Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors
We benefit from the generous service of our Board of Directors. We are committed to a Board that is representative of the diverse communities we serve, reflecting the socioeconomic, ethnic, geographic and disability diversity of New Hampshire.
To achieve this, one third (1/3) of our Board members must be people with disabilities or family members of people with disabilities, and one fourth (1/4) of our Board members must be attorneys.
Our Board of Directors meets every other month on the third Monday from 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. The Board usually meets in-person at our office in Concord but due to COVID-19, meetings will be held via Zoom until further notice.
2023-2024 Meeting Dates
Meet Our Board of Directors
Irene Bucken
Irene is a Family Worker at Head Start Nashua where she helps parents navigate the special education system and connect with community resources that address their own mental and physical disabilities. Irene’s personal experience with mental illness led her to connect with local organizations such as the Nashua chapters of NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Illness) and DBSA (Depression Bipolar Support Alliance). Irene is interested in how the intersection of race and socioeconomic status affects people with disabilities and is dedicated to addressing ableism in all its forms professionally and personally. Irene has her BA in Sociology and Government from Connecticut College and lives in Massachusetts.
Katie Epstein
As a person with a disability, Katie Epstein often draws on her personal experience when advocating for disability rights. Katie works as a Direct Support Professional and is a 2010 graduate of the IOD Leadership program. Katie has a special education degree from Granite State College and recently completed her term as the Vice-Chair of the NH Council on Developmental Disabilities. Katie lives in Epping.
Daniel Frye, Vice Chair
Daniel Frye is a disability policy consultant, motivational speaker, professional coach, and certified mediator.
Among other things, Daniel served as the Executive Director of the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, President Elect of the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind, and worked for the Rehabilitation Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Education. From July 2019 to February 2023 he served as the Administrator of Services for the Blind and Vision Impaired, within the New Hampshire Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation, NH. Department of Education.
Currently, Daniel is the Director of Employment and Professional Development Programs with the National Federation of the Blind. Daniel received his BA in History and Government at Erskine College and his J.D. from the University of Washington, School of Law.
Bill Glahn
Bill Glahn has practiced as a trial lawyer at McLane Middleton P.A. for more than 40 years. Before joining McLane, Bill was an Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Civil Bureau in that Office. He is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Bill has served on the boards of a number of New Hampshire non-profits. He received a B.A. from Trinity College and his J.D. from the University of Chicago School of Law.
Bill and his wife Hansi reside in Concord. They have two sons and five grandchildren.
Daniel Goldstein
Attorney Daniel Goldstein recently retired from a remarkable career with the Baltimore, Maryland law firm of Brown, Goldstein & Levy. For several decades, Dan’s disability law work concentrated on increasing the accessibility of digital content and devices, including ATMs, voting machines, accessible absentee ballots, websites, e-readers, kiosks, educational software and instructional technology. He worked with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) to reach agreements with some of the country’s most well-known companies and universities including Apple, Amazon, Target, Penn State, and Florida State University.
At the time of his retirement, settlement was nearly complete in a lawsuit for blind prisoners against the Maryland correctional system, ensuring that blind prisoners learn independent cane travel, need no longer depend on sighted prisoners to file grievances or other forms, and can fully participate in work and educational programs.
Dan is the recipient of the NFB’s Kenneth Jernigan Award for his contributions to the blindness community and the American Bar Association’s Paul Hearne Award for Disability Rights Advocacy (together with Marc Maurer, then President of the NFB).
Daniel Hebert, Chair
Daniel received his BS in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and has been a software engineer at IBM since 2006. In his spare time, Daniel enjoys developing accessible technology and the planning/execution of accessible world travel. He continues to work as an advocate for persons with disabilities in nonprofit and state-level settings.
Megan Henly
Megan is a social science researcher at the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability (IOD) where she studies the health, employment, and community living characteristics of the population with disabilities. She also administers a public health program designed to reduce health disparities for those with mobility and/or intellectual and developmental disabilities in our state. Megan received her M.S. in survey methodology from the University of Maryland-College Park and her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of New Hampshire. She lives in Nottingham with her spouse and three children.
Ben King, Treasurer
Benjamin T. King is a partner in the Concord, New Hampshire, law firm Douglas, Leonard & Garvey, P.C. He focuses his practice on employee rights litigation, personal injury litigation, and workers’ compensation. Ben’s peers have rated him among the top 5% of attorneys in New England in representing employees in employee rights litigation, continuously since 2014. New Hampshire Magazine has ranked him among the best attorneys in the State in representing injured workers in workers’ compensation cases. Ben frequently lectures at continuing legal education seminars educating New Hampshire attorneys and human resource professionals on State and Federal employment laws.
Ben is the current President of the New Hampshire Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, and a Past President of the New Hampshire Association for Justice, as well as a current member of its Board of Governors.
In his spare time, Ben enjoys writing freelance columns in the Concord Monitor on topics like restaurant kiosks, hotel resort fees, and what not to do in Concord in a snow emergency. Ben graduated from Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia School of Law. He resides in Concord, New Hampshire.
Jean Lewandowski, Secretary
Jean taught middle and high school students with disabilities for 30 years. She was part of a team of four that created a regional day treatment program in MN for children and adolescents with mental illness and taught there for nine years. It was a model for other programs in rural areas of the state, a collaboration of 4 school districts, a mental health service provider, and county and tribal social services. Since retiring, she has continued to advocate for people with disabilities by serving on boards and communicating with policy-makers.
Jean has an acquired voice disorder and has been involved in ongoing research through the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation and Dysphonia International.
Angela Mercado
Angela Mercado, a proud native of Ecuador, is the founder and Director of the Community Engagement Training Center in Nashua, NH. Angela has an Associate’s degree in Human Services and a Bachelor’s in Psychology. She is currently working on her Master’s degree in Counseling and volunteers with NAMI NH.
Angela’s cultural roots and personal experiences contribute to her understanding of the nuanced challenges faced by diverse community members. Angela’s commitment to inclusivity and empowerment is reflected in her desire to create a positive and transformative impact on the lives of those she serves.
Sarah Parsons
Dr. Sarah Parsons earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership with a concentration in higher education administration from Plymouth State University. Her dissertation focused on the question of what autistic students identify as barriers to their successful completion of a college degree. Sara is a passionate advocate for the creation of inclusive and accessible environments in schools and communities so that people living with disabilities can engage in their environments without barriers. Her goal is to create a more accessible and inclusive environment in higher education.
Sarah currently works at Plymouth State as an instructor in Composition, Critical Thinking, and Special Education and as an advisor in the support program for at-risk students. Sarah and her wife live in Madison, NH with their two daughters.
Ellen Tavino, Co-Chair PAIMI Advisory Council
Ellen’s personal experience with mental illness, PTSD, and epilepsy guides and inspires her work as a Team Leader at a Peer Support Center. Ellen challenges us all to look beyond a person’s diagnosis and, as a certified WRAP facilitator and certified in Intentional Peer Support, she focuses on empowering those she works with to live lives filled with purpose and meaning. Ellen holds a degree in Behavior Sciences, with a focus on special education and lives in Berlin.