Regional Planning Committee

Jonathan Levitt

Jon is a co-chair (along with Bob Glazer) of NERVE 2016, overseeing all aspects of planning and executing of the event.  Jon has been an EO member for more than 10 years, and has served on the EO Boston board for a number of years in a variety of different roles.  Jon is also a co-champion of a new EO Quantum Leap regional forum.  When Jon is not spending time on EO matters, he divides his time between his businesses (Outside GC and Patent GC, the pioneers in on-demand in-house counsel legal services), volunteer work as a board member for Combined Jewish Philanthropies and Jewish Federations of North America, and spending time with his wife Marni (also an EO member) and his four children.

Celica Abushawish

Celica is the newest member to EO’s US Regional Team. She is the Events & Learning Manager, where she serves as the staff liaison to all Chapter Learning Chairs, point of contact to all US Regional Events, and supports the Regional Councils with all events and learning initiatives.

Joe Apfelbaum

Jeff Bennett

John Bly

Sarah Cohen

Wendy Estes

Bill Fistori

Peter Gormley

Matthew Hoffman

A principal of The Hoffman Companies, Matthew Hoffman has led a number of business ventures over the past 25 years, including commercial, residential, and retail real estate; parking (garages, airport valet, and park-and-shuttle); a foreign-language radio station; and a ground transportation service. A graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School, Matthew has served, or is currently serving, as a Director of the Boston Chapter of EO; President and Board Chair of The Genesis Foundation for Children; Overseer-for-Life of Newton-Wellesley Hospital; President and Webmaster of his college class; Director of the Downtown North Association; Class Correspondent for his business-school class; Member of Macalester College’s Parent Council; Member of the Dartmouth College Alumni Council.

Barry Kates

Caryn Saitz

Caryn is founder and president of Global Corporate, Chapter and Forum Retreats and Creative Strategic Solutions. Caryn Saitz has been an entrepreneur for over 25 years and has created and sold several companies over that time frame including Barrels of Fun, Masters of the Web, and The Volunteerist. She started her career with Liz Claiborne Accessories and built a sales organization that took sales from $0-7.5M in just a few years.

Caryn’s experience spans many industries with significant experience and contacts in life sciences, technology financial services, retail, education and government. Caryn has an MBA from Northeastern University and a BA from Brandeis University with a concentration in Politics and Urban Studies.

As an entrepreneur, Caryn has gravitated to working with entrepreneurs as she has a keen understanding of their needs, challenges and pace. She has worked with EO (Entrepreneurs Organization) and YPO (Young Presidents Organization) for over 11 years helping these member led organizations create and execute retreats, events, sponsorship, and recruit and retain new members. Her love of travel and creating experiences has been honed with these organizations and her corporate clients.
Caryn recently authored two papers on economic and workforce development: Revisiting Employment Trends in the New Economy: Education and Training in the City of Cambridge; and Policies that Affect Business Creation at the Municipal Level” for a private think tank in Boston.

In her free time, Caryn loves to travel and explore, cook, hang with her nephews, make jewelry and pursue her love of photography.

Lisa Vitale

Lisa brings more than 20 years of creating the strategy behind marketing campaigns which target key accounts and decision makers. As CEO of SimplyDIRECT she has focused on customer service, ensuring campaigns are executed on schedule, in time and on spec. Before taking her current position in 2009, Lisa served as the CFO for SimplyDIRECT.

Prior to SimplyDIRECT, Lisa worked for the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Phillip Johnson & Associates. She is the founder of the Sudbury Day Festival, a town-wide event celebrating the cultural diversity of Sudbury.  She currently sits on the Jean Lind Sudbury Teen Center Advisory board and is a member of EO Boston (Entrepreneurs Organization). Ms. Vitale holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Maine.

Clark Waterfall