasurer

I have been in the mental health field for over 30 years and have been fortunate enough to have had opportunities to provide evidence-based practice care to individuals, groups and families through community based mental health services. I worked as a Family Stabilization Clinician for several years at North Suffolk Mental Health and eventually became a supervisor and manager of Home-Based Programs, which consisted of DMH, DCF and MassHealth funded, home-based, family systems, trauma informed, wraparound service, designed to keep families together and children out of psychiatric hospitals. At North Suffolk, I also oversaw their outpatient Child and Family Clinics located in Chelsea, East Boston and Revere.

Child and Family Services at North Suffolk included outpatient, school-based, home-based and child psychiatry. After over 20 years at North Suffolk, I worked as the Clinic Director of Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC, since merged with Eliot Community Human Services) doing similar work in the communities of Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain.

Following that, I began working at Boston University School of Social Work as an Advisor, which I continue to do each academic year. I recently accepted a full-time position at Commonwealth Care Alliance as a Manager for Behavioral Health Clinical Care.

Board Secretary

Ellen has extensive experience working as a paralegal, legal assistant, and investigator. She has worked in the corporate legal department of two Fortune 500 companies. She has contributed her expertise to several non-profit organizations over the past 20 years.

Board Director

Dr. Barkoudah is currently the System Chief at Baystate Health and the Regional Chief Medical Officer/ Chief Quality Officer. Dr. Barkoudah’s research interest lies in clinical research outcomes, and his work focuses on quality improvement and clinical innovation. He currently serves on several clinical innovation committees regionally and nationally. Dr. Barkoudah is a graduate of Harvard School of Public Health, Damascus University, and St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford, along with admin training at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Global Management Program at Yale, and the completion of the Executive Management Track at Harvard Business School and the Business School at the University of Oxford. Dr. Barkoudah previously held leadership roles at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Mass General Brigham, and Harvard Medical School. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Board Director

Christopher maintains a general civil litigation practice representing businesses, non-profit entities and professionals involved in contract disputes, employment issues, regulatory matters and property taxation. Chris's practice also includes real estate, land use and construction litigation, representing real estate brokers, developers and contractors when disputes arise out of transactions, property development or construction contracts. He has handled trials and appeals in state and federal courts in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and has extensive experience in arbitration and mediation.

He has advised several non-profit organizations pro bono with respect to their affordable housing programs and the land use issues that arise out of them, including an artist cooperative involved in a major affordable housing/artist work-space development in Boston.

Board Director

Mike is an experienced professional in the pharmaceutical industry specializing in operations and strategy in cell and gene therapies. He has a bachelor's degree in biology from Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont. Mike also has a master's degree in biology from Tufts University and is completing his Masters in Business Administration from Boston University in May 2024. He is passionate about mental health access, his community, and baseball.

Board Director

Olga Voytenko serves as the Head of Operational Resilience at Forbright Bank. Ms. Voytenko brings two decades of financial and non-financial risk management experience.

Most recently, she led several global enterprise programs, including Operational Resilience, Business Continuity Management, Crisis and Incident Management, Operational Risk, and Third-Party Risk Management for complex global and regional financial institutions. Before that, Ms. Voytenko served as the vice president, leading liquidity risk and resolution recovery planning teams. She also managed investment finance operations and financial reporting teams. Ms. Voytenko started her career as an auditor overseeing operational risks.

Olga is energized by her proven track record of building sustainable programs and a passion for driving transformative risk management practices in the ever-evolving regulatory landscape. Olga holds a Master of Science in Business Administration from Suffolk University and a Bachelor of Science from Boston University.

Board Director

Jennifer Williams currently serves as Action for Boston Community Development, Inc.'s (ABCD's) General Counsel, where she focuses on compliance, grant administration, employee/employer relations and policy development, amongst other matters. Prior to joining ABCD, Jennifer worked for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Jennifer started with HHS as a Presidential Management Fellow with the Administration of Children and Families, working on Head Start grants. In 2015, Jennifer transitioned to working for HHS’s Office of the General Counsel and litigated Medicare, Medicaid, Federally Qualified Health Center, and employment law matters and provided advice and technical assistance to HHS’s programmatic staff. Jennifer graduated Magna Cum Laude from DePaul University College of Law in 2012 with a Certificate in International and Comparative Law and was a member of the Order of the Coif. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts.

Social Media Coordinator

Meredith has her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Wheaton College, MA. She has been with NCCS since January of 2022, primarily running our social media pages, website, and newsletter. She has also helped organize a fundraiser, apply for grants, and does various other tasks to help out the organization. Meredith is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Vermont.

Administrative Volunteer

Shirley has extensive experience working in customer service in a variety of industries. She is known for her excellent organizational skills and professional approach to administrative tasks. She has volunteered for a number of non-profit organizations, including AIDS Action.

Social Media Volunteer

As the founder and owner of Body by Mirabella Day Spa, as well as Designs by Mirabella, Maria has extensive design, website development, advertising, and marketing experience, in addition to a strong management and customer service background. Maria also works behind the scenes for Mirabella Magazine, a beauty industry publication.