Home Economy Economic Activity Allan named interim executive director of WaterFire Providence

Allan named interim executive director of WaterFire Providence

By

PBN Staff

-

03/31/2025

Mark_Allan_Headshot 600px SQUARE — MARK ALLAN has been named interim executive director of WaterFire Providence. /COURTESY WATERFIRE PROVIDENCE

PROVIDENCE – The WaterFire Providence board of directors has appointed Mark Allan interim executive director, the nonprofit announced Monday. Allan will temporarily succeed Peter Mello, who stepped down as managing director of WaterFire Providence on July 31 to become the director of the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, Mass. Allan, who has been interim executive

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PROVIDENCE – The WaterFire Providence board of directors has appointed Mark Allan interim executive director, the nonprofit announced Monday. Allan will temporarily succeed Peter Mello, who stepped down as managing director of WaterFire Providence on July 31 to become the director of the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, Mass. Allan, who has been interim executive director since December, will lead day-to-day operations of the organization. He'll also work with the board and Barnaby Evans, the creator and executive artistic director of WaterFire Providence, to prepare for the 2025 lighting season and beyond. WaterFire spokesperson Kellie J. Martin told Providence Business News Allan's formal appointment is for a year and will give the nonprofit time to conduct a search for a permanent executive director. “[Allan] is a wonderful new partner who brings great skills and insight to WaterFire as we continue our mission of creating transformational and inspiring art installations that bring tremendous economic value to Providence and Rhode Island,” Evans said. Allan, WaterFire Providence said, has a strong record of executive leadership and achievement in management, consulting and education regarding mission-driven nonprofit organizations. Most recently, he was vice president for psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance, a safety net health care system, for four years. He also built and ran a Medicaid health plan for Boston Medical Center and redesigned, led and grew a specialty MBA program at Boston University. He designed and developed academic institutes at Boston University and the Indian School of Business in Chandigarh, India. A Warwick resident, Allan earned an MBA in Nonprofit Management from Boston University, an MSW from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College of Columbia University. Funding for Allan’s position comes in part from a discretionary grant from the Rhode Island Foundation. “We’re incredibly grateful to the Rhode Island Foundation for its long-term support of WaterFire and for its recognition that the organization needed leadership capacity,” WaterFire Providence Board Chair Kate Bramson said. “WaterFire is committed to overcoming its long-term financial challenges, and our board of directors is laser-focused on reimagining how to sustain WaterFire’s future.”