Meet Our Board of Directors

Howard Polonsky is a former lawyer, law librarian, film festival director, career counselor, and respiratory therapy technician among other careers in his checkered past. He moved to Western Massachusetts from Oregon in 1984 for what was supposed to be a several years stay for a job, but fell in love with Northampton and has remained ever since. Howard enjoys traveling around the globe and meeting and befriending people from other cultures. He is honored to be able to serve on the Board of Full Circle Adoptions since 2017.

Marie is an adoptive mother of an adult son. She has been on the Full Circle Adoptions Board of Directors since July 2017, and has served as the Clerk for her entire tenure.

She has a BA in Child Development and an MBA with a concentration in Marketing. Marie served as President of Welcome Wagon, in Wilbraham, MA for 2000-2001. She served two years as President of the PTO at Pioneer Valley Montessori School in Springfield, MA where her son was a student.

She is a volunteer in her Parish of St. Cecilia Church in Wilbraham, MA. Marie loves to read British historical fiction and British mysteries.

John has served as treasurer of the Full Circle Adoptions Board since 2017.

John is currently the Chairman of the Pelham Massachusetts Finance Committee. He has served in that capacity for 12 years and has been a member for 14. John retired after 27 years with Sunny Delight Beverages/Procter and Gamble in 2016. During those years he was the Plant Manager for a production facility in Chicopee, MA and then moved to a role managing licensed bottlers around the country focusing on quality and technical issues. In the last ten years the role expanded to finding, qualifying and managing co-packers for the firm’s expanding product offerings.

He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Town Finance Committees. John has a BA from American International College and an MBA from Western New England University.

Molly has worked in the adoption field since 1990, and is a licensed social worker in both Massachusetts and Maine. Molly has worked with Full Circle since the early days of the agency and began as Director in 2017. Molly has a passionate commitment to adoption, which began because of her personal connections with adoption. Throughout her career, Molly has deepened her understanding of the impact of adoption on individuals’ lives. Molly has worked with prospective adoptive families, expectant/birth parents and foster parents providing assessments, home studies, counseling and post placement visits. Molly spends much of her leisure time in nature, biking, and spending her time with her children and grandchildren.

Susan Foerster is a native of Western Massachusetts, being raised in Springfield and then living in East Longmeadow and Monson, MA. She’s a retired teacher, having worked first as a public school first grade teacher and then as a Montessori Lower Elementary teacher for many years. She learned much about the different learning styles of young children. In her Montessori career, she worked with Molly and learned a lot about adoption through her and her daughter. Sue was delighted when Molly asked her to join the Board of Directors at Full Circle Adoptions. She and her husband raised three children, including a set of twins. They now enjoy spending time with their grandchildren in various areas of Massachusetts including Westport, where they have a house by the water.

Sandy has been a therapist for over 35 years and she especially enjoys her work with families. She finds that families gravitate towards wanting to be a healthy place for all members.

When she was asked to be on the Full Circle Adoptions board, she was honored to be part of an organization that has such an important role in creating families. Sandy is also an adoptive parent herself, which helps to inform her understanding of the adoption journey.