Board of Directors

Bob is president of Bob Vila LLC. breaking new ground on the Web with a fast-growing website, BobVila.com  He has spent his career helping people upgrade their homes and improve their lives. From 1971-1973 he served as a volunteer in the Peace Corps, working in Panama building houses. He then began with his own design and remodeling business and was hired as the original host of This Old House on PBS. Bob taught millions of people the role that good design, and often sweat equity, play in creating the surroundings you love. He is the author of 12 books, numerous pod casts, and web apps. Since 2009 Bob has channeled his passion for renovation into helping with the preservation of Ernest Hemingway’s home and collections at Finca Vigía near Havana, Cuba and joining the board. This project has allowed Bob to visit his parents’ homeland several times.

Frank Phillips is a retired Massachusetts political journalist, having covered Massachusetts politics and state government for the Boston Globe since 1987. He has been at the center of most every major political story, campaign, and scandal in the last nearly four decades. He has written extensively about the careers of the state’s leading political figures and has served as the chief of the Globe’s State House bureau since 1991.  Frank began his career at the Lowell Sun 52 years ago where he spent a decade covering city politics and working as an investigative reporter. He has also worked as a political reporter for the Boston Herald and the Boston Herald American.

Along with his late wife, Jenny, Frank was the co-founder of the Finca Vigia Foundation.

Andrés is the Founder and President of Allies of Hispanic Culture, Education and Science Foundation (AHCES), dedicated to advancing the general public’s knowledge, appreciation and support of Hispanic art, culture, education and science. Andrés has over 30 years of experience advising international institutions, including non-profits, as a partner of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. During his tenure at Davis Polk he led the firm’s Spain and Latin America Practice and served on the firm’s Management Committee as head of its Corporate Department. Andrés is now a Senior Counsel with Davis Polk. He serves on the Board of Directors of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust Inc. and of the Fundacion Duques de Soria  Andres is a Trustee of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library, and serves on the International Circle of the Reina Sofia School of Music in Madrid, Spain. He has served on the Education Committee of the Salomon R. Guggenheim Museum, as Trustee of Bronx-Lebanon Hospital and on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. Andrés was born in Cuba and reared in Buffalo, New York. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University and holds a Juris Doctorate degree from New York University School of Law.

Mary joined John Milner’s multi-disciplinary preservation practice in 1977 and was elevated to partnership in 1984.  In 1989, the pair formed a new firm, John Milner Architects, to focus on design and architectural restoration and rehabilitation. Mary received a Bachelor of Architecture degree, Cum Laude, from Drexel University. Mary is a noted Architect with expertise in the restoration and rehabilitation of historic structures. Her recognized expertise is in the management of complex projects including conditions assessments, feasibility analyses, formulation of preservation priorities, master planning for multiple phases and development of creative approaches to programming and design.  A nationally recognized authority in the historic preservation field, Mary has served on the boards of numerous professional organizations including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation Action, National Historic Landmarks Committee, Partners for Sacred Places, Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, and Preservation Pennsylvania. Mary enjoys traveling to Europe, North Africa, and Central and South America where she is a guest lecturer on historic architecture in those regions.

Paul Edmondson has more than 35 years of experience as a nonprofit executive and attorney in historic preservation law and nonprofit management. From 2019 to 2023, Paul served as President & CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the nonprofit leader of America’s historic preservation movement. As president, Paul bore ultimate responsibility for the programmatic direction, fiscal management, and fundraising operations of the National Trust.

Previously, Paul led the National Trust’s legal team for more than two decades as the organization’s general counsel. Overseeing the National Trust’s legal services and advocacy work, he also helped to ensure the enforcement and effective interpretation of preservation laws at the federal, state, and local levels.  At the same time, Paul has worked with developers, property owners, and local preservationists to find effective solutions to preservation challenges, and advance creative strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of historic properties and cultural landscapes across the country. Beginning in 2005, under then-National Trust president Richard Moe and Finca Vigia Foundation founding chair Jenny Phillips, he helped to secure necessary licenses and permits to support the Foundation’s work in Cuba, under Democratic and Republican administrations alike.

