Joe Walsh became the GNAC’s first full-time commissioner in 2005. Prior to that he was assistant men’s basketball coach at Emmanuel College, head women’s basketball coach and athletic director at Emerson College, an assistant women’s basketball coach at Harvard University and he started his coaching career at Saint Columbkilles High School in Brighton, Massachusetts.

Walsh has spent over thirty years involved in athletics at the community level within the City of Boston as a coach and an administrator. He is immediate past president of the Brighton Board of Trade, Allston Brighton Kiwanis, the co-chair of the Brian J. Honan Charitable Foundation, has served on the ECAC Award of Valor Committee, and the ECAC Women’s Basketball Selection Committee and the board of directors at the West End House Boy’s & Girl’s Club.

Walsh is a member of the DIII Commissioner’s Association and The National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators (NADIIAA). Joe also serves as a teacher in the NAMI Family to Family education program. For more information visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness home page at http://www.nami.org/

Vaughn Calhoun is in his first year as Assistant Commissioner of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. Calhoun joins the GNAC staff after having served as a United States Congressional Intern, a lead field organizer for a political campaign, and most recently in the public sector focusing in human resources.

With the GNAC, Calhoun will oversee a broad range of functions such as championships and awards, conference SAAC coordinator, men's golf tournament, sportsmanship initiative, community based coaching clinics, GNAC Hall of Fame and the professional development seminar..

A 2003 graduate of Rutgers University, Calhoun participated on the Scarlet Knights football team as a full scholarship student-athlete earning three varsity letters and a degree in Administration of Justice. Following his undergraduate work, Calhoun continued his education at California State University - Long Beach, earning his Masters of Public Policy and Administration in 2006. Currently, Calhoun is pursuing his Doctorate of Education with a concentration in Higher Education Administration at Northeastern University.

Calhoun is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. He is active within the Fraternity's "Project Alpha" community service initiative as well as "A Voteless People is a Hopeless People" campaign that promotes voter registration.

Vaughn and his wife Tammie reside in Dorchester, Mass.

Oke enters his first year as Director of Conference Communications for the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

Before coming to the GNAC, Oke served as the athletics administration intern/sports information assistant at Simmons College for two years. He assisted the athletic department in all facets of sports information related to the college's nine varsity sports including writing, designing and editing publications, updating the athletic department website, compiling team statistics, and assisting with game day operations.

Oke graduated from the United States Sports Academy with a bachelor of science in sports studies in 2009. He is pursuing a master's degree in Sports Leadership from Northeastern University.

With the 2009-2010 season, Tom begins his seventh year as the GNAC sports information director, the longest serving individual in this position. During his tenure, many changes have taken place, with the most significant being the move to Statcrew for statistics reporting in nine GNAC sponsored sports.

Prior to accepting the GNAC position in 2003, he spent eight years as a volunteer assistant at former GNAC member Daniel Webster, helping them standardize and organize their sport history information.
Tom brought that approach and philosophy with him to the GNAC and has spent hundreds of hours researching and compiling statistics and records into a comprehensive database, the results of which can be found on the GNAC web site.

In his “day job”, he works as a IT project manager for the US Air Force, overseeing wireless network installations at Air Force bases around the world.

Tom has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a M.B.A. from Clark University.

Ed Carpenter brings 35 years of sports information experience to the GNAC. Carpenter earned his bachelors degree in journalism in 1965 from Penn State University. After graduation he spent four years in the Air Force and in 1969 he left the Air Force as a Captain. He then spent two years as a sports writer for the New Haven Register before going to the University of Delaware where he was the sports information director for six years.

In 1976 Carpenter left the University of Delaware to take a position as a speechwriter for the Armstrong Cork Company in Lancaster, PA.  After one year he moved to Boston and became the sports information director for Boston University.

He spent 29 years at Boston University, retiring in 2006 as the assistant athletic director for communications. During his tenure at Boston University, Carpenter served as the CoSIDA President from 1992-1993 and was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2005, Ed was presented the Arch Ward Memorial Award by CoSIDA for “inspiring excellence in, and bringing dignity to, our profession through his relations to press, radio and television and his colleagues.”

Carpenter resides with his wife Suzy in Stoughton, MA and has five children and five grandchildren.

Everett enters her first year as Marketing Specialist for the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. She will assist the GNAC in athletic marketing initiatives, event planning, and various special projects.

Everett graduated from Emerson College in 2008 where she majored in Marketing and Public Relations and minored in Broadcast Journalism. Everett was a two-sport athlete, playing both basketball and soccer. Everett was a two-year captain for the basketball program and also served on Emerson’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

After college Everett ventured into the non-profit sector and became a coordinator and event specialist with the American Diabetes Association, assisting the ADA on all of their events and program offerings.

Lumas enters her first year as the Championships and Marketing Specialist for the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. Lumas will assist with sponsorship development, championships, and updating the GNAC manual & policies.

A graduate from Albertus Magnus College, Lumas earned a B.S. in Management with a concentration in Marketing in 2007. She played both basketball and tennis and was named the 2007 Albertus Magnus College Female Student-Athlete of the Year. While completing a Masters degree in Management of Sports Industries in 2008 from the University of New Haven, Lumas served as a Graduate Assistant in the UNH Athletic Department, working in the area of marketing & game management.

Currently, Lumas works as an intern with the Bridgeport Bluefish, a minor league baseball team in the independent Atlantic league.

Lumas currently resides in Milford, Connecticut.

Maitland enters her first year as Sports Information Director Specialist for the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.  Maitland is a graduate of Boston University's College of Communication with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and has recently received her Masters of Education in Sports Management from Endicott College.

Maitland graduated at the top of her class with a 3.93 GPA and her master's thesis has been awarded the distinction of being used as a reference for undergraduate and graduate students at both the writing center and library on Endicott College's campus. 

Before joining the GNAC, Maitland interned for various sports organizations and television stations, including the Lowell Devils (AHL) ice hockey team, and both WCVB-TV and WFTX-TV.

Quinn enters his first year as Special Events Specialist for the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. Quinn will assistant in the coordination and execution of special events and award ceremonies including Passionate Purple, the GNAC's 15th Anniversary and Inaugural Hall of Fame. 

Quinn is the Founding Donor of the Danielle Marie Thompson Memorial Fund, which provides financial assistance to UNH students who participate in a study abroad program through the Center for International Education.

Quinn graduated with honors from the University of New Hampshire in 2007 with a B.A in Communications.

Currently, Quinn works full-time as the Payroll Manager for Entercom-Boston Communications located in Brighton, Mass.

West graduated from Simmons College in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and a minor in Communications. A native of East Bridgewater, Mass., West is pursuing a masters in Sports Management from Northeastern University. West will assist the Great Northeast Athletic Conference in the area of Communications and Special Events.

Prior to arriving at the GNAC, West served as a webcast videographer for BullPen Media Inc. and worked as a softball pitching/hitting instructor at Batters Box Inc. West was an assistant coach at East Bridgewater High School, and recently volunteered as event staff for the Massachusetts Special Olympics.

A former Simmons College student-athlete, West received All-GNAC honors in softball and All-North Atlantic Conference accolades for field hockey. West, a transfer from Suffolk University, was named Louisville Slugger second-team All Region, ECAC All-New England, and NESCA first team. Currently, West plays on the Under-23 Massachusetts Drifters softball team.