Board of Directors
Chair
Dr. Dorothea Ivey
Assistant Professor, MSW Coordinator, University of Southern Maine
Vice Chair
Randy Ferrell
Agent at Portside Real Estate Group
Secretary
James Rohman
Database Specialist, Smile Train
Treasurer
Will Pratt
Co-owner, Tandem Coffee
Alexus Bond
Supply Chain Project Manager
Jess Feinberg
Professor of Law, University of Maine School of Law
Peyton Siler Jones
Climate Resilience Planner
Yves Karubu
Culture Defender
Troy Moon
City of Portland Sustainability Coordinator
Kathleen Mundell
Cultural Resources
Cherie Wendelken
Brooks Family Foundation
Elizabeth Whitman
Bittersweet Eradication Program Leader
Pamela Zagorski
Executive Director at Cooperative Development Institute
About the Board of Directors
Dr. Dorothea Ivey, Chair, draws from a distinguished career as a Social Behavioral Scientist and Public Administrator in Dallas County, TX; Anne Arundel County, MD; and Washington, DC. She has a proven reputation as being an engaging educator across all generations, a tactful planner, and as methodological in integrating various macro strategies to sustain and expand nonprofit programs. She has raised over $1,000,000 in funds for nonprofit organizations. Dr. Ivey earned her PhD in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her dissertation research focused on service providers funded by the National Family Caregiver Support Program that extend resources to grandparents raising grandchildren in California.
Randy Ferrell, Vice Chair, is one of Greater Portland’s most trusted real estate agents. After moving from Tennessee, Randy supported himself and his nephew in Portland’s outstanding food scene while attending the University of Southern Maine. After earning a B.A. in Communication, he began a career in advertising that included agency traffic management and new business development. During the purchase of his first home, Randy realized there was a need for a brokerage more centered around the client’s experiences. While many people have the gift of “gab,” Randy has the gift of “ear.” His ability not only to listen but also to hear what his clients are actually saying is a unique asset and skill. He is able to address concerns and is adept at presenting both dilemmas and solutions to his clients while also using his vast resources effectively and connecting networks to achieve the best outcomes for his clients. When he isn’t working, Randy can be found cooking in his kitchen preparing to feed a crowd, getting his hands dirty in his garden, planning his next travel adventure, or learning flamenco dance (right here at MSA!) as one of Lindsey Bourassa’s students.
James Rohman, Secretary, grew up and lives in Portland and caught the puppetry bug early from his family and Shoestring Theater. He enjoys practicing yoga and singing in an local Argentine Tango band. James discovered Mayo Street Arts by attending shows and dance events and became aware of MSA’s programs and positive impact on the community.
Will Pratt, Treasurer, is a co-owner of Tandem Coffee Roasters and the leader of the Tandem Christmas Sing Along band. Before moving to Portland in 2012 he worked as a carpenter in New York, Martha’s Vineyard and San Francisco where he got to build treehouses for the stars! Will lives in East Bayside amongst many half-finished home projects with his wife Kathleen and their sons Claude and Cosmo.
Alexus Bond is a Supply Chain and Project Management professional who’s worked in several different industries including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and retail. She enjoys putting logistics puzzle pieces together — especially when they cross borders and cultures.
Alexus has long been passionate about international studies, graduating with a B.A. in Spanish and Latin American Studies from Tulane University, as well as an M.A. in Global Finance & Trade from the University of Denver. Originally from Portland, she’s lived in cities from New Orleans to Anchorage, and has traveled to many countries around the world, volunteering and working in different capacities — including a year with Doctors Without Borders in South Sudan.
Alexus is driven to foster community and cross-cultural engagement. She is excited to support Mayo Street in its mission to provide a haven for the arts and strengthen the East Bayside neighborhood and community.
Jess Feinberg is a nationally recognized expert in family law and gender and sexuality law. She has a proven track record of excellence in both teaching and scholarship. She teaches introductory and advanced family law courses, elder law, and contracts. Her scholarship focuses on the law’s treatment of intimate and familial relationships, with a focus on LGBTQ+ individuals and their families. She is an active scholar with a distinguished history of publications. Jess joined the faculty at the University of Maine School of Law in August 2020.
Peyton Siler Jones grew up playing in an old time country band and doing community and musical theatre in her hometown of Asheville North Carolina. Today, Peyton is active in the climate and environmental planning field. She believes deeply that arts and culture is foundational in imagining and building climate resilient, racially equitable, and connected communities. Peyton currently works for Linnean Solutions where she works on climate planning projects, including arts related nexus work. She is also an urban planning graduate student and will be graduating in the summer of 2022. Peyton lives in Cash Corner with her dog, Emmy Lou!