Prior to joining the National Trust, Paul served as a senior attorney with the federal government, and before that he worked as an archaeologist in upstate New York.  Paul received his B.A. from Cornell University in 1976 in Anthropology/Archaeology and his J.D. from American University in 1981.  He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar.

Polly is an attorney and runs her own practice focusing on Criminal Defense. Polly practices in the Boston area where much of her work is dedicated to defending indigent clients. Prior to opening her own office in 2005, Polly served as a prosecutor for eight years – both an Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County and as an Assistant Attorney General in the Special Investigations and Narcotics Division at the Massachusetts Attorney Generals Office. Polly received a Bachelor of Arts from Clark University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of New Hampshire School of Law.  She also serves on the Board of Directors on the Freedom Behind Bars Foundation.  She lives in Concord, MA with her husband and two children.

Vicki is a retired career Senior Foreign Service Officer. She began her overseas career as a Peace Corp volunteer in Peru. Her last assignment was the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Previously Vicki was Chargé d’Affaires ad interim to Ethiopia, United States Ambassador to Mali, Principal Officer of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and U.S. Ambassador to Madagascar. She was Chief of United States Interests Section in Havana from 1999–2002 and was earlier the Deputy and then the Coordinator of the Office of Cuban Affairs. Prior to joining the Department of Defense, she was a visiting scholar at Brookings Institution and the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Since retirement Vicki served as Chief of Party for a USAID-funded capacity building project in Haiti. She is the co-author of “Learning to Salsa: New Steps in U.S.-Cuba Relations,” and opinion pieces in The New York Times, The Miami Herald, and The Washington Post. Currently she is a consultant to the Transnational Strategy Group, within their Cuba Business Advisory Practice Group. Her latest book is: “Our Woman in Havana: A Diplomat’s Chronicle of America’s Long Struggle with Fidel Castro’s Cuba.”

Architect Hermes Mallea is the author of “Great Houses of Havana, A Century of Cuban Style”, and of “ESCAPE, The Heyday of Caribbean Glamour”. Hermes’ latest book, “Havana Living Today/ Cuban Homestyle Now” celebrates homeowners’ individual flair and resourcefulness, taking the reader inside a world that foreign visitors and most Cubans have never seen.

Hermes has presented his books at venues across the United States and is a lecturer annually for visitors to Havana. He has presented papers on historic Cuban family life at Havana’s annual Jornadas Tecnicas de Arquitectura Vernacula in 2010 and in 2009 and the 2013 International Art Deco Congress in Havana. In 2011, Mallea curated and installed “Luz de Memoria”, an exhibition of a century of family photographs at Havana’s Museum of Natural History. In July 2018, Mallea installed an update of this exhibition in one of his family’s former homes in Gibara, Cuba as part of their annual film festival.

He is a board member of the Cintas Foundation which awards fellowships to Cuban artists working on and off the island. He is a founding board member of Havana Heritage Foundation which sponsors shipments of design books to a new Havana library being organized in honor of the late City Historian of Havana, Eusebio Leal.

Additionally, Hermes is a creative consultant bringing authentic Cuban style to two restaurants soon to open in London. He also serves on the International Council of the Preservation Society of Newport, Rhode Island.

Hermes received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Miami, attended the Master’s Program in Historic Preservation at Columbia University. He formed the award-winning interiors and architecture practice, M(Group), in 1983 with interior designer Carey Maloney.

Richard Moe is a writer and lawyer. A graduate of Williams College and the University of Minnesota Law School, Dick went on to a distinguished career in government at the city, state and federal levels. He served as Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States during Walter Mondale’s term and was a Senior Advisor to President Jimmy Carter. He was a partner at the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell before serving as President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for 17 years. It was during his years at the National Trust that he committed the organization to helping restore Finca Vigía. This was the first time the National Trust ever worked outside the United States. Dick has served on the board of the Ford Foundation, chaired Historic St. Mary’s City Commission, and was a member of the Federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation for seven years. He currently serves as a board member of the Conservation Lands Foundation. He joined the board of the Finca Vigía Foundation in 2010 immediately after retiring from the National Trust. He has authored three history books, including Roosevelt’s Second Act—the Election of 1940 and the Politics of War, and is currently writing occasional essays and book reviews.

