Young Education Professionals-Boston
Leadership TeamExecutive Board
Interested in joining our team? We will be recruiting new board members later in 2019! We encourage you to join our list serv for updates and come to an event to learn more. To contact a board member, email Boston [at] youngedprofessionals [dot] org |
Jess Caron | Co-President
Jess currently works as a 7th/8th grade Special Education Inclusion Teacher at Saltonstall School in Salem, MA. Before Saltonstall, Jess taught Language Arts at the Landmark School, a private high school for students with Language-Based Learning Disabilities. In 2018, she finished her masters in Special Education-Moderate Disabilities through Simmons College. Previously, Jess’ passion for education reform led her to intern at the U.S. Department of Education and volunteer in urban classrooms with ELL students. Jess became an activist for mindfulness in education; she has spoken at two conferences and co-wrote a chapter in the book Catalyzing the Field: Second Person Approaches to Contemplative Learning with Katie Byrnes. Jess earned a BA in English with a minor in Teaching at Bowdoin College and received her Maine State Teaching Certification in 2014. Outside of education, Jess is an avid outdoor recreationalist, so you can find her biking, running, and paddling all around the north shore of Boston.
Jess currently works as a 7th/8th grade Special Education Inclusion Teacher at Saltonstall School in Salem, MA. Before Saltonstall, Jess taught Language Arts at the Landmark School, a private high school for students with Language-Based Learning Disabilities. In 2018, she finished her masters in Special Education-Moderate Disabilities through Simmons College. Previously, Jess’ passion for education reform led her to intern at the U.S. Department of Education and volunteer in urban classrooms with ELL students. Jess became an activist for mindfulness in education; she has spoken at two conferences and co-wrote a chapter in the book Catalyzing the Field: Second Person Approaches to Contemplative Learning with Katie Byrnes. Jess earned a BA in English with a minor in Teaching at Bowdoin College and received her Maine State Teaching Certification in 2014. Outside of education, Jess is an avid outdoor recreationalist, so you can find her biking, running, and paddling all around the north shore of Boston.
Rita Pello | Co-President
Rita Pello is a program manager for impact and improvement with KnowledgeWorks. Prior to her role at KnowledgeWorks, Rita served as Program Coordinator at Teach Plus where she was responsible for ensuring quality programming and communications for practice and policy fellowships. Previously, she taught high school English and film and coached forensics in Madison, Wisconsin.
Rita earned her master’s in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and her bachelor’s in Secondary Education – English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Go Badgers!) She is currently the co-president of YEP-Boston and acts as a research assistant on a variety of education-related projects at HGSE.
Rita Pello is a program manager for impact and improvement with KnowledgeWorks. Prior to her role at KnowledgeWorks, Rita served as Program Coordinator at Teach Plus where she was responsible for ensuring quality programming and communications for practice and policy fellowships. Previously, she taught high school English and film and coached forensics in Madison, Wisconsin.
Rita earned her master’s in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and her bachelor’s in Secondary Education – English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Go Badgers!) She is currently the co-president of YEP-Boston and acts as a research assistant on a variety of education-related projects at HGSE.
Patricia Murray | Board Member
Patricia is a marketing automation specialist at LogMeIn, a technology company located in the Seaport. Prior to LogMeIn, Patricia worked on the national marketing team for Year Up, a national education and workforce development non-profit. Patricia’s experience is centered around using marketing technology to create highly personalized customer/student-specific digital content (email marketing, website, etc).
Originally from Arlington, Virginia, Patricia moved to Boston in 2014 when she was selected as a member of Match Corps, a one-year urban education fellowship and year of service. As a member of Match Corps, Patricia worked full-time as a tutor and mentor for middle school students in Jamaica Plain. From her experience with Match Corps, she was determined to combine her passion for education and her marketing skill set, which led her to back to Boston for her role at Year Up. Though no longer working in the education space, she tries to keep her connections to education strong through volunteer work as a Year Up Mentor and continued involvement with the Young Education Professionals of Boston board.
