Maureen Tarnopol Sullivan is the new President of the Board of Directors of the LCJC.  Maureen attended public schools in Detroit and upon graduation, entered Michigan State University.  Teaching the visually handicapped was her major and she completed her student teaching at the Michigan School for the Blind, during the same period when Stevie Wonder studied there.

Five years of teaching Special Ed, brought her to Omaha, Nebraska where she met Michael Sullivan, her soon-to-be husband.  Together they worked and saved every penny to allow them to quit their jobs and travel and study in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. When their savings needed replenishing they returned to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,  where Michael worked for the government and Maureen spent five years providing therapy to children and families at the Adams County Mental Health Clinic.

In an effort to improve her skills, Maureen continued her education at University of California Berkeley, earning a Master’s degree in Organization and Planning in the school of Social Welfare.  With degree in hand, she entered the field of Jewish Communal work, first at the San Francisco JCC, then the Peninsula JCC and finally as the Executive Director at Kol Emeth, a Conservative Synagogue in Palo Alto. During their time in the Peninsula, Maureen and Michael became parents to Adam and Anna, who still live in the Silicon Valley.  

A few years after their first visit to Ajijic, they took the plunge and bought a home in Lower La Floresta.  Travelling back and forth to the U.S. worked well for a while but this year the decision was made to settle here for at least nine months of the year.  

Maureen is also a dedicated volunteer at Northern Lights, and receives great satisfaction from working with glass in her free time.