Board of Directors

Mike originally served the Board of Directors from 2004-2012, and then rejoined in 2016. During the shelter's capital campaign, Mike served on the Building Construction Committee. Mike currently serves on the Building Committee. Mike received a Master of Architecture Degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Williams College.

Bob Bear is a retired orthopedic surgeon who was a cofounder of Access Sportsmedicine serving Seacoast New Hampshire. He earned an undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins, a medical degree at SUNY-Downstate in Brooklyn, and completed his orthopedic residency at Boston University.

In retirement Bob is working closely with UNH, the state government and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation to create a continuum of care for all New Hampshire residents struggling with substance use disorder.

While volunteering to cook at Crossroads, Bob learned that Crossroads not only provides food and housing for the homeless, but also focuses on helping residents attain a permanent independent living situation. He wanted to join Crossroads as it is part of the solution.

Chris Bellmare is the Vice President of Americas North for Arista Networks. His love for technology drew him into the networking business in the early 1990s. Chris has led teams and conducted business on 6 continents. He is also a founding member of BLITS Brothers, a start-up incubator and investment group. Prior to finding technology, Chris was a Theatre and Dance graduate from the University of New Hampshire and performed in many productions as an actor, dancer and producer throughout the eastern United States. He is also a dad of two amazing young ladies!
Chris first became involved in the issues surrounding homelessness when he spend 3 weeks building homes in Costa Rica with Habitat for Humanity. This experience led to three decades of social involvement and a passion for our community and Cross Roads House.

Suzanne is an accomplished senior executive with expertise in providing her vision and leadership insights to strategically plan, direct, and control company operations and capitalize on emerging business opportunities. Over the years she has successfully rebuilt businesses by refocusing sales and marketing strategies. Suzanne brings strong interpersonal communication, problem solving, and decision making skills to all her endeavors. Suzanne is deeply committed to her community and serves on the boards of Cross Roads House and The New Museum of Portsmouth, and serves on numerous State committees.

Bob served over 32 years in the printing and packaging equipment marketplace. During that time he held various technical and customer facing roles, ultimately serving as President and CEO for a global leader of high-value engineered products with international operations. He has a proven track record of leadership in complex and challenging business situations, delivering results with focused and measurable action plans. More recently, Bob has invested and become actively involved in a number of local business enterprises.

Bob graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1978 with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering. He completed the Harris Corporation Graduate Program in Business, University of Florida, and obtained an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University.

Bob brings an overall business background to Cross Roads House, and specific experience in finance, governance and business operations.

"I have always believed it is important to help where you can and actively serve on a number of non-profit organizations. Cross Roads' mission can have tremendous impact on an individual life, but also collectively on our overall community, and therefore I am proud to help in the organization’s mission in some small way."

Ken is a General Adult Psychiatrist in private practice in Portsmouth, NH. He received his MD from Weill Cornell Medical School and completed a medical internship in Los Angeles, followed by a residency in psychiatry in Boston. Through the years, Ken has had the privilege of serving as the Medical Director for Behavioral Health for the Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinic, Southern Division, Matthew Thornton Health Plan, and various Anthem-affiliated behavioral health care plans. in addition to private practice, he has served as psychiatric consultant to the Counseling Center at the University of New Hampshire.

Ken's training and experience have afforded him knowledge of mental illness and substance abuse that has added a meaningful contribution to the programmatic needs of Cross Roads House residents.

"Witnessing the heartbreak of mental illness and substance abuse on families and communities, I hope to help in the rehabilitation of those who are at the most desperate and hopeless corner of our community. We at Cross Roads House not only help to lift these neighbors out of crisis, but also empower them, their children and families to a brighter future."

Denis is an attorney with McLane Middleton, where he solves problems related to taxes, wills, trusts, probate, and elder law. He and his wife, Beth, live in Rye. He has been a Cross Roads House board member since 2004. Denis and Beth support CRH because it provides individuals and families experiencing homelessness with safe emergency and transitional shelter and food, while encouraging and assisting those individuals and families to move with dignity and purpose to stable and decent housing.

Kathryn received a degree in Economics and Financial Management from Oral Roberts University. After a short career in ski resort marketing she returned to her passion of the capital markets and helping people build and protect net worth in 1993. She has been with Merrill Lynch since 1996. Kathryn has completed her Certified Financial Planner Designation and holds a designation in Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. As a strategic thinker and a “numbers” person, Kathryn has participated in Cross Roads House Board Leadership, Finance Committee, Governance Committee, and Executive Committee. Kathryn joined the Cross Roads House Board in 1999.

Brian Gibb is a semi-retired corporate executive with a background in finance, marketing, and strategy. He is an entrepreneur who has helped launch and grow several businesses in the financial, healthcare and defense sectors.

Brian has a passion and strong commitment to bring his professional skills and give back to help the many in need in the seacoast community. He is involved in the boards and committees of several organizations that help provide food, shelter and related services and he also enjoys volunteering directly to provide them. He also firmly believes it is possible to go beyond this to help people grow and improve their situations overall.

Brian also cares deeply about protecting animals, wildlife, historic assets and conservation.

He and his partner live in Portsmouth where he engages with the community daily as administrator of the Portsmouth NH Facebook page with 30K citizens.

Before retiring, Steven Goddard enjoyed a 47-year career in the beauty industry. Over his long career, he served as Sr. Vice President of Marketing at L’Oréal, President of Sebastian International, President of Wella North America, and General Manager of Rusk, a division of Conair. In 2004, he founded Pravana International. In 14 years he steered the company to annual sales in excess of $100MM. In 2018, He sold the company to Henkel.
In their retirement, Steven and his wife Karen enjoy living both in Los Angeles and in Kittery Point, ME. Steven serves on the board of directors of Hope of The Valley Shelter in Los Angeles and on the board of Cross Roads House in Portsmouth New Hampshire.

