Welcome to the Kendall Foundation

Courtney Bourns
Senior Program Officer

As senior program officer, Courtney collaborates with the foundation’s board of trustees to determine strategic and grantmaking priorities. She also serves as the primary point of contact for grantees and partner organizations.

Courtney joined the foundation in 2011 after three years as vice president of programs with Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. There, she directed efforts to advance the field of philanthropy by supporting grantmakers to partner with their grantees in ways that make the biggest difference to grantee effectiveness and ultimately lead to impact.

Previously, Courtney served as director of organizational development at Conservation International and senior associate at the Interaction Institute for Social Change. Today, she is a board member at the Center for Courage and Renewal.

Courtney received her BA from Brown University and her MA from Union Theological Seminary.

Thai Ha-Ngoc
Program Assistant

Prior to joining the Foundation in 2012, Thai worked at the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships in Lexington, MA as part of the Evaluation, Measurement, and Verification (EM&V) team. He provided project management support for the development and use of consistent protocols to measure the impacts of regional energy efficiency programs. From 2010 to 2011, Thai served as an AmeriCorps member in the Massachusetts Land Initiative For Tomorrow (MassLIFT) program at the Sudbury Valley Trustees based in Sudbury, MA. There, he monitored and developed baseline reports for conservation land owned or managed by the regional land trust. One of his most rewarding accomplishments at the land trust was providing stewardship workshops for local conservation commissions and land trusts. Thai graduated from Bowdoin College with a B.A in Environmental Studies and Economics.

Gerard Hollister
Administrator

Gerry is native to Massachusetts following several generations of New Englanders. He began his professional life as an engineer having graduated from Northeastern University with a B.S. in electrical engineering and then moved into manufacturing management armed with an M.B.A. from Boston College. After 20 years, Gerry decided a career change was in order and joined the nonprofit world as an accountant working for the Kendall Whaling Museum. Gerry resides in Sharon, Massachusetts with his wife Sheila and children.

Bob O’Donnell
Administrator

Bob comes to the Kendall Foundation with a career history in accounting, from a bank’s director of internal auditing, to time at a CPA firm and other bookkeeping and accounting positions. He holds a BA degree from Western New England College. Coming to work is a short commute as Bob and his wife, Noor live in Boston, close to his two grown sons living in South Boston. While he likes the city life he also has a passion for the outdoors; last fall he and his wife climbed Mount Washington. He is excited about joining the Kendall Foundation and contributing to its mission.

Kristen Vale
Administrative Assistant