Healthy Aging Martha's Vineyard
Making Martha's Vineyard an Aging-Friendly Island
Cindy Trish
(Executive Director)
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Cindy Trish, Executive Director, has been an island "wash-ashore" for over 23 years and lives in Edgartown. She has over 35 years of experience in marketing research, marketing communications and strategic planning. Clients included technology leaders, financial services providers and health insurers and providers with a particular focus on older adults. She ran her own agency for 15 years in Silicon Valley and has worked for large, international companies, including a three year assignment in London. Cindy enjoys being outdoors, either playing tennis, pickleball, swimming or biking when not in her garden or hanging out with her grandchildren.
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"Healthy Aging is something that matters to all of us, regardless of our current age, and I am so pleased to be able to contribute to making Martha's Vineyard an aging-friendly island."
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Louise Clough
(Project Coordinator)
Louise is a Retired Health Care System Quality & Compliance Director. She is primarily involved with HAMV’s Advance Care Planning and Home Safety Modification programs. Her work with HAMV includes working directly with participants along with a lot of behind-the-scenes coordination. She is an active member of the Dukes County Health Council as well as the Tisbury Climate Committee and Finance and Advisory Committee. She is also on the board of directors of the Hospice & Palliative Care Federation of Massachusetts. She and her artist husband live in Vineyard Haven where she goes out to run every morning in time to see the sunrise.
“Healthy Aging is doing such important work on the Vineyard, and I’m proud to be part of it. It’s amazing to see how much it’s grown and so many new projects just in the past few years”
Gail Gardner
(Mobility Manager)
Gail Gardner grew up in Edgartown, attended the Edgartown School and MVRHS. She went on to earn her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, with a minor in Sociology, from UMASS Amherst. In 2008, Gail became the Instructional Technology teacher at the Edgartown School, earning her Master’s in Education from Framingham State in 2013. She went on to earn a second Master’s in Leadership and Administration in 2020. She also works as the Youth Mediation Coordinator for Martha’s Vineyard Mediation. Gail enjoys spending time outside with her family and dogs whenever possible, as well as the beauty of Martha’s Vineyard beaches all year long.
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After caring for my elderly father, I realized how important it is for our older adults to have access to essential rides for medical appointments, errands, and social programming. I’m looking forward to working with our community to help older adults find the rides they need to continue to lead full and enriching lives.
Beth Kramer
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Beth has lived on the Vineyard since 1993. With a background in psychology and biology, Beth has worked for several nonprofits in western Massachusetts that provide housing for adults as they re-enter the community after years of institutionalization. During this work, she also focused on job placement and training. After seeing the financial challenges these businesses experienced, Beth decided to return to school to earn a Masters in Business Administration focusing on non-profits.
Beth's work experience included for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Her expertise in business management included the start up of a wholesale and retail bakery. As a passionate baker, Beth created all the baked goods and ran a successful business for 14 years. Beth also served as Director of the West Tisbury Library from 2007-2020. One major focus of her tenure at the library was creating a more inclusive organization. Beth has a strong commitment to the community both as a volunteer and board member and has served on multiple non-profit boards.
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Aging (especially on the Island) presents plenty of challenges. Healthy Aging MV has, from its inception, worked towards collaborative solutions for all of us.
Lynn Marquedant
(Associate Director)
Lynn has been visiting the island her whole life and lives in West Tisbury. She has 30 years of experience in Information Technology (IT) Solutions marketing, the last 10 of which were in direct support of the US Public Sector at Dell Technologies. Clients included state, city, town, and county governments. She ran programs (events, media, training) to help government leaders understand how and where to use technology to improve citizen services. In her leisure time, Lynn enjoys traveling with her husband, morning walks with her girlfriends around the PanHandle, and all things art expression, including painting, quilting, rug hooking and gardening.
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"I look forward to helping build awareness of available resources for the Island’s Older Adult community, so they can live independently, with dignity and joy, for as long as possible."
Abby Remer
(Copy Writer, Newsletter Contributor)
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She is a published author, freelance editor, and weekly writer for the Martha's Vineyard Times. In her spare time, she continues her over three-decade career as an educator in out-of-school-time settings working with adults, families, and youth.
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"I'm thrilled every month to learn about what the upcoming newsletter will focus on. Because HAMV is doing such a plethora of excellent work...each article is an exciting new adventure in learning how it's making an impact on the lives of the Island's Older Adult population."
Susan Silk
(Communications Coordinator)
Susan moved to Martha's Vineyard, as a year-round resident, in 2008 from Chicago. She brought with her decades of experience as a professional journalist (print and television news) and then as the founder of a unique consulting company that helped its clients – non-profit organizations and foundations as well as government agencies -- do an effective job of creating public awareness and/or affecting public policy. On Martha's Vineyard Susan has been a reporter for the MV Times and created the island-wide “Take a Break” campaign that placed nearly 70 benches on island paths and trails making them accessible for islanders of any age. She has created workshops for non-profit organizations needing to improve communications and served on the governance board of several non-profits and town government committees.
Sydney Wargo
(Webmaster/Research Project Assistant)
Sydney is our most remote member of the team, contributing from all the way in Atlanta Georgia. She connected with HAMV back in 2020 when she was a research assistant on the All Island Older Adults Survey.
