Mahoney Family Fund Committee Members
Maureen Mahoney
Maureen Mahoney, a native of Tewksbury, MA, moved to south Florida after graduating from Boston College. Maureen then graduated from Florida International University with a degree in dietetics and nutrition and continues to work in this field with people in recovery.
Maureen founded the Mahoney Family Fund (MFF) in 2015 with an inaugural tribute to her parents and brother. Maureen and the MFF committee continue to advocate for children and families with their outreach to the community. Through in-person events and virtual webinars, the MFF aims to mitigate violence against children and educate parents and caregivers about positive parenting. Maureen received a congressional award in 2016 for her work in violence prevention, which she accepted on behalf of her committee.
Barbara Dunsford
Barbara Dunsford, a Development Consultant and Community Advocate, shared that she became involved in this organization because "The Mahoney Family Fund has supported many area non-profits with grants to stop domestic violence and child abuse. This grass roots, all volunteer effort educates our communities via cutting edge research and real life experiences to reduce harm to ourselves, others and especially our most vulnerable."
Karen A. Myatt
Karen A. Myatt, Esq is a family lawyer and mediator based in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Her practice focuses on out of court resolution with out-of-the-box solutions. She is a Tewksbury native and a member of the bar in Massachusetts and Florida.
Madeline Snow Typadis
Madeline Snow Typadis is a retired Project Manager from the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at UMass Lowell. She enjoys working with teams and groups to prevent and solve problems. She holds a B.A. in Biology/Environmental Studies from New College of Florida and an M.P.A. from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Margaret Shanahan
Margaret ‘Peg’ Shanahan is a professional photographer, activist and Executive Director of the Independent University Alumni Association at UMass Lowell. She feels privileged to work with the Mahoney Family Fund, the Lowell City of Learning initiative, the Brush Gallery for Art and local political campaigns. Peg sees access to education and the arts, for all, as the road to clear reckoning and life-long learning as the path to peace. (photo credit Meghan Moore)
Helen Blaschke
Helen Blaschke is a retired RN. She has lived in Lowell since graduating from St Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing. For over 40 years, Helen worked in the Emergency Rooms of local hospitals. During this time, she has seen way too much violence and abuse, especially toward children. She now volunteers to continue to help spread the word to the community and beyond.
Jen Myers
Jen Myers is the Communications Director for the Lowell Public Schools (LPS). Prior to joining LPS in 2021, she had a 20+ year career in communications in different aspects of Lowell community life. This included spending 12 years as a reporter for the Lowell Sun; stints working in the Mayor’s office, at Coalition for a Better Acre, and for State Senator Ed Kennedy; as well as providing photography and communications services to a wide range of non-profits and institutions in the city.
She is happy to be helping the Mahoney Family Foundation with their mission to educate people about child abuse and to give parents and caregivers alternatives to violence when disciplining their children.
Jen holds a degree in Photojournalism from Boston University and in her spare time loves to cook, explore new places, and spend time outdoors.