Jason is Chair of the Health Care Group at Sheehan Phinney in Portsmouth where he represents providers and facilities of all types on regulatory compliance and transactional legal matters. Jason received his B.S. from Northeastern University and J.D. from Vermont Law School. Jason previously served on the Board of Directors for New Horizons for New Hampshire (now Families in Transition) and has a passion for serving those in need of food and shelter.

Lisa brings a track record for building organizations, brand equity and market share in emerging and growth-stage companies to the Development and Program committees of Cross Roads House. As current head of marketing for Portsmouth-based B2W Software and previously Bottomline Technologies, she is passionate about giving back to the Seacoast community. Lisa graduated from The American University in Washington D.C., has a Masters degree in Communications from Simmons College, and is an active member of the N.H. Tech Alliance. She enjoys travel, music and the outdoors.

Shaun is a senior executive who brings over 35 years of very diverse experience in the financial services industry to the Cross Roads House Board of Directors. He has served as a trusted advisor to several CEOs, valued for his perspective, judgment, inquiry, and objectivity. Shaun has significant experience working with public company governance and financial service regulation because of his operating and Board roles. During his career, Shaun held a variety of Corporate and General Management roles with increasing responsibilities at Aetna, ING, and Voya across the wealth and investment management businesses including Corporate Finance/Planning, International Treasury, M&A, Chief Marketing Officer, and P&L roles for start-up ventures and operating businesses requiring “redirection”. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Holy Cross, and a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University’s Johnson School of Business.

Vanda grew up in Nassau County, Long Island, where she was fortunate to attend Friends Academy. In addition to rigorous academics and athletics, Friends Academy focused on community service. Vanda participated in many service days and trips, one of the most memorable of which was an overnight serving at The Bowery Mission in New York City. The early introduction to community service resonated and grew with Vanda as she made her way up to the Portsmouth area. Vanda knew she wanted to give back and help others; Cross Roads House was a natural fit. A member of the Cross Roads House Board since 2013, Vanda enjoys working with the amazing group of directors and Cross Roads House staff members.

A Portsmouth native, Joe graduated from UNH and later earned a masters in public administration from Seattle University. His varied career has included professional development work, business banking, criminal justice research, and non-profit management. He now lives in Kensington with his wife Sarah and their two sons, where he chairs the Select Board and writes literary fiction novels.

Joe serves on the Board of the American Independence Museum in Exeter where he works on issues of historic and cultural importance. In 2021 he joined the Board of Cross Roads House to support the critical need to address homelessness in Seacoast NH. With his experience in development and community building, he strives to build broader generational support to secure the future of this vital organization.

Terri is a former resident of Cross Roads House who now lives in downtown Portsmouth and works at the city welfare office. Serving on the board, she brings her lived experience to share in guiding the organization's leadership efforts.

Lex Scourby has been an active member of the Cross Roads House Board of Directors since 2003 and served as Board Chair from 2006-2011 during the shelter’s capital campaign to design and build a new facility. Lex received a BA in Mathematics from New England College and an MBA from Long Island University. Lex was the co-founder of Orion Seafood International, Inc., and is currently employed by Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods.

Chuck joined the Board of Directors in 2015 and serves on the Nominating & Governance Committee. Chuck received his JD from Cornell Law School, and a Bachelor Degree from Harvard.

The Rev. Robert E. Stevens, Jr., attended Florida State University and graduated with a B.A. in Psychology in 1991. Rob was awarded an M.Div. from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in June of 2001 and ordained to the diaconate on June 4, 2001. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 21, 2001, at Calvary, Pittsburgh. He was called to be rector of St. John’s, Portsmouth, N.H., in the summer of 2005.

Rob’s experience varies widely from being a sales representative for an advertising company to managing an aquatics facility. He has also served as a full-time youth minister in the Episcopal Church. His passion is and has always been connecting people to the creative power of God in community, wherever that community may be.

Rob enjoys spending time with his family, reading, running, playing golf, surfing, fishing, and just about anything that involves being outside.

Ben St. Jean has had a 40-year career in the medical device industry in Canada and the United States. During that time, he successfully founded and led two start-ups into thriving medical device concerns. This experience has allowed Ben to touch every aspect of business and enables him to bring a unique perspective to the various challenges and synergies at Cross Roads House. Ben strongly believes in community service at all levels and that a great starting point is to address needs that are closest to home.

As a Human Resources professional, Gillian brings a strong employee and customer focus to support organizational goals through developing our most valuable asset— people. Gillian’s has held a number of HR leadership positions. She is currently the EVP, HR for Uniguest and has previously lead HR for Sprague Energy, Newmarket International (acquired by Amadeus), Bottomline Technologies, and Tecnomatix Technologies.
Gillian spent her early career working in higher education in the career development field, and holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Hampshire, a Masters in Education from the University of Massachusetts.
Gillian lives in Kittery, Maine with her family and enjoys giving back to the community and she is honored to support Cross Roads which provides such critical human needs.

Andrea brings a lifetime of experience in life insurance, investment and wealth management. She is an Air Force Veteran, and served seven years in the US Air Force European Joint Command and the Pentagon. She also sits on the Board of the Business Alliance for People of Color.

A Dover native, Mary Lee now lives in Durham. She is an historic interpreter at Strawbery Banke Museum and serves on the museum's National Council. She supports Cross Roads House as a vital resource for individuals and families in need of shelter and services.