Board of Directors

Patti Lawton, President
REALTOR®, Sotheby’s International Realty

Patti Lawton has been a REALTOR® for 29 years and is currently affiliated with Legacy Properties, Sotheby’s International Realty in Brunswick. While over the course of her real estate career, she has been involved in many National, State and Local leadership positions and has always kept affordable housing at the top of her list as the most important issue facing our area. Patti focused her local volunteering efforts there, so a role on the Board with Tedford Housing seemed like a natural fit for her.  In fact, so much so that she was on the board many years ago and now she is back again! She believes that having a safe and affordable place to call home is the most important thing that one should have; to be grounded and to know where you are going to be at the end of the day brings you such peace of mind. Tedford Housing has been and continues to work towards that goal.  And while having a home is vital to all, moving and changing homes is something she LOVES to do! Since Patti moved to Maine 33 years ago, she has lived in 10 different homes, so she is really in the right business!

Andrew Lardie, Vice President
Associate Director, McKeen Center for Common Good at Bowdoin College

Andrew Lardie is Associate Director in the McKeen Center for the Common Good at Bowdoin College, where he oversees local volunteering and helps create opportunities for students to learn through civic and community participation.  Prior to working in higher education, Andrew was a middle school math and science teacher. He grew up in a poor community near Detroit, MI, and tries to work for change so that every person has a fair chance to lead a healthy, productive life.  Andrew lives in Brunswick, and in his spare time he likes to play music and get outdoors with his young family. He is proud that our town is a hub for resources supporting our neighbors across midcoast Maine, and is grateful to learn and contribute as part of Tedford Housing.  

John Gallagher, Treasurer
Retired, Maine Housing

John holds an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University and a BS from New Hampshire College. After four years in the U.S. Navy, John worked in the commercial real estate market and was a partner in a real estate firm in the Bath/Brunswick market, where he oversaw the rehabilitation and management of rental properties. John joined MaineHousing in 1996 as a multifamily loan officer, and was soon promoted to the manager of the department. In 1999 John became the Executive Director of Westbrook Housing. In 2012 John returned to MaineHousing as Executive Director. He is now semi retired and owns JJG Consulting, a business consulting firm. John has been married to Yo Gallagher of Brunswick for the past 7 years and they have one son, Joe who also lives in Brunswick. John enjoys music, and playing and building guitars.

Toni Kemmerle, Secretary
Principal Attorney, Maine Department of Transporation

Toni Kemmerle works as a real estate attorney for the Maine Department of Transportation. She moved to Brunswick from Tampa, Florida with her family in 1997. Before making a career change to become an attorney in 1985, Toni was an English professor at the University of Florida specializing in British literature. Toni welcomed the opportunity to join the Tedford Housing Board because Tedford not only offers a safe landing space for people experiencing homelessness but also helps them eventually move into permanent housing.  Serving as an officer of the Board is for her a great way to contribute to the Brunswick community. A fun fact about Toni is that, as a Florida native, she had never seen snow until she moved to Maine.

Kevin Bunker, At-Large Member
Principal, Developers Collaborative

Kevin Bunker is the founding principal of Portland-based real estate development firm Developers Collaborative. Kevin founded DC, one of the state’s largest affordable housing developers, with Richard Berman after graduating with distinction in 2007 from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. A former lobsterman in the Rockland area, Kevin is a principal on all of DC’s current projects, which have averaged about $30 million per year and run the gamut from residential to industrial.  Kevin has won numerous awards including the City of Portland’s 2019 Economic Development Achievement Award, and his projects build community and strengthen the Maine economy in innovative ways.  He first became interested in Tedford through some volunteer work he did with his daughter, serving meals and doing some painting.  Given his background and interest in affordable housing, this eventually led to a spot on the board.  He volunteered to be an officer on the EC mainly to get a deeper understanding of the issues facing the organization, in the hopes that it would help him be a more effective board member.  Kevin, an avid reader, hiker, runner, and Baltimore Orioles fan, lives in Brunswick with his wife Amanda and their daughters Alex and Natalie.

Joyce McPhetres, Past President
Chief Human Resources Officer, Community Health Options

For the past five years, Joyce McPhetres has served on the Tedford Housing Board of Directors. She currently serves as a past president on the Executive Committee, and as a member of both the Finance and Governance committees. She retired most recently as an Officer at Community Health Options, a non-profit insurance co-op founded in Maine. Joyce holds a Bachelors of Science and Masters of Education degrees from the University of Maine. Since first moving to the Brunswick area 12 years ago, Tedford’s work with those experiencing homelessness was of great interest. After initial volunteer work in 2012, Joyce joined the board in 2015 with the belief that housing, resources and a safety net provide the possibility for people to flourish. In addition to sitting on the Tedford Board, Joyce serves on the Community Health Options Community Benefit Expenditure Advisory Council, and spends time enjoying the wonderful benefits of living in Maine with friends and family.

Anna Cockrell
Practice Administrator, Casco Bay Dental

Anna Cockrell is a healthcare administrator committed to community health and equity. Anna is currently the Practice Administrator at Casco Bay Dental, a family dental practice in Brunswick that she operates with her husband. Prior to her current role, she worked as a Certified Prosthetist and Orthotist and provided rehabilitative care to patients for many years. She transitioned from clinical care to full time administration when they purchased Casco Bay Dental in 2017. Anna’s areas of expertise include change management, quality improvement, and systems thinking. She has served on the Quality Committee for Oasis Free Clinics and the Education and Wellness Group for the Merrymeeting Food Council. She lives in Brunswick with her husband and their two dogs. Anna holds a BS in Prosthetics & Orthotics from University of Washington and an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio University.

