Melissa Karam Panchley graduated from BMC Durfee High School in 1991 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Human Development from Boston College in 1995.
After graduating from college, Melissa went to work at the Fall River Housing Authority for six years where she was a Youth Outreach Worker, and then the Elderly Services Coordinator. When she decided to start a family, she went to work for the family business at Karam Financial Group, where she could do bookkeeping work from home while she raised her children.
In 2009, Melissa received a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
In 2011, Melissa transitioned into the role of Senior Property Manager for the adult communities managed by Karam Financial Group. In this role she is responsible for overseeing the management and physical plant of 304 apartment units on the Southcoast and Cape Cod, as well as 44 condominium units.
Melissa served on the Fall River School Committee from 2014-2017. During that time, she chaired the Finance Sub-Committee, as well as the Instructional Sub-Committee. She also served on the Superintendent search committee in 2016. After serving on the Fall River School Committee, she was the Treasurer for the New Durfee Ballot Action Committee, a ballot question committee in support of funding for a new Durfee High School.
Melissa has been involved in numerous organizations as a volunteer, such as the President of the Board of the Ninth Street Day Nursery and Vice President and Treasurer for the Friends of Saint Anne’s Hospital. She currently serves on the Fall River Area Chamber of Commerce’s Sub-Committee on Education, the Board of the Greater Fall River United Way, and Treasurer of the Durfee Hilltopper Athletic Foundation.
Melissa was born and raised in Fall River and currently resides in the city with her husband, Josh and two sons, Thomas and Christopher.
Daniel L. Shores grew up in nearby Carver, Massachusetts and attended public school there. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH. At UNH, Dan was the team leader of an award-winning senior project in which his team budgeted, designed, and built a launch and recovery system for a human-powered submarine with funding assistance from the Sea Grant Program.
After working in the private sector, Dan went on to attend law school and earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center, in Washington, DC. At Georgetown, Dan served on the Senior Editorial Board of The Georgetown Law Journal, Georgetown’s prestigious law review and concentrated his studies on intellectual property law. Dan worked during the entire time he attended law school and personally financed both his undergraduate and law school educations.
Upon graduation from law school, Dan worked as an attorney at the intellectual property boutique firm Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, PC and at the global law firm Latham & Watkins, LLP, both in Washington, DC. He also served as an executive officer of the esteemed Giles S. Rich American Inn of Court, the nation's flagship Intellectual Property Inn of Court located at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC. Dan has served on panels to discuss IP issues and was selected as a “Super Lawyers” “Rising Star" for IP in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
After nearly 13 years in Washington, DC, Dan decided it was time to come home. He returned in 2013 and formed his own law practice. Later that year he ran for the United States Congress, in the Massachusetts 9th Congressional District, on a platform based on securing the future for the next generation.
Dan continues to build his law practice that specializes in patent law, including patent prosecution, due diligence, litigation, opinions and other complex IP counseling. He also continues to seek to be of service to his community and is honored to serve Massachusetts Maritime Academy in the capacity of Trustee.
Dan currently lives in Sandwich with his fiancée Lindsay and their two English Bulldogs Jarves and Rosie. In addition to practicing law and serving his community, Dan enjoys cooking, gardening, traveling, and fishing.
Mary Regina Thomann (formerly Sullivan) graduated from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Transportation as part of the Academy’s first class of women. Mary was inspired to attend the Academy by her love of the sea and by the accomplishments of her two paternal Aunts, Captains Elinor and Mary Rose Sullivan, U.S. Navy. In 1992, she received a Master of Business Administration degree from Rivier College in Nashua, N.H.
Since 1983, Mary has worked in the Human Resources field gaining diverse global business experience in both corporate and manufacturing environments. She has a track record of successfully recruiting highly skilled technical staff, improving staff morale, and coaching and partnering effectively with senior executives. Since 2011, Mary has been providing Human Resources Consulting Services.
In 2014, inspired by the registered nurses in her life, including her mother, grandmother, and aunts, Mary earned her Associate’s Degree in Nursing at the now Rivier University in Nashua, N.H. and obtained her Registered Nurse Certification. She currently works part-time as a per diem R.N. at a Long-Term Care skilled nursing facility.
In December of 2016, together with the other women from the Class of 1981, Mary was honored to receive the Emery Rice medal in recognition of having graduated in the first class of women at the Academy. Mary is a Member of the Society for Human Resources Management and the American Association of Nurses. She volunteers at Nevins Farm MSPCA in Methuen, MA.
Mary grew up in Roslindale, Massachusetts as the oldest of 12 children and daughter of Mr. & Mrs. James E. Sullivan. She now resides in Dracut, Massachusetts with husband Gary, a Sales Engineer, and dog Bilbo. They enjoy spending time on and around the North Atlantic Ocean whenever possible.
Eric Turkington is a retired attorney living in Falmouth. He served 20 years in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1989 to 2009 representing Falmouth, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. He served as chairman of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development. He was the lead sponsor of the Cape Cod Land Bank legislation, which provided $150 million for the Cape towns to acquire 4500 acres of protected open space. He was also the lead sponsor of legislation creating the Upper Cape Regional Water Supply Cooperative, which supplied drinking water to the four Upper Cape towns.
He is a founder and former president of the 300 Committee, Falmouth’s land trust, which has preserved 2600 acres of conservation land in Falmouth; former chairman and president of the Cape Cod United Way; founder and first chairman of the Falmouth Economic Development and Industrial Corporation; a corporator of Cape Cod Healthcare; and former Selectman of the town of Falmouth.
He currently serves as chairman of Falmouth’s Water Quality Management Committee; treasurer of the Falmouth Housing Corporation; board member of the Woods Hole Community Association; and board member of the Cape Cod Conservation District. He is a past recipient of the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year award and the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s Guardian Award. He lives in Woods Hole with his wife Nancy and dog Juneo.
