Our Board of Directors
Becc o’Brien
Rebecca O’Brien, everyone calls her “Becc” began as an activist in 2018 after raising her 4 children in West Newbury for the past 28 years. She comes to the PEG Center with experience organizing phone banks and events with “Moms Demand Action” (https://momsdemandaction.org/), a grassroot organization of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence. Using the skills learned while working with “Moms Demand Action” she expanded her political activism with “Our Revolution Massachusetts” (https://ourrevolutionma.com/) as their first staff member, Organizing Coordinator, and editor of their newsletter. Becc also volunteers with “Indivisible-RISE Newburyport” (https://www.indivisiblerisenewburyport.org/), The Swing Blue Alliance (https://swingbluealliance.org/ )and is the Vice-Chair of the West Newbury Democratic Town Committee. The PEG Center has become a true passion for Becc and her work to make the world a safer, cleaner, more equitable, and kinder world.
Barbara Dowd
As a nonprofit governance consultant, Barbara has helped boards and management of nonprofit organizations build on their organizational strengths to move to a more effective level of operation. Previously, she worked for the national Girls Inc. organization helping communities across the country start and support new Girls Inc. member organizations. She has a background in education, training, and entrepreneurship. Since her retirement, Barbara has taught English as a Second Language, volunteered as a ranger in Utah, and used her photography to support nonprofit organizations committed to social change.
Jim Supple
Jim Supple and his wife, Mary McDonald have lived in the Newburyport area for more than thirty-five years. He is the founder and the principal leadership coach at Great Marsh Consulting, LLC.
Before forming Great Marsh, Jim had a lengthy career in the financial services sector. The last 25 years with Fidelity Investments, he served as Executive Vice President of Financial Advisor Solutions from 2009 until his retirement in 2015.
Jim is a Trustee of the Boston Arts Academy, a public high school in the City of Boston dedicated to the education of artists, scholars, and global citizens. He is also a board member of the First Religious Society, Unitarian Universalist of Newburyport, Massachusetts. In addition, he is a former CEB Global Leadership Council member, the Investment Company Institute (ICI) Sales and Marketing Council, and the Parents’ Council at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Jim and Mary are the parents of four adult children who live in the Newburyport area. Mary is the Founder and Executive Director of Tinkerhaus Community Markerspace, Inc., a non-profit maker space dedicated to helping learners of all ages develop and apply their creative capacity. Both Jim and Mary are graduates of Boston College; additionally, Mary holds an M.Ed. in Arts Education from Lesley University. They both are longtime supporter of the creative arts in the local community.
Joe HULL
Joe is a former chief of the Emergency Department, president of the medical staff, and chief medical officer at Anna Jaques Hospital, Newburyport, MA.
He is an athlete who excels in golf, basketball and other sports. A family man with many grandchildren that are his greatest joy in life.
PAULA ESTEY
Paula Estey is an artist, poet and art advocate who has been creating art, producing shows, and amplifying artists since she was young. She was a founding member of Unity on the River Spiritual Center and for ten years was the Artist in Residence there, teaching classes, creating paintings and performing her poetry. She taught Painting as a Spiritual Practice for fifteen years, helping to train creatives in finding their artistic voice. Many of her students have created successful livelihoods in the Arts. She opened Paula Estey Gallery in 2014. In 2019, Estey pivoted to include social justice, human rights and the environment in her gallery focus and applied for nonprofit status, which was granted in 2021. Estey is now the Creative and Executive Director for The PEG Center for Art and Activism as well as the founder of The Women in Action Huddle of Greater Newburyport, an activist group with the same focus, with over 500 members and friends. She loves community and feels blessed to live and work in Newburyport, MA.
marie hoffman
Marie was a co-founder and founding board member of the public Montessori River Valley Charter School in Newburyport. The group of parents and educators petitioned the Massachusetts Department of Education to create a Montessori elementary and middle school in Newburyport in 1999. As the development officer at the Newburyport Maritime Society, she managed the annual appeal, wrote grants and organized major fundraising events. Marie is currently part of a West Newbury-based Neighborhood Support Team that will secure permanent housing for Afghan families and welcome them to the Newburyport area. After a career change from business, Marie now works with individuals and couples as a psychotherapist in Newburyport with a focus on childhood trauma. Marie has lived in the Newburyport area for 34 years and is now living on the Merrimack in West Newbury with her husband Michael and their dog, Addie. The PEG Center is a perfect fit for her desire to focus time and effort towards making the world more equitable and sustainable.
Megan Chiango
Megan is an artist and mother who has an insatiable desire to visually problem solve and form connections. After 20+ years of working in design, her interdisciplinary art practice shifted to focus on community oriented environmental initiatives. She interrogates the role of human systems as they intersect, shape, and exist as part of complex ecosystems. Recent work positions artistic practice as a research practice, advocating for the role of the amateur in processing information.
