Board of Trustees Public Meeting Schedule:
2012-2013 School Year
July 20, 2012 (9am - 3pm at Foley Hoag, Boston, MA)
October 15, 2012
December 3, 2012
February 11, 2013
April 29, 2013
May 20, 2013
All meetings of the Board of Trustees are held at: City on a Hill Charter Public School, 58 Circuit Street, Roxbury, MA from 6:00-8:00pm
(unless otherwise noted)
Robert Mazzarella, Chair
Robert Mazzarella has over 33 years experience in the securities industry and more than 18 years at Fidelity Investments. Before he retired from Fidelity Investments in February, 2002 he was president of Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC. Mr. Mazzarella served on the Securities Industry Association's Board of Directors, chaired the SIA's Discount Brokerage Committee, and was a member of the Market Structure Committee (also at SIA). He has also served on the boards of the Philadelphia Stock Clearing Corporation and Depository, The Chicago Board of Options Exchange, the Cincinnati Stock Exchange, the Boston Stock Exchange and Redibook ECN, Inc. Mr. Mazzarella was a member of The New York Stock Exchange, and served on the NYSE's Regional Firms Committee. Mr. Mazzarella holds an accounting degree from New York Institute of Technology. He is now serving on a number of boards and is also providing consulting services to a number of major financial services firms and advising venture capital firms regarding financial services investments.
Chair: Executive Committee
Member: Finance Committee
Michael Grossman, Vice-Chair
Michael Grossman is an equity research analyst for MFS Investment Management and lives in Boston's South End. Michael has been active in youth civic affairs having participated in the Citizen Schools and Power Lunch programs and coached ice hockey in South Boston. In addition, he has led in the development of a young alumni association for his high school, the Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, CT, where he currently serves as a Co-Chair of the Young Alumni Club and is involved in fundraising efforts. Michael is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he received a bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Member: Executive Committee
Member: Finance Committee
Member: Trustees Committee
Ryan Thornton, Treasurer
Ryan Thornton is currently a Director of Institutional Equities at Deutsche Bank, a leading global investment bank. He earned his Master of Science in Investment Management from Boston University. As a student athlete at the University of Notre Dame, he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration while playing Division 1 hockey. After spending a few years in Chicago, Ryan returned home to Boston in 2000, and currently lives in Hingham with his wife, Lia, and two sons.
Chair: Finance Committee
Member: Executive Committee
Ginger Parker, Secretary
Ginger is a Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers where she helps lead the firm's federal healthcare consulting work. She also has years of experience in city planning, including working for the City of Boston and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City. Ginger has a MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, a masters degree in City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in Urban Studies from Brown University. Her volunteer experience at Rosie's Place, Habitat for Humanity and the Walk for Hunger shows her deep commitment to our community. Ginger resides with her husband Marcus in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston.
Member: Executive Committee
Member: School Performance Committee
Member: Human Resources Committee
Josh Benet
Josh Benet is an alumnus of the Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, Connecticut, as well as Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, where he earned a B.A. in Economics with a focus in Sociology. Initially, Josh worked as an independent auditor with Deloitte & Touche in Boston, MA. Then, coupling his experience analyzing the financial condition of organizations with his instinct for helping people, Josh embarked on a career as a personal financial advisor. After several years as an Ameriprise franchisee, Josh is now a founding partner of Harvest Wealth Management, an independent financial consulting firm offering comprehensive solutions and objective advice to discerning clients. Josh is a Certified Financial Planner Practitioner, Accredited Investment Fiduciary and holds FINRA Series 7 and 66 securities registrations as a Registered Representative and Investment Adviser Representative of Commonwealth Financial Network.
In his spare time, you will find Josh honing his skills on the golf course, savoring fresh powder on the ski slopes, or developing his passion for photography. He lives in Boston with his wife, Carrie, and enjoys competing in local road races, including two marathons!
