Food Bank of Western Massachusetts Welcomes Three New Board Members
CHICOPEE — The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts announced the addition of three community members to its board of directors: Amy Rome, Olivia Aguilar, and Maureen James. Each brings a wealth of experience and a shared commitment to addressing food insecurity in the region.
With extensive expertise in fundraising across health, education, performing-arts, international, and faith-based organizations, Rome has held key roles at institutions such as Lincoln Center, Cancer Care, and the William J. Clinton Foundation and Union Seminary. She has also consulted on initiatives for the Guggenheim Museum and the Episcopal Divinity School at Union. She has actively contributed to the Food Bank’s development committee since March 2022. Beyond her professional accomplishments, she has served on the board of the Academy of Music and leads the Banned Book Initiative for the League of Women Voters in Northampton.
Aguilar, director of the Miller Worley Center for the Environment at Mount Holyoke College, is a nationally recognized expert in environmental education and community-based learning. A first-generation college graduate, she has earned degrees from Texas A&M University and Cornell University, with research focused on inclusivity in environmental and science learning communities. Her work explores intersections of community, race, and transformative education. Her dedication to equity aligns with the Food Bank’s mission to create inclusive and sustainable solutions to hunger. Her upcoming book, Remembering, Resisting, and Reimagining: The Latinx Outdoor Experience, will be published in 2025.
A Cathedral High School alumna, James brings legal and community-service expertise to the board. After earning degrees in political science and English from Boston University and her law degree from Suffolk University, she has specialized in employment defense and insurance law at Skoler, Abbott, and Presser, P.C. in Springfield. Since returning to Western Mass. in 2015, she has become deeply involved in her community, chairing Wilbraham’s Commission on Disability, and, starting this year, serving as vice chair of the Baystate Health Foundation board. Her dedication to community empowerment complements the Food Bank’s vision for a hunger-free region.