Board of Directors

Becky Beckman - Board President

Becky Beckman is happy to be returning as President of the Board of Directors for Grateful Friends and commends the excellent job done by Julie Low during the past two years.

Becky remains passionate about the mission of Grateful Friends to support local cancer patients. She is excited to see the recent interest of incredible new board members.

Her plans for going forward include celebrating successes, and bringing the fun back to fundraising. Becky looks to expand our donor base through new pathways of engagement.

As always, Becky says her motivation to support cancer patients is to honor her husband's late wife, Mary Beckman.

Alan Temkin - Treasurer

Alan has been in the Financial Services Industry for 44 years. His focus is on estate and retirement planning. He has lived in Beverly for 35 years with his wife, Francine. He has two daughters, a son-in-law and three granddaughters.

Steve Vesey - Board Member

Steve is a retired CPA and sold his practice in late 2015. A valuation expert for 25 years (CAV), he maintains his CBEC (Certified Business Exit Consultant) designation. He prepares business valuations for small businesses and is a partner in Exit the Family Business. They help the baby boomer business owner, in the lower middle market, transition their life-style business into one that can be sold at the highest possible multiple times a restated discretionary cash flow (EBIDTA). He just wrapped up six years as President of the Board of Directors of Citizens Inn/Haven from Hunger in Peabody.

Lee Miraglia - Co-Founder and Board Secretary

Lee co-founded Grateful Friends because she wanted to give back after being blessed with wonderful support from her family and friends during her own cancer experience. 
Lee is especially grateful to her late husband, Steve, for providing his love, strength and encouragement through her cancer diagnosis and the beginnings of Grateful Friends! She has a wide variety of experiences that she brings to the organization such as starting a business from the ground up, working as a cost accountant in a manufacturing facility and being involved in her children’s PTO as a Member and President. She lives in Peabody, has four great kids, a wonderful son-in-law and two grandchildren that she absolutely adores.

Gwen Mahan Ryan - Co-Founder

Gwen is a Co-Founder of Grateful Friends who has an entrepreneurial spirit with a knack for identifying unmet needs and acting upon them. From treats for horses to support for adult cancer patients, she’s a boot strapper and a strategic networker whose resourcefulness and persistence leads her to new adventures. Her great joys are dogs, horses, music, her lifelong friends and sharing her seaside home with her husband in Gloucester.

Walter Hartford - Vice President
A lifelong resident of Massachusetts, Walter lives in Ipswich with his wife, Marianne and children, Amelia and Anthony. With over thirty years of experience in the financial services industry, he is a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones, serving clients and families all over the North Shore. Walt enjoys kayaking, long walks around Great Neck, and sampling many of the craft breweries that are popping up in the area. He considers his volunteer work central to who he is and has served on numerous boards of non-profits, including the Sierra Club, Beverly Rotary and Expect Miracles Foundation. In his community he has served on the Ipswich Finance Committee for the past six years, where he is affectionately known as “The Numbers Guy”. Like so many others, Walter’s family has been forever changed by cancer. A chance meeting with Gwen and Lee in 2018 left Walter feeling deeply touched by their story and inspired by their positive energy. He immediately jumped in to help facilitate a grant for Grateful Friends, awarded by the Expect Miracles Foundation.

Debi Bright - Volunteer Coordinator

Debi recently retired from a career as the US Operations Manager for an Australian technology company.  She volunteers her time for Grateful Friends and dedicates her commitment to a close friend who recently died from pancreatic cancer.

Debi lives in Beverly with her husband, Michael.  She is Mom to 3 adult children and Grammy & Mimi to 4 active grandchildren.

Robin Foster

Robin Foster recently retired after 14 years as the Assistant Director of the Greater Beverly Chamber of Commerce, with major responsibilities being member relations and communications.

Robin graduated from Salem State University with a B.S. in Business Administration. A native of Philadelphia and South Jersey, Robin has lived in Massachusetts for over 45 years. She and her husband Mark are longtime Beverly residents who raised two daughters here. 

Ellen Hewett

Ellen led the national post-secondary education initiatives for World Education, Inc. – 2008-2016 – and directed social justice oriented undergraduate and graduate programs at Springfield College – 1988-2008 – as a Dean and faculty member. She currently consults with the Jackson, MS based Foundation for the Mid-South, the Peruvian inspired documentary, Return to the Andes – 2019, Champlain College, Restorative Justice Center at Suffolk University, and the National Council for Workforce Education. Ellen is also on the Board of the Falmouth Education Foundation and the Falmouth Jewish Congregation.

Nicolle Balesteri

Born and raised in the North Shore area, Nicolle has lived in Danvers a majority of her life. 

She studied Finance and Management at the University of New Hampshire and since graduation, has been building her career as a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones in her office downtown Salem. Nicolle loves to be involved with local communities and organizations. She currently serves as President of her BNI networking group and is involved in the Greater Beverly Chamber of Commerce, Salem Chamber of Commerce, and Beverly Kiwanis. When Nicolle isn't working or networking, she loves to spend her time at SWEAT Cycling (in Danvers!), spin is her obsession. Nicolle believes in investing in yourself and what truly matters in your life. She strongly promotes financial literacy and is always willing to help anyone who needs it.