Hall of Fame

Elise Caffrey has served as SVP, Investor Relations for iRobot Corporation since 2006 when she joined to company to establish its IR department following the IPO. Prior to joining iRobot, Elise was Vice President & Treasurer of Dynamics Research Corporation. She is a seasoned finance executive with extensive experience in commercial banking, treasury, mergers & acquisitions, Financial Planning & Analysis, investment banking and investor relations. Elise holds a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mary T. Conway is Principal of Conway Communications, a boutique investor relations consultancy, which she founded in 1998 after serving as a senior consultant on the agency side as well as in-house practitioner. Ms. Conway brings more than 25 years of high-level diversified investor relations and strategic communications experience to the challenges that all organizations face in communicating effectively with important stakeholders, through the prism of the investment community. Conway Communications has worked with more than 100 companies across all industries, helping them structure and implement effective investor and public relations programs or address specific investor relations and communications issues.

Prior to returning to Boston, Ms. Conway was a partner at Kekst and Company (now part of Publicis), the premier financial public relations firm in New York, where her practice included corporate transactions of all kinds, crisis communications and issues-based shareholder activism.

Ms. Conway holds an A.B. degree cum laude from Dartmouth College with High Honors in Government. As an alumnae, she has served as President of her class, President of the Class Officers Association and a member of the Editorial Board of the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine and the College Committee on Trustees. She is an active member of NIRI, and its Senior Roundtable, and has served as a director of the NIRI Boston chapter as well as a speaker at chapter and national events. She serves on the advisory board of Boston Women in Finance. As an adjunct professor, Ms. Conway taught Public Relations at Framingham State College. She holds a research appointment in investor relations at Harvard Business School.

John G. Demeritt has been Chief Financial Officer of Franklin Street Properties Corp. since 2004. Previously, Mr. Demeritt was an Officer at four other publicly traded entities, including Cabot Industrial Trust, The Meditrust Companies, CMG Information Services and Salem Sportswear Corp. During his career, he has led or been involved with Investor Relations responsibilities and worked with a number of merger and financing transactions. Mr. Demeritt is a Certified Public Accountant and was associated with Laventhol & Horwath and Vitale, Caturano & Company. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Babson College and resides in Newburyport, Massachusetts with his family.

Gerard J. (“Gerry”) Gould is a retired Finance executive. He was Vice President, Investor Relations with Haemonetics Corp. from 2011 until his retirement in 2019. He served on non-profit boards of directors and trustees during that period, as Treasurer and chair of Finance & Audit committees. Previously, he held finance and lead investor relations positions of increasing responsibility across multiple industries at Wyman-Gordon Co., Stanley Black & Decker and RSC Equipment Rental, all following nine years as a practicing CPA with EY.

A member of the Board of Directors of NIRI’s Boston Chapter for five years 2014-2019, Mr. Gould was a Chapter Officer – Treasurer – for four of those years. He represented the chapter as its Advocacy Ambassador to NIRI National for two years.

Mr. Gould was a member of NIRI for over 20 years and NIRI’s Senior Roundtable for 10 years, twice serving on the Senior Roundtable’s steering committee and twice serving on NIRI’s National Conference committee. He was chosen to participate in NIRI’s IR Competency Framework committee, IR Certification Program development committee, national Advocacy Council and national Ethics Committee. He was a panelist at NIRI’s annual conferences, chapter meetings and, on three occasions, co-led the capstone session at NIRI’s annual Intro to Investor Relations professional development program.

Mr. Gould earned a Master of Science degree in Accountancy from the Leonard N. Stern Graduate Business School, New York University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Saint Michael’s College. He was once an adjunct professor at Nichols College, where he taught accounting, finance, business strategy, income tax, statistics, auditing and business mathematics. He is proud to be an Eagle Scout.

In retirement, Gerry and his wife Cindy divide their time between their homes in Vermont and Arizona. They enjoy travel and golf.

Susan E. Hardy joined Charles River Laboratories in September 2002 as Director, Investor Relations, and was promoted to the position of Corporate Vice President, Investor Relations, in October 2005. In this role, Ms. Hardy is responsible for providing strategic planning and execution of the Company’s investor relations function. Prior to joining Charles River, Ms. Hardy was employed by Houghton Mifflin Company from 1990 to 2001, beginning her tenure as Assistant Controller before becoming Vice President, Investor Relations. Ms. Hardy began her career in 1979 at Deloitte & Touche, initially as an auditor, followed by five years as a systems consultant and five years as Director of Operations for the Boston region. Ms. Hardy received an A.B. degree from Wellesley College, an M.S.A. degree from Bentley College, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

In 1984, Sherry Lang embarked on a major career change by receiving her MBA from the Simmons College Graduate School of Management. Having received her BA in Art History from George Washington University, she had previously had a successful career at the DeCordova Museum as a curator. Her first position in Investor Relations began in 1985 as Director of IR at The Cooperative Bank of Concord. It was during this time that she became an active member of the Boston Chapter of NIRI where she met other IR professionals and deepened her knowledge of IR. In 1988, she joined The TJX Companies as an Asst. VP, Investor Relations. Sherry retired from TJX in 2014 as Senior Vice President, Global Communications. During her 26-year tenure at TJX, Sherry was the senior spokesperson of the Company and led all investor and corporate communications on a worldwide basis. She also managed all communications through the Company’s two greatest crises, the loss of 7 Associates on 9/11 and the well-publicized 2007 computer breach. In her retirement, Sherry has become an Overseer of The Huntington Theatre and a Trustee of Hebrew Senior Life, a Harvard Medical School Affiliate.