Dan has held management positions in a variety of American art museums and philanthropic organizations. Following a period as Director of Artrain, a traveling exhibition resource, he served as Assistant Director of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. He became Director of the Portland Museum of Art, Maine in 1993 and led the organization through two decades of growth in attendance, membership, collections, and endowment. Dan completed his tenure at the museum by leading a campaign to acquire and restore the studio and home of artist Winslow Homer on the coast of Maine at Prouts Neck. He subsequently served as President of Munson, Williams, Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, New York and as C.E.O. of the philanthropic foundations established by entrepreneur Roxanne Quimby. Dan received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and his Masters in history of art, his M.B.A. in management and marketing, and his Ph.D. in history of art from the University of Michigan.

Joe is the 15th President of Western New Mexico University (WNMU). Western New Mexico University is a Hispanic serving university where one out of two students are first generational and one out of two students are non-traditional.

Prior to arriving at WNMU, Joe served over 15 years in senior level leadership positions at Florida Gulf Coast University. Throughout his years at FGCU he held the positions of Chief Student Affairs Officer, Chief Business Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Among his many responsibilities, Joe was one of the founding leaders in helping to build the State of Florida’s 10th university. When Joe arrived at FGCU, there were no students, no classes, no athletics, no on-campus housing, no policies and no infrastructure. By Joe’s departure in 2011, FGCU had grown to over 460 faculty with a total workforce of nearly 2,000 that served nearly 13,000 students.

Joe also remains active in the classroom and with research. His teaching areas have been at both the graduate and undergraduate levels in quantitative methods, public finance and business leadership. He has also taught internationally in Mexico. Finally, Joe serves as the chairman of the Council of University Presidents, which is the association that advocates for all seven universities in New Mexico.

Joe earned his Ph.D. in Public Administration specializing in public finance from Florida International University. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance and Banking where he specialized in international finance from the University of North Texas and a Bachelor of Science degree in Math Education from Northern Arizona University.

He is fluent in Spanish and enjoys mountaineering, backpacking, canoeing, fishing, golfing, and racquetball.

Fran Soistman is the CEO and Director of eHealth Inc. (EHTH) a private online marketplace for health insurance, based in Santa Clara, California. The company primarily provides plans related to Medicare including Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplemental and Medicare Prescription Drugs. Fran, who joined eHealth in November of 2021, has more than 40 years of experience in health insurance and managed care, and is leading the organization through a strategic and financial transformation to position the business for sustainable profitable growth and an industry leading customer experience.

Previously, Fran was the Founder and President of Healthcare Management and Transformation Advisory Services LLC (HMTAS) established in late 2019 following Fran’s retirement from CVS Health – Aetna. Fran also served as a Senior Executive Advisor for McKinsey and Company, a Global Consulting Firm.

From 2013 through 2019 Fran served as Executive Vice President at CVS Health and President of Aetna’s Government Services Portfolio of Businesses charged with leading the growth businesses at Aetna. Mr. Soistman represented Aetna on the Healthcare Leadership Council, the Healthcare Transformation Task Force, and the Harvard Medical School Department of Health Care Policy Scientific Advisory Board.

Prior to joining Aetna, he was Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Jessamine Healthcare, a firm focused on strategic investment opportunities in the health care industry. Before his tenure at Jessamine, Mr. Soistman also held several senior leadership positions at Coventry Health Care, including Executive Vice President for the Individual Consumer and Government Business Division.

In June 2004, Mr. Soistman was a recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Healthcare Technology/Services category.

Mr. Soistman received his bachelor’s degree from Towson University and is a graduate of the Stanford University Executive Program. In 2012 Mr. Soistman was the Recipient of the Towson University Distinguished Alumni Award and in 2015 he received a Doctor in Humane Letters.

Fran has committed to supporting multiple higher education boards, including a 10-year term on the Penn State University Presidential Leadership Board of Directors, and remains active with Towson University where he is past Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Board and current Co-Chair or the Rise Capital Campaign. In 2021 Fran was awarded emeritus status on the University System of Maryland Foundation. Finally, Fran currently serves on the Boards of the Finca Vigia Foundation (formerly known as the Hemingway Preservation Foundation in Cuba) and Planet Technologies.

