Program Participants

Jack P. Shonkoff is the Julius B. Richmond FAMRI Professor of Child Health and Development at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston. Dr. Shonkoff also chairs the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.

Laurie Schoen is the CEO/co-founder of UnitedStates4Kids, a non-profit organization committed to raising awareness about the national crisis of homelessness that plagues an estimated 750,000 American children between the ages of 0-6 each year. UnitedStates4Kids has incorporated a strategy of collaboration, partnering with advocacy and direct service organizations (Share Our Strength, Health Leads and Horizons for Homeless Children) that are the leaders in their respective fields of hunger relief, healthcare services and early childhood education for homeless children. Laurie is an active mother of four children; Jaimie (22), Bryan (21), Marc (19) and Natalie (13). Over the years she has served in numerous capacities as a volunteer for the Weston Public Schools and is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of The Rivers School, a private preparatory school. For more than 16 years, Laurie served as a member of the Horizons for Homeless Children Board of Directors. Currently, she volunteers weekly in a toddler classroom for homeless children at the Schoen Family Community Children's Center in Dorchester, Massachusetts. In addition, she is an advisor to the Weston Teacher Travelship Fund, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine. Laurie served as co-chair of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay's Millennium Fund, a $30 million endowment fund, as well as the allocations committee to that fund. Laurie has also served as an event co-chair for the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. Lesley University's Child Homelessness in Massachusetts Initiative is sponsored by Laurie Schoen, Lesley College Class of '86. Laurie founded Great Beginnings: Newton Kindergarten Readiness Program, where she served as director and educator. She holds a B.S. in Elementary Education from Lesley University; at that time she was elected to Who's Who among Students in American Universities and Colleges.

Asa Fanelli joined Horizons for Homeless Children in March 2010 as the organization’s President and in August 2010 assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer. Reporting to an active, diverse Board of Directors drawn from the Greater Boston community, Ms. Fanelli is responsible for all programmatic and administrative activities and manages a staff of more than 100. Ms. Fanelli brings over 15 years of broad-based leadership experience in global non-profit and for-profit organizations. Most recently she worked as President and then Chair for EF Foundation for Foreign Study, the largest foreign exchange organization in the US. She was also Head of Talent Management in the US at EF Education First, the world’s largest private education company centered on language learning, educational travel, cultural exchange and academic programs with over 29,000 employees, teachers and volunteers, with offices and schools in 50 countries.  Ms. Fanelli is currently a member of the Early Education and Care Advisory Board, the National Center on Family Homelessness Advisory Board and the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness Advisory Board. A Swedish citizen, Ms. Fanelli grew up internationally and is a graduate of Stockholm University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources and Economics. 

Brian Becker is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Division of Psychology and Applied Therapies at Lesley University. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and Masters in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. He recently completed his post-doctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at UCLA and the West Los Angeles Veterans Association. Dr. Becker has written articles that explore the impact of aging and HIV on brain functioning. He also has written and presented on issues pertaining to the intersection of psychology, philosophy, and spirituality including the work of Carl Jung.  His most recent research examines the neurological basis for relationships, including how the study of the brain can lead to a better understanding of empathy, ethics, and social justice.

Michelle Campbell began her career in early childhood education as a teacher for children with special needs in Washington, DC and has had a variety of experience developing, implementing and evaluating programs that support young children and their families. Her experience as a private preschool teacher led her to further study the Reggio Emilia Approach during her Master’s Program at Lesley University. Additionally, while attending graduate school, Michelle realized her desire to return to working with children and families “at-risk”, which led her to Horizons for Homeless Children, where she is now the Center Director at the Edgerley Family Community Children’s Center.  She is a 1989 graduate of Lesley College. 

Dr. Nancy Carlsson-Paige is Professor Emerita at Lesley University where she taught teachers for more than 30 years and was a founder of the University’s Center for Peaceable Schools. Nancy has written and spoken extensively about the impact of violence, especially in the media, on children’s lives and social development, and how children learn the skills for caring relationships and positive conflict resolution. She is the author and co-author of five books and has written numerous articles on media violence, conflict resolution, and peaceable classrooms. Her most recent book is called Taking Back Childhood. Nancy has received numerous awards for her leadership and advocacy in peace and early childhood education.  

Peter Cirioni works as the State Coordinator in the Office for Education of Homeless Children and Youth. Peter works to ensure the enrollment, attendance and the opportunity to succeed in school for homeless children and youth. Additionally, his office provides technical assistance and guidance to school districts and families. 