Patricia graduated from Villanova University with a B.A. in Communications and minors in Business and Psychology.
Patricia is a marketing automation specialist at LogMeIn, a technology company located in the Seaport. Prior to LogMeIn, Patricia worked on the national marketing team for Year Up, a national education and workforce development non-profit. Patricia’s experience is centered around using marketing technology to create highly personalized customer/student-specific digital content (email marketing, website, etc).
Originally from Arlington, Virginia, Patricia moved to Boston in 2014 when she was selected as a member of Match Corps, a one-year urban education fellowship and year of service. As a member of Match Corps, Patricia worked full-time as a tutor and mentor for middle school students in Jamaica Plain. From her experience with Match Corps, she was determined to combine her passion for education and her marketing skill set, which led her to back to Boston for her role at Year Up. Though no longer working in the education space, she tries to keep her connections to education strong through volunteer work as a Year Up Mentor and continued involvement with the Young Education Professionals of Boston board.
Patricia graduated from Villanova University with a B.A. in Communications and minors in Business and Psychology.
Robyn Belair | Board Member
Robyn is a Learning Designer at edX in Cambridge, previously a Learning Designer at Lesley University. Digital pedagogy, accessibility, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in higher education are of high importance in her work ... one of her favorite love-it-or-hate-it phrases is "pedagogical strategies". At Lesley she developed fully-online and blended courses for traditional undergrad and graduate programs, offerings for students with cognitive disabilities, and coached faculty in online instructional practice. At edX this work is done at scale. In 2017 Robyn completed a fully-online graduate program to earn a Master's of Education (TESOL Specialization, with a focus on the adult language learner and online ESL/ELL tools and technology). In addition to YEP-Boston, Robyn is also active in the education technology community serving as board member for the Boston EdTech Foundation, an active meetup community, and volunteering with KodeConnect, a nonprofit offering STEM learning opportunities for Brockton children.
Robyn is a Learning Designer at edX in Cambridge, previously a Learning Designer at Lesley University. Digital pedagogy, accessibility, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in higher education are of high importance in her work ... one of her favorite love-it-or-hate-it phrases is "pedagogical strategies". At Lesley she developed fully-online and blended courses for traditional undergrad and graduate programs, offerings for students with cognitive disabilities, and coached faculty in online instructional practice. At edX this work is done at scale. In 2017 Robyn completed a fully-online graduate program to earn a Master's of Education (TESOL Specialization, with a focus on the adult language learner and online ESL/ELL tools and technology). In addition to YEP-Boston, Robyn is also active in the education technology community serving as board member for the Boston EdTech Foundation, an active meetup community, and volunteering with KodeConnect, a nonprofit offering STEM learning opportunities for Brockton children.
Elicia Flemming | Board Member
Elicia Flemming is the Marketing and Events Associate at LearnLaunch, an education innovation hub with the mission of driving innovation to transform learning through access to education technology. At LearnLaunch, she supports the organization’s marketing initiatives through content development, event planning, and project management.
Prior to joining LearnLaunch, Elicia worked in healthcare public relations where she leveraged her health research background to support the communications strategies of pharmaceutical, biotech, industry advocacy groups, and medical device clients.
In her free time, Elicia enjoys discovering new music at concerts, traveling and immersing herself in new cultural experiences, experimenting with new recipes, and playing tennis. She maintains a vested interest in alleviating economic disparities and educational inequity among disadvantaged youth. She graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology and a self-designed minor in Urban Education.
Elicia Flemming is the Marketing and Events Associate at LearnLaunch, an education innovation hub with the mission of driving innovation to transform learning through access to education technology. At LearnLaunch, she supports the organization’s marketing initiatives through content development, event planning, and project management.
