Transition Leadership Team:
• Patrick Rogers, Chairman, served as General Chairman and Finance Chair of the Chafee for Governor campaign. A graduate of LaSalle Academy, Holy Cross and Catholic University Law School, Patrick served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Gabon, Central Africa; was a legislative aide to U.S. Senator John H. Chafee in Washington, D.C.; and is a business lawyer at Edwards Angell. He has also served as an elected member of the East Providence City Council, Municipal Court Judge and Town Solicitor.
• Stephen Hourahan, Transition Director, is the former Director of Communications in the US Senate office of Lincoln Chafee, as well as a longtime aide to the late Senator John H. Chafee. Most recently, Hourahan has served as Executive Director of AIDS Project RI, a division of Family Service of RI. He is a graduate of East Providence High School and Providence College. He was a senior adviser for the Chafee for Governor Campaign.
• Michael Trainor, Deputy Transition Director, is a 1970 graduate of Providence College with a B.A. in political science. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in the early 1970s and earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from URI before embarking on a career in healthcare, followed by a long period in the advertising industry. Most recently, he ran a small marketing consulting firm, Genesis Communications. He is a resident of Barrington, and is married with four sons. Trainor served as Campaign Spokesman and Campaign Manager for the Chafee for Governor campaign.
• Jonathan Stevens, Director of Transition Policy, has served in a number of positions in local, state and federal government, including stints as Legislative Director in Lincoln Chafee’s Washington office, Office Director of Senator Chafee’s Newport office, Congressional Liaison to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Planning Director for the City of Warwick, Director of Economic Development for the City of Newport and District Press Secretary for US Rep. Claudine Schneider. He held senior staff positions on both of Chafee’s campaigns for US Senate, as well as his campaigns for Mayor of Warwick. Stevens holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University, a master’s degree in Community Planning from URI and has been an adjunct lecturer at Brown University. He served as Director of Policy for the Chafee for Governor campaign.
• Judge Stephen Erickson, Transition Legislative Liaison/Legal Adviser, recently retired after 20 years on the District Court bench, where he was noted for his expertise in mental health issues and played a vital role in developing the Kent County mental health clinical project. Prior to joining the District Court in 1990, Judge Erickson served for four years as Legislative Counsel in the Office of the Governor and for eight years represented parts of Aquidneck Island as a Republican state representative, where he was elected Minority Whip. He is a member of the Newport Hospital Ethics Committee and the External Advisory Council for the College of Arts and Sciences at URI, and has taught there, at Roger Williams University and at CCRI. Judge Erickson holds a bachelor’s degree from URI and a law degree from Boston University. He served as Senior Legal Adviser for the Chafee for Governor campaign.
Transition Advisory Committee:
• Helena Buonanno Foulkes is Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer at CVS Caremark, the largest pharmacy health care provider in the nation. During more than eighteen years with CVS and now CVS Caremark, Foulkes has amassed an extensive background in retail marketing and strategy holding positions in Marketing and Operations Services, Strategic Planning, Visual Merchandising and Category Management. She led the development and rollout of “ExtraCare,” the largest retail loyalty program in the country with more than 64 million active cardholders and most recently she led the strategy for the development of new products to leverage the synergies of the combined enterprise. Prior to joining CVS, she held positions at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Tiffany & Co. Foulkes graduated from the Lincoln School, Harvard College and received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
• Dr. Pablo Rodriguez is Associate Chair for Community Relationships in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women and Infants' Hospital, and CEO of Women's Care, a multispecialty medical group. He is the former Medical Director of Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island, and is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University. He is Past Chairman of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals in Washington, D.C. and has also been Chair of the Rhode Island Foundation, the International Institute of RI, the Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee and RI Project AIDS. He has received numerous awards for his community involvement including Community Service Award from the American Medical Association and Planned Parenthood of RI. In 1996 he was named a Community Hero Torchbearer for the Olympic Torch Relay. He received the Bertram Jaffee Award for advocacy in Public Health, given by the RI Public Health Association. The John Hope Settlement House also gave him their highest honor, the Paris Vaughn Sterett Award for community service and the Ministers Alliance bestowed him with the Martin Luther King Service Award. Host of radio and television programs, he is currently featured in "Hablemos" and "Nuestra Salud" on WELH 88.1 FM, Latino Public Radio, where he also serves as Chairman and CEO.
• Meg Curran is the only woman to serve as United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island. Meg was appointed the state's top federal prosecutor by President Clinton and retained by President Bush, allowing her to continue to lead the Plunder Dome investigation and prosecution of corruption in Providence City Hall. As U.S Attorney, Meg worked closely with state & municipal law enforcement as well as all of the federal law enforcement agencies. After leaving the United States Attorneys' office, Meg spent four years as a federal Monitor, charged with overseeing establishment and maintenance of compliance & ethics programs, as well as adherence to applicable agreements with the Department of Justice; two years at the Roger Williams Medical Center, pursuant to its deferred prosecution agreement, and two years at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, pursuant to its nonprosecution agreement. Meg received her law degree, with high honors, from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she was editor-in-chief of the law review. She has an M.S. from Purdue University and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. She graduated from Pilgrim High School.
• Robert A. Walsh, Jr. graduated with degrees in Political Science and Organizational Behavior and Management from Brown University and received his Master of Science in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Rhode Island. After a decade in banking and finance, he joined the National Education Association Rhode Island staff in 1992, and was named Executive Director of NEARI in 2001. In addition to his work at NEARI, Bob currently serves as Secretary/Treasurer of the labor coalition Working Rhode Island, and previously served on the boards of numerous other organizations, including Ocean State Action, Waterfire Providence and Leadership Rhode Island. His past government service includes serving as Co-Chairman of Mayor Cicilline’s 2002 transition team, Chairman of the Providence Water Supply Board, and as a member of the House Commission to Study the Rhode Island State Pension System and Governor Carcieri’s Tax Policy Strategy Workgroup.
contact: Graham Vyse
office phone: 401.222.4035
cell phone: 401.525.8834
email: gvyse@governorelectchafee.org