Please meet our Board of Directors & early "BLUE" Champions

Ms. Barishian is a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts and Director at Marcum LLP – Boston and Providence, with more than 10 years of experience in public accounting focusing on audits of public and private companies. She works primarily with companies in the technology industry, particularly in software, life sciences and renewable energy. Kristin also has experience providing in-house technical consulting for public companies. She has also worked for 4 years in private industry as a manager of SEC and financial reporting and as an accounting manager. Kristin graduated from Bentley College (now University) in 2003 and obtained her Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) from Bentley University in 2004. In her spare time, Kristin enjoys mentoring start-ups.  

Mr. Benskin has been a significant presence on the Canadian and International cultural landscape for over thirty years. A former Artistic Director of Black Theatre Workshop, Canada's longest running Black theatre company, Tyrone is an award winning Actor / Director with well over 150 film, television, and theatre credits. He is also as a published composer, song-writer and recording artist. Tyrone recently starred in NBC's hit series Debris as well as appearances in the acclaimed films Pieces of a Woman and Death of a Ladies Man.  For over two decades Tyrone has also been a vocal advocate of the importance of the arts as a social pillar.  To that end, he has served as National-Vice President of ACTRA and several other augural advocacy organizations.  As a Member of Parliament in Canada’s House of Commons he was appointed Official Opposition Critic - Canadian Heritage and Deputy Critic –  Official Languages. He was appointed to the Sub-committee on International Human Rights. From hearing testimony of international human rights abuses to working on issues such as food security and access as well as the issue of the lack of availability of clean water on Canada’s First Nation’s and Inuit Reserves. “Climate change isn’t simply an election banner, it’s a human rights issue.” 

Ms. Curtis is a recognized leader in the fields of climate change, business strategy and government relations. Julia has over two decades of experience working with governments, private industry, academia, and international organizations such as the International Energy Agency, FAO, and International Renewable Energy on communications, negotiations, strategy and teambuilding. Her main specialization has been in the energy, agriculture, climate change and environment sectors where she has  been publicly recognized for her leadership, project management and communication abilities. Julia led one of the first US EPA Water Rights Treaties with Mexico. Ms. Curtis received a master’s degrees in international economics, and energy and environmental policy from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and New York University with dual bachelor’s in art history and political science. Julia has consulted on energy, technology, agriculture and environmental projects in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. She has published articles on climate and renewable energy and is often asked to speak at Industry Conferences. A life-long passion for civics and education and serves as a Director of the Junior Statesmen Foundation. Trilingual in English, French and Italian Julia loves to sail and to row Venetian boats. She lives in Venice, Italy with her daughter Cornelia. 

 Dr. Michael Passow is a Principal Member of Technical Staff in Data & Analytics Solution Architecture at GlobalFoundries in Malta, NY. From within the corporate IT organization, he leads a global program in AI and Machine Learning development and deployment of manufacturing applications in GF semiconductor chip factories in the US, Europe and Asia. Of particular interest is the advancement of sensors and edge computing which enable distributed ML from the cloud to the device in the field. Prior to joining GF in 2020, Dr. Passow spent six years as a Senior Technical Staff Member and Research Scientist at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Laboratory in Yorktown Heights, NY. There he co-developed the Environmental Monitoring and Management cyberinfrastructure for The Jefferson Project at Lake George, NY, a state-of-the-art systems approach which supports environmental monitoring, modeling, simulation, forecasting and experimentation. This solution was designed to inform smart decision-making for ecosystem resilience in the face of long-term pressures from climate change and intensifying human use. Prior to this, Dr. Passow led the development and deployment of advanced sensors, real-time analytics, and advanced process control systems at IBM’s semiconductor chip manufacturing facilities in the US. Michael Passow received his PhD in Nuclear Engineering (plasma physics) from the University of Michigan, along with a MS and BS in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Oklahoma.

Judith Underwood is the founder of the Blue Institute and is a social entrepreneur, environmentalist, and an educator who is dedicated to supporting sustainable practices for equitable and accessible economic development. Judith also founded the Blue Institute Labs, a public benefit corporation designed to support later stage entrepreneurs.  Both the Blue Institute and the Blue Innovation  Labs are mission driven to support clean water, climate resiliency, and healthy & secure oceans.  Judith has 15+ years of scientific development, and technology transfer work at research and educational institutions including MIT, the United Nations, and the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. She has taught at all levels and to all ages and was the first woman in Massachusetts to start a solar company - second in the US. She was a long-time board member of the Pleasant Bay Community Boating playing a key role in that organization's success in establishing a permanent waterfront campus.  Judith has a Master’s from New York University, a BA from UMass Boston, and has additional environmental graduate studies from Antioch.  Judith is from Cape Cod where she is raising her two children, writes poetry & short plays, and serves her community as a Water & Wastewater Commissioner overseeing the award-winning Harwich Water Department. 

