Timothy Alexander has been the bookkeeper for Spark Newton since June 2022; he is also bookkeeper for two other small firms in the Metrowest area. In addition, he is a busy orchestra member, playing the violin in the New England Philharmonic and the Brookline Symphony for many years. He has also assisted both orchestras with grant writing and other management. He is a current member of the Framingham Cultural Council, a role that has provided him with experience making grants to arts organizations. Tim hopes to be able to keep adding to his involvement with Spark Newton going forward.

Gloria Gavris, current chair of Spark Newton and past Chair of the City of Newton Community Design for Arts and Culture Committee, which published the 2020 CREATENewton Arts & Culture Strategic Plan. She is a longtime involved Newton resident and passionate advocate for the role arts programming plays in connecting our community. She is a lawyer and has served over the years as a Newton Licensing Commissioner, PR&C Commissioner, and member of the Economic Development Commission. She is past chair of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Boston and past chair and current board member of the West Suburban YWCA. View LinkedIn profile

Emily O’Neil is Executive Director of the Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation and past Executive Director of the New Art Center from 2019 – 2025. Emily brings to the Spark Newton board more than a decade of strategic planning, program, community building, and grant-making experience in the arts and culture nonprofit sector. Past professional experience includes positions at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in Cambridge and Executive Director of the Fort Point Arts Community in South Boston.

Mark Ravera is a tax advisor for real estate and venture capital. He advises countless real estate and venture capital clients on business planning as well as tax strategy. Giving back to the community is something Mark values. Mark serves on the Board of Directors of B’nai Brith Housing New England, which develops senior and affordable housing in Greater Boston, and is an active member in his temple where he serves on various committees. Mark and his wife, Shira, live in Newton with their 3 daughters and dog, Goldie. He enjoys cheering on his daughters at dance competitions, and being outside running, biking and playing an occasional pickup game of basketball.

Marina Berga was a Senior Accountant at Family ACCESS of Newton, where she brought strategic financial leadership to a $4M operating budget. With a Master of Science in Finance from Brandeis University and over a decade of experience in nonprofit and financial accounting, Marina specializes in budget analysis, financial forecasting, and process automation. She leverages tools like Power BI, SQL, and advanced Excel to streamline reporting and improve financial visibility, and has a track record of reducing costs and increasing efficiency across the organizations she’s served — including Wellesley Village Church, Friends of Arava Institute, and Bank of New York Mellon. Marina lives in Needham, MA.

Janet Porcaro is a trusted and community‑rooted Newton Realtor®, known for pairing deep local expertise with cutting‑edge technology and a genuine passion for helping people. Janet grew up driving around in the family station wagon looking at houses with her sister who is now also in real estate! She is passionate about her Newton community and is Co-founder of OurNewton.org, a community network that has promoted news and events in Newton since 2009.

Sue Chapman is the vice president of community relations for The Village Bank, headquartered in Newton. She has been with the bank for more than six years, first in a business development role and then transitioning to community endeavors. Sue worked with Susan Paley until her retirement in 2024 and now oversees the bank’s community relations function. She has built and maintained relationships with countless non-profits in Newton, Wayland and Waltham, and excels as an ambassador for The Village Bank and advocate for its communities. Sue has participated on the bank’s DE&I committee since its inception in 2021. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Saint Michael’s College.

Ingrid Chiemi Schroffner is a local chanteuse originally from Hawaii and has lived in Newton for over 25 years. She performs her music around various small venues and has published five books of her song lyrics that benefit nonprofits. The books are available at Newtonville Books as well as online. Ingrid has over 30 years of experience as a lawyer and is currently the Senior Associate Attorney at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School Office of Management advising on issues including Privacy and Compliance. Dedicated to expanding horizons and promoting diversity, empathy and connectivity, she has also served on and been co-chair of various other nonprofit boards, including Asian Women For Health. Ingrid is excited about the art and creativity that Spark Newton integrates into the local community and looks forward to helping further those efforts. She hopes that folks find beauty and joy in her work and believes that music should be a regular part of everyday life.

Amy Dain is a Senior Fellow at Boston Indicators. Amy is a leading expert on zoning policy, land use reform, and housing in Massachusetts. She is known for translating complex zoning issues into accessible insights for policymakers, advocates, and the public.  Her in-depth reports, such as Exclusionary By Design and The State of Zoning for Multi-Family Housing, have reached wide audiences. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and other events, and her work is frequently cited in the media. Amy is the author of the Upzone Update, a newsletter produced by Boston Indicators. Amy has worked in house, as a consultant, and in collaboration with many Massachusetts-based think tanks and academic institutions. While her primary focus has been on urbanist issues, she has also worked on issues of public management and environmental policy. She earned her Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a BA in Russian Studies from Wesleyan University. For several years, she has been on a tour of downtowns and centers across Massachusetts.

