Abbie Rosenberg
Founder, Executive Director
Abbie has over 30 years of experience as an advanced psychiatric nurse practitioner, including outpatient private practice, inpatient psychiatric care and on college campuses. She also has experience in the non-profit sector as the founder and executive director of an event raising money for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) for 16 years
Abbie lives in Hopkinton, MA with her husband and two sons. She enjoys hiking with her dog, volunteering in her community and spending time with family and friends.
Our Board of Directors
Jean Bertschmann
Board Chair
Jean has over 20 years of leadership experience in nonprofits as well as in local and regional government. She served for 9 years on the Hopkinton School Committee, and currently serves as a Commissioner on the Metrowest Commission on the Status of Women. Jean is the Executive Director of the Spina Bifida Association of Greater New England. She has also served on multiple boards of mission-driven, direct service nonprofits.
Jean lives in Hopkinton, MA with her husband and four daughters and is an avid quilter and community volunteer.
Ellie Winthrop
Vice Chair
Ellie has worked in the nonprofit world for the past 18 years serving on various boards as secretary and treasurer. She has experience in fundraising as well. She currently volunteers as an ESL tutor at Literacy Unlimited in Framingham MA and as a mentor for Mazie Mentoring of Big Brother Big Sister in Framingham MA as well.
Ellie lives in Hopkinton with her husband and 3 children. In her free time she enjoys playing tennis, bike riding and plant based cooking.
Kelly Karp
Secretary
Kelly has more than 30 years of leadership experience managing high volume business, building customer relationships and overseeing large scale projects. She has served on several elected and volunteer boards, including Parks and Recreation Commission, Planning Board and the Upper Charles Trail Committee. Kelly is passionate about mental health issues and hopes to de-stigmatize the conversation through awareness and education.
Kelly lives in Hopkinton with her husband and two daughters.
Josh Levitt
Treasurer
Josh has over a decade of volunteer experience across a breadth of focus areas, including education, homelessness, hunger, and support for youth on the autism spectrum. He has served in both regional and national leadership roles focused on promoting corporate social responsibility. He is currently part of the Strategic Projects team at Blink Health, a NYC-startup that uses innovative tech solutions to reduce the cost of prescription medications.
Josh lives in Manhattan with his fiance Jamie, where he spends much of his free time frequenting new restaurants.
Ali Balster
Ali has over 20 years experience as a diverse business leader with expertise in supply chain management, financial analysis, engineering and operations. She is a trained industrial engineer having spent fifteen years in aerospace manufacturing worldwide. More recently, Ali founded a gourmet catering business and currently serves as an account analyst for a wealth management firm.
Ali volunteers for various Hopkinton organizations including MOMs Group, the HPTA, the Sharon Timlin Memorial 5K and Mental Health Collaborative.
Brian Gross
Brian Gross is a partner in the Boston office of the law firm Manning Gross + Massenburg, and has more than twenty years of experience finding client-oriented solutions to complex business and litigation issues. His practice involves a broad spectrum of litigation, but is primarily concentrated in corporate litigation.
Brian lives in Hopkinton with his wife and two children, and has been active in Hopkinton youth sports for many years. He enjoys travel, sports, and spending time with family.
Trainers and Interns
Martha F. Fitzgerald, MA, LPC
Martha is a psychotherapist who has been in private practice for 32 years. Working with adolescents and adults, Martha brings particular expertise to areas such as depression, anxiety, trauma, grief and caregiving, and divorce recovery. Of special interest to her is creating more collaborative relationships between families, schools, and communities to address issues of mental health and resiliency.
Denise E. Hildreth, Phd, LICSW
Denise has been a licensed clinical social worker for almost 25 years. During that time, she has provided support to children and families facing a variety life challenges. She has expertise in helping families navigate typical life transitions and to recover from painful life events, significant losses, and mental health challenges. In addition to her clinical work, Denise has been a social work educator for much of her career, educating and training social work students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She currently serves as a member of the faculty at Regis College in Weston.
Marissa Carty, Intern
Marissa Carty is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in psychology at Boston University, where she is a member of the Kilachand Honors College. She is passionate about educating others on mental health and hopes to pursue a degree in Applied Positive Psychology after undergraduate school. Her experience working on the Global Resilience Oral Workshop program, or GROW, in Zambia, showed her the power of teaching young people about resilience. She cares deeply about her community in Hopkinton where she resides and hopes to spread mental health literacy as far as possible. In her free time, she is a dancer, a member of the meditation club at her college, and she enjoys being active outdoors.
Dana Zapolin, Summer Intern (2020)
Dana Zapolin is a summer intern for Mental Health Collaborative. She just finished her freshman year at Tulane University and is planning to major in Psychology and Public Health, with a minor in French.
Advisory Board of Directors
Evan Bishop
Evan is the principal at Hopkinton High School. He has worked at HHS for the past 15 years. He started his career as a school counselor and coach and has spent the last 10 years as an administrator. He loves to spend time with his family & friends, coaching his daughter’s sports teams, traveling and exercising.
Ilene Silver
Ilene is a former longtime principal of the Elmwood School in Hopkinton, MA. She lives in Framingham with her husband and loves to spend time with her grandchildren and travel. She is also is an avid volunteer in her community.
Lisa Stevenson
Lisa is an award winning Creative Director/Art Director with more than 25 years of experience. She is VP, Creative Director at Merge, Boston—a marketing agency specializing in the healthcare and financial services industries. She is mom to two amazing daughters and when she isn’t driving the dance carpool, she loves to travel and ski with her kids.
Sharon Burdulis
Sharon has been practicing pediatrics for over 20 years in the community setting. She and her husband are blessed with 5 children and 2 dogs. In addition to spending time with her family, she loves to run and volunteer her time.
Young Adult Advisory Board
| Sean Winthrop | Saint Michaels College | Class of 2019 |
| Billy Allen | Bowdoin College | Class of 2020 |
| Maddie McGuire | Boston College | Class of 2021 |
| Sarah Pearson | University of Pittsburgh | Class of 2021 |
| Camryn D’Aloia | Framingham State University | Class of 2021 |
| Julia Burdulis | Trinity College | Class of 2021 |
| Emma LaCascia | Boston University | Class of 2021 |
| Marissa Carty | Boston University | Class of 2022 |
| Rose Goldstein | University of Virginia | Class of 2022 |
| Amanda Higgens | Mount Saint Vincent University | Class of 2022 |
| Zack Sisitsky | Georgetown University | Class of 2022 |
| Kate Huebner | Boston College | Class of 2022 |
| Nate Pucci | Dartmouth College | Class of 2022 |
| Grace Cavanaugh | Occidental College | Class of 2023 |
| Evan Sisitsky | Loyola University Maryland | Class of 2023 |
| Nicole Winthrop | Univeristy of Michigan | Class of 2023 |
| Elise Miller | Westfield State University | Class of 2023 |
| William Huebner | Babson College | Class of 2023 |
| Dana Zapolin | Tulane University | Class of 2023 |
| Amelia Cohen | Newton High School | Class of 2021 |
| Holly Burns | Hopkinton High School | Class of 2021 |
| Sydney Holzman | The Rivers School | Class of 2022 |
| Maya Holzman | The Rivers School | Class of 2023 |
| Cece Chapman | Norfolk County Agricultural High School | Class of 2024 |
| Katie Balster | Hopkinton High School | Class of 2024 |
| Zadie Blish | American School in London | Class of 2024 |