Finally, Fran is committed to philanthropy and has established multiple endowments at Towson University, Penn State University, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, and Clemson University to support economically challenged students seeking degrees in accounting, finance, nursing, public health, and other health care related fields. His latest gift to Towson University has been characterized as transformative and is the largest in the institution’s history from an alumnus. In 2021 the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Maryland Chapter, awarded Fran the Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year.

Sandy is a founding member of the Finca Vigía Foundation. She is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English at Penn State University and General Editor of the Hemingway Letters Project, which is producing a complete scholarly edition of Hemingway’s some 6,000 letters. The Letters of Ernest Hemingway is being published by Cambridge University Press in a projected seventeen volumes. The first five volumes have been published, spanning the years 1907–1934. Sandy has served on the Editorial Board of The Hemingway Review since 1992 and as a consultant to several documentary films about Hemingway, including the PBS documentary film Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. She has been active in the international collaborative effort to preserve Hemingway’s legacy in Cuba since 2002.

Ramsay is the owner of On the Mat Yoga in Concord, Massachusetts. In addition to teaching in Concord, Ramsay leads yoga retreats around the world, most recently to Costa Rica, Mexico, Dominica and Belize. Before her life as a yoga teacher, Ramsay was a producer for WCVB-TV in Boston for 10 years. Ramsay wrote and produced shows for the Special Projects division (documentaries and longer format programming) and also spent years writing and producing for Chronicle, WCVB-TV’s long-running nightly news magazine. Ramsay is a trustee of the board for her family’s Foundation, the Gifford Family Foundation. The Foundation focuses on under-served children, youth and families in the Boston area through support of programs in education, healthcare, housing and youth development. Ramsay also sits on the board of Concord Art and is currently chairing their Centennial Campaign. Ramsay attended Bowdoin College ’89 where she met her husband Geoffrey Trussell, a professor at Northeastern University and director of the Coastal Sustainability Institute. Ramsay and Geoffrey have three children. She remains actively involved with Bowdoin College and is the lead class agent for her graduating class.

Mary-Jo has been the executive director of the Finca Vigía Foundation since its formation in 2004. She oversees a United States team of preservation architects, engineers, environmental/climate experts, document conservators, archivists, and digital imaging specialists, coordinating their work with Cuban colleagues of similar expertises. She is responsible for public affairs, media relations, fundraising, and social media. Mary-Jo also serves as a liaison between the Cuban and US governments as well as the various US and Cuban entities involved with the project—the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Mystic Seaport, and Northeast Document Conservation Center on the US side and the Consejo Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural and Museo Finca Vigía in Havana. When not traveling to Cuba she is an avid lobster fisherman and boat captain.

Stephanie has recently joined the Finca Vigía Foundation as Assistant Director. Leveraging her experience as the former owner of a prestigious Boston-based art gallery, she will bring valuable expertise in public relations and marketing, including social media strategy and organization management. In her new role, she will support the Executive Director in the day-to-day operations of the Foundation as well as manage the on-going work of the US-based document conservation and technical teams. 

Stephanie’s strong background in event planning and program development will be put to good use. Throughout her career, she has been an enthusiastic advocate of cultural preservation and climate awareness. Her Spanish speaking skills and knowledge of Cuba enhance her ability to work on this unique bi-national project. 

Stephanie resides in Norfolk, MA with her family. In her leisure time she enjoys reading, painting, and gardening.

Jenny, together with her husband Frank and with the support of Congressman James McGovern (D-MA), founded the Finca Vigía Foundation. She was the granddaughter of Maxwell Perkins, Ernest Hemingway’s illustrious editor. In 2001 she traveled to Cuba to see if any of her grandfather’s letters might be at Finca Vigía. What she discovered led to a massive project of document conservation, architectural preservation, and bridge building. Jenny had a doctorate in cultural anthropology and was an author, filmmaker, and practicing psychotherapist. Her articles appeared in academic journals, The Boston Globe, and national magazines. For 20 years, she worked in state and county prisons teaching meditation and emotional literacy skills to prisoners. Jenny produced and directed The Dhamma Brothers, an award-winning film documenting the stories of the prisoners studying Vipassana, an ancient and intensive meditation program requiring 100 hours of silent meditation. Her second film, Beyond the Wall follows the lives and stories of a small community of men attempting to rebuild their lives after their release from prison.