Dr. Carmela J. DeCandia is a licensed clinical child psychologist; the former Vice President of Programs of St. Mary's Center for Women and Children in Dorchester, MA; and currently Senior Program Associate in Children and Families at The National Center for Family Homelessness. She also maintains a clinical practice in psychological assessment of traumatized children at The Trauma Center at JRI. Her contributions to today’s conversation is about the link between childhood homelessness and trauma; strategies for recovery, specifically a focus on the creation of healing spaces (building trauma informed programs, cultures, systems); and the elements that go into these (policy, practice, education, training). A case-study will be used to illuminate this issue.

Shelly-Ann Dewsbury holds a MSW from Boston College where her graduate concentration was “Children, Youth and Families.” Her knowledge of working with families from different socioeconomic backgrounds and various cultures comes from living in different countries and running programs for inner city youth as well as her teaching experience at a private school. She has over 7 years of experience working with parents and conducting parenting workshops and education. She has also done significant work with teenagers and young adults through various organizations and mentorship programs.

Stacy Dimino has been dedicated to the improvement and advancement of early childhood education and family services organizations and holds the position as Chief Education and Training Officer at Horizons for Homeless Children (HHC). In the past she served as Executive Director of a Head Start and Early Head Start Program in Metro-Boston. Her credits include designing a shelter-based program for families experiencing homelessness. Her last position before HHC, was as the Project Director for the Massachusetts Training and Technical Assistance Center at EDC, Inc. providing technical assistance to national, state and local organizations. Her expertise includes program management and development, professional development systems and organizational design and change. 

Shannon Erwin is the State Policy Director at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), where she oversees MIRA's New Americans Integration Institute. Her work also includes advocacy to state-level policymakers on behalf of non-citizens and provision of technical assistance and training on legal issues affecting immigrants, in particular access by immigrants to public benefits and services in Massachusetts. Prior to joining MIRA in August, Shannon worked as a legal fellow with the Immigrants Protection Project of Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. Originally from Rochester, New York, Shannon earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where her studies focused on asylum law and immigrants' rights and included work in the West Bank with a Palestinian refugee advocacy NGO. Outside of MIRA, she serves as president of the New England Muslim Bar Association.

Susan Gere is a Professor and the Director of the Division of Counseling Psychology at Lesley University. Her teaching, scholarship, clinical and community work are in the areas of psychological trauma and post-trauma therapy, community consultation and training mental health clinicians.  

Dr. Jonathon Gillette is the Dean of the Lesley University Graduate School of Education. As Dean, he directs both pre-service and advanced education programs that are based on the Lesley campus and in 23 states across the country.

Previously he was the Director of the Teacher Preparation and Education Studies Program at Yale University, with joint appointments in Sociology and the Child Study Center. Gillette co-designed the recently launched Masters in Urban Education Studies program, a fully funded, stipend supported graduate program that works in partnership with New Haven Public Schools to certify effectively prepared teachers.

Before that he was the Director of Professional Development and Consultation for the School Development Program at the Yale Child Study Center, a national school reform model headed by Dr. James P. Comer, a child psychiatrist. His responsibilities included setting up and maintaining national training sites, coordinating national training offerings in New Haven, supporting consultation to the districts across the nation and delivering direct consultation to the Bay Area, Chula Vista, Tucson, Colorado Springs, Topeka, Cleveland, Detroit, New Orleans, Prince George's County and Westbury, Long Island.

He received his B.A. from Harvard, an M.A.T. from Wesleyan, and a Ph.D. in Administrative Science from Yale University in 1985. He has taught at the graduate and high school level. He was a teacher at Hillhouse High School and directed the Title VII and Title X Federally Funded Programs. He also taught graduate students at the Yale School of Management. He has worked as a consultant on a broad variety of issues from site-based management in public schools to race relations and factory restructuring. His writing and research focus on the nature of the task of teaching in context, group and organizational dynamics and school reform.                                                    

Kelley Gossett joined Horizons for Homeless Children in 2010 as the Director of Policy and Advocacy. Ms. Gossett hails from the Massachusetts State House, where she was General Counsel and Research Director to the Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government. Kelley earned her B.A. from Boston College and her J.D. from Suffolk Law School, where she was a legal advocate for the Child Advocacy Clinic. 

Christopher Hudson, PhD. is a Professor and the Chair of the Department of Social Work at Salem State University.  Author of several books in complex systems, his work in mental health is internationally known. Dr. Hudson conducts national research with state-of-the-art data sets and is active in a variety of professional associations. 