Member: Strategic Planning committee
Joe Cali
Joe Cali is the Executive Vice President at Grand Circle Corporation and has been with the company since1999. During his tenure, Joe has helped build the company into an industry leader. His responsibilities have included leading the Marketing, Business Development, and Strategic Planning organizations. Prior to joining Grand Circle Corporation, Joe held positions in Marketing and Finance at New England Business Service, and Data General Corp. He has also served as an advisor to several Boston area start- up companies. In 2006 Joe was presented the "Grand Circle Excellence in Community Service Award" for his leadership and work at City On A Hill Charter Public School. Joe has served on the Board of Trustees at City On A Hill since 2004. He held the position of Treasurer from 2004-2008. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, with Bachelor degree in Accounting, Joe also has a Masters degree from Southern New Hampshire University. He has continued his education and learning at the Harvard University Extension School and at the Center for Creative Leadership in Colorado Springs. Joe lives in Southborough, MA with his wife, Wendy, and their two children.
Member: Strategic Planning Committee
Cara Stillings Candal, Ed.D
Dr. Cara Stillings Candal is currently the Director of Research and Curriculum at the Center for Better Schools/National Academy for Advanced Teacher Education. In this role, she works to provide targeted, differentiated professional learning opportunities for experienced educators from across the country that have been identified as highly effective by the districts, charter, and faith-based networks in which they work.
Cara has worked in the field of education for fifteen years as a high school teacher, as a curriculum and large-scale assessment specialist for the Riverside Publishing Company, and as a Research Assistant Professor at the Boston University School of Education. In her role as researcher and educator at Boston University, her work focused on domestic and international policies affecting educational opportunities for low-income students. Cara is the author of numerous articles on the charter school movement, both nationally and in Massachusetts, and on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. She is also the editor of the book Partnering for Progress: Boston University, The Chelsea Public Schools, and Twenty Years of Urban Education Reform. Cara holds a B.A. in English literature from Indiana University, an M.A. in Social Science from the University of Chicago, and an Ed.D from the Boston University School of Education.
Chair: School Performance Committee
James R. Drabick
James ("JR") Drabick is an enforcement attorney in the Boston Regional Office of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Before joining the SEC, JR was an associate in the litigation department at Ropes & Gray LLP for five years, focusing on securities, antitrust, and commercial litigation. Among his pro bono endeavors while at Ropes & Gray, JR secured asylum for two endangered Iraqi college students and represented indigent tenants in landlord-tenant matters in the Boston Housing Court. JR is also passionate about environmental issues, and before law school he worked at the Environmental & Energy Study Institute, a non-profit advocacy organization in Washington, DC. JR received his BA from Amherst College in Economics and Law, Jurisprudence, & Social Thought, and his JD from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review. JR, his wife, and their son live in Cambridge.
Jeff Jablow
As City Year's Senior Vice President of Strategy & Operations, Jeff Jablow leads City Year's national growth and impact planning. Jeff directs City Year's school district relations, strategic analysis and Diplomas Now school turnaround collaboration work. Jeff has been with City Year since 2005 when he joined the organization to lead the creation of City Year's five year strategic plan. Since then, Jeff has played a lead role in evolving City Year's focus to strategically deploy to low performing schools to address the nation's dropout crisis. Jeff has lead the growth and development of Diplomas Now since its founding in 2007 and helped to direct the effort to win an Investing in Innovations (i3) grant from the US Department of Education. Prior to joining City Year, Jeff worked as a strategy consultant with Cambridge Strategic Management Group, Ernst and Young Consulting, and The Bridgespan Group. Jeff also worked at Ma Afrika Tikkun, a community and youth development nonprofit in Cape Town, South Africa. Jeff has an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a Bachelors in Business Administration and Masters in Accounting from the University of Michigan. Jeff currently resides in Boston.
Member: Strategic Planning Committee
Jeff Jacobs
Jeff Jacobs is currently a Managing Director at Raymond James & Associates, Inc. Having grown up in a Massachusetts suburb, he has resided in Boston since 1997 where he currently lives with his wife and two daughters. Jeff has an MBA from The Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a BA from Vanderbilt University. He has volunteer experience at Big Brothers/Big Sisters, The Make A Wish Foundation, and various youth coaching roles.
