Providence, RI – Rhode Island Humanities welcomes four new members to its board of directors. These leaders bring experience in education, nonprofit management, mediation and facilitation, government relations, literary publishing and programming, and medicine. Each is deeply involved in communities across Rhode Island. New board members include: Carolyn Mark, Eugene B. Mihaly, PhD, Renee Soto, MFA, and Robert Woolard, MD. These members’ terms began April 1.
Carolyn Mark, is a professional mediator and experienced facilitator with a commitment to empowering individuals and groups to meaningfully participate in decision-making on matters that impact them. As a conflict resolution practitioner, Carolyn sees power in perspective-taking and believes that the best decisions are made when those most impacted have a meaningful role in determining the outcome. Carolyn has 30+ years experience working in the non-profit sector. She has been a labor organizer and educator, a program and executive director of several economic development nonprofits, and is a past president of the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Organization for Women. She received a 2011 YWCA RI Woman of Achievement Award for her work to advance the status of women and girls in Rhode Island, as well as the 2023 Sojourner House Community Champion Award. Carolyn has served on the board of the Center for Mediation and Collaboration RI, Rhode Island’s only community mediation center. Previously, she served as chair of the board of the Economic Progress Institute which advances policies to improve the economic well-being of Rhode Islanders. She was also a founding board member of the East Greenwich Education Foundation. In addition to her non-profit work, Carolyn served for eight years as an elected member of the East Greenwich School Committee. As chair for six years, she led strategic planning, labor negotiations, mental health and wellness initiatives, and the annual budget process. Carolyn received a Bachelor of Arts in Labor Studies and Industrial Relations from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a focus on community development. Carolyn lives in Providence with her husband Bill Stone, and is the proud parent of two adult children. She enjoys going to the theater, playing early music, skiing, cycling, hiking, reading, and weight-lifting.
Eugene “Gene” B. Mihaly, PhD is retired, following a career that encompassed roles in government, academia, business, and the non-profit sector. He served in the State Department and the Peace Corps as director of East Asian operations. He taught international relations and economics at UC Berkeley and Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business. He founded Mihaly International Corp., a consulting and project development firm. He was chair of Plan USA, a child-focused international assistance non-profit, and a director of Plan International. In Rhode Island, he had two terms on the Jamestown Town Council. He is the current chair of the Jamestown Philomenian Library and a director, incoming treasurer, and teacher at the Lifelong Learning Collaborative. Previously, Gene was the founding chair of Rhode Island Public Radio, served as a former board chair of the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (now known as RI Humanities), former chair of the Appalachian Mountain Club. He consults with non-profits through Empower Success Corps (ESC). Gene is an avid cyclist and kayaker. He holds a BA from Harvard University and a PhD from the London School of Economics. He is the husband of Stacey Mihaly and a delighted parent of four.
Renee Soto, MFA, a creative writing professor at Roger William University (RWU), is a poet with a 25-year background in literary publishing. Her poems have appeared in literary journals, including Cave Wall, Cimarron Review, Indiana Review, Sou’wester, The Greensboro Review, Tupelo Quarterly, and Water~Stone. She has served in editorial positions with The Greensboro Review, The Southern Poetry Review, and Cave Wall. Her service to her professional community, in addition to attending and presenting at pedagogy and poetry-related conferences, includes terms in the Faculty Senate as Vice-President and representing the RWU Faculty Association on two bargaining teams and as President of the union. Her service to her larger community includes work as a Charter Board Member at Frequency Writers (Providence, RI); and in Bristol, RI, as a founding member of Byfield Art & Design Group, a member of the Arts Programming Team of Arts in Common, Gala Organizer, and Community Strings Project. After these years of wandering around looking for the best fit, she landed on the Steering Committee of the Bristol BookFest (BBF) and has been involved with the BookFest since its first year. Now in its fourth year, the BBF has expanded from an annual weekend celebration to a months-long celebration for all, focused on one book. In the summer of 2024, Renee helped the BBF transition to its first change in leadership when she became co-chair. After the life-changing experience of getting her first dog, she proposed a course at RWU on the subject and now teaches the popular course Dogs, Dogs, Dogs. Committed to reaching beyond the academy, Renee has been a founding member of Bristol BookFest. After the 2024 BBF program,, she became Co-Chair of this annual public humanities event. Renee loves Rhode Island—its size, spirit, history, its neighborhoods, and of course, its shoreline. She arrived here 20 years ago, picking up a fine husband and two glorious dogs along the way, and has not looked back. Only forward.
Robert “Bert” Woolard, MD is a retired physician. Advocacy has been an essential part of Robert Woolard’s life. He was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and served as a conscientious objector in the medical corps. Returning from military service and finishing college, Bert was accepted into the graduate program in comparative literature at Clark University. He then went on to attend UMass medical school hoping to better serve humanity. Bert has a fascination with history, culture, and social structures, how they shape our lives and how we try to write, mold and create them. At Brown University, Bert founded the Department of Emergency Medicine and developed research programs, residency and fellowship programs as well as the University Emergency Medicine Foundation, a nonprofit academic medical practice plan. In that leadership role, Bert was particularly proud to help create the Rhode Island Injury Prevention Center, which remains well funded through National Institute of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grants and brings vitally important prevention programs to underserved communities across Rhode Island. At Texas Tech in El Paso, Bert served as a tenured professor, and led an NIH-funded research program that demonstrated that counseling provided in the ER by community-based organizations resulted in reduced binge drinking among Latinx youth. As in his research at Brown, this program reduced alcohol-related injury, including sexual assaults and motor vehicle accidents. Caring for diverse and sometimes victimized patients in the ER as both a provider and advocate — has been rewarding and educational. Now retired from his medical career and back in Rhode Island, Bert is focusing his energy on supporting progressive local organizations. He feels a deep sense of connection with family and friends in Rhode Island and cherishes the remarkable history and ambitions of this small state. Bert supports Rhode Island Humanities’s efforts to increase diversity, inclusion and equity. There are so many opportunities to fund and grow the numerous nonprofit organizations and creative individuals that make up and contribute to the vitality of our state’s communities. Bert is honored to serve on the RI Humanities board of directors
Officers of the RI Humanities board of directors include: Doug Popovich, Chair; Tiffini Bowers, Vice Chair; and Chrystal Mars Baker, Secretary.
RI Humanities is grateful for the dedicated service of board members who completed their terms March 31, 2024, including: James Riley and Doug Wineberg.
For a full listing of board members and to learn more about the newest members, please see the 3 Questions series at: rihumanities.org.
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Rhode Island Humanities seeds, supports, and strengthens public history, cultural heritage, civic education, and community engagement by and for all Rhode Islanders. As the only dedicated source of funding for public humanities in Rhode Island, we are proud to support museums, libraries, historic sites, schools, preservation and historical societies, community and cultural organizations, individual researchers and documentary filmmakers to bring Rhode Island’s stories to life and to amplify the state’s many diverse voices. A private nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, RI Humanities is supported by federal funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as by individuals, corporations, and foundations. Visit www.rihumanities.org for more information.