Elizabeth Hunter Lavallee began her career in investor relations at Boston Edison Company in 1983. Subsequently, she was Manager of Financial and Employee Communications for Public Service Company of New Hampshire through its bankruptcy, Director of Investor Relations for Corporate Software Inc., and Director of Investor Relations for The Timberland Company. She is now an investor relations consultant and financial writer providing counsel, writing, and other assistance to companies across a broad range of industries. Ms. Lavallee was on the board of the Boston Chapter of NIRI as an officer from 1991 to 1996, serving as President in her final year. She received an MBA degree from the Whittemore School at the University of New Hampshire and her undergraduate degree from Bates College.

S. Kelley MacDonald’s career in Investor Relations began when she joined Unitrode, a semiconductor company in 1984—the same year she joined NIRI. In 1999, when Unitrode was acquired by Texas Instruments, she joined Brodeur Worldwide, a global communications consultancy firm, where she launched its investor relations practice. In 2001, she joined State Street Corporation, a worldwide financial services holding company, from which she retired in 2013 as a Senior Vice President. In her nearly 30 years in investor relations, she participated in a variety of corporate acquisitions and divestitures, capital offerings, and warrant issuances. Her experience includes: crisis communication, press release preparation and issuance, regulatory compliance, executive speech writing, and corporate governance. She is a trustee of Watertown Savings Bank and past chairman of the Board and president of the Watertown Boys and Girls Club. She was a director and past President of the Boston Chapter of NIRI, a member and past Chairperson of the NIRI Senior Investor Relations Steering Committee, and a member of the Senior Investor Relations Roundtable, sponsored by the Conference Board. She holds a B.A. and an M.A. from Boston College.

Jane W. McCahon is Senior Vice President of Corporate Relations and Corporate Secretary for Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., a diversified telecommunications services corporation headquartered in Chicago. McCahon oversees the investor relations and corporate governance activities of TDS and its majority-owned, publicly traded subsidiary, U.S. Cellular. McCahon joined TDS in 2009 as Vice President of Corporate Relations, and became Corporate Secretary in 2013. Before joining TDS, McCahon was a principal with Massachusetts-based Conway Communications, which developed investor relations programs for a diverse range of companies. Prior to that, she was Vice President of Corporate Relations for Eastern Enterprises in Weston, MA, and served as Manager of Investor Relations for Waban, Inc. (now BJ’s Wholesale Club). McCahon is a member of the Society of Corporate Secretaries & Governance Professionals, and a member and former chair of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI). She is a co-founder and former chair of the NIRI Ethics Council, and has also served on the NIRI Senior Roundtable Steering Committee. McCahon holds a BA in economics and finance from Bentley College, and a JD from Suffolk University Law School.

Sharon F. Merrill is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Sharon Merrill, a strategic investor relations and critical communications advisory firm. As the founder of the firm that bears her name, Sharon formulates the agency’s business strategy and serves as its ambassador to financial and professional organizations across New England. She started the firm in 1985 after establishing and managing the investor relations function at Lotus Development Corporation. Prior to that, Sharon served as vice president and managed the investor relations practice at what was then New England’s largest full-service public relations agency. Earlier in her career, she was a securities analyst with The Boston Company, Inc. and also held positions with State Street Research & Management Co. Sharon has received many national awards in investor relations and corporate communications and was twice named a finalist in the New England Entrepreneur of the Year competition. Sharon holds an MBA from the Simmons College Graduate School of Management and an AS degree from Colby Sawyer College. She is a past President and Director of the Boston Chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and a past Charter Member of NIRI’s Senior IR Roundtable and its national steering committee.

Anthony Takazawa is the Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communication at Acushnet Holdings Corp. (NYSE: GOLF) where he helped the company go public in 2016. Prior to GOLF, Anthony was Vice President of Investor Relations at EMC Corp (now DELL Technologies) where the IR team won several awards for excellence in investor relations, including top IR rankings in 4 Institutional Investor Magazine annual surveys. Previously, Mr. Takazawa was on the buy-side with various roles as equity portfolio manager, equity analyst and director of research; he was a Vice President at Bankers Trust (now part of Deutsche Bank) and an Investment Officer at Phoenix Investment Counsel. Anthony has also served as Treasurer and Director of NIRI Boston; he is a 2016 inductee in the NIRI Boston Hall of Fame. Anthony has earned a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from the CFA Institute, an MBA from the University of Wisconsin (where he is a graduate of the Applied Security Analysis Program), and a BBA from the University of Notre Dame.

