The Gray House announced the appointment of Isabella Brady-Prankus, a resident of Springfield, as the new executive director of the nonprofit human service agency.
Brady-Prankus has been education director at The Gray House for the past three years. In her previous role, she led the Adult Education Program, which helps migrants and refugees living in Springfield improve their English-language skills and gain life skills, and the Kids’ Club After School and Summer Program, which provides enriching out-of-school time programming, literacy development, and academic support for Springfield children ages 7–12 from low-income families.
Her past experience includes being executive assistant at the East of the River Five Town Chamber of Commerce in East Longmeadow. Brady-Prankus is a graduate of Western New England University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and a master’s degree in business administration.
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Visual Sound Productions, Inc. announces the addition of Kara Bombard as the company’s new sales and marketing manager.
Bombard joins VSP following an 11-year tenure at Performance Foodservice — Springfield. From 2022 to 2024, she also served as chair of communications on the inaugural steering committee for the Women of PFG, the first associate resource group launched across the national enterprise.
Bombard currently serves as President of the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield and has been on the organization’s Board of Directors since 2021. In 2024, when she was named to the BusinessWest 40 Under 40 class.
Bombard holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from Saint Anselm College and a master of business administration from Bay Path University. She lives in Springfield.
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Gabrielle Abelard, a clinical associate professor of nursing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been selected as a 2025 Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
The FAANP program recognizes nurse practitioner leaders who have made outstanding contributions to education, policy, clinical practice and research. Abelard serves as the graduate program director and psychiatric mental health specialty director for the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing.
Abelard and the other honorees will be inducted into the FAANP program in June at the 2025 AANP National Conference in San Diego. In addition to her academic activities, Abelard founded and directs a multisite community mental health clinic that provides comprehensive behavioral health services in the home and in outpatient settings throughout Massachusetts.
Abelard was named Nurse Leader of the Year in Nurse.org’s annual Best of Nursing Awards and given an Excellence in Clinical Practice award by the New England Regional Black Nurses Association.
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Rick Sullivan, president and CEO of the Western Mass Economic Development Council, announced his retirement. His last day in the role will be Dec. 31.
A partner in a law firm early on in his career, Sullivan was mayor of Westfield from 1994 to 2007 and served as president of the Massachusetts Mayors Association in 1998.
Before coming on board as president and CEO of the EDC, he was chief of staff in the Massachusetts Governor’s Office in 2014 and 2015 and held leadership roles with the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Sullivan lives in Westfield.
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Behavioral Health Network Inc. has announced the appointment of Jennifer Doutre as senior vice president of BHN’s Community Behavioral Health Centers.
In addition to her role at BHN, Doutre serves as an advisor at the Columbia School of Social Work, where she guides master’s in social work students in their professional development. She also serves as the secretary on the board of the Connecticut Harm Reduction Alliance, providing leadership coaching and strategic direction. Additionally, Doutre is a commissioner on the Youth and Family Commission in Glastonbury, Conn.
Doutre holds a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Connecticut.
