Bacon Wilson P.C. announced that three new associate attorneys have joined the firm. Attorney Britaney Guzman-Bailey is a member of Bacon Wilson’s Domestic Relations and Family Law practice group. She earned her juris doctor degree magna cum laude at Western New England University School of Law, where she served as a production editor of the Western New England Law Review, and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut. Prior to joining Bacon Wilson, Guzman-Bailey served as a judicial law clerk at the Connecticut Superior Court. She received the CALI Award for Gender and the Law in 2021, the CALI Award for International Business Transactions in 2021, and the CALI Award for Family Law in 2020. She is a member of the Hispanic National Bar Assoc., the Hampden County Bar Assoc., and the Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Assoc. She is licensed to practice in Massachusetts and will be working from Bacon Wilson’s Springfield location. Attorney Sarah Federation is a member of Bacon Wilson’s Business and Corporate Law practice group. She earned her juris doctor degree cum laude from Western New England University School of Law in 2022 and earned her bachelor’s degree cum laude from Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y. in 2019. Federation’s Bacon Wilson career originally began as a law clerk in May 2021. She received the CALI Award for Bioethics and Law in 2021 and was named Best Plaintiff’s Advocate in 2020. She is licensed to practice in Massachusetts and was officially sworn into the Massachusetts Bar Assoc. on Nov. 15. She will be working from Bacon Wilson’s Springfield location. Attorney Joshua Goldstein is a member of Bacon Wilson’s Business and Corporate Law practice group and the Banking and Finance practice group. He earned his juris doctor degree cum laude from Western New England University School of Law in 2022 and his bachelor’s degree in business economics from the State University of New York, Oneonta in 2018. Goldstein completed pro bono activity with the City of Homes Project under the direction of retired Judge Dina Fein. He also is a member of the Hampden County Bar Assoc. He is licensed to practice in Massachusetts and was officially sworn into the Massachusetts Bar Assoc. on Nov. 15. He will be working from Bacon Wilson’s Springfield location.

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The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts recently welcomed Shannon Gurek as vice president for Finance and Operations. She will provide strategic leadership in finance, information technology, operations, and risk management during a transformative period for the foundation. She was selected after a national search conducted by Lindauer, a leading executive search firm serving foundation and charity organizations. Lindauer is also leading the foundation’s search for its next president and CEO. Gurek, who began her career in Springfield and is a life-long resident of Massachusetts, most recently served nine years as vice president for Finance and Administration and treasurer at Mount Holyoke College. While there, she also served as a member of the president’s cabinet and worked closely with the college’s trustees. In addition to overseeing the college’s operating budget, financial planning and reporting, and policies governing the stewardship of its $1 billion endowment, Gurek was responsible for key administrative areas that included human resources, facilities, risk management, and sustainability. Prior to joining Mount Holyoke, Gurek was the associate treasurer and director of the budget at Amherst College, and early in her career, she was an audit supervisor at Coopers and Lybrand. A certified public accountant, she earned her MBA from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst and her bachelor’s degree from Nichols College. She is also a member of the board of directors of Holyoke Medical Center. Gurek will be joining Jeffrey Markham Jr., Marty Bongfeldt, Sarah Guerin, and Ann Tweedy, all of whom recently joined the Community Foundation as staff members. Markham began serving the foundation as program officer for Community Impact and Partnerships after 15 years in public-health research and community-based programming. His previous work was with the MOCHA (Men of Color Health Awareness) program in Springfield, where he directed its Disrupting Systemic and Structural Racism Initiative as well as its research collaboration with the UMass Amherst School of Public Health. Bongfeldt joined the foundation as its new Donor Services associate. She brings extensive experience as an executive assistant to chief-level leadership in both corporate and nonprofit organizations. Originally from Dallas, Bongfeldt relocated to Western Mass. after her acceptance to Smith College’s Ada Comstock Scholar Program. She earned her bachelor’s degree and master of fine arts degree from Smith. She is also a playwright member of the Dramatist Guild. Guerin joined the foundation as program assistant after serving the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts for nearly five years. She served as Executive Services assistant to the organization’s CEO and COO. She brings with her a wealth of nonprofit and youth organization experience as well as a strong background in volunteerism. Tweedy joined the foundation as fund administration associate for Philanthropic Services. She comes to the foundation from Franklin/Hampshire County MassHire’s first upskilling navigator, in which she helped launch the first Career Technical Initiative (CTI) Commonwealth Corp.-funded Adult Vocational Education program at Franklin County Technical School in Turners Falls. She is the treasurer of a family foundation in Providence, R.I. and volunteers on several boards.

