Staff and Outreach Coordinators

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

REBECCA DUNN, Wilmington, North Carolina. Rebecca has been the Executive Director since March, 1986. She manages the Fund from her home office (which moved in April, 1994.) She commutes to New England on an as needed basis and to facilitate tertiary Board and Executive Committee meetings. She has extensive experience as a business consultant and as a commercial bank loan officer for Barclays American. She was formerly a bank examiner for the State of Connecticut. Rebecca has also worked as a consensus process trainer and nonprofit advisor to a number of groups. These include her local food co-op, an urban grocery store project, a symphony orchestra, an artists collective, and Dance New England. She helped Wilmington Community Coalition, a diverse organization which served low-income city neighborhoods, form a community loan program. She has served on the boards of the Opportunity Finance Network (National Community Capital Association), Temple of Israel, the Wilmington YWCA, New Hanover County Human Relations Commission, WHQR public radio community advisory, and Tidal Creek Food Coop.Rebecca was named recently to the board of the Cooperative Development Foundation.She has a BA in economics from Trinity College and an MBA in finance.

NEW ENGLAND LOAN AND OUTREACH OFFICERS

MARY HOYER, Amherst, Massachusetts. Mary works part-time assisting Rebecca with visiting current and potential borrowers, providing technical assistance, administration of the loan portfolio, and marketing the Fund in the southwestern part of New England. She is a former educator in the Hartford Public Schools and is now working as a community development consultant, having worked in the nonprofit and cooperative development arenas for over twenty-five years. She has been active in anti-racism and anti-apartheid work, union organizing, alternative and parent education, and local electoral politics. She has a doctoral degree from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst, an MA from the University of Kentucky, and a BA from Occidental College. She joined the Fund’s Board of Trustees in 1992.

BETSY BLACK, Concord, New Hampshire. Betsy works part-time assisting Rebecca with visiting current and potential borrowers, providing technical assistance, administration of the loan portfolio, and marketing the Fund in northwestern part of New England. Betsy’s background is working with community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and nonprofit organizations. She is a long time cooperative member, volunteer, board and committee member, and enthusiast. Betsy assists CDFIs nationally with capitalization and strategic planning, and instructs for Opportunity Finance Network and Oweesta Corporation. She formerly worked for the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund for a decade as Capitalization and Communications Director before starting her own consulting business in 2002. Previously, she worked as a solo law practitioner in Manchester and Concord (NH); for the Concord Feminist Health Center (a collective); and for the Argus Champion (NH) and Milford Cabinet (NH) newspapers. She holds a law degree from Pierce Law (NH), a BA in American Studies from Middlebury College (VT), is accredited through the International Coach Federation, and is a certified Kripalu yoga instructor.

GLEN OHLUND, Hopkinton NH. Glen works part time as works part-time assisting Rebecca with visiting current and potential borrowers, providing technical assistance, administration of the loan portfolio, and marketing the Fund in the northeastern part of New England. In his previous position as Development Coordinator with the City of Manchester, NH, he managed the City’s Revolving Loan Fund, among other responsibilities. Prior positions include serving as Assistant Director for the New Hampshire Main Street Center, facilitating revitalization in Downtowns across the State. He also worked and lived in Boston for most of the 1990’s, working on both brick and mortar projects as well as building community capital. He worked with the Boston Building Materials Cooperative during Graduate School, growing a building material recycling project of the BBMC. Originally from New Hampshire, Glen spent much of the 1980’s working on economic, environmental, and social justice issues with membership-based statewide organizations. He is committed to sustainable development issues facing the Granite State and the Country. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s Degree in Community Economic Development, both obtained at Southern NH. 

MAGGIE COHN, Roxbury, Massachusetts. Maggie works part-time assisting Rebecca with visiting  current and potential borrowers, providing technical assistance, administration of the loan portfolio, and marketing the Fund in the southeastern part of New England. Maggie comes from recent positions as Executive Director of local non-profits. Most recently she oversaw a two-year planning initiative for the Boston Collaborative for Food & Fitness, working with a broad array of community organizations, institutions and municipal agencies. Prior to that, she served as the executive director of Mission Hill Main Streets, working with business owners and local residents to bring in new independent businesses and to strengthen and improve the commercial district. In the 1990s, she worked at Red Sun Press, a democratically-controlled commercial print shop in Jamaica Plain. Developing a lasting interest in community development, she left Red Sun to pursue a degree in Community Economic Development. Maggie currently serves on the boards of the Back of the Hill Community Development Corporation and the Mission Hill Health Movement, volunteers with Bikes Not Bombs, and is a member of the Boston Building Materials Coop and the Harvest Cooperative Market. She holds a BA from UMass Boston in Studio Arts and a Master’s Degree in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University.

INTERN

KALISTA AIRD,  Kalista Aird recently joined the CFNE team as an intern assiting with marketing, borrower contact and conference attendance. Kalista grew up in Virginia and has been working with cooperatives since 2003, when she joined the Interfaith Program at Equal Exchange. As a current master’s student in Management of Cooperatives and Credit Unions at St. Mary’s University, Kalista is committed to use and development of the cooperative model. She has experience with worker cooperatives, collectives, food cooperatives, and participation in several food coop start-up projects. She serves on the Board of Directors for Manchester Area Food Cooperative, a growing and recently incorporated consumer-worker cooperative. In addition to her role at Coop Fund, Kalista works with New England Farmers Union, a non-profit chapter of National Farmers Union, as a membership and cooperative education program contractor.