Meet “Team Gingerbread”

Our Planning and Operations Team

Lois Ascher is president of the board of directors of the West End Museum in Boston.  A resident of Newburyport, she retired in 2017 from her long-held position as professor of humanities at Wentworth Institute of Technology, where she taught courses in writing, literature, art history, and urban culture studies.  Lois was active in the Northeast Popular & American Culture Association and is a former Board member of Greater Newburyport Village, Inc.  Lois earned degrees in literature at Wheaton College (B.A.) and Northeastern University (M.A.). 

Kendra Coulehan serves on the Board of Directors of the Port Gingerbread Festival.  She lives in Amesbury and works as a Sourcing Data Analyst at Harvey Performance Company in Rowley, where she enjoys building reports and models with data.  Previously, she worked as an architect in both Chelsea, Massachusetts and Anchorage, Alaska. Kendra puts her planning, design and data skills to work building the Festival, giving back to a city that has given her much joy.  Kendra earned degrees from Washington University (B.A.) and the University of Texas at Austin (M.A. Architecture). 

Mary Dissette has loved making gingerbread creations with family and friends for more than 20 years.  Convinced that gingerbread art-making is good for the soul, she rallied kindred spirits to found the Port Gingerbread Festival, to spread enthusiasm, know-how and good will in the community.  A resident of Newburyport since 1989, Mary enjoyed a career in non-profit organization management, especially start-ups of community-based lifelong learning programs.  She served on the steering committee and was the first executive director of Greater Newburyport Village, Inc.  Mary serves as president of Port Gingerbread Festival, Inc.  She earned degrees from Harvard University (M. Ed.), George Washington University (J.D.), and Boston College (B.A.).  

Mike Dissette, director and clerk for PGF, seems to resist total retirement from law practice, enjoying too much the wrangling of clients and contractors over construction projects.  Since 2003, Mike has served as chairman of Newburyport’s Community Preservation Committee, working closely with City Hall and many non-profit organizations to fund projects relating to affordable housing, historic preservation and open space.  Long an accomplice in his family’s gingerbread projects, he stepped up to make a gingerbread replica of a local landmark stone tower for our first Festival.  Mike studied at the University of Pennsylvania (B.A.) and Villanova University (J.D.)

Barbara Dowd is an active volunteer for startup nonprofits and other values-based organizations, having retired from a career in non-profit governance consulting, capacity building, business planning, training, writing, editing. She is former Associate Director for New Business at the national Girls, Inc. organization.  She currently serves on the board at PEG Center for the Arts in Newburyport, in addition to contributing time and skills to the community as an ESL tutor and amateur photographer.  Barbara holds a B.A. from Agnes Scott College and did graduate study at the University of Pennsylvania.

Tracey Fortier works as a preservation planner with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation, drawing on years of experience in historic preservation, project management, and grants consulting.  On an interim career adventure as she raised her two daughters, Tracey founded Blue Egg Baking Company.  She lives in Amesbury, where old mill buildings inspired a fantastically fenestrated creation for our 2023 display and brought to the fore her skills and passion for both building and baking.  Tracey holds degrees from Smith College (B.A., Architecture) and the University of Vermont (B.S., Historic Preservation).

 Bill Franz lives in Newburyport and serves on the Board of Greater Newburyport Village as director of member care.  Bill is retired from a 35-year career in Human Resources Development, working for several small start-up corporations as well as several large multinationals. Bill earned a doctorate in Human Resources from Boston University, specializing in Training and Organizational Development.  

Jennifer Kyte is in her tenth year as Director of Donor Relations at The Governor’s Academy in Byfield.  Her previous work included project management, marketing, and events consulting for organizations such as The Trustees of Reservations, Newburyport Farmers’ Market, and the Boston Camerata, where she was executive director.  Jen lives in Newburyport and holds a B.S. from Emerson College.

Kathleen Melanson enjoys variety and creative opportunities at Central Congregational Church in Newburyport, where she became Church Administrator  in 2021.  Her professional experience includes 12 years with UMass Medical Center as senior project director and deputy director.  She has also worked in management at Blue Cross Blue Shield and CVS Health.  A resident of Newburyport, Kathleen earned her B.S. in business administration from Emmanuel College.

Diane Simmons lives in Newbury and works for Fidelity Investments as a leader in the Wealth division. Her earlier career included roles in web site management at Bank of America, Intuit, and Gillette.  Diane is always happy to make time for the arts and for involvement in the community.  She holds a B.A. from Providence College and earned her M.B.A. from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Myra Suraci is an artist, yoga teacher, and former art teacher with a long history of cultivating the gingerbread arts within her large family. She brings those skills to leading pre-Festival workshops, helping others to build their gingerbread dream houses. In 2021, Myra turned her expertise into a business enterprise called My Gingerbread, selling scratch-made, hand-crafted gingerbread houses seasonally to a loyal and growing clientele.  Myra lives in Newton, New Hampshire, and Old Orchard Beach, Maine.  She holds a B.A. from Framingham State University in fine arts and art education.  

Christine Young is a resident of West Newbury and serves as treasurer of Port Gingerbread Festival, Inc.  She came to gingerbreading while homeschooling her three children.  Her friend Mary’s passion helped infuse a cross-disciplinary interpretation of a confectionery Wampanoag village.  She appreciates the creative ideation and ingenuity inherent in concocting gingerbread works of art, and doesn’t mind that they are also delicious.  Christine attended Middlebury College (B.A.) and the University of Massachusetts Medical School (M.D.), and works as a physician at Mass General Brigham Community Physicians.