TEEN EMPOWERMENT STAFF
Teen Empowerment's staff members are the agency's most valuable resource. Many have years of experience with TE, and several are TE "graduates" who worked with Teen Empowerment as youth.
Stanley Pollack: Executive Director
Stanley grew up in New Jersey and received his B.A. from Rider University in Trenton. His youth work career began in the early 1970's at a residential facility for delinquent boys in that city. He then worked for the Youth Services Department in Somerville, MA, for eight years, becoming the director of the department in 1978. During this time, he developed innovative methods for engaging youth in a process of changing their communities for the better--the basis for the current Teen Empowerment Model(R). From 1982 to 1991, Stanley provided consultation in the model to over 35 youth-serving organizations throughout Massachusetts and in Louisville, KY, and Houston, TX. In 1992, he established The Center for Teen Empowerment, Inc. as a nonprofit organization in Boston's South End/Lower Roxbury. When not involved with family or Teen Empowerment, Stanley plays guitar, writes songs, and thinks about musical equipment.
Doug Ackley: Director of Rochester Programs
Doug began working with Teen Empowerment in 1993, just after the Center was established. He worked at the South End/Lower Roxbury site, at the Madison Park and Dorchester High School sites, and at a pilot site at the DYS Judge Connelly Treatment Facility. He has used his extensive experience with the Teen Empowerment Model to help supervise TE staff and provide consulting, training and technical assistance to organizations across the country interested in implementing elements of the TE Model. Doug grew up in the Boston area and graduated from Hobart College. Prior to his work at Teen Empowerment, he spent a year working with teens in central California through the Jesuit Volunteer Program, then returned to Boston to work in a residential facility for youth. Following a move to Rochester, NY in 2002, Doug opened the Teen Empowerment site there, which is currently engaging Rochester youth in TE's model of youth organizing. Doug enjoys playing and following a variety of sports and maintains an unwavering loyalty to his favorite Boston teams.
Jennifer Banister: Development and Collaborations Manager, Rochester
Jennifer grew up in various parts of New York state, with Rochester becoming her hometown in the 1990s. She received her B.A. from SUNY Oswego and both her M.A. in Education and Ph.D. in Social Science from Syracuse University. She has worked as a human rights witness with returned refugees in Guatemala and as a fair trade organizer in Rochester. Jennifer started as a program coordinator at TE's South End/Lower Roxbury site in 2001, worked at the English High School site, and is now providing needed assistance with grants and collaboration to our Rochester program. She is a photographer, writer, and activist.
Stephanie Berkowitz: Director of External Relations
Stephanie has been doing fundraising, public relations, and event planning for Boston area nonprofit organizations for the last 9 years. Before coming to Teen Empowerment in 2002, she worked for the Higher Education Information Center and the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership. In addition to working at TE, Stephanie teaches kindergarten on Sundays at Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline, where she also serves on the Youth Commission. She is a board member of the Brookline-Brighton Jewish Community Fund and volunteers for GesherCity Boston, the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston, and the Boston Fair Housing Center. Stephanie is originally from South Euclid, Ohio, and holds a B.S. in Mass Communication and Public Policy from Boston University.
Sheri Bridgeman: Director of Boston Programs
Sheri earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts, where she studied English, Communications, and Theatre Arts. Shortly after graduation, she began working with young people as the Director of Youth Programs at the YWCA in Cambridge, while simultaneously running her own performing arts company called Dreamers Inc. She was using the arts as a catalyst to address issues in the lives of young people and their families. It was a great privilege to begin in 1998 to work for Teen Empowerment, where she could use her skills training young people to be leaders while incorporating the performing arts. As the director of Boston programs, Sheri continues to work on making positive social change with youth and adults in the city.
Kit Carroll: Program Coordinator
With family from all over Boston, Kit has a personal commitment to work toward lasting social change in her city. While attending Harvard College, she was a part of the Phillips Brooks House Association, a student-led service and social action organization. She directed Franklin Teen, an afterschool program for young adults, and the Franklin I-O Summer Program, an educational enrichment camp for children. As both programs worked with young people from the Franklin Hill and Franklin Field area of Dorchester, Kit developed a passion for youth work in this neighborhood. Upon her graduation, she received the Stride Rite Postgraduate Fellowship, a yearlong grant that funds an entrepreneurial, public interest project based in the community. She worked in the Franklin Field Housing Development, acting as the Teen Center’s program coordinator and running evening hours at the center. Kit is honored to be part of the team at Teen Empowerment, where she can continue working for change with an inspiring and driven group of adults and youth.
James Coston: Associate Program Coordinator
James started off as a Youth Organizer in the
program about 2008, and climbed from Youth Organizer to Commonwealth Corps
Representative, finally joining the staff as Associate Coordinator in September
2011. He was born and raised in Boston, Dorchester to be specific, but has
lived in almost every borough of the city. Growing up in Dorchester, he faced
similar, if not the same issues, that many of the youth in the program are
facing. His initial interest in the work was sparked upon attending a TE event
and seeing another youth performing; this instantly caught his attention as
music is James' first passion. The friends that James lost, either who passed
or were locked up, drew him even more into the work, as he tries to prevent
that from happening to others the best way he can. He also likes the feeling
that he’s doing something to help the community instead of just talking about
it or helping to destroy it.
