by Cathy Slade

Passionate, energetic, friendly, sociable, and busy, busy, busy are words that describe the incoming President of the Roslindale Board of Trade. Lisa Modecker, an attorney with her own practice here in Roslindale, is about as busy as any businesswoman, community activist, wife, and mother can be. She thrives on hustle and bustle, so taking the presidency after two years as secretary is no big deal to her. Being a multi-tasker, she will find the time. Wearing different hats, learning from new experiences, and meeting new people are, to her, the spice of life. She has always been this way, loving this lifestyle because it gives her opportunities to grow in many ways.

Lisa grew up in Colorado. Like so many other people who have settled in the Boston area, she came here as a college student. Always wanting to be a lawyer in order to help people, she researched pre-law courses on the East Coast and chose UMass Boston because she considered its program to be the best in the nation. Studying under the Harvard University professors who teach at UMass was an opportunity she could not pass up. From there, she graduated from Suffolk University Law School and opened her own practice on Cummins Highway.

Looking at her practice, one can see that Lisa does indeed thrive on variety. She has what is considered a general practice. She works with families on intervention, custody, and domestic violence issues, advocates for parents of special-needs students, and handles real estate matters. Though the legal profession is not particularly known for its compassion, it is easy to see that Lisa truly loves helping people.

Lisa’s desire to help people in need led her to work at F.I.N.E.X. House, a residential program for battered women. When two people on the Board of Directors for Healthy Roslindale asked her to serve with them, Lisa agreed because she was enthusiastic about working on important issues in her neighborhood. Her experience at F.I.N.E.X. House helped lead Healthy Roslindale to tackle domestic violence, especially after three such tragedies struck our community in the course of five months.

Having three children and being this busy has not prevented Lisa from being a leader in parent/teacher organizations. In her first foray into school activities, she organized merchants to support the Boston Schoolyard Initiative for the Philbrick School. She reached out to find ten merchants to sponsor the creation of a schoolyard for community use, and she continued working on the project until its recent completion.

One wonders how Lisa manages with three children and being this busy. Well, she credits her husband, Bryan Glasscock, with being more than totally supportive. Like most dads of today, Bryan spends as much time as possible with the children, but unlike most, he enjoys cooking dinner nightly. This enables Lisa to participate in the activities about which she is passionate.

As President of the Roslindale Board of Trade, Lisa is sure to continue the successful activities of the group while bringing a new vibrancy to its mission and involving new people in its endeavors. To strengthen the business district, Lisa plans to nurture current relationships with the community while also forging new partnerships. To her the sign of a healthy neighborhood is its healthy businesses.

She encourages residents to shop locally, so the business community can flourish and increase its support of the many important services that social service agencies and community groups offer. Lisa believes it’s a two-way street when it comes to improving the neighborhood. Both the residential and business communities must support each other. She strongly feels that although residents have many choices of places to shop, they should make an effort to shop in Roslindale. After all, there are many goods and services offered right here.

High on her agenda is providing technical assistance to merchants who want to improve their businesses. Individual assistance and workshops will be offered on a number of topics including: marketing; developing a sound business plan; understanding new technology and its use in business; and evaluating the options of leasing versus buying office equipment.

Networking is also very important in the business world, and the Board of Trade provides ample opportunities for Roslindale’s merchants to meet formally and socially so that they can learn from each other by sharing new ideas, mutual concerns, and viable solutions.

One thing Lisa is determined to do is to add spice and spirit to the holiday season by sprucing up Roslindale Village with holiday decorations. She has enlisted Judie Leon of Travel by Judie to assist her in determining appropriate types of decorations because this is a complicated and expensive undertaking. However, whatever items are chosen will surely add to the festive ambiance as we residents shop locally for our holiday gifts.

Lisa is excited about serving as president and will bring as much passion and energy to the position as she does to every other organization in which she is involved. She is looking forward to sharing some of the responsibilities with the new vice president, David Gladstone, Assistant Vice President of Business Banking at Citizens Bank. We join the local community in wishing this team good luck and we look forward to a full complement of activities from such dynamic leadership.

Editor’s Note: Many people do not realize this, but membership in the Board of Trade is open to any business, professional person, or other service or charitable organization doing business in Roslindale. Its next meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 4 at 5:45 p.m. at the Sons of Italy Hall on Birch Street. You can check out its new and improved website: www.roslindaleboardoftrade.com.