About Us
Nonprofit Net promotes a thriving Greater Boston nonprofit community through free expert-led management seminars and networking forums. Our programming supports local nonprofit teams in building expertise and fostering valuable connections.
We understand that most nonprofits have limited budgets and management teams that must wear many hats. By making it easy to connect with each other and with industry experts, they can tap into the knowledge of the broader community and help each other succeed.
Nonprofit Net provides resources for a wide-range of nonprofits in the greater Boston area, with a focus on small to mid-sized organizations.
Our Team
Laura Parrow
Laura joined the board of Nonprofit Net in 2020 and currently serves as board president.
She has over 25 years of experience in the banking sector, including IT system management, project management and product management, with an emphasis on customer experience.
In addition to serving on the board of Nonprofit Net, Laura is an Advisory Board Member with Women's Money Matters, and volunteers with Community Giving Tree Foundation, and Heading Home.
Dennis Boyer
Dennis has played an active role in directing programming and outreach for Nonprofit Net for the last ten years, and most recently served as board president.
A retired development professional, Dennis has over 23 years of experience in senior development roles for both national and international nonprofit organizations. His past lives have also included roles as a public radio broadcaster and an opera singer.
Margo Kelly
Margo formerly served as Lead Executive Coach at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in the Achieving Excellence Program, an annual sixteen month program for CEOs and senior leaders of nonprofit organizations.
Prior to her work at the Kennedy School she was the Chief Operating Officer for NeighborWorks America, a national nonprofit community development organization based in Washington, DC. Margo has also done extensive executive search work and served as a coach/consultant for a host of clients in the private, public and nonprofit sectors.
Brooks Sherman
A retired attorney in the financial services sector, Brooks is passionate about using his legal skills to help those in need. Affiliated with Boston-based PAIR (Political Asylum/ Immigration Representation), Brooks represents detained immigrants seeking bond before federal immigration judges.
More generally, Brooks is also active an active volunteer in the nonprofit space. Leading project teams for Empower Success Corps., he helped develop strategic plans for a Burlington food
pantry and an East Boston multi-service organization serving the Latino community. He recently served as a Member-At-Large of the Boston Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club, a 25,000 member organization, where he was largely responsible for drafting the Chapter’s Annual Report. Brooks is also currently on the Board of the Cambridge Tennis Club.
Dora Wang
Dora has extensive experience in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations, including governance, strategic planning, business development, fundraising, and event planning. She is passionate about leveraging her for-profit business background to help strengthen nonprofit organizations.
George Clifford
George is an Episcopal priest, has an MBA, and retired as a Captain after a twenty-four-
year career as a Navy chaplain. His education and experience have equipped him with a set of proven skills as coach, counselor, leader, and manager. A former Visiting Professor of Ethics and Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School, he strongly believes that non-profits are essential components of healthy communities.
His extensive work with secular and religious non-profits includes serving on (and chairing some) local and national boards, coaching executives, facilitating strategic and financial planning, and helping organizations resolve conflict through mediation.
Stephen Mongeau
Steve has a history of strong leadership with nonprofits and businesses, as well as experience in nonprofit board positions.
He retired in 2019, after leading Samaritans as Executive Director and President, in their life saving suicide prevention work. He had also volunteered and served on their board for many years. Formerly, his career included senior level sales and marketing leadership of large national teams. He developed strategic growth plans and scaled emerging businesses.
Steve actively volunteers with The Wish Project in North Chelmsford and Community Consulting Teams of Boston, serving multiple nonprofit organizations.
Hafsah Syed
Hafsah has over 18 years of experience in electronic journalism and advertising; she brings a human touch to ideas and companies, ensuring fairness and inclusivity in every message. She specializes in brand development, strategy formulation, content production, and spearheading customer-focused initiatives.
Her volunteer work in the non-profit sector has profoundly enriched her understanding of community needs and aspirations. Hafsah actively volunteers with organizations such as Boston Cares and Victory Programs, and she also serves on the board of a Lexington public school PTO. Hafsah strategically applies her creative expertise to support various national and international non-profits, focusing on health, quality of life, special needs education, and women's empowerment.
Stephanie
Schaffhausen
Stephanie serves as treasurer on the board of Nonprofit Net.
Stephanie had a long time affiliation with the Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra, where she served on the board as president for 20 years and became the executive director from 2015 to 2021. She volunteers with other nonprofits in Waltham and occasionally coaches attendees of NPN seminars.
In 2015 she was recognized with a Waltham Hero Award. Currently retired from paid work, Stephanie previously held roles as an elementary school teacher, computer graphics and IT temp, music teacher, lab technician, and day care provider.
Sirarpi Heghinian-Walzer
Sirarpi has played an active role in directing communications, marketing and governance committees for Nonprofit Net. She currently serves as vice president of the board.
An artist whose work is in many collections nationally and internationally, Sirarpi has
received awards and exhibited her work in galleries throughout Europe and the United States. In addition to her role at Nonprofit Net, Sirarpi is currently principal of Consult and Design.
Her past lives included working as Biomedical System Engineer, designing state of the art pacemakers at Biotroniks, as project design engineer of Infrared imaging systems at Honeywell and telecommunication systems in Germany.
Rachael Schauer
Rachael is a behavioral health clinician with over 15 years experience in education and human services in the nonprofit sector. She currently works as a clinician for children and adults with disabilities.
Rachael is passionate about equity and justice for neurodivergent groups and serves as founder and chair of her agency’s Anti-Ableism Task Force, as well as sitting on both the Human Rights and Peer Review Committees. In her free time she volunteers at Strongwater Farm in Tewksbury and cooks for locals in need through the volunteer organization Community Cooks, based out of Somerville.