Business and Community Leaders Join Northern Essex Community College Foundation Board

Northern Essex Community College Haverhill campus, (File photograph.)

Nine local business and community leaders were recently appointed to the Northern Essex Community College Foundation Board.

New members include Tim Coco of Haverhill, president and general manager of WHAV; former Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins Jr. of Newburyport; Eduardo Crespo of Boca Raton, Fla., founder and CEO of Hispanic Market Solution; Jose Cruz of Salem, N.H., vice president and commercial loan officer, Reading Cooperative Bank; Derek Davoli of Haverhill, senior vice president and regional vice president, TD Bank; Mark Forman of Merrimac, director of business development, Bake’n Joy Foods; Travis Jacobs of Quincy, founder/managing partner, Jacobs Law; Caroline Pineau of Haverhill, owner and CEO of Stem; and Dr. Kristyn Pistone, president and CEO of Pistone Foot Center.

Coco is a graduate of Northern Essex who went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Lesley University. He has previously served on the college’s Occupational Advisory Board and Graphic Arts Advisory Board and currently is a member of the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center Business Leaders Network and a commissioner of the Essex National Heritage Commission. WHAV is a public radio station that serves Greater Haverhill.

Cousins attended Northern Essex before transferring to Springfield College, where he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He served as Essex County sheriff from 1996 to 2016 and was recently the president of the Newburyport Chamber of Commerce.

Also a graduate of Northern Essex, Crespo earned a bachelor’s in economics from UMass/Boston. Based in Methuen, his company, Hispanic Market Solution, helps businesses and institutions engage with Hispanics and other multi-cultural groups in the US. Crespo immigrated to the U.S. from Ecuador.

Cruz joined Reading Cooperative Bank in 2019. Prior to that, he had worked in financial and banking services for Enterprise Bank and Sage Bank. He is a member of the board of The Professional Center for Child Development and he coaches volleyball at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Salem. A graduate of Southern New Hampshire University, he is currently an MBA candidate at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst.

A graduate of Merrimack College with an MBA from Suffolk University, Davoli is president of Haverhill Girls Softball and a former president of Riverside Bradford Baseball.

A member of the Northern Essex Board of Trustees from 2009 until earlier this year, Mark Forman is a graduate of UMass Amherst. He served as president of Boston Coffee Cake for 18 years, until 2010 when he took on his current position with Bake’n Joy Foods.

After graduating from Northern Essex with a Paralegal degree, Jacobs earned a bachelor’s from Bentley University, a master’s from the London School of Economics and a law degree from Suffolk University. A member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, his Boston-based practice focuses on corporate and business law. Jacobs currently serves on the colleg’s Alumni Board and is the alumni representative on the NECC Foundation Board.

Pineau is the former owner of the Yoga Tree and the current owner of Stem, a cannabis retailer in downtown Haverhill. A graduate of the College of Charleston, she recently participated in the LEADS Fellowship, an executive leadership program offered in partnership with Harvard Business School.

Pistone is a member of the American Academy of Podiatric Practice Management, board certified in podiatric surgery and medicine; and a staff physician at Holy Family Hospital. While she was earning her undergraduate degree from Stonehill College, she took summer courses at Northern Essex. She received her Doctor of Podiatric Medicine degree from Barry University in Miami, Fla.

The NECC Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides support for the college and its students. Incorporated in 1972, the Foundation assists the college by making connections with the business community, foundations and other potential revenue sources. It additionally hosts fundraisers and special events.

Money raised is used for student scholarships, equipment purchases, program revitalization efforts, faculty and staff development and other needs as they arise and as approved by the Foundation Board of Directors. Board members are appointed to multi-year terms.

For more information about the Foundation or giving to NECC, contact Allison Dolan-Wilson, vice president of institutional advancement and executive director of NECC Foundation, at 978 556-3624 or [email protected].

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