Ben Lummis
Ben Lummis is a Vice-President at Massachusetts 2020 where he oversees the organization's state engagement and school transformation practice areas. Previously, as Director of Public Policy at Mass 2020, Ben was responsible for developing the state policy that created the nationally recognized Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time Initiative, the first state-wide initiative to use increased learning time to build a better public school day.
Prior to joining Massachusetts 2020, Ben worked at the Center for Collaborative Education where he was the national director of Turning Points, the Comprehensive School Reform model for middle schools. At Turning Points, Ben was responsible for the quality and implementation of Turning Points' services to schools and for the growth of its national network of schools and regional centers. Ben began his career in education as a middle school English teacher. He has also worked as a member of Senator Edward Kennedy's staff, and for the North Carolina Outward Bound School. Ben currently lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife and their twins.
Chair: Strategic Planning Committee
Adam Mikkelson
Adam P. Mikkelson has been with Camber Capital Management since February 2007 where he primarily invests in the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device sectors. Prior to joining Camber, Mr. Mikkelson served as the Lead Healthcare Analyst at Datamonitor, focusing on small-cap biotech and medical device equities and, previously, spent five years with Leerink Swann & Co., a boutique healthcare investment bank. Adam received his BS/BA at Boston University in 2001 and is fluent in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. At present, he lives in Boston with his wife, Jasna, where they are involved with City on a Hill, Summer Search, and the MSPCA.
Michael Rosen
Michael Rosen is a Partner at Foley Hoag LLP, a Boston-based law firm, where he has practiced labor and employment law for almost 20 years. He counsels clients on and litigates a range of employment law matters, such as employment contracts, wage and hour laws, equal employment opportunity and harassment issues, noncompetition agreements and employment polices. Mike is a graduate of New York University School of Law and the University of Miami. He lives in Cohasset with his wife and three sons.
Chair: Human Resources Committee
Lori Stevens
Lori Stevens is the Chief Development Officer at Citizen Schools. She led development efforts there since 2006, with particular leadership around the $30 Million Growth Capital Campaign that has enabled them to grow from serving 1600 students in four states to serving 4500 students in seven states over the past four years. Previously she directed fundraising for Harvard's cross -university public service initiative to support the Graduate School of Education, Kennedy School and School of Public Health. During that time, she worked closely with the Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership on raising $10 million to establish the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellowship in Social Entrepreneurship. During her 11- year career at Harvard, Stevens also led major gifts fundraising in the New York region and worked with alumni in the Boston region and the Southeast. She has a B.A. from the College of William and Mary and a M.Ed. focused on urban education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Chair: Trustees Committee
Kim Wechtenhiser
Kim Wechtenhiser is the Director of Design and Quality at Schoolworks, an Educational Consulting Group. She is formerly the Associate Vice President of the Charter Schools Institute in New York. Prior to her work with the Institute, Ms. Wechtenhiser served as the Coordinator of New Schools Development in the Charter School Office at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. There she led the review of new charter school applications and provided technical assistance to newly chartered schools. She holds a B.A. in Spanish and Secondary Education and a M.A. in Spanish Language and Literature, both from Simmons College. In addition, she possesses an Ed.M. in School Leadership from Harvard University Graduate School of Education.
Member: School Performance Committee
Member: Strategic Planning Committee
The City on a Hill Foundation, Inc. Board of Directors
- Robert Mazzarella, President
- Michael S. Grossman, Treasurer
- Erica Brown
- Robert Fortes, Jr.
- Tripp Jones
- Debbie Porter
- Ryan Thornton
Board of Trustees Public Meeting Minutes
October 3, 2011 Minutes
December 19, 2011 Minutes
February 6, 2012 Minutes
April 2, 2012 Minutes
May 7, 2012 Minutes
July 20, 2012 Minutes
October 15, 2012 Minutes