Mary Fusoni: Editing Consultant
Mary has been working as a writer, editor, and administrator since 1980, initially as a technical writer for Stratus Computer. In 1992 she wrote the grant proposal that earned initial funding for the Center for Teen Empowerment, and she has worked since then on documentation and publications for the Center. She co-authored Moving Beyond Icebreakers and brought the book to publication in 2005. In her first career, before she realized that teaching is such a difficult job, Mary taught English and reading skills at the high school level in Boston and Arlington, MA, and was a founding teacher of the Full Circle School, an alternative high school program in Somerville, MA.
Liz Gray: Assistant Program Coordinator
Liz became involved in community organizing and activism early in life through her family’s commitment to service. After graduating from Saint Michael’s College in 2006 with a B.A. in English and Secondary Education, she migrated to South America. During the years she lived
in Chile and Brazil, Liz taught ESL and literature in schools and community organizations using her integrated arts curriculum. In June 2011, she earned her M.A. in Comparative Literature from Dartmouth College, where her research focused on Latin American art and literary movements with a social conscience, an area she continues to explore and infuse into her work. Liz is ecstatic to join the TE team and work with youth in Boston!
Siedah Johnson: Rochester Office Manager
Raised in Albany, NY, Siedah was aware of the community hardship and political battles occurring in her city and because of that she is personally committed to working towards social change. In 2008, she joined a non-profit organization and worked full time as an Administrative Assistant for almost three years. While also fighting for progressive change, Siedah was able to develop her organizational and administrative skills. In November of 2010 she re-located to the city of Rochester, where she has joined our team as an Office Manager. Now overseeing majority of the day-to-day office operation, she is proving herself to be a team player. Some of her interests are graphic design, reading, and writing poetry.
Jen Lewis: Lead Program Coordinator
Jen graduated from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh in 1986 with a Bachelor's degree in Music Education and a concentration in Music Therapy and Special Education. She worked as a music therapist with the elderly, developmentally delayed, and homeless populations until she returned to school at Cambridge College, where she received a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology. Before joining Teen Empowerment in 2006, Jen worked at COMPASS School with at-risk youth from many of Boston's neighborhoods.
Jen is an avid amateur photographer and enjoys writing, poetry, and singing. She believes that everyone should have the opportunity to do work that encourages positive growth both individually and with larger and larger circles of people, in emotional, physical, and spiritual spheres of life. Creativity is an incredible tool, a continuously re-energizing process that is contagious, and to have this process as a central part of one's work and life is a great advantage. Jen is reminded of this through TE's work with young people and within her own family. She feels that simply playing and being present with her children (ages 7 and 10) can be as rejuvenating as developing a striking photograph, feeling the vibration and energy when singing, capturing a moment in haiku, speaking one's mind on something felt strongly, or getting down to a funky tune!
Mary Lewis: Office Coordinator
Mary grew up in the inner city of Boston, where she was affiliated with many community centers, including the Roxbury YMCA, Orchard Gardens, Mission Hill, Gallivan, Lena Park, Archdale, and the Dorchester Boys & Girls Club. For high school, she had the incredible opportunity to attend Tabor Academy, a boarding school in Marion, MA. She then earned her BS in Elementary Education from The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY. After a stint teaching 7th grade English, Mary moved to Atlanta to play semi-pro basketball. Through basketball, she's met and competed against amazing woman from different states and countries.
Back in Boston, Mary began working with children and youth through tutoring, mentoring, and basketball. She's worked with United South End Settlements as a Preschool Teacher, Manager of Contracts and Administration, and Executive Assistant. She also joined the coaching staff at New Mission High School, and has continued to be associated with community centers throughout Boston as a tutor and physical trainer. The idea of giving back is what keeps her driven! Currently, Mary plays for the first actual semi-pro women's basketball team in Boston, The Boston Bombers.
Heang Ly: Director of Consulting and Training
Heang has over13 years of experiencein community organizing and youth development. Her work with youth began
through theater and community organizing as an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she graduated in 2000 with a degree in
Psychology and Education. In 2004, she earned her masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Administration, Planning, and Social
Policy. Heang joined Teen Empowerment in 2005 as a Program Coordinator, a position she held for five years working in various Boston public high schools
and Boston neighborhoods. She is currently Director of Consulting and Training. In this role, she provides technical assistance to community groups,schools, universities, and agencies that are interested in using TE’s approach to group facilitation and interactive learning to improve their work.
Craig McClay: Lead Program Coordinator
Craig initially became involved in Teen Empowerment programs in 1989, when he worked as part of a six-member group of youth that offered small grants and technical assistance to other youth-led initiatives throughout greater Boston. He continued his involvement with TE after high school in the early 1990's, working to recruit, hire, and train youth and adult staff for a number of summer and year-round TE-connected programs in Boston's South End, as well as serving on TE's Board of Directors. In 2000, he returned to TE as a member of the adult staff. Since then, he has coordinated the South End/Lower Roxbury site, assisted with coordination of a site in South Boston, broken ground in Somerville when TE began a program there (2004-2005), and led the charge to create positive social change in the Uphams Corner area of Dorchester. He now works at TE's site in Egleston Square.
