TEAM

Deborah DuBois

President

After graduating from Rutgers University in New Jersey, Deb began her career as a research scientist at Ortho Diagnostics. She retired from the DuPont Company in Wilmington, DE after working 20 years primarily in marketing and business management positions.

Deb visited Nantucket for the first time on her honeymoon in 1975 and in 2013, she and her husband Rob moved here full-time. Since moving to the island, Deb has volunteered as a teacher’s aide at the elementary and middle schools. She was also a founder of the Immigration Resource Center and now of The Warming Place. Deb has two children and two grandchildren who love visiting Nantucket.

Email: debd@thewarmingplace.org

Vincent Debaggis

Vice President

Vin was born and raised in Franklin, MA. After attending Bentley College, he began a career at State Street, advancing through roles of increasing responsibility in Client Management to become Senior Vice President and Division Head of the Public Funds Services Division. In 2014, Vin left banking and began a career in Insurance as a Field Agent for the Knights of Columbus.

In 2016 he and his wife Judy relocated to Nantucket. In 2018 Vin obtained his Property and Casualty licenses and began a career with RogerGray Insurance in their Nantucket office. Vin is a Senior Advisor who helps clients with a variety of insurance needs. Since moving to the island full time Vin has been actively involved in the Community.

In addition to his current role as President of The Warming Place board, he is also a Director on the Board of The Homestead and President of the Trapp Family Lodge Housing Cooperative in Stowe VT. In 2024, the Nantucket Council on Elder Affairs named Vin its 2024 Senior Man of the Year for his devotion to the community.

Vin and Judy have 7 children and 10 grandchildren. They enjoy traveling together, spending time with their growing family, and enjoying a busy life on Nantucket.

Email: vin@thewarmingplace.org

Kathleen Herbert

Secretary

Kathleen received a BA in English from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, in 1989, and earned her Juris Doctorate in 1993 from the Howard University School of Law in Washington, DC. She practiced bankruptcy and real estate law in Northern Virginia and was admitted to practice in various courts in DC and Maryland.

In 2005, Kathleen and her husband moved overseas for an expat assignment, where Kathleen participated in several volunteer opportunities. She undertook training to become a yoga instructor, earning her 350 hr Teaching Certificate from Yoga Australia in 2012, and then received her Yoga Master 500 hr Certificate in Pondicherry, India.

After living and teaching yoga in multiple countries, Kathleen returned to the US in 2018, settling in Houston, Texas, and Nantucket. She volunteered with Dress For Success and Project C.U.R.E. in Houston, and The Nantucket Food Pantry while on island. Kathleen is an avid baker and tennis player, and enjoys spending time with her four step-children and 6 grandchildren. Kathleen, husband Jamie, and dog Frankie moved full-time to Nantucket in early 2024.

Email: kathleen@thewarmingplace.org

Brienne Snyder

Treasurer

Brienne Snyder is a Nantucket local that spent her formative years on Island. After graduating in 1997 from Nantucket High School she left the Island to pursue her degree. First attending Averett College in Danville, VA. She received her bachelor’s in business management from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville TN while living at Fort Campbell, KY as a military wife.

Brienne returned to Cape Cod/Nantucket in 2005 where she resides with her husband, daughter and many rescue animals. She is the Manager of Nantucket Bank a Division of Rockland Trust and can be found at any of the locations around Island.

Email: brienne.snyder@nantucketbank.com

Sue Mynttinen

Sue received her BA in English Literature and American Studies in 1996 and her MBA concentrating in mission-driven management in 2012, both from Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. In June 2025, she earned her MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from William James College in Newton, MA.

In 2013, Sue washed ashore and has worked in human services since arriving on island, including tenures at A Safe Place, the Nantucket Community School, and the Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP)/NAMI on Nantucket. Through her work with ASAP/NAMI she became interested in homelessness and is one of the founders of The Warming Place.

She is currently the Managing Director of the PASCON Foundation and an outpatient counselor for Northeast Family Services, providing telehealth therapy to adults and children. She is an appointed member of the Nantucket Council for Human Services. She lives year-round on Nantucket with her husband, John, and their dog, Lucie.

Email: sue@thewarmingplace.org

Tricia Vanacore

Tricia was born and raised on Cape Cod and has been a regular visitor to Nantucket since childhood. After attending Dartmouth College, she pursued a career in tech, working for Lotus Development Corp. and Avid Technology in Boston, New York, and Dallas before settling into Darien, CT with her husband, Mark, and their four children.

Tricia has served on a multitude of boards: The Children’s School in Stamford, CT; Greens Farms Academy in Westport, CT; and The Island School in Eleuthera, The Bahamas; her service with all three of those included significant time as board chair. She also continues to serve on the board of the Adam J. Lewis Academy in Bridgeport, CT, a privately funded school that provides steeply discounted education to needy families.

Having recently become a year-round resident of Nantucket, Tricia has been engaged in regular volunteering at the Food Pantry, the Warming Place, and NISHA’s Pet Partner Therapy program, as well as serving on the board of Nourish Nantucket. She is looking forward to further helping members of the local community.

Email: tvanacore@me.com

Zahra Kasza

Director of Development

Zahra came to Nantucket in 1998, spending summers on the island until graduating from Michigan State University in 2001. She then made Nantucket her permanent home. After owning and operating Schooners Restaurant until 2008, Zahra continued her education with a Master’s Degree in Nutrition Science, graduating in 2014 from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

After spending five years on a surgery team as a bariatric dietitian, she returned to Nantucket and joined the Nantucket Boys & Girls Club as the Development Director. She leaned on her long career in personal relationships, team leadership, and business development to propel the Club through the pandemic and more than doubled all of its fundraising efforts before parting ways in the summer of 2023 to join the team at The Warming Place.

An active member of the community, she is on the Board of Trustees for the Nantucket Little League, serves on committees for the Nantucket New School, is on the Patient Family Advisory Council of Nantucket Cottage Hospital and volunteers for the Nantucket Boys & Girls Club. Zahra lives on Nantucket and New York City with her husband Tom and their son, Cameron.

Email: zahra@thewarmingplace.org