Sherri Killins is the Commissioner of Early Education and Care for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Dr. Killins has worked as an advocate for children and families in a variety of ways for more than 20 years, both as a provider of direct care and in leadership roles on issues relating to children and families. From 2006 to 2009, Dr. Killins has worked at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, an organization that promotes “public policies, human-service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today’s vulnerable children and families.” She held several roles in the Foundation. Her final position was serving as Vice President for Human Development and Operations. Prior to her work with the foundation, she served as the founding President/CEO of the New Haven Empowerment Zone, was a mayoral candidate in New Haven, Connecticut, and led operations and programs for both the Empowerment Zone Corporation and the Family Preservation Initiative of Baltimore. Dr. Killins holds a nursing degree from the University of Pittsburgh, a master's of administrative science from Johns Hopkins University, and a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Sarasota. Dr. Killins is the mother of three daughters.

Dr. Heather Macdonald came to Lesley University after years of practice as a clinical psychologist whose work involved community outreach, child assessment, and individual therapeutic services to children and families in the foster care system and with youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Gang resistance initiatives, youth violence prevention and cultural psychology have been long standing areas of professional interest. As a community-based clinical psychologist and a person who has lived in Asia and Africa, she has always sought to understand mental health issues within the context of their respective social, economic and political environments and believes that groups and communities are the preferred sites of intervention. Dr. Heather Macdonald’s work in the inner cities and abroad has led to scholarly research on the interface between culture, social justice and psychotherapy. Her research draws upon a cross-fertilization of ideas and disciplines including cultural phenomenology and theories of embodiment. 

Dr. Lizzie McEnany is a psychologist with training and experience in infant and young child mental health. She currently works at Jewish Family & Children’s Service’s Center for Early Relationship Support. Dr. McEnany provides mental health consultation to the Horizons for Homeless Children Community Childcare Centers. In this capacity she works onsite as an embedded consultant to the socio-emotional needs of the children. She collaborates with teachers, family advocates and directors, and provides training and clinical consultation. In addition, Dr. McEnany works as a consultant to the Boston Public Health Commission’s programs serving children ages 0-6 (Project Launch and MyChild). Dr. McEnany has extensive clinical experience working with mothers experiencing postpartum depression/anxiety and with mothers with other major mental illness parenting infants and toddlers. 

Christina Murphy is the Director of the Campaign to End Child Homelessness at The National Center on Family Homelessness where she works to galvanize the public and political will to ensure that not one child goes one night without a home. Previously, Christina was Senior Manager of Community Initiatives at Project Bread: The Walk for Hunger in Massachusetts, where she advocated for programs and policies at the local, state, regional, and federal levels to increase participation in the federal nutrition programs. She has also worked as a Deputy Press Secretary for the Massachusetts Senate, as a Legislative Aide in the United States Senate, for a Washington, DC-based public policy think tank, and in communications and field operations for state and local political campaigns. Christina received the Master of Management degree with a concentration in Child, Youth, and Family Policy from Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Child Development and Sociology from Tufts University.

Elizabeth Curtis Rogers is the Executive Director of the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness. The ICHH is leading a 5-year strategic plan to end homelessness in the Commonwealth, a major initiative of the Patrick-Murray Administration. This includes managing an initiative to develop regional approaches to end homelessness via Regional Networks. The ICHH is also charged with fostering improved collaboration and coordination of state agencies and other community-based partners to bring about greater efficiency to end homelessness. The ICHH is chaired by Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray. Prior to the ICHH, Liz was Senior Director of Community Impact at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. In that role she guided strategies and their execution in the areas of housing and asset building. She developed and managed United Way’s Housing First Initiative that built capacity of homeless service providers to implement housing-based solutions for families. Liz is a graduate of University of Delaware, and holds a M.S.W. from Boston College.

Dr. Robin L. Roth is a Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at Lesley University where she teaches in the Social Science Division of Lesley College and the doctoral program of the Graduate School of Education. She is the Coordinator of Lesley College's Child Studies program. Former Mellen Scholar for Integrating Scholarship on Women in the Curriculum, her current research is on relations between the adult daughters of elders and their caregivers. 

Dr. Joanne Szamreta is a Professor of Education at Lesley University, teaching courses in Early Childhood Education and Psychology. Over the last several years, she has organized Lesley’s annual Reggio Emilia Institute and has led study tours to Reggio Emilia, Italy. Her research interests focus on the professional development of teachers and separation issues in very young children.

Dr. Yvonne Vissing is a Professor of Sociology at Salem State University and created its Center for Child Studies, which she directs. Former National Institute of Mental Health Post-doctoral Research Fellow and author of 6 books, she works with the courts, schools, health care, and social service organizations to promote child well-being. Dr. Vissing is the author of a widely cited book on family homelessness, Out of Sight, Out of Mind (1996).