Barbara Darnell is a longtime member of the Spark Newton board, taking a leadership role in our beautification initiatives around the city.  She is the Hyde Community Center Head Gardener and a board member of the Newton Tree Conservancy and an appointed member of the Urban Tree Commission, as well as an elected member of the Newton Highlands Area Council.  Professionally, she is a sales & marketing consultant in the photonics industry and a board member of the NESOSA, a photonics industry professional society. The NESOSA has a deep commitment to STEM education and in that capacity, Barbara has participated in the Newton Free Library’s STEAM Expo, which aims to interest children and their families in science and science careers.

Phillip Dawes is a leadership consultant in Spencer Stuart’s Boston office and a member of its Healthcare Practice, helping to recruit board, CEO, and other C-Suite executives on behalf of healthcare corporations internationally.  Phil has nearly 20 years of experience in healthcare operations, and in addition to work in the local healthcare community, he has volunteered with Community Consulting Teams Boston, which provides pro bono management consulting to Boston-area nonprofits.

Linda de Valpine is a retail professional with more than 35 years of experience in both retail and wholesale environments. In 2014, she opened Greentail Table, a tableware and gift shop, in Newton, to pursue her dream of retail entrepreneurship. Greentail Table was honored to be awarded Best of Boston 2019 and Best of Boston Home 2025. For over 10 years, Linda has served as a business representative on the board of the Nonantum Neighborhood Association and as a member of the Charles River Regional Chamber. She also currently serves as the co-chair of the Retail Collaborative, a working forum of the Chamber’s Retail Committee. She’s excited to bring her deep knowledge of our community to support the arts and culture programming we do at Spark Newton.

Margo Ezekiel spent 40 years in the tech world before pursuing her lifelong dream of being an artist. In 2021, a friend introduced her to Gelli plate printing, and she’s been hooked ever since. In her past life as a User Interface Designer, she led teams, solved complex problems, and designed products with the end user in mind. Now, she’s eager to bring all of these experiences – creative, technical, collaborative – to Spark Newton, and to work with us to help make art an even more vital part of our city.

Marion Golin owns a web development company focused on small businesses and nonprofits. She is a long-time resident of Newton and, for over 20 years, has been involved with local organizations and the Newton Public Schools, providing technology and website expertise, including the Newton Schools Foundation and the NNHS Center for Civic Engagement. Marion also served as Board Chair of Newton Community Education.

Grey Held (www.greyheld.com) is a visual artist and an award-winning poet who has published three books of his poetry. He is also a literary activist who has received six Massachusetts Cultural Council LCC grants for public projects that connect contemporary poets with wider audiences. He spearheaded MakePoetryConcrete, which has resulted in poems being stamped into the concrete of newly constructed sidewalks throughout Newton’s villages, and he is currently (under the auspices of Spark Newton) co-director of Haiku Newton.  Grey collaborates with his talented wife, Leslie Held, in creating public art throughout Newton—on doors, on pianos, on Jersey barriers, on electrical boxes, and on the sides of buildings.

Cedar Pruitt is President & Founder of Friends of Albemarle, a Newton-based nonprofit leading a $20M capital improvement project that brought the city’s only outdoor pools and splash pad to the community. With an Ed.M. from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and over 20 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, organizational strategy, and equity-focused program design, Cedar has guided initiatives spanning municipal advocacy, community engagement, and stakeholder partnerships. Beyond nonprofit leadership, Cedar is a traditionally published author of lyrical nonfiction for children, with titles from Capstone and Simon & Schuster, and a lifelong poet.

Howard Sholkin is past chair of Spark Newton and has been involved with events in Newton for over 40 years, including the Newton Tricentennial and the Linda Plaut Newton Festival of the Arts. A lifelong Newton resident, he was a member of the committee that produced the 2020 CREATENewton arts and culture strategic plan. He began his career in TV news at WCVB before serving more than 30 years in marketing communication roles in technology companies such as Computervision, Digital Equipment Corporation, and International Data Group. He also serves on the boards of the Newton Beacon online publication and the Boston Entrepreneurs Network. Sholkin was on the adjunct faculty at Lasell University and Boston University.

Dinny Starr, a talented glass artist and craftsperson, is a longtime board member of Spark Newton. Dinny was Vice Chair from 2020 to 2023. Dinny has worked for several educational and non-profit institutions around the Boston area. As part of the leadership team of the Women’s Foundation of Boston, Dinny managed partner relations and volunteers, was a grant cycle committee member and conducted multiple research projects for the organization. She has held volunteer leadership positions at local primary and secondary schools, as well as at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University.

Randall Yee, a lifelong Newton resident, is now raising his young family in the community he has always called home. After over a decade as a practicing attorney—serving as in-house counsel for companies in the fuel, childcare, and real estate industries—he shifted his focus to recruitment. He is currently the Legal Recruiting Manager for Brown Rudnick LLP where he handles the full cycle recruitment and sourcing of talented attorneys for the firm’s offices in the US and the UK. Beyond his professional work, he has been deeply engaged in youth development for 28 years as a senior instructor and board member of Newton’s Uechi Ryu Kids’ Karate program. These days, he also enjoys coaching his children in their athletic endeavors. He also lends his expertise to the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center as a volunteer board program committee member.