Our Team
PLAN’s service coordinators, trust-administration staff, and executive leadership have extensive experience working with, and on behalf of, disabled individuals and elders with limitations. Our team brings significant passion, knowledge, and commitment to ensuring that beneficiaries who may be physically disabled and/or developmentally disabled are able to protect their assets appropriately and legally. We also ensure our clients have access to the income, public services, and social support services they need throughout the life of the trust. In essence, we serve as financial planners and estate planners for people who have special needs or those who want to make sure their loved ones with special needs or a disability will always have access to what they need to thrive.
Indeed, PLAN is unique in having a veteran team of social-work trained Service Coordinators who support and advise our beneficiaries on a continuing basis.
Executive Team
Joan McGrath, Chief Executive Officer, has been with PLAN since 2009. Prior to assuming the role of CEO, in February 2020, Joan was Director of Finance and Administration for PLAN and has more than 25 years of experience in professional accounting and finance. She has been an auditor with a “big four” public accounting firm, where she focused on high growth, emerging business clients. She also led her own private consulting practice, where she worked with nonprofits, service organizations, and venture capital startups. Joan earned her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. Joan is a member of the Boston Estate Planning Council, the Estate Planning Council of Rhode Island, Academy of Special Needs Planners, Alliance of Pooled Trusts, National PLAN and is on the Alliance of Pooled Trusts Board and Best Buddies Advisory Board.
Clare F. Keating, CPA, Controller, Clare has more than thirty years of accounting, tax, and audit experience in both private and public accounting. She is a member of the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Clare worked for Keating Brokerage since it began in 2010. A licensed real estate agent and certified public accountant, Clare worked for the brokerage firm as the controller. A graduate of Northeastern University, Clare received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration, with a major in Accounting. Clare is the Treasurer of her town’s Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) and a Town Meeting Member.
Stephen Laliberte, Director of Operations, joins PLAN with over 15 years of experience in operations, human resources, and equity-centered program management. Previously serving as Director of Operations at ESAC Boston, Stephen managed organizational strategy, budgeting, compliance, and people operations across multiple programs addressing housing, educational and economic equity.
His career spans roles in higher education, retail leadership, and nonprofit management, where he has consistently built systems that center people while enhancing efficiency and engagement. Previously, he coordinated intercultural and LGBTQ+ advocacy initiatives at Roger Williams University, leading campus-wide diversity strategies and mentoring student teams.
Stephen holds a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Roger Williams University, A fluent collaborator, he brings a human-first approach to complex systems, ensuring equitable outcomes and sustainable growth.
Abigail V. Poole, Esq., PLAN of MA and RI In-House Counsel, joined PLAN in 2025. Attorney Poole brings with her a decade of experience in compassionately assisting individuals and families in the areas of estate planning, elder law, probate and trust administration while in private practice.
Attorney Poole is a past president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Massachusetts Chapter (MassNAELA), and remains an active member of MassNAELA’s Special Needs and Disability Steering Committee and Membership Committee. Attorney Poole received the MassNAELA Member of the Year Award in 2021 and the President’s Award in 2024. Attorney Poole was also recognized as a Super Lawyers® Rising Star from 2021 through 2024.
Attorney Poole earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology cum laude from Mount Holyoke College and her Juris Doctor from New England Law|Boston.
Administration
Lisa May, Trust Officer, oversees the billing department and works with the Service Coordinators to process our beneficiaries’ requests. Lisa’s primary focus is upholding PLAN’s fiduciary duty to the trust and our beneficiaries. Lisa received her Bachelor’s Degree in Paralegal Studies from Roger Williams University and a JD from UMass Law. Lisa worked at Bank of America Private Bank for 8 years and during that time was a Trust Officer in the Providence Regional Office. Lisa is a member of the Boston Estate Planning Council, Estate Planning Council of RI, and the MA Paralegal Association.