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A dozen UMass Amherst researchers representing a wide range of disciplines have been recognized as among the world’s most highly cited researchers in 2022. The list is generated by the Web of Science database of analytics provider Clarivate. The highly cited papers rank in the top 1% by citations for their field and publication year, span 69 countries or regions, and are spread across a diverse range of research fields in the sciences and social sciences. The highly cited UMass Amherst researchers for 2022 are three food scientists, Professor Eric Decker, Distinguished Professor David Julian McClements, and Professor and Clydesdale Scholar of Food Science Hang Xiao; two microbiologists, Kelly Nevin and Derek Lovley; Distinguished Professor in Chemistry Vincent Rotello; Armstrong/Siadat Endowed Professor of Chemical Engineering Nianqiang “Nick” Wu; Director of Stockbridge School of Agriculture and Professor of Environmental and Soil Sciences Baoshan Xing; Silvio O. Conte Distinguished Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering Thomas Russell; Hospitality and Tourism Management Provost Professor Muzaffer “Muzzo” Uysal; Associate Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs and School of Public Health and Health Sciences Professor Laura Vandenberg; and Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Qiangfei Xia.

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Fitzgerald Law recently announced that attorneys Daryl Johnson, Kevin Hassett Jr., and Rachel Fancy have joined the firm. Johnson has a broad business-law practice advising clients on matters of commercial real estate, corporate finance, succession planning, and trust and estates. She has eight years of experience practicing as an attorney and has served as corporate counsel for an international importing business. She graduated summa cum laude from Elms College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree, and cum laude from the UMass School of Law in Dartmouth, where she earned her juris doctorate. She is a trustee of Springfield International Charter School, regularly fundraises to benefit Empty Arms Bereavement Support, and has served as a volunteer for Girls on the Run and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampden County. Hassett focuses his business-law practice on the areas of contract drafting and negotiation, commercial loans, commercial real-estate development including acquisition and sale, regulatory and government enforcement actions and investigations, and employment law. He is a graduate of UMass Amherst, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in legal studies, and Western New England University School of Law, where he earned his juris doctorate. He is a member of the Hampden County Bar Assoc. New Lawyers’ Section Executive Board and a member of the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield. Fancy advises business owners and leadership teams on the resolution of commercial disputes, litigation tactics and procedure, and land use, zoning, and permitting. She is particularly skilled at legal research and writing, as well as oral advocacy and negotiation. She graduated magna cum laude from Suffolk University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree, and cum laude from Western New England University School of Law, where she earned her juris doctorate. She represents the firm with the Westfield Chamber of Commerce. She has also volunteered with a small-business clinic while in law school, working with local startups.

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Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) announced the hiring of Eli Freund as director of Marketing and Communications and Louis Burgos as Digital and Social Media manager. Freund comes to the college with experience in communications and journalism. In his new role, he will plan and execute strategic marketing and communications programs that promote STCC, among other responsibilities. He was previously the director of communications for the University of Connecticut School of Engineering, where he oversaw external and internal communications. He also managed the integrated marketing plan for the school, which included social media, email marketing, paid advertising, search-engine optimization, and media relations. In addition to his new role at STCC, he serves as an adjunct communications professor at Eastern Connecticut State University. Prior to his role at UConn, Freund worked as a reporter, covering education and town government for the Chronicle in Willimantic, Conn., and the Journal Inquirer in Manchester, Conn. After leaving journalism, he worked in the mayor’s office in the town of East Hartford, Conn., as a communications officer, and worked for Clarus Commerce in Rocky Hill, Conn., coordinating all its public relations. Freund earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Connecticut and a master’s degree in communication from the University of Hartford. Burgos will lead a strong content strategy for STCC across its digital platforms, advancing the college’s brand, stakeholder support, and enrollment. In his new role, he will develop the college’s web content, social-media channels, and digital media and manage many creative projects, including writing digital copy. Burgos previously worked at the Center for EcoTechnology in Springfield as a bilingual Marketing And Communication coordinator, where he managed its social-media presence and also served as videographer/video editor. In addition to his position there, he has also worked as a wedding videographer. Burgos earned an associate degree in communication media and theater arts in 2018 from Holyoke Community College. In 2020, he continued his education and received a bachelor’s degree in communication from Westfield State University.

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After a multi-state search, Brattleboro Savings & Loan (BS&L) recently welcomed Deborah Stephenson to the position of president. Current president Dan Yates will retire at the end of this year after 17 years in that role. Stephenson comes to BS&L from Berkshire Bank, where she served as senior vice president for Compliance and helped grow the bank’s assets from $2 billion to $13 billion. She first took her university degree in economics and finance into public service as a bank examiner for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Seeing so many banks from the inside helped her to learn the fundamentals of banking as well as to become an expert at risk management and compliance issues. Her first job out of the government was with Woronoco Savings Bank in Westfield, which was suffering from compliance issues that Stephenson helped clean up. This became a specialty that has followed her throughout her career, leading her to Berkshire Bank and now to BS&L.

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Berkshire Money Management (BMM) recently welcomed Julia Lewis to a new position of compliance professional. Her arrival adds internal compliance capacity to the firm’s operations team. As compliance professional, Lewis is responsible for Berkshire Money Management’s internal compliance program, employee training, and processes and procedures. She brings to the team eight years of experience in the finance industry across the retirement, home-lending, and insurance sectors. Prior to joining Berkshire Money Management, she was the Technical Operations manager at PCS Retirement. She is happy to join the BMM team, where she can be a part of giving back to the community and supporting local growth.