Karen Warren retired from her role as Senior Vice President of Investor Relations at Hasbro, Inc. in 2010, after 25 years in investor relations. Prior to joining Hasbro, Karen was Senior Vice President of IR at State Street Corporation in Boston. Before that, she held senior level IR positions at Shiva Corp, FTP Software, and was SVP of Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning at Sterling Bancshares Corporation and Sterling Bank. She is a member of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI). She is former Chairman of the Board of Directors of NIRI National and past President of the Boston Chapter of NIRI, where she currently serves as an Honorary Director. In 2013, NIRI National inducted her into the inaugural class of NIRI Fellows and in 2010, they recognized her for Individual Chapter Leadership. Additionally, she is past President of the Investor Relations Association and a founding member of the NIRI National Ethics Council. Previously, she taught Investor Relations at the Graduate School of Communications Management at Simmons College and has been a guest lecturer at Bentley College and the University of Rhode Island. Karen received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Boston College, Masters in Communications Management from Simmons College and her Associates Degree from Middlesex Community College.

Douglas Wilburne is a retired investor relations executive with a long record of accomplishments in, and service to, the investor relations industry. Wilburne was a corporate officer and vice president of investor relations at Textron from 2000 until his retirement at the end of 2016. At Textron, Wilburne was a member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team and Corporate Finance Council. He was consistently rated as the number one investor relations officer by Institutional Investor Magazine in the aerospace and defense sector. Wilburne was on the national board of NIRI from 2007 through 2011, serving as chairperson in 2011, leading formulation and adoption of the organization’s OneNIRI strategy. He is a NIRI Fellow and member of NIRI’s Senior Roundtable and served as its chair in 2013. He has been a perennial speaker and panelist at NIRI’s annual conferences, Senior Roundtable events, Chapter Meetings and NIRI Professional Development events and co-chaired the 1998 Annual Conference. Wilburne is currently a member of the NIRI Boston chapter, but “sprouted his I.R. wings” serving in various chapter officer position in the NIRI Philidelphia chapter. Prior to joining Textron, he headed Rite Aid Corporation’s first formal investor relations program as the company managed its way through a financial reporting and management credibility crisis. From 1997 to 1999, Wilburne headed investor relations for AMP Incorporated, where he modernized the company’s global investor relations program and guided the company through its merger with Tyco International. The first 20 years of his career were spent at Bell Atlantic Corporation, with positions in engineering, operations, regulatory and finance, culminating with an assignment in investor relations in 1996. Wilburne completed the Leadership at the Peak program at the Center for Creative Leadership and the Global Leadership Forum at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the Providence Society of Financial Analysts. Wilburne earned a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. in finance from Drexel University. He is a Life Member of the Fame Volunteer Fire Company and serves in the Bugles Across America organization, playing Taps at military funerals. Doug is currently enjoying the bounties of retirement, which include much more time for downhill skiing, golf, playing his trumpet and loving his eight grandchildren.

Maureen T. Wolff is President and Partner at Sharon Merrill, a strategic investor relations and critical communications advisory firm. Maureen is a former chair and board member of NIRI, a member of NIRI’s Senior IR Roundtable steering committee and vice chairman of NIRI’s certification committee. She also is an honorary director of NIRI’s Boston Chapter. Maureen is a trusted advisor to CEOs, CFOs and boards of directors on critical communications issues related to corporate governance, shareholder activism and proxy contests. She is a frequent speaker on IR issues and has delivered speeches and participated on panel discussions sponsored by the NYSE, NACD and the Society of Corporate Secretaries & Governance Professionals. She has lectured at universities in the Boston area and has appeared on CNBC, and her comments have been featured in national newspapers and magazines. Prior to joining Sharon Merrill in 1985, Maureen held positions in the investor relations and corporate communications departments at Lotus Development Corporation. She received a B.A. degree in Communications from Montclair State University. Her specialized training includes completion of prescribed studies in “Financial and IR” at the Simmons College Graduate Program in Communications.

Rich Yerganian is the Vice President of Investor Relations for Cerence Incorporated, a leading provider of AI based solutions for the transportation and mobility industry. Prior to Cerence he was vice president of investor relations for Cohu Inc, a leading provider of semiconductor test and handling equipment. Prior to Cohu he was the vice president of investor relations and corporate marketing for Xcerra Corporation (formerly LTX-Credence), a provider of semiconductor test equipment. Rich has been an active member of NIRI since joining in 1999. He has served in the role of president of NIRI’s Boston Chapter, as a committee member of two NIRI national conferences and as an IRC certification committee member. He has also participated in numerous panels on various investor relations topics at both the local and national levels. Rich is also a member of NIRI’s Senior Roundtable. He was an Investor Relations Professional named by IR Magazine as a finalist for the 2019 Best of IR Awards in the “Best IR During a Transaction” category. He also holds an MBA from Bentley University and a BSEE from Northeastern University.