Directors

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Richard O'Connor - President

Donald Gay

James Lister

Richard O’Connor – President

Richard O’Connor has been in private practice as an attorney for two decades, with an emphasis on civil, not for profit and environmental law. A partner in the Rockville, MD firm of Shure, Perez and O’Connor, he is admitted to practice law in Maryland and the District of Columbia at both the state and federal level.

Mr. O’Connor has advised numerous not for profit organizations, and in several instances served as a member of the board of directors. Before entering private practice, he spent nine years in federal service, with NOAA’s Office of Coastal Management.

Mr. O’Connor has been involved in the Combined Federal Campaign for many years. In addition to being a founding director of CSYS, he is a board member of Human & Civil Rights Organizations of America.

Donald Gay

Donald Gay is Vienna Virginia Branch manager for Fairway Mortgages, a nationwide firm offering residential financial services.. He has been active in placing such loans for more than a decade.

Mr. Gay has been a supporter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) for over 7 years and is an advisor and major supporter of The Julie Duggan Memorial Fund, a Massachusetts 501c3 organization. The Julie Duggan Memorial fund was established in 2002 and seeks to raise donations to help find a cure for CF, and to support the education of children with CF. Mr. Gay is a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston and currently resides in Arlington, VA.

Don Gay is a board member and officer of Peace and Reconciliation Charities, a national CFC federation.

James Lister

James Lister is executive director of the Plummer Home for Boys, a not for profit organization which has been serving at risk boys in Massachusetts since the mid 1800s.

Mr. Lister has held a number of positions within the child welfare field: program director for a crisis stabilization unit and alternative “lock-up” program for adolescents, social worker at the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, and manager of an eleven bed co-ed residential facility. As CEO of the Plummer Home, he supervises over 30 staff, and has been responsible for expanding the organization’s traditional work as a group residence into various community based services.

Mr. Lister is active in the community, serving as a board member of the Massachusetts Children’s League and of Partners for a Better World, another workplace giving federation. He is an officer of the Salem Rotary and a member of the Salem Youth Commission. He holds both a bachelor and masters degree from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.