New Members Join BCC Board of Trustees
Berkshire Community College announces the appointment or election of the following new members to its board of trustees:Helen Downey of Lanesborough has been appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to serve on the board for five years. She replaces J. Williar Dunlaevy of Lenox, who has served on the board since 1997.
Downey has served as Chief Operating Office of the $250 million healthcare operations at Berkshire Medical Center since 2001. Prior to that, Downey served as Vice President of BMC’s Acute Care Division of Nursing where she was responsible for a $4 million budget and the clinical direction of approximately 550 full-time equivalent employees at the professional, paraprofessional and support levels.
In addition to other critical nursing positions at BMC, spanning a period of 18 years, Downey has served as Executive Director of the Berkshire Visiting Nurse Association, as a case analyst for a personal injury law firm, and as an adjunct faculty member at Elms College where she taught pathophysiology courses to evening students in the BSN program.
Downey is also the author or co-author of four publications including “The Physiology of Pain” and “Laser Assisted Angioplasty.” She holds a diploma in nursing from St. Luke’s School of Nursing in Pittsfield, a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing from the State University of New York at Albany, and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Mary Leon-Sweeney of Pittsfield has been appointed by Governor Patrick to serve on the board for a period of four years. She replaces Peter Abair of Watertown.
Leon-Sweeney brings an interdisciplinary background in health care, human services, administration and education to the board. Currently working as a Spanish instructor at Charles McCann High School in North Adams, she is committed to cultural diversity awareness, as well as access to higher education for all population. Leon-Sweeney holds certificates as both a Bilingual Court Interpreter and a Bilingual Medical Interpreter.
A graduate of BCC, Leon-Sweeney is an active member of the Pittsfield Cultural Committee and has been honored for her service to immigrant communities in the Berkshires. In addition to her two degrees from BCC, Leon-Sweeney holds a bachelor’s degree in language and literature from the University of Santiago de Cali in Colombia.
