Staff
Pam Garramone
Executive Director
Oswego State University, BA, Elementary Education
University of New Hampshire, M.Ed., Education
Pam has taught elementary school and designed and presented personal development workshops. As Greater Boston PFLAG’s executive director, she conducts educational programs annually in middle and high schools statewide, and in community, corporate, and religious organizations.
Catherine Brady
Bookkeeper
Metropolitan State College, Denver
Catherine has been crunching numbers since it was done with pencil and ledger paper. She lives in Cambridge with her life partner and their daughter, and feels very fortunate to be helping Greater Boston PFLAG achieve its critical mission.
Board of Directors
Stanley Griffith
President
Brown University, A.B.
DePaul University and University of Pennsylvania Law Schools, J.D.
For over 33 years, Stan practiced law in the areas of financial services, securities and commodity regulation, corporate and municipal finance, and general corporate law and as a community legal services attorney and a judicial clerk. He retired in April 2004 and consulted part-time until November 2008.
"My family and I benefited from school and community-based support programs in Lexington designed to combat homophobia and to improve understanding of the rights and needs of gay and lesbian people. I want to repay that debt and to ensure that programs like the ones in my hometown survive and expand so that all children, including mine, live in a world where they are safe, welcome and included and treated equally and with respect."
Linda L. Peterson
Vice President
Boston College, B.S., M.S.
Linda works in the non-profit community.
"The first Greater Boston PFLAG event that I attended was the annual Pride and Passion Party in 2006. By the end of the evening we were in complete awe at all the wonderful "straight" people in attendance who were volunteering their time and donating money to support LGBT people. As a lesbian, I had never experienced that genuineness before. It made perfect sense for me, when the time came for me to volunteer for my community, that it would be through Greater Boston PFLAG. I am honored to be a part of this organization."
Kat MacDonald
Treasurer
Smith College, B.A.
Bentley College, Certificate in Accounting
Kat worked in healthcare finance and accounting, and now stays home with her children.
"I joined Greater Boston PFLAG because I want my young children to be safe in their schools and in their community. I want them to see other families, like ours, who are both different and making a difference."
Deborah Pfeiffer
Clerk
Northeastern University, B.A.
University of Massachusetts, Boston, M.A.
Deb is retired from a career in accounting and finance.
"My daughter, and everyone's kids, are safer because of this organization. It's a gentle revolution that's changing the world in ways I never thought possible."
Margaret Costello
University of Massachusetts, Boston and Fitchburg College, V.T.C.
Meg is an instructor at Shawsheen Valley Technical High School.
"I was encouraged to join Greater Boston PFLAG by a colleague because of my association with SkillsUSA."
John Dacey
University of Binghamton, B.A.
Cornell University, M.A., Ph.D.
John is Professor of Human Development at Boston College.
"I am a member because I feel outraged by those who would violate our precious Constitution by denying rights that belong to all our citizens."
Robert Edmunds
Bentley College, B.S. in Business Management
Robert works in finance as a certified financial planner and a chartered retirement planning counselor.
"Greater Boston PFLAG's cause is very important to the future of the GLBT community."
Cheryl A. Giles
Boston College, B.A. with honors
Harvard Divinity School, M.Div.
Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, Psy.D.
Cheryl is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in working with traumatized youth and their families. She is the Francis Greenwood Peabody Professor of the Practice in Pastoral Care and Counseling at Harvard Divinity School, where she has been a member of the faculty since 1997.
"I became a member of Greater Boston PFLAG to become an advocate for queer youth and their families in the fight for human rights. We want to ensure that queer teens are 'healthy teens' that develop into 'healthy adults' that live as productive citizens. The work of PFLAG is about restoring justice."
Maura Jane Griffin
Boston College, B.A.
Boston University School of Social Work, M.S.W.
Brandeis University, Ph.D.
Maura works in the health education field with a special focus on prevention of and recovery from acute and chronic illness.
“By working with PFLAG I feel that I am contributing to a positive difference in the lives of young people and their families and furthering the cause of Greater Boston PFLAG."
Beth-Anne Halpert
University of Connecticut, B.A.
University College, Dublin, M.A.
New York Law, J.D.
Beth-Anne is a real estate attorney.
"I thought Greater Boston PFLAG would give me a chance to make a difference."
Gordon Hardy
Williams College, B.A. in American Civilization and English
Gordon is professional nonfiction editor, writer, web and print director, and journalism instructor.
"I'm involved in PFLAG because all young people need to feel love, acceptance, and support - especially those who feel "different." PFLAG fosters healthy communication around GLBTQ identity that helps families, youth and friends through sometimes difficult issues."
Ken Heideman
University of Vermont, MA in Geography
The Pennsylvania State University, MS in Meteorology
Ken is Director of Publications for the American Meteorological Society.
"To be part of an organization like PFLAG, that helps so many who are struggling with such limited resources, is nothing less than an honor."
Linda Patterson
Ohio Wesleyan University, B.F.A.
Rochester Institute of Technology, M.F.A.
Emerson College, M.A.
Linda handles direct marketing for the Museum of Science membership department.
"I was drawn to Greater Boston PFLAG because I wanted to help parents accept their gay children."
Elizabeth Shaw
Skidmore, B.S.N.
Boston University, M.S.P.H.N.
University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Ed.D.
Beth was a member of the faculty at Fitchburg State College for many years until she retired recently.
“As the mother of a lesbian daughter, attending chapter meetings in Concord changed my life. Joining Greater Boston PFLAG taught me how to become politically active and an advocate for all GLBT people.”
Edward Walker
University of Maryland, College Park, B.S.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, S.M., E.E.
Ed is employed in the computer software field.
"I joined Greater Boston PFLAG because I believe all children and families deserve equality."
Susan Wilson
University of Rochester, B.S.N.
Boston University, M.P.H.
Northeastern University, J.D.
Sue is a lawyer in private practice with offices in Brookline and Mashpee, Massachusetts who practices personal injury law and patients’ rights. She is also a Justice of the Peace.
"I joined the Greater Boston PFLAG Board because I wanted to help make it easier for today's GLBT kids and young adults to come out, than it was for me, and the GLBT folks of my generation."