Jessica Vonashek is the Chief of Economic and Community Development for the City of Norwalk, Connecticut.  Jessica Vonashek has worked as Chief Officer of Operations: Policy and Oversight at Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), and as the Economic Development Director for the Plymouth Regional Economic Development Foundation.  She remains an Adviser at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston where she served as a Fellow in Public Policy in 2011. Jessica Vonashek received a BA in Geographic Analysis from Ryerson University and graduated from Northeastern University with a MS in Urban and Regional Policy in 2012.    

Lois  André has been a stalwart supporter of both the Blue Institute mission and its Founder.  Lois has dedicated countless hours participating in 2017 on Blue's Team for the CleanTech Open Accelerator, has made numerous significant introductions, and always been a sympathetic and wisdom granting colleague.  

Lois André is the Executive Director of the Dennis Chamber of Commerce on Cape Cod.  worked for the International Pharmaceutical Quality Publishing (IPQ), based in Washington DC. Prior to working for IPQ, she was in Workforce development and student support at Cape Cod Community College for 17 years, Massachusetts HEFA and PowerOptions as a consultant, and with United Way of Cape Cod, Logansport Indiana, Ann Arbor, Michigan and Anderson, Indiana for a total of 18 years. Lois André is past president of Rotary Club of Hyannis and currently chairwoman of the scholarship committee, serves as a mediator for Cape Mediation and is active in Dennis Union Church.

Dr. Dennis Berkey has been a wealth of advice and inspiration since the inaugural days of the Blue Institute and served on the Board of Directors from January 2020 - September 2022. 

Dr. Berkey is a native of Ohio, with degrees in mathematics from Muskingum College (BA) and the University of Cincinnati (PhD). He served on the faculty of Boston University for 30 years, as a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics, winning the University’s highest teaching award, and in the administration as Dean of Arts and Sciences and as University Provost Emeritas. His published research is in applied mathematics and he has authored several widely used calculus texts. He served for nine years as the 15th President of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He has served on numerous boards, including the  Massachusetts High Technology Council, the U. S. Competitive Council, UMass/Memorial Health Care, and the Massachusetts Education and Finance Authority. His currently serves on both corporate and non-profit boards and maintains his own consulting practice. He is married to Dr.  Catherine Berkey, a research statistician at Harvard Medical School. They reside in Boston and Osterville, MA, and have three grown children. 

Our deepest gratitude to Bob Ciolek for having served as a founding member of our Board of Directors. His deep knowledge, extensive experience and kind advice helped launch a solid organization.  Robert "Bob" Ciolek has had a significant career in the military, law, non-profits and government including as the Chief Operating Officer for the City of Boston, where he also served as the Executive Director of the Boston Water & Sewer Commission. Mr. Ciolek was the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority (HEFA). His last position before retirement was as the Water Resource Financial Consultant to the Cape Cod Commission. Mr. Ciolek graduated from Rutgers University, and recieved his law degree from Boston University. A veteran of the U. S. Army he served a tour in Vietnam. Mr. Ciolek has served on many non-profit boards and is the Treasurer for the Association to Preserve Cape Cod. Bob and his wife, Mary Kearney, are residents of West Hyannisport, MA.

 Ms. Harder helped form the founding Board of Directors and served as Clerk. Ms. Harder was born and raised in NYC, working in advertising, theatre management, strategic fundraising, and was a co-founder of the Sunflower Hills Productions, of Milford, PA. 

In 2009, with her husband Mark Ameres, Elizabeth relocated to Cape Cod to care for her eldery parents.  Elizabeth has been a longtime advocate for aging in place and for a protected and healthy environment that is accessible to all. She is a volunteer for WeCaN a Cape Cod based non-profit dediated to empowering Cape women who are going through challenging life transitions by providing mentoring, information, education, networking and support.  Elizabeth also works to increase women's participation in public service as an officer with the Cape Women's Coalition, a nonpartisan educational and advocacy organization.  Since 2018 Elizabeth Harder, and the first female, has served as the Harwich Delegate to the Barnstable County Assembly on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. 

