People

Charlotte Gray is the author of eleven acclaimed books of literary nonfiction including her recent bestseller The Promise of Canada. The Massey Murder: A Maid, Her Master, and the Trial That Shocked a Country won numerous prizes including the Toronto Book Award and the Heritage Toronto Book Award and was shortlisted for several others. An adaptation of her bestseller Gold Diggers: Striking It Rich in the Klondike was broadcast as a television miniseries. An adjunct research professor in the department of history at Carleton University, she is the recipient of the Pierre Berton Award for distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history, a Member of the Order of Canada, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

CHAWKY FRENN was born in Zahlé, Lebanon. Before emigrating to the United States in 1981, he witnessed six years of civil war. Its devastating consequences have powerfully influenced his life and artwork. Frenn received a BFA from Mass College of Art and Design in Boston, MA in 1985, and an MFA from Tyler School of Art of Temple University in Philadelphia, PA in 1988. He is currently an Associate Professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. Frenn has exhibited his work throughout the United States, and around the globe, and has received critical acclaim from publications including the New York Times, NY ARTS, Art New England, Boston Globe, Connecticut Post, Atlanta Magazine, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in the United States, as well as An-Nahar,

Sudhir Chella Rajan is a member of the faculty of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He has been a Senior Fellow at Tellus Institute where he led the Global Politics and Institutions Program. Rajan has an extensive 20 year research background in transportation, energy systems, and the institutional and political context of environmental policy making.

Chellamal Keshavan, BS, is a dedicated and fervent advocate for racial equity and systemic change. She is the former chair of the Medford Human Rights Commission, and a certified doula and lactation counselor.

Chelsea Davis co-founded the Sudan Radio Project in December 2006. In addition to producing SRP’s shows, she has reported on topics such as the UK’s reception of Darfuri asylum-seekers and the operation of media in Sudan. She is particularly interested in the experiences of Sudanese expatriates and refugees.

Chelsea Merz is GBH’s Culture Editor. Feedback? Questions? Story ideas? Reach out to Chelsea at chelsea.merz@gbh.org.

Rev. Cheng Imm Tan is one of Chinatown's multi-tasking crusaders. Blending spirituality with her experiences as an immigrant and Asian woman, she has built her career by encouraging others to realize their inner strengths and potential. Tan is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, yet she speaks from a much larger pulpit. It was Tans tireless work in Boston's Asian community which led to her appointment the as Director of the Mayor's Office of New Bostonians. For the past seven years, the Malaysian-born Tan has assisted immigrants in becoming full participants of the Boston community by providing a variety of resources and information. Tan began her career working in a battered women's shelter. She realized many Asian women were reluctant to leave abusive relationships because language barriers prevented them from getting the necessary help. In 1987, she founded ATASK. The Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence remains New England's only multilingual emergency shelter and center for Asian victims of domestic abuse.

Dr. Lu is an Associate Professor of Environmental Exposure Biology at the Harvard School of Public Health. His primary research is to use a variety of biomarkers for assessing human exposures to environmental chemicals in order to facilitate the identification of risk factors, as well as the formation of hypotheses for potential health effects. One of his current research projects is to integrate exposure biomarkers, physiologically based pharmacokinetic model and cumulative risk assessment tools for quantifying children’s longitudinal exposure to pesticides via dietary intakes, and its risks by comparing to benchmark doses used by the regulatory agencies.

Cheri Ruane, ASLA leads the design studio at Weston & Sampson. She is a registered Landscape Architect with 18 years experience in multi-disciplinary project management, construction administration, site analysis and public design. She was involved with the restoration of Boston’s historic park system, the Emerald Necklace, during her tenure at the City of Boston Parks and Recreation Department. She has special expertise with public site design and facilitating the community participation process. She attained her Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from the University of Massachusetts and her Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design

Award-winning author Cherry Adair moved halfway across the globe from South Africa to the United States in her early 20's. She currently lives in Western Washington. Cherry owned an interior design business before deciding to channel her creativity into writing full time.

Cheryl Clyburn Crawford is the Executive Director of MassVOTE. In addition to her role at MassVOTE, Cheryl is the 2nd Vice President of the NAACP-Boston Branch. She is a former Executive Board Chair of EmergeMA. She sits on the Women's Pipeline for Change’s Oversight and Planning Board. She is an active member of the Order of the Eastern Star, a Prince Hall affiliated organization. She is a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Council on Racial Justice and Equity and a board member of American Promise. Before MassVOTE, Cheryl served as Campaign Manager and then Chief of Staff to State Representative Willie Mae Allen. Born in New York, Cheryl grew up in Boston and is a graduate of Lesley College, Cambridge, MA. [source:Mass.gov]