Christopher’s Haven is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that provides housing for families who bring their child to Boston’s MassGeneral Hospital for Children and the Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center for cancer treatment. Christopher’s Haven is located at One Emerson Place, adjacent to the hospital, where seven large and completely furnished apartments and a community space are available to families who travel from out of state or outside the country for daily outpatient treatments. A typical stay is 6 to 8 weeks.
Meet Our Staff
Dan Olsen is the founder of Christopher’s Haven, a non-profit 501(c)(3) dedicated to providing a home for kids when cancer hits home. After his third battle with cancer, he turned his focus on creating a safe, clean, state-of-the-art respite center for children and their families receiving proton radiation treatment at MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston.
For the last nine years Dan has been focused almost full time on philanthropy, participating in the development and execution of hundreds of events and activities dedicated to raising awareness and funds to support Christopher’s Haven. In 2009 he was an honoree for the prestigious one hundred award presented by MassGeneral Hospital honoring 100 groups and individuals who are making a difference in cancer care.
At the same time, Dan is a successful actor, songwriter and musician. He has been seen in numerous movies, music videos and has written and produced three full length CDs. He is also an accomplished Martial Arts Instructor with a 5th degree black belt.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing from Northeastern University and a Masters in non-profit development from Lesley University.
As Executive Director, Joyce is responsible for the professional leadership and management of Christopher’s Haven. This includes, fundraising, grant writing, and organizational development, program planning, and staff leadership. Contact Joyce
As Family Services Manager, Deana is responsible for on-site operations. In consultation with the social workers and staff at the MassGeneral Hospital for Children, she coordinates the move in and out schedules. Deana also provides families with opportunities to meet each other and organizes age appropriate activities for children. Contact Us
As Administrative Manager, Elaine is responsible for general administrative responsibilities and organizational development processes. She is also the communications coordinator and staff liason for Christopher’s Haven. Contact Elaine
Board of Directors
Paul Knutrud is co-founder and Vice President of Marketing and Finance for Inspectrology LLC. Inspectrology was founded in 2008 with two partners to serve a niche of the Semiconductor Capital Equipment market. The company’s focus is service and remanufacturing and resale of equipment for in line, automated process metrology which is the science of micro and nano measurements.
Having graduated from Babson College in 1983, Paul has a 29 year background in the Semiconductor equipment industry having spent 25 of those years with the IVS group in West Concord, MA and holds a patent in the field. He worked as sales engineer, software engineer, applications engineer, applications manager and became director of marketing shortly after the company was purchased by international oil services company Schlumberger in 1997.
Paul is a life-long family friend of Dan Olsen, Founder of Christopher’s Haven. When Paul was diagnosed with Testicular cancer in 2009, he realized the importance of giving back and started to devote more of his time and resources to Christopher Haven’s cause. A second cancer scare in 2011 with Melanoma has only strengthened his resolve in this area. Paul has been on the advisory board of Christopher’s haven since 2011 and in April of 2012 joined the board of directors.
David Egan has been a successful publisher and entrepreneur. He spent 20+ years starting and turning around publications in the computer and communications markets, for firms including International Data Group, Ziff-Davis Publishing, and McGraw-Hill. In 1999, David co-founded THINQ Learning Solutions, a venture backed e-learning management 
software company that grew to a peak market valuation of over $250 million; the company was successfully sold in 2003. He co-founded LanguageCorps, a specialty services company that trains and places English teachers in Asian and Central American schools. He helped build LeveragePoint, a SaaS (software as a service) company allied to the Monitor Group international consultancy firm.
Today, David continues to advise companies in which he has interests. He’s a past advising executive to the Director of Harvard’s Office of Technology Development. He’s recently been named to the Board of Directors for Christopher’s Haven, a unique charitable organization that provides cost-free living accommodations for children and families undergoing cancer treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. And he commits significant time to Babson College, from which he graduated in 1978. He is Leadership Chair of Babson Alumni Supporting Entrepreneurs, a worldwide network of alumni volunteers who coach alumni entrepreneurs; a Director of the Babson Alumni Association; and winner of the 2010 Richard J. Snyder Distinguished Service Award.
David lives in Sudbury, MA with Joan, his wife of 32 years. He’s an avid skier and cyclist, a past Boston marathoner, and a SCCA licensed racecar driver.
Since young adulthood, Bruce has been involved in volunteer service. He served four years as treasurer for Camp Wilmot, a camp of the Presbyterian Church, PCUSA. Bruce has been a board member of the Middlesex County Prison Coordinating Committee, an inter-faith citizen advisory group. He has also served nine years on the leadership board of his local church in Sudbury, MA, and is currently its clerk. Bruce is also happy to be currently participating in the leadership of the high school youth group at his church.
Bruce has served as Vice President and Treasurer since the time he was asked by Dan Olsen at the launch of the vision that has become Christopher’s Haven.
Bruce has worked for Dynamics Research Corporation since 1985, primarily in the field of online and computer-based training. He holds a MS degree from Boston University in Computer Information Systems and a BA in Applied Mathematics from the University of Maine.
Diana Knightly is currently a Managing Director and Partner at Imperial Capital in Boston 
where she sells fixed income securities and specializes in High Yield Bonds. Before Imperial Capital, Diana spent thirteen years at Lehman Brothers in New York. She has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia University. She currently lives in Dedham with her husband and three children. Diana has lost her mother and brother to cancer and thinks Christopher’s Haven is a great way of giving back.
Get answers to some frequently asked questions about Christopher’s Haven and read what the families who have stayed at Christopher’s Haven have to say about their experience.