He serves on several boards of local agencies that focus on improving social and political conditions in Boston. In 2007 he was awarded the honor of "Youth Worker of the Year" by Boston Centers for Youth and Families, given to an individual who has demonstrated excellence and commitment, consistently working above and beyond expectations on behalf of Boston's youth.
Danny McLaughlin: Program Coordinator
Danny is a 25 year old lifelong resident of Somerville who has made it his mission to bring about positive and ongoing change in his hometown. Growing up in Lexington Park, Danny witnessed the continued destruction of the Somerville he once knew. From the loss of his friends to overdose and suicide to the displacement of his neighbors due to rising living costs, tragedy after tragedy forced Danny to decide to be a more active member of his community. In 2003, he joined the Youth Leadership Development Program at Somerville Cares About Prevention, where he engaged in conversations with other youth to discuss the opiate problem in the city. In 2004, with his brothers Matt, Mark, and Steve, Danny founded the non-profit group Save Our Somerville. With SOS, the McLaughlin brothers found the means to accomplish their goal of restoring Somerville to its former glory. Danny is also a board member of the Somerville Community Corporation. He is the 2008 recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award in Somerville.
As a program coordinator at Teen Empowerment since 2006, Danny works with the community's youth to unite the city and start a movement of positive change. In addition, through TE he has the opportunity to facilitate the Mayor's Youth Council, a program designed to encourage youth engagement in the city's governing body. Currently a student at Bunker Hill Community College, Danny continues to take strides to make positive changes in Somerville.
Emily Parrott: Program Coordinator
Emily hails from a small town in Virginia, sprouting roots here in Boston while she attended Harvard College. Her work with youth and social justice became her total focus during her undergraduate years studying sociology and working in afterschool and summertime programming with the student-run nonprofit, the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA). She comes to Teen Empowerment after completing a fellowship in nonprofit management with PBHA. Outside TE, Emily finds inspiration reading, creating art, and teaching snowboarding.
Marlon D. Ramdehal: Director of Somerville Programs
Marlon is originally from the island of Trinidad and Tobago. He and his family emigrated to the United States in 1988 and have called Boston their home ever since. Marlon is a graduate of The Boston English High School, Class of 1999. He earned his bachelors degree in psychology at Wheaton College, Class of 2004, on a scholarship from The Trefler Foundation.
As a student at The Boston English High School, he interviewed with TE and was hired as a youth organizer. In the midst of other leadership programs he was involved with during that time, TE stood out as a real opportunity to take on a different type of leadership position. When asked about this change he said, "Being involved with TE allowed me to expand and enhance my ability to use my voice in different ways. I found various ways to identify with issues happening in my school and to think more creatively to strategize approaches for having a more positive impact using my own talents. Many of the same passions I had when I first got hired with TE brought me back to this organization today."
Marlon worked for three years as a program coordinator at a TE site located at English High School. After his first year on staff he expressed that, "Returning to TE and EHS has been an empowering experience in that I've felt obliged to give back to the people, community, and roots where I came from. Looking back, I have many people to appreciate and be thankful to, so it's important for me to not forget where I came from and the amazing people who helped to get me where I am today." He now directs TE's Somerville site.
Shanterra Randle: Associate Coordinator
Shanterra has been working with Teen Empowerment in Rochester since 2006, first as a volunteer and then as a youth organizer. Through TE, she was nominated and served as a youth agency representative on the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council (MYAC), one of the 20 young people who joined together to bring youth voice about the issues they face on a day-to-day basis to city government. In 2008 she began an internship at Teen Empowerment as an Associate Coordinator with the MYAC. Shanterra graduated from Wilson Commencement High School and is now attending Monroe Community College. She is also a member of the Rochester Teen Slam Team, which placed fourth in an international competition, held in Washington, D.C, entitled "Def Poetry presents Brave New Voices." In 2008, she accompanied Mayor Robert Duffy to Philadelphia for the Mayors' Action Forum on Crime, a national conference for mayors and police chiefs that was called to draft recommendations to the next U.S. president on effective crime prevention. Shanterra and another MYAC representative were the only two young people in attendance. She addressed all a plenary session of the conference and had a chance to speak with then-Senator Joe Biden.
Marquis Tucker: Program Coordinator
Marquis is one of only a handful of teens to be a three-time youth organizer. Drawing on this experience helped him to become a TE adult staff member in 2003 when, shortly after graduating from Dorchester High, he was offered the position of associate program coordinator. For two years he worked with two other staff members to help guide the youth of Madison Park High School around the many issues they faced. During this time, he also attended Bunker Hill Community College, majoring in Business Management. In 2005 Marquis answered the call to join two other staff members as a coordinator for TE's Dorchester community site. He is still a coordinator at this site, but occasionally makes an appearance on the "TE stage" when needed. He is also currently working on getting his bachelors degree.
