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/

West graduated from Northeastern University in 2011 with a Masters degree in Sports Leadership. A native of East Bridgewater, Mass., West graduated with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Simmons College. She will assist the Great Northeast Athletic Conference as the Assistant Commissioner and Director of Communications.

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

After her collegiate career, West continued with her love of the game by acting as the assistant softball coach at UMass-Boston. Additionally, she helped coach East Bridgewater High School softball team for two years. In 2010, West played women's professional football on the defensive line of the IFWL World Champion team, the Boston Militia. 

Prior to arriving at the GNAC, West worked as a webcast videographer for BullPen Media Inc., where she filmed and edited athletic films for collegiate sporting events. West also interned for the Simmons College athletic deparment acting as their Assistant Sports Information Director. 

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.

Catherine Carmignani is entering her second year as the Great Northeast Athletic Conference’s Special Events and Officiating Specialist.  Carmignani graduated from Simmons College in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management and is currently pursuing her Masters of Education in Athletic Administration at Springfield College, to be completed in May 2012.

During her first year as a GNAC specialist, Carmignani created the conferences first fully funded officiating program, assisting GNAC student-athletes through the process of becoming a sports official.  The program was a success with 10 student-athletes becoming National Federation of High Schools certified girls basketball officials.  Along with her duties as officiating specialist, Carmignani will also help with the Honan 5k and other special events organizing student-athlete volunteers.

 A native of Dudley, MA, Carmignani has served as an intern for the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse, volunteers yearly for the Boston Marathon, and is dedicated to empowering young women to reach beyond their potential in both athletics and life.  While working with the GNAC, Carmignani will continue to coach the Women’s Rugby team at American International College and assistant coach the Bay Path Women's Basketball team.

Garrett Quinn is joining the GNAC staff for the second time to gain experience as the Assistant to Sports Information. Additionally, Quinn is entering his third season as the Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at Newbury College.  Prior to his work with Newbury College, Quinn was the Intramural Sports Supervisor at the University of New Hampshire where he assisted with scheduling and supervision of intramural staff, officiated intramural sports, and coordinated new staff training.  Quinn earned his BA in Communications at the University of New Hampshire in 2007 and is currently earning his Masters in Sports Leadership at Northeastern University.

Michael Walsh joins the Great Northeast Atlantic Conference as the Specialist for Sports Information. Walsh graduated from UMASS-Amherst in May 2009 with a degree in Communications. While at UMASS, Walsh was named Sports Operations Director for the campus radio station, 91.1FM WMUA. He traveled all accross the country, broadcasting over 100 games during his 4 year tenure. He specialized in women's basketball, but also broadcasted men's basketball, football, baseball, softball, and lacrosse. The Associated Press acknowledged his work by awarding him Best College Play by Play in the New England region for 3 years straight. Walsh also works part time at Fenway Park. He will be entering his 10th season as a Food Vendor for the Boston Red Sox in April, 2012.

Kristin LeBel is a recent graduate from Emmanuel College and will be the GNAC Specialist for Championships and NCAA Rules.  She received a degree in Management with a 3.9 GPA, graduating top in the Management and Economics Department.  LeBel played basketball at Emmanuel College, was the recipient of the 2011 Senior Athletic Achievement award, and was the Vice President for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.  Currently, Kristin is interning with the Harvard University Athletic Department.

Alex Comeau joins the Great Northeast Atlantic Conference as the Specialist for Sports Information.  Alex is a recent graduate from Husson University earning degree in Hospitality Management and a degree in Sports Management.  While at Husson, he completed two internships in the athletic department under the Sports information Director.  He graduated as a member of the Eta Sigma Delta International Hospitality and Tourism Management Honor Society.  Comeau also received the Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.  He also served as the Vice President for the Sport Management Professional Development Association at Husson.

Laura Schwenk, a graduate of Johnson and Wales University, will assist the GNAC as the Special Events and Championships Specialist.  She earned her degree in Sports, Entertainment and Event Management with a minor in Psychology.  Schwenk played tennis for Johnson and Wales, and was a two-year Captain, GNAC Rookie of the Week, GNAC Player of the Week and was an All-Conference Selection.  She earned the NCAA Student-Athlete Award in 2010 and 2011 and the Johnson and Wales Spirit Award in 2011.  Schwenk has completed internships with Meeting Street, the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Augusta Health Lifetime Fitness Center.

Erin Doherty joins the GNAC as a Special Events and Student Athlete Advisory Committee Specialist. She is a recent graduate from Western New England University where she played lacrosse for the three-time ECAC champion Golden Bears. While attending Western New England, Erin used her studies for Sport Management to help with her numerous leadership roles in Student Athlete Advisory Committee for both Western New England and The Commonwealth Coast Conference serving as both committee's Vice President her senior year. In addition to her committees and dedication to her studies as reflected by her GPA of 3.86, Erin was also a CHAMPS Life Skill mentor where she mentored student-athletes with their academics, and was a First Year Seminar Assistant to Sport Management freshmen. In the summer of 2009, Erin volunteered with the Boston Breakers Women’s Professional Team and was a Director for the South Shore Elite Lacrosse club team. Last summer, she interned with Rentschler Field which is the home of UCONN Football. While there she was able to participate in day-to-day and event day operations for such events as USA Soccer Matches, football, and concerts.