Cancer Connection's

Board of Directors

Bonnie G. Allen

of Florence is an attorney in private practice in Springfield and supervises the court-appointed attorney program in Hampden County.

The Rev. Irven Gammon

is the Pastor of the Florence Congregational Church.  Pastor Irv is an active participant in many community-focused activities sponsored by the church.  He also enjoys the local community atmosphere of Florence, regularly attending village activities.  He serves two church-affiliated associations, the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC) and the Connecticut Fellowship of Congregational Christian Churches (CT-FCCC) and as a co-director at the Fishers Island Youth Camping program sponsored by the CT-FCCC.  Pastor Irv joined the Cancer Connection board in 2006, the year before his father was diagnosed with leukemia.

Becky Jones

of Northampton (Secretary) is a chaplain at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, has a private counseling practice and is also a writer who leads bereavement writing groups.  She is a breast cancer survivor and has been both participant in and leader of Cancer Connection activities and groups over the years.

Douglas Loux

of Florence (Treasurer) served as the area systems coordinator for the Social Service Administration in Holyoke for 14 years.  He was a board member and then chair of the River Valley Counseling Center for 27 years, and is currently chair of the Board of Directors of the Florence Congregational Church and treasurer of the Friends of Lilly Library.

Margaret Kierstein, Ed.D.

is a psychologist in Northampton who has been a member of the breast cancer support group at Cancer Connection since the spring of 2005.  Her practice includes individuals and their families who are dealing with serious illnesses; families involved in separation and divorce proceedings; and clients desiring mediation services, as well as a general psychotherapy practice working with children, adults, couples and families.  She also works at the Florence Village Florist, smelling the roses, which was inspired by her bout with cancer.

Barbara Mandell Ed.D

a professor and director of undergraduate psychology at Springfield College.  Her specialization is industrial and organizational psychology.  She also has an organizational consulting and mediation practice.

Shelley Parker

of Northampton, MA (President) is a former attorney.  She is now a Certified Trager Practitioner.  In her movement education practice, she works with clients to help them release muscle tension caused by illness, injury or stress.  She represents the Northeast region on the United States Trager Association Board of Directors and is on their Marketing, Ethics and Law and Legislation Committees.

Lindsay Rockwell, D. O.

Medical Oncologist and Hematologist, lives in Northampton and practices at Cooley Dickinson Hospital.  She completed her fellowship and residency at Tufts University and Baystate Medical Center.

Pamela J. Szmyt Hastings

of Ludlow (Vice President) is an attorney with the Family Law Program of the Springfield Office of Public Counsel.

Cathy Rousseau

is Administrative Director of the Baystate Regional Cancer Program.  She has 30 years of business experience and has been involved in Baystate Health cancer programs for the past 17 years.  Cathy was integrally involved in the development and operations of the D'Amour Center for Cancer Care and the subsequent expansion of the Comprehensive Breast Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Board of Directors includes five current or former consumers of Cancer Connection services.

No compensation is given to members of the Cancer Connection Board of Directors for their services.