Board of Directors
EXECUTIVE BOARD
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Terre Young
President
After working in Germany and Washington DC, Terre returned to the island in 1978 to visit her grandmother and has happily …
lived, worked, and raised her family, here ever since. Her family members are husband Scotty, son Mac, and daughter Emma. One year after retiring as Executive Director of Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, I was invited by the board of MV Swell to help engage the island community in a conversation about abortion. Of course, I said yes, and now, 5 years later, I am more than ever committed to make this choice understood and accepted as a right and available here. I feel very strongly that reproductive health care be affordable and available to all island people and remain an ally for the LGBTQA+ community members. I am very proud of the support to the clinic and many projects this board accomplishes, and I am honored to work beside each member. I am also privileged to host the Cancer Support Groups meetings on Wednesday evenings, and a very dedicated rower in Sail MV’s Cornish Pilot gigs, Grace and Cassie.
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Stina Sayre
Vice-President
Stina Sayre retired in 2023 from her fashion design business of 34 years called Stina Sayre Design on Main Street, Vineyard Haven.
She came to the Vineyard from Sweden in the 1980s…after meeting her husband, Nevin Sayre, on the Professional Windsurfing World Tour. Her interest in women’s rights began as a young teenager in Sweden, hearing her mother’s group advocating for women’s rights. They were successful to bring birth control access and sex education to our schools. It was all about the responsibility and respect of each other and how to navigate social expectations of peers and society. It was about humanity.
In Sweden, reproductive health care and abortion access is available in all hospitals, and is seen as a normal part of health care.
I am proud to be part of MV Swell, the organization on our Island that advocates for this fundamental human health right, and I encourage you to join our cause. -
Roger Maxfield
Treasurer
Roger has been on the board since September 2012. I was invited to this board by an exiting board member, and, as I had been looking to give…
some time to the community I accepted. I missed the December 2012 board meeting to find out I was voted in as the Treasurer. I have become very passionate about our board and what we do and have accomplished. I started coming to the Vineyard seasonally in 1980, from March until December. I left the island in the spring of 1987 and returned in the spring of 1989 year-round. This is the only board I have been on, and I enjoy working with my fellow board members and working on our event fundraisers
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Francis Murdock Pitts
Secretary
Frank and his wife, Debbie, have been long-time supporters of Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood in New York’s Capital Region, and…
he is happy to be able to help a sister organization in his new community on the island. He is an architect with an active national practice, a meditator, a volunteer with Vineyard Village at Home, a cook, a kayaker, and a long-serving board member with organizations like the YWCA, Girls Inc, the Millay Colony for the Arts, and the American Institute of Architects.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Fallon Aiello
Born on Martha’s Vineyard and raised both on island and in New York, Fallon found herself back on the Vineyard in 2010 to…
give birth and raise her 2 children. With a B.S. in Health Education from the University of New Mexico, Fallon continues the important work of educating others through reproductive and inclusive health education at the school level and by supporting families as a doula, prenatal/postpartum yoga instructor, and childbirth educator.
She is one of the founding members of the Vineyard Birth Collective and is proud to join the MV Swell Board to contribute to the ongoing and vital reproductive justice work happening within our island community and beyond. -
Kristina Almquist
Kristina has always believed that all people deserve safe non-judgmental access to healthcare and information about…
their own sexual health. She and her family first started coming to Vineyard in 1994 and have made it their permanent home since 2011. Kristina is a Board Member and a volunteer working to improve our online presence to bring more people to our organization both as volunteers and to access service. Kristina is a graphic designer and has worked with clients across the country. She has also served as a volunteer for organizations in her previous home of Troy New York including, The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, The Troy Public Library, and the Arts Center of the Capital Region.
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Janet Aram
For more than 30 years Janet and her family were seasonal visitors to Martha’s Vineyard until 2021 when she and her husband purchased…
a home in Oak Bluffs. Upon arrival on the island, Janet joined several community groups including the League of Women Voters, the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club, a weekly meditation group and now, 2023, the MV Swell.
