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.
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.
Adena Walker
Member
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.
Lori Landay
Nominating & Fundraising Committee
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.
Kristin Hung
Member
As a PTO co-chair and founding member of the FRR Equity PAC, Kristin’s volunteer work focuses on building equitable and engaged communities that value diversity and inclusion. She also serves as chair of the Brookline Board of Library Trustees and believes that public libraries are where everyone should be able to find a sense of belonging and wonder. Kristin studied History of Science at Harvard College, which ultimately led to her current job as a pelvic reconstructive surgeon at MGH. Her work is dedicated to improving women’s quality of life and access to care so that they can live their best lives and tell their own stories.
Colin Stokes
Member
Colin Stokes is a Brookline parent, Town Meeting Member, and communications consultant specializing in antiracism facilitation. He has worked at education non-profits including METCO, Inc. and Citizen Schools. His four TED talks with TEDxBeaconStreet at Lincoln School have been viewed more than 13 million times. With his child Theo he has contributed scenes to four Crowdsourced Brookline movies. He studied visual arts at Harvard.
Katha Seidman
Member
Katha Seidman is a sculptor, painter and a production designer for television. Besides an extensive exhibition record, she has received three Emmy Awards for her work designing drama-documentaries. As part of Building a Better Brookline, Katha also helped design and plan their Brookline Arts Community Engagement project. Katha believes that, by combining the arts of storytelling and visual expression with data, Brookline for Everyone will create a compelling vision of Brookline’s future that includes abundant affordable homes. Katha represents Precinct 2 in Town Meeting, and serves on the Brookline Arts Commission.
Patricia Correa
Member
Patricia Correa retired in 2022 after 14 years as the Town of Brookline’s First Assistant Town Counsel, and prior to that, Associate Town Counsel. Patty’s legal work for the Town was varied, but included helping the Town devise one of the State’s first local licensing schemes for cannabis shops, develop various employment policies and procedures, and represent the Town in federal and state litigation. Patty also served on the Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association’s Executive Board and as Chair of its Amicus Committee, and is a recipient of the organization’s President’s Award. Prior to Town employment, Patty was an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, most recently serving as Director of the Division’s Disability Rights Project. She also spent 7 years total working as a Litigation Associate in a large global law firm and in a medium-sized litigation boutique. After graduating from the New York University School of Law, she clerked for the Hon. Alfred J. Lechner, Jr., of the United States District Court for New Jersey. Patty has a B.A. in Political Philosophy from Yale University. She and her husband Martin have lived in Brookline for over 30 years, and their two sons are proud graduates of Pierce School and Brookline High School. She is a Precinct 6 Town Meeting member, an active member of Mothers Out Front-Brookline, and an avid sailor.
Maximilian Scherrer
Member
Originally from Los Angeles, but lived in the Boston area since 2015 and Brookline since 2023. An adult ESL teacher and administrator. HIs interests include creative writing, literature, film, art, and anything else that falls within the space of the humanities and creative expression. Has a vision of BIG serving as a space for people of diverse backgrounds to connect, collaborate, and share their stories through any and all forms of media. Especially hopeful that BIG can offer international students, workers, and elders a unique and accessible platform from which to actualize themselves.
Susan Park
Member
An author and a retired English teacher. She is excited to encourage and inspire readers to become life learners that look at challenges with confidence, grace, and love through my books. Also a Brookline Town Meeting Member in precinct 17. Hosts "Asian Flavors with Susan".