Cynthia Dechenes, MD

Cynthia Dechenes, MD is a family physician who has served the Mid Coast area since 2008. She is a graduate of the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and has served in the United States Air Force as a physician for a total of 16 years, with the last three as a member of the Air National Guard. Having lived in Brunswick since 2006, together with her spouse, Raj Woolever, MD, Cynthia has raised two children here and has been proud to be a part of this caring community. Through her work with patients and families, the impact of unaffordable housing and homelessness on patients’ health and well-has become a familiar and distressing issue. She has been a member of the Tedford Housing Board since 2018, and hopes that through the entire community’s efforts, the problems of homelessness and its profound effects on health will be solved.

Carolyn Eklund
Rector, St. Paul’s Church

The Rev. Carolyn H. Eklund became the rector of St. Paul’s Church, Brunswick, Maine in late 2013 after having served for 12 years at Grace Church, Plainfield, New Jersey. Her Masters of Divinity is from The General Theological Seminary in New York City. A native of Kansas, her undergraduate degrees are from the University of Kansas in microbiology and medical technology. Her passion and the passion of her parish is to partner with her community to create solutions with non-profit agencies and with those in need to help alleviate suffering. She currently serves on the board of Brunswick Area Interfaith Council (BAIC) as Secretary. She lives in Brunswick with her very smart border-collie mix named Sophie.

Judy Montgomery
Retired, Former Associate Librarian, Bowdoin College

Judy Montgomery joined the Tedford Housing Board of Directors in 2009. She currently chairs the Marketing and Development Committee. Working with Tedford has given her the opportunity to better understand the myriad root causes of homelessness and the critical role stable, affordable housing plays in alleviating poverty. Judy retired as associate librarian from Bowdoin College in 2017 where she oversaw all public-facing services, collection development, facilities and budget management. While at Bowdoin, she founded the “Children’s Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr” and coordinated the Brunswick-Bowdoin College Community Read featuring in-depth conversations about class and economic differences in the Mid Coast region. She received the McKeen Center Staff Award for Commitment to Community. With her husband Paul, Judy volunteers at Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program and works with Merrymeeting Gleaners to harvest surplus produce from local farms to distribute to people who lack sufficient food. Judy and Paul have lived in Brunswick since the early 1970s. Judy has a strong connection to nature, loves walking, gardening, swimming, reading and practicing taiji and qigong. 

John Murphy
Attending Physician, Maine Behavioral Health

Jamie Pacheco
Program Manager, Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust; Wellness Coordinator, Merrymeeting Food Council

Jamie Pacheco works in the agricultural non-profit sector where she develops and oversees educational programs, as well as works on initiatives to strengthen the local food system. Previously, she was co-founder and Managing Partner of a restaurant that partnered with schools to provide internship opportunities for students pursuing non-traditional educations.  Jamie and her partner Nate co-founded Flight Deck Brewing, a production brewery and retail space on Brunswick Landing, where Nate serves as Managing Partner, and Jamie serves as taste-testing spouse. Jamie volunteers for the SNAP Incentive Program at the Bath Farmers’ Market, with Big Brothers Big Sisters, on the Harpswell Community Garden Steering Committee, and serves on the City of Bath’s Development Corporation. Jamie joined Tedford’s board because she wanted to help people get home. She and her partner Nate live in North Bath on a small homestead featuring chickens, bees, permaculture crops and unknown wild animals. 

Rob Stuart
Retired, Professor

Rob Stuart was born, grew up, and educated in Connecticut (Trinity, Yale Divinity School, Yale Ph.D.). From college he was committed to antiracism; right relationships with Native Americans; low barrier, affordable housing; restorative justice; ending homelessness, and mitigating the self-inflicted threat to sustainable human life in climate change. After graduate school, Rob taught at Princeton Theological Seminary for six years before moving back to Maine to restore an 18th century house in Limington Maine. Rob started a specialty wood working business and an antiques business. From that time on, he taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern Maine, Bates College, Bangor Theological Seminary, and the Honors College at the University of Maine. Rob built an adaptation of the Tate House (Stroudwater, Portland) on Frenchboro, an outer island 10 miles out from Bass Harbor, where he also served for 10 years as First Selectman.

Scott Upham
Principal, Cribstone Capital Management, LLC

Scott Upham is the Founder and President of Cribstone Capital, a Brunswick based organization that manages the financial affairs for many Maine families and organizations. With almost 30 years of extensive financial services experience — including expertise in retirement, trust, estate and tax planning — Scott specializes in serving multi-generational families and non-profit organizations. Prior to Cribstone, he was a Regional Director with Russell Investments and also held senior investment management positions with American Express, Putnam Investments and Fleet Investment Management. Scott understands that for many families, its hard to focus on the long term when they are experiencing challenges in the here and now.  Housing insecurity effects too many Mid Coast families, and Scott is pleased to contribute to such an important organization as Tedford in its efforts to keep people warm, safe, and with a home in their time of crisis.  Scott lives in West Bath with his wife, Julie, and their two sons, Connor and Ethan.