Board of Directors

Dennis MacDonald – Chairman/Treasurer 

Dennis is currently serving his second 6-year term on the Board of Finance for the town of Bridgewater, Connecticut and has held the position of Chairman.  He is also the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Bridgewater Congregational Church. Prior to retirement, Dennis was employed for over 20 years as a Senior Vice President at Reed Exhibitions. Reed Exhibitions produces over 500 tradeshows and conventions world-wide.  Dennis specialized in developing partnerships with non-profit industry associations for events produced by Reed. Prior to joining Reed, Dennis was the U.S. Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product Management for an international corporation in the life safety industry, where he was employed for over 15 years. During this time Dennis was a member and elected Executive Vice President of the Security Industry Association. Dennis is a graduate of Newtown High School and attended Sacred Heart University earning a degree in Sociology.  For many years he was an “on the air” personally at WSHU- 91.1 FM. Dennis lives in Bridgewater with his wife Kristin who recently retired from Pilobolus, the world renown dance company.  He also volunteers at Lime Rock Park raceway and can be found at local pubs & establishments playing guitar and bass in several Rock & Roll bands.


Missy Alexander – Board Secretary

Missy Alexander is the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Western Connecticut State University, where she oversees all academic programs from Early College to Graduate.  Prior to being appointed to the position of Provost, she served as Dean of the Macricostas School of Arts and Sciences at WCSU, championing interdisciplinary programs and general education reform. Dr. Alexander taught communication at Marist College for nine years, and then took on leadership roles there as both Assistant Dean of the School of Communication and the Arts, and Director of the branch campus in Italy. She earned her doctorate in Media Ecology from New York University, and her MA and BA from Hunter College.  When not working in higher education, she and her husband perform locally as the duo MissyandBill, featuring jazz, country, blues, and original music.


Paul Barkan – Board Member

Paul Barkan is Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Officer of Newtown Savings Bank and joined the Bank in 2016. He is responsible for leading the Risk Management, Compliance and Anti-Fraud units and has held various financial-related positions in Compliance and Risk Management during the course of his career.  Mr. Barkan earned a B.A. from Binghamton University in 1990 and a J.D. from American University in 1993.  He is currently a member of the ACAMS and has extensive experience in project management, data privacy and security, regulatory compliance, risk & crisis management, AML-KYC due diligence, risk assessments, monitoring and testing, and employee training.