Prior to joining LearnLaunch, Elicia worked in healthcare public relations where she leveraged her health research background to support the communications strategies of pharmaceutical, biotech, industry advocacy groups, and medical device clients.
In her free time, Elicia enjoys discovering new music at concerts, traveling and immersing herself in new cultural experiences, experimenting with new recipes, and playing tennis. She maintains a vested interest in alleviating economic disparities and educational inequity among disadvantaged youth. She graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology and a self-designed minor in Urban Education.
Meghan Rosenberg | Board Member
With a background in teaching and "start-up" schools, Meghan is passionate about innovating for the benefit of all students, thinking critically about curriculum that prepares students for life, and promoting teacher and school sustainability. After starting her career teaching ninth and tenth grade at Codman Academy in Dorchester in 2010, Meghan transitioned to teaching sixth grade at another Boston charter school, hoping that younger students would laugh at more of her jokes. In 2014, she returned to Codman as the founding Humanities teacher of the new middle school. More recently, Meghan has held positions as Program Design and Development Fellow at Peer Health Exchange and Program Coordinator at The Immigrant Learning Center's Public Education Institute. She earned her B.A. at Brown University in Education and Linguistics, and a Master's in Teaching from Tufts. Meghan spends most of her free time attempting to negotiate with her toddler, with mixed success.
With a background in teaching and "start-up" schools, Meghan is passionate about innovating for the benefit of all students, thinking critically about curriculum that prepares students for life, and promoting teacher and school sustainability. After starting her career teaching ninth and tenth grade at Codman Academy in Dorchester in 2010, Meghan transitioned to teaching sixth grade at another Boston charter school, hoping that younger students would laugh at more of her jokes. In 2014, she returned to Codman as the founding Humanities teacher of the new middle school. More recently, Meghan has held positions as Program Design and Development Fellow at Peer Health Exchange and Program Coordinator at The Immigrant Learning Center's Public Education Institute. She earned her B.A. at Brown University in Education and Linguistics, and a Master's in Teaching from Tufts. Meghan spends most of her free time attempting to negotiate with her toddler, with mixed success.
Sneha Walia | Board Member
Sneha Walia is a history teacher at Boston Latin Academy in the Boston Public Schools System, currently teaching 7th grade World Geography and AP World History. She has previously taught history at Somerville High School and New Mission High School, as well. She is committed to building empathy and community in the history classroom, and uses project-based learning to help students personally connect to course curriculum. At BLA, she also coaches the Debate Team and serves as an advisor for the Student Council.
Outside of classroom teaching, Sneha stays connected with the education community through her roles as a YEP-Boston Board Member, a course facilitator with Primary Source, and a member of the Boston Debate League Coach Council. She is also currently a Teaching Policy Fellow with Teach Plus, and is a 2018 alum of the New Leaders Council policy fellowship. She received both her BA in Politics and Psychology and her Master of Arts in Teaching at Brandeis University.
Sneha Walia is a history teacher at Boston Latin Academy in the Boston Public Schools System, currently teaching 7th grade World Geography and AP World History. She has previously taught history at Somerville High School and New Mission High School, as well. She is committed to building empathy and community in the history classroom, and uses project-based learning to help students personally connect to course curriculum. At BLA, she also coaches the Debate Team and serves as an advisor for the Student Council.
Outside of classroom teaching, Sneha stays connected with the education community through her roles as a YEP-Boston Board Member, a course facilitator with Primary Source, and a member of the Boston Debate League Coach Council. She is also currently a Teaching Policy Fellow with Teach Plus, and is a 2018 alum of the New Leaders Council policy fellowship. She received both her BA in Politics and Psychology and her Master of Arts in Teaching at Brandeis University.
Founding Board Members
Anthea Brady (September 2012 - September 2016)
David Braslow (September 2012 - February 2013)
Parson Hicks (September 2012 - January 2014)
David Braslow (September 2012 - February 2013)
Parson Hicks (September 2012 - January 2014)