We were very fortunate to have had serve on our founding board the industry leader and innovation advocate Yuki Honjo, Ph.D. Dr.  Honjo is the Chief Operations Officer for the McLane Research Laboratories Located in East Falmouth, Massachusetts. McLane Research Laboratories was founded in 1983 to provide advanced time-series samplers and engineering design services to the international oceanographic community.   

Dr. Honjo holds an honors degree in History from Harvard and a Doctorate in Economic and Social History from Oxford University. 

An early supporter of Blue Institute's mission and Founder, Mr. Gilbert served on the Board of Directors 2019-2021, gave seaweed lectures and art lessons, and was the Prose Judge for the annual Words on Water writing contest. Mr. Gilbert Newton is a Cape Cod native who has been teaching environmental and marine science at Sandwich High School and the Cape Cod Community College for many years. His classes included coastal ecology, botany, coastal zone management, and environmental technology. In 2013 he founded and became the first Director of the Sandwich STEM Academy.  He completed his graduate work in biology at Florida State University. He has also taught and continues to teach classes for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the Falmouth Academy, Bridgewater State University and the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Mr. Newton designed, developed and was the Program Director for the Advanced Studies and Leadership Program (ASLP) at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy for 14 years. Gil is one of the founders of the Barnstable Land Trust and is the past president of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod. He is the author of several books about the Cape's shoreline including the recent “Marine Habitats of Cape Cod” and “Mysteries of Seaweed: Questions and Answers.”   

Andrew Nicholl was part of the original Blue Institute team that participated in the Cleantech Open in 2017 and help spin out the Blue Institute Labs.  Andrew and volunteers as a Mentor for the Blue Excelerator program. Andrew Nicholl is a global technology business executive with over 30 years of experience in a number of technology-related sectors worldwide, having fulfilled leadership roles in many functional areas from design and development engineering, sales and marketing, systems engineering, product management and marketing, customer and business operations, compliance, risk management, information security and privacy, and general management for worldwide product and service portfolios. Andrew has lived and worked in Europe, the Americas and Asia/Australia and has worked with clients and partners globally in a variety of business sectors, including telecommunications, healthcare, energy and ecommerce.  Andrew has a Bachelors in Applied Physics, a Masters in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and is a Chartered Engineer, and holds various credentials and certificates from (ISC)2, IAPP, PMI, CSA, MIT Sloan and extensive corporate business training and development.
Throughout his career, Andrew has contributed extensively in a number of extracurricular activities, including board memberships, STEM program sponsorships, start-up company collaboration, coaching and participation, and guest lectureships. 

In Memoriam

March 20, 1943 - July 22, 2022

Ms. Rosemary O'Neill, an advocate for clean water and secure oceans served on the BLUE Institute Board of Directors since the Fall of 2019. Ms. O'Neill had a distinguished 35-year career as a political officer at the United States Department of State. Post retirement Ms. O’Neill was active for many years in Irish American affairs, serving as an Advisor to Mr. Richard Haas throughout his tenure as the United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland during the peace process in Northern Ireland. A native of Massachusetts, she was the daughter of the late Congressman Tip O'Neill, the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, and shared her time between Harwich Port on Cape Cod and Washington, D.C.

Mark Watson is the very first champion of Blue Institute starting as an advisor in 2015, and served as Treasurer on the initial Board of Directors. Mark has 30 years’ experience in finance alongside pioneering leadership in impact investing.  Mark Watson currently serves as Managing Director of the Fair Food Fund, Fair Food Network’s impact investing arm, which provides catalytic capital and business assistance grounded in Fair Food Network’s national network and program expertise. At the Fair Food Network from Boston Impact Initiative (BII), he has he built a national reputation for its innovative work marrying financial rigor with a social impact mission supporting entrepreneurs of color in Eastern Massachusetts.  Mark is also the founder of Keel Asset Management LLC, a financial advisory firm that provides socially responsible financial planning and investment advisory services to nonprofits and public and corporation pension plans. Mark has experience in financial services including roles in banking and on Wall Street. He started his career as a banker at the First National Bank of Chicago, now JP Morgan, in commercial banking, corporate, and public finance. He subsequently joined the investment team and had a 20-year career including managing investment portfolios for foundations, endowments, and institutional pensions funds. He is an advisory board member of MIT/Health Innovation Systems Inc.; chair of the Triskeles Foundation’s Asset Management Committee; board member of Institute of Educational Leadership; board president of Sustainable Cape, Inc.; and a former board member of the Social Venture Network. Mark holds an Bachelor of Science in Finance, University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and a Master’s in Business Administration, The Booth School, University of Chicago.