Holding an artistic background, Yves Karubu is a Burundian native and an American citizen. He was born in a big family and grew up in an open society where he learned a lot in various professions through hands-on practice, especially in the arts. From a young age, he has been dedicated to community services, initially through a volunteer program at a neighborhood youth center. This program instilled him with a sense of courage, engagement, determination, and resilience that has allowed him to adapt to any present situation.
Yves is a drummer with over 20 years of experience playing the Burundi Royal Drums, as well as the traditional dance and song accompaniments. He is a team leader for BATIMBO United, a drumming team based in Portland, Maine. He is an outreach worker for a global health organization dedicated to improving community health by assisting those in need access services.
Troy Moon is the Sustainability Director for the City of Portland. Throughout his tenure with the City, Troy has been engaged in a broad range of sustainability projects. He oversaw the completion of Portland’s greenhouse gas inventories in 2001 and 2007 and chaired the committee tasked with drafting the city’s Climate Action Plan in 2008. He became the City’s Sustainability Director in April, 2016 focuses on community resilience and energy efficiency. He led Portland’s LED streetlight conversion project and leads the city’s effort become carbon neutral. Troy has a long interest in the arts, graduating from the University of Maine with degrees in English and Art. He is especially interested in art that involves performance and theatrical elements. He lives in Portland with his wife, Sally, and their child, Teagan.
Kathleen Mundell is the Director of Cultural Resources, a nonprofit working with communities on developing strategies and programs that sustains local culture. Previous to her tenure at Cultural Resources, Ms. Mundell directed the Traditional and Community Arts Program at the Maine Arts Commission from 1989 – 2001. With over 35 years’ experience in public folklore, she has curated twenty-seven exhibitions on traditional culture and developed a cultural inventory process called “Discovery Research” detailed in Sensing Place: A Guide to Community Culture, co-authored with cultural geographer Hilary Frost-Kumpf. She is the recipient of a fellowship from UNC Center for Craft, Creativity and Design which resulted in the publication of North by Northeast: Wabanaki, Haudenosaunee and Tuscarora Traditional Arts and is a recipient of the American Folklore Society’s Benjamin Botkin Prize, given for lifetime achievement in public folklore.
Cherie Wendelken
Bio coming soon!
Betsy Whitman has held a diversity of community activism jobs and positions in Portland, the last as a shelter staff person at Preble Street Resource Center. She has a degree in Theater Arts from the University of Southern Maine and studied mask work at Naropa Institute. She received an MA in Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies, focusing her master’s thesis on the intersection of trauma, self-narrative, creative expression and healing. She was a member of Shoestring Puppet Theater for many years and although retired from stilting, she continues to help with the Old Port Parade. She is also a Maine Cooperative Extension master gardener and has planted hundreds of spring bulbs with schoolchildren. She loves compost. She shares the responsibility of the Soccer Barn with her husband and daughter and is passionate about community-based, community empowering arts and activism.
Pamela Zagorski (“Pam”) has over thirty years’ experience in the healthcare and human services sector, holding positions in provider, managed care, and consulting organizations. Pam relocated to Maine in 2022, now living a longtime dream. Prior to settling in Maine, she was Executive Director for Southwestern Vermont Council on Agency and Chief Administrative Officer for a community mental health center in New Hampshire. Pam has held several positions in healthcare and human services finance and administration, leading to Chief Financial Officer for Community Enterprises and Viability, a multi-state community-based human services organization based in Western Massachusetts that provides residential and employment support to people with disabilities. She currently serves as the Executive Director for the Cooperative Development Institute. Pam has previous Board experience as Treasurer of the United Way of Hampshire County.
Outside of her professional life Pam has been a lifelong patron of the visual and performing arts, and has volunteered as a docent at historic house museums. She brings her passion for the arts to Mayo Street Arts.
Pam earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts and Juris Doctorate from Western New England University. She is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts.
MSA Board of Directors Alumni
Tarlan Ahmadov
Ekhlas Ahmed
Hayden Anderson
Brian Arlet
Veeva Banga
Myron Beasley
David Cimato
Rich Entel, MD
David Garfinkle
Megan Grumbling
Larry Hayden
Emily Krohne
Blainor McGough
Robyn Merrill
Charlie Miller
Robert Montgomery
Bess Moulton
Dela Murphy
Dugan Murphy
Kelly Nesbitt
Polly Plimpton
Jan Piribeck
Christina Richardson
Liz Cotter Schlax
Stephen Tesh
Annie Wadleigh
Cherie Wendelken