Cari grew up in upstate NY, spending most of her time outside enjoying the Adirondack region and pursuing her life as a “creative” in music and the arts. At a young age, she realized that if left idle her adventurous spirit would get her into trouble so she jumped into college early, attending Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington MA. Her continued journey east was driven by her education, earning her BA in Russian and Fine Arts from the State University of NY at Albany, and her Masters from Lesley University in Cambridge.

In the beginning of her career, Cari trained in paper/art conservation and served as an archivist for the City/County of Albany, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute & the Harvard Theatre Collection. Her path segued into fundraising where she honed in on revitalizing philanthropy programs for non-profits that spanned healthcare, academic, and cultural missions. She held executive positions at several non-profits, including Girl Scouts of Eastern MA, the North Shore Medical Center, and the Newburyport Maritime Society, and worked for a consulting firm delivering fundraising, strategic planning, and executive search services for about 7 years.

On the salty side of life, Cari crewed for a few years on the Alexandra Rose a 37’ ketch out of Salem MA. In 2006 she met Captain Tim, who skippered many vessels one being the Schooner Adventure out of Gloucester. Cari crewed weekends on several boats with Tim at the helm including many years on New Horizons, a 60’ motorsailer out of Boston and Kennebunkport, and Adirondack III an 80’ schooner out of Boston. While on New Horizons, she crewed OpSail 2012, a tall ships event with parades of sail from New York to Norfolk. Cherished times were spent cruising the BVI, with a soft spot for Jost Van Dyke & Virgin Gorda.

Cari has been with Merri-Mar for a little over a year fine-tuning branding and communications, writing grants, and learning the brokerage side of the business. A not-so-lesser-known fact about Cari is that she recently got back into painting and is showing and selling her artwork. She lives on Lake Attitash in Amesbury with her butterscotch kitties Duff & Aesa.