Janet, an attorney, practiced in both private and public sectors, concentrating in Family, Education and Health law and served as confidential law clerk to a Family and Supreme Court Judge. As a board member of MV Swell, Janet looks to advocate for and promote access to sexual and reproductive education and services on Martha’s Vineyard. -
Elizabeth Barnes
Born and raised on the Vineyard, Elizabeth then lived in Philadelphia before moving back home to be near family and raise her son.
When she isn’t navigating motherhood and island living, she is the President of The Women’s Centers, an affiliated group of independent abortion clinics in GA, PA, NJ and CT. She is a recipient of the Abortion Conversation Project’s Vision Award and a national expert in outpatient abortion provision and access. She recently founded the nonprofit Abortion Access for All, created to support abortion availability on the island and wherever it is needed. Elizabeth’s mother was an early board member of MV Swell, and she is grateful for the opportunity to continue the work.
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Suzan Bellincampi
Suzan has spent 22 years on Martha’s Vineyard and almost as long on the Board of MV Swell. Her work is sharing nature
through teaching, writing, and speaking, and she serves as MV and Nantucket Islands’ Director for Mass Audubon. Suzan is a columnist for the Vineyard Gazette and author of two books on Island nature. A self-proclaimed feminist, Suzan stays on the Board because she wants to work to protect abortion access, support human rights, forward gender equality, and allow people to be free to be who they want to be and to love who they want to love.
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Hilary Dreyer
Hilary (she/her) is driven by giving back to this incredible community that raised her. After graduating from Hobart and …
William Smith Colleges she moved back to the Island and has enjoyed a meaningful career working for Island nonprofits. She served as Executive Director at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, leading the organization through the pandemic and collaborating with the YMCA to create the highly popular Vineyard’s Drive-In. She now works at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation, a nonprofit which brings together donors, local nonprofits, and organizations to ensure this diverse community thrives—in perpetuity. Bringing people together, and connecting resources which those in the community who need them the most is what she finds so rewarding, and what drew her to joining the board of MV Swell in 2022.
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Marion Hammond
Marion has always been a passionate advocate for affordable healthcare and a woman’s right to make choices for herself.
As a past director for 15 years she brings a historical perspective and administrative knowledge to the Board. Marion has deep roots in the island community, having lived and raised her family here since 1975. Recently retired, she enjoys caring for family, dogs, cats, and chickens, learning about nature and the environment; and is an avid reader. Her deep appreciation for the natural world is reflected in her commitment to sustainability and her efforts to promote eco-friendly practices both in her personal life and in the broader community. She is excited to rejoin the Board to put her energy towards supporting this very worthwhile mission.
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Josey Kirkland
Josey (she/her) has been on the MV Swell board for almost 10 years. She was drawn in by a friend and stayed because she…
believes in accessible health services for all, plus it’s a great group of people! Full-time she works as the education manager for Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, seasonally with Goat Yoga MV, and for fun she swims, cooks, sings, stretches a lot, and hangs out with all her animals.
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Marnely Murray
Marnely was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, and after 24 years of Caribbean Island living, she moved…
to another island, this time not as warm. Her work as a pastry chef brought her to the island, working at one of the most prestigious golf clubs on Martha’s Vineyard. She lives and works alongside her husband, and for the last 12 years, has been an active voice in showcasing that families can be made up of two people. Recently having had her fallopian tubes removed (a surgery called a salpingectomy), she has recently joined the Board of MV Swell as Chair of the Social Media Committee, where she hopes to empower, educate, and showcase the work of this organization even more.
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Zivah Solomon
Zivah Solomon (she/her) has long been an admirer of the work MV Swell and is thrilled to be a member of the board.
She grew up visiting her great-grandmother, a longtime resident of the island, and fell in love with the Vineyard from a very young age. Zivah’s career has taken her into working both as a photographer and as a progressive advocacy professional, with a particular focus on supporting reproductive justice efforts. She moved to the Island full time in 2020 back with her partner, who originally hails from here, and has been eager to support the community in whichever ways she can.