BIG's Board of Directors
Eric Hyett
President
Poet and Japanese translator – Eric is a Brookline native and current Town Meeting Member who became involved with BIG through “Telling Your Story,” the memoir class he co-teaches that is sponsored by the Town of Brookline’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations. He is also host of “The Arc Of Justice” on BIG TV.
Lori Landay
Vice-President, Nominating & Fundraising Committees
Professor of cultural studies at Berklee College of Music and an interdisciplinary scholar. She is the author of two books, I Love Lucy and Madcaps, Screwballs, and Con Women: The Female Trickster in American Culture. Landay has been awarded the Dean's Award for Excellence in the Professional Education Division at Berklee, a Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship, and a National Endowment for the Humanities Enduring Questions Grant. She has consulted on and appeared in Finding Lucy, an American Masters documentary airing nationally on PBS and internationally, in addition to serving as the Information Technology Officer for the Society for Cinema and Media Studies from 2002–2005.
Adena Walker
Member, Outreach & Fundraising Committee
Creator and host of Deanie’s Corner. She has B.A from Wagner College majoring in musical theatre and minoring in psychology. She has worked in both Massachusetts and New York, off Broadway and regional houses and well known concert venues. She also has worked in both states as an educator in both regular and special education grades pre k-12th, private, charter and public schools. While living in New York she taught in all 5 boroughs. She has also performed on ABC as well. Adena is also a professional model and influencer on Instagram and TikTok. You can follow her work as littledeanie_ and Deaniescorner on both platforms.
Amy Browning Emmert
Treasurer, People & Finance Committee
Executive Director, External Affairs, Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center.
A local arts advocate, she is also a Board Member and Co-President for Muddy River
Arts, Inc. (ArtsBrookline) and a founding member of Station Street Studios in Brookline
Village, a non-profit arts and education space offered by Muddy River Arts, Inc. Amy is
also a Steering Committee Member for Brookline Open Studios, a program managed by
the Brookline Arts Center.
Bonnie Bastien
Clerk
Bonnie Bastien (she/her) is a passionate justice and equity activist, a political organizer in Brookline, and an active Brookline Town Meeting Member in Precinct 5. She recently became the Senior Tenant Organizer for the Brookline Community Development Corporation (BCDC). Bastien began her career as an artist and a creator of research and development programs for artists. She later became an activist and advocate for issues around mass incarceration and prison abolition. In 2020, Bastien co-founded and was General Organizer for Mutual Aid Brookline during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Malcolm Doldron
Member & People and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
Head Coach of Lightweight Rowing at Boston University, and a Head Coach for the United States Under 23 Lightweight National Rowing Team. He serves as Chair of the Community Engagement Committee of the Commission for Diversity Inclusion and Community Relations for the Town of Brookline.
Ted Lewis
Member
A graduate of Daniel Webster College and Northeastern University. A veteran USMC '66 and a retired law enforcement officer. I took studies in production and social media promotion that earned me a job on Broadway-NYC. A commercial photographer since '61. Former member of WGBH (CAD), Bessie Coleman Foundation, who also serves on Roxbury Main Streets and the Center for Community Wellness Boards. My moto, 'Mark 9:23.
Meenakshi Garodia
Member
In addition to serving on BIG’s Board, Meenakshi Garodia is the Vice President of the Board at Saheli where she has been involved with fundraising and youth programs. Meenakshi has her MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and has worked in manufacturing and finance. She has always been passionate about women’s empowerment and is an appointed commissioner with the Brookline Commission of Women. She is a ceramic artist, who highlights women’s issues through her art. She has also developed a vegetarian cooking show on YouTube which specializes in global cuisines.