Meet Our Team
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Dr. Michael Southworth
Board Vice Chair
Dr. Michael Southworth is a vascular surgeon affiliated with multiple hospitals in the southern Maine and New Hampshire areas. He received his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 30 years. He was our founder’s mentor in vascular and wound care practice for many years prior to joining our board.
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Michelle Vaira
Board Member
Chief Brand Officer
Michelle has been a life-long creative thinker and designer. She spends time managing project flow as the VP of MacDougall’s and is an expert in crafting client solutions. She uses her passion for the design process to understand, interpret and communicate visual concepts via dynamic websites, compelling print materials, engaging interactive experiences and robust branding strategies.
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Lorraine Connell
Board Secretary
Lorraine is a leadership development expert, a veteran educator of over 20 years, the owner of Peers not Fears LLC and the host of the podcast, “Education Unimagined.”
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Daniel, Lopez
Board Member
Daniel is a strategic and results-drive Vice President, Human Resources and HR Consultant. He has extensive experience in talent management, workforce planning, organizational development, and employee engagement while fostering a high-performance culture that attracts, retains and develops top talent.
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Cassie Crosby
Board Member
Cassie has over 20 years of distinguished service in the U.S. Army, where she retired as a lieutenant colonel. Cassie has expertly led high-performing teams through some of the military's most challenging situations. As the founder of Iterata, she is passionate about empowering individuals to reach their leadership potential, and also mentors within the Venture Mentoring Team and serves on the Leadership Council of the National Small Business Association. Cassie’s dedication to resilience, empowerment, and fostering growth is an invaluable asset to our mission.
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Bob Mitchell
Chief Operating Officer
Bob brings a powerful blend of entrepreneurial spirit, fitness expertise, and personal resilience. A Nashville native and amputee, Bob chose an elective amputation of his left leg above the knee in August 2021, reclaiming his quality of life after years of pain and recurring infections. Dedicated to the philosophy of "Rise by Lifting Others," Bob’s leadership, vision and drive are essential to our mission, and we are honored to have him on the team.
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Terry Freeman
Executive Administrator
Terry has several decades of administrative experience that she generously lends to our organization and is the office manager of the Nashua Teacher’s Union.
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Jill Jablonski
Operations Volunteer
After losing her leg in March 2021 due to a vascular condition and learning about our founder & organization, Jill reached out to share her valuable time and knowledge. With nearly 30 years in real estate, she has exceptional people skills and is an expert at helping others navigate transitions in living quite literally. She brings our team enhanced diversity, experience and passion.
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Jean Welch
Beneficiary Relations Specialist
Volunteer
Intake Director
Jean is an accomplished and diversely trained retired nurse with over 40 years of clinical and surgical experience. She worked closely with our founder in the OR and at vascular practice for several years prior to retiring from nursing and joining our volunteer team in early 2021 to direct our clinical intake process for amputee beneficiaries.
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Craig Foster
Beneficary Relations Specialist
Volunteer
Craig has been a left leg below-the-knee amputee since 2019. He is the Vice President of the Amputee Coalition of Arkansas, a certified peer visitor through the Amputee Coalition, a prosthetic patient model and a mentor for children local to his residence.
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Sean Samitt
Beneficiary Relations
Volunteer
Sean has spent nearly a decade working in healthcare with roles in pharmacy, patient advocacy, and administration. He has particular expertise in pain management and patient-centric care. He is thrilled to be part of the LLMH team to connect, share, and support the limb-difference community.
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Sierra Blondeau
Director of Running Blades
Volunteer
Sierra is a Manufacturing Engineer with and an advanced degree in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is a problem solver, finds prosthetics fascinating and loves working with the systems of the body.
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Zach Bernstein
Marketing/ Media
Volunteer
Zach became a left below knee amputee in November 2022 after an accident beginning of the same year. Diagnosed with CRPS, his leg was eventually amputated after his foot and ankle lost circulation and necrotic. He has experience working in nonprofits and in a variety of creative capacities, including video and photo editing, graphic design and photography.
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Lis Grenier
Marketing Committee
With 20 years of experience as a Marketing and Content Specialist, Lis has honed her skills in leveraging Adobe products and industry-leading software to create compelling visual content. Her expertise spans over 15 years in branding, content creation, photography, videography, and marketing. She has developed a diverse portfolio that includes projects for travel, libraries, churches, traveling music groups, salons, weddings, lifestyle photography, and nonprofit organizations. Her proven ability to deliver engaging content has consistently driven audience engagement and achieved strategic objectives. She is passionate about blending creativity with technical proficiency to deliver impactful results across various industries and projects.ere
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Lavainia Carravella
Marketing Committee, social media
Lavinia is a college student majoring in Marketing and Hospitality and Tourism Management double major from Homer, NY.
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Kim Ousley
Multi-Committee Volunteer
Kim is a cancer survivor and below-knee amputee who has transformed her personal journey into a life dedicated to advocacy and support. After facing and overcoming synovial sarcoma, she now channels her experience into helping others as a Certified Peer Support Volunteer and Lead Advocate with the Amputee Coalition.
Residing in Anderson, Indiana, Kim brings her professional background in Mass Communications and Journalism to her advocacy work, specializing in public relations and media outreach. She is also an accessible travel writer and blogger, using her platform to inspire and empower the limb loss community to explore the world without limitations.
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Laura Dempsey
Multi-Committee Volunteer
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Sam Schaefer
Adaptive Fitness Committee
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Theresa Coughlin
Adaptive Fitness Committee
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Vivek Gupta
Beneficiary Relations Committee
Tech assist
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Kyla Bernstein
Grant Committee