Worcester, MA, June 2026 – YWCA Central Massachusetts is pleased to announce the election of Elizabeth Thompson (Holden, MA) to a one-year term as President of the agency’s Board of Directors. Thompson is the Assistant Vice President of Professional & Executive Lines Delegated Distribution at The Hanover Insurance Group. She has served on the YWCA Board as a member and officer since 2018. Thompson will lead the 17-member board, which sets strategic direction and policy to guide the YWCA’s work in eliminating racism and empowering women.

Thompson has been with The Hanover Insurance Group since 2011, advancing to her current position as Assistant Vice President earlier this year.  She brings a strong background in technology and operations, along with a proven ability to drive results and foster collaboration. Thompson holds a degree in Economics from Mount Holyoke College and has been recognized for her leadership in the community as a member of the Worcester Business Journal’s 2017 “40 Under Forty” class and a graduate of the 2016 Leadership Worcester program.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Thompson is an active and engaged member of the Worcester County community. She is passionate about supporting initiatives that strengthen and empower local communities and remains dedicated to the mission of the YWCA.

“As we look to the next 12 months, it is critical that we remain connected, engaged, and united as a board. I am committed to ensuring that we stay nimble and focused in our role: supporting the extraordinary staff who carry this mission forward every single day. They are the ones delivering programs, creating safe spaces, and standing alongside those who need it most. Our responsibility is to ensure they have the resources, guidance, and partnership to succeed.

I also commit to strengthening how we show up for one another. The stronger our relationships are as a board, the more effective we will be in governance, leadership, and advancing our shared mission. Because the work of eliminating racism and empowering women is not abstract, it is deeply human, and it requires all of us to be present, aligned, and engaged.

These are not easy times. But we are here because we believe in something better. We believe in a future where equity is not aspirational, but real and we know the YWCA is helping to build that future every day. I look forward to what we will accomplish together.”

Others elected as officers of the YWCA’s board of directors are President-elect: Jennifer Bradford, M.D.  (Worcester, MA), City of Worcester Medical Director and Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School; Treasurer: Shantie Prashad (Worcester, MA), AVP Retail Banking Officer, Country Bank; and Clerk: Katie Stickney (Worcester, MA), Project Manager for Community and Government Relations, UMass Chan Medical School.

The YWCA Central Massachusetts also announced its newly elected board member: Felicia Riffelmacher (Rutland, MA), Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations, Worcester State University. Re-elected to serve a three-year term were: Doreen Samuels (Worcester, MA), Van Aide, Vanpool Transportation Company; Jennifer Bradford, M.D of Worcester, City of Worcester Medical Director and Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School; Shantie Prashad of Worcester, AVP Retail Banking Officer, Country Bank.

“This year offered many opportunities to connect with our community, strengthen partnerships, and further our mission. Despite uncertainty in national and local funding, what stands out are the moments of hope, joy, resilience, and determination,” said Deborah Hall, CEO of YWCA Central Massachusetts. “As a women-led organization guided by a dedicated and accomplished all-women board, whose leadership has steered strategic growth, ensured mission alignment, and fostered innovation, we bring diverse perspectives, lived experiences, and a shared commitment to advancing equity and opportunity in our community. I look forward to working with our board as we continue to eliminate racism, empower women, and address the evolving needs of those we serve.”

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Black lesbian feminist poet Audre Lorde once wrote, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” Those words continue to speak deeply to me and to my multiple identities as a Black lesbian feminist.

As I reflect on Pride Month and on the many victories won through the work of LGBTQIA+ comrades and organizers, I am also struck by the reality that many movements are still led by white men, often from privileged backgrounds. Too often, the voices and experiences of LGBTQIA+ people of color are sidelined, even in spaces that claim liberation and inclusion.

I think about how often I have been frustrated by the lack of true intersectional analysis in the many spaces I have occupied, always forced to negotiate which part of myself or which struggle will be given primacy. Repeatedly, I have been called upon to support single issue movements, yet rarely heard when speaking about the necessity of a genuine intersectional framework that recognizes race, gender, sexuality, and class as inseparable.

There is often a lack of intentionality in creating space for LGBTQIA+ people of color when passing the mic and sharing opportunities. I remember someone once saying they did not know any LGBTQIA+ people of color, only to then acknowledge, “Well, I know you.” That moment has stayed with me because it reflects a larger truth: the inability to fully see people of color as integral parts of the LGBTQIA+ community. The aforementioned remains deeply embedded in how representation and belonging are understood.

What Kimberlé Crenshaw meant when she coined the term “intersectionality” was the recognition that systems of oppression overlap and shape one another, particularly for those living at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, class, and other identities. Too often, the term has been appropriated or diluted, even within marginalized communities, to refer to only a single identity or isolated experience, rather than acknowledging the layered and interconnected realities people navigate every day.

At times, ageism also plays a role in who is included, heard, and valued. Learning from elders remains deeply important, and intergenerational connection is essential to sustaining community, knowledge, and growth.

As we reflect during this Pride Month, I hope we challenge ourselves to do better. I hope we create spaces where intersectionality is not treated as an afterthought, but as essential to justice itself. I hope we honor the labor, leadership, and lived experiences of Black and Brown LGBTQIA+ people not only during Pride, but every day. And I hope we build movements where all of us can be seen, heard, and valued.

This June, I will be celebrating both Pride and Juneteenth, separately and together, because both remind us that liberation is collective, interconnected, and unfinished.

Deborah Hall
CEO, YWCA Central Massachusetts

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