Board and Committee Meeting Schedule
J.D. Chesloff, Chairperson
Paul Reville, Secretary of Education
JudyAnn Bigby, M.D., Secretary of Health and Human Services (Marilyn Anderson Chase, designee)
Sharon Scott-Chandler, Esq.
Elizabeth Childs, M.D, M.P.A .
Joan Wasser Gish, J.D., M.A.
Chi-Cheng Huang. M.D., Vice Chairperson
Mary Pat Messmer
Cheryl A. Stanley, Ed.D
Carol Craig O'Brien
Eleonora Villegas-Reimers, Ph.D.
Board Member Biographies
JD Chesloff, Director of Public Policy, Massachusetts Business Roundtable, Chairperson
JD Chesloff brings a diverse perspective on early education and care to the Board. Chesloff is the Director of Public Policy for the Massachusetts Business Roundtable. Previously, he served as Legislative/Issues Director at Strategies for Children - a leading early education and care advocacy group in the state. Chesloff has also held policy-making, budget and legislative positions in state government and in higher education.
In the Legislature, he was the Chief of Staff to the House Committee on Commerce and Labor, and was the education issues analyst and Deputy Budget Director for the House Committee on Ways and Means. After working as both a budget analyst and Assistant to the President at the University of Massachusetts, JD worked as the Legislative Director for State Treasurer Shannon O'Brien and then as Issues Director for the O'Brien-Gabrieli gubernatorial campaign. He joined MBR after serving as Legislative/Issues Director for the Early Education for All Campaign (EEA), where he was responsible for developing and driving legislative support for EEA's legislation and agenda which included the creation of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care.
JD holds a Masters in Public Affairs from the McCormack Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and has a Bachelor's Degree in Law and Public Policy and Telecommunications Writing from Syracuse University. He lives in Arlington with his wife Lori and his daughters, Sadie and Tessa.
Paul Reville, Secretary of Education
As Secretary of Education, Paul Reville directs the Executive Office of Education. The Secretary oversees the three education agencies of the Commonwealth - Department of Early Education and Care, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Department of Higher Education. Prior to becoming Secretary, Governor Patrick appointed Paul as the chairman of the Massachusetts State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. He also served on Governor Patrick's Transition Team and was chair of the Governor's Pre-K - 12 Task Force on Governance.
Until his appointment as Secretary of Education, Paul was the president of the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy. Paul was also the Director of the Education Policy and Management Program and a lecturer on educational policy and politics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Paul is the former executive director of the Pew Forum on Standards-Based Reform, and was the founding executive director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE). From 1991-96, he served on the Massachusetts State Board of Education and chaired the Massachusetts Commission on Time and Learning as well as the Massachusetts Education Reform Review Commission, the state body that provided research and oversight for the state's implementation of education reform in the Commonwealth.
In 1985, Paul was the founding executive director of the Alliance for Education, a multi-service educational improvement organization serving Worcester and Central Massachusetts. He continues to play an active role in Worcester as chair of the Worcester Education Partnership's Steering Committee, a key partner in a Carnegie-sponsored initiative to transform Worcester's high schools.
He is a graduate of Colorado College and holds a Master's degree from Stanford University.
He is a trustee of Wheelock College and the Nativity School of Worcester, and serves on numerous other boards and advisory committees. Last year, he edited the book, "A Decade of Urban School Reform: Persistence and Progress in the Boston Public Schools." He is a frequent writer and speaker on school reform and educational policy issues. Finally, he has four children and two step-children who are committed to his continuing education.
JudyAnn Bigby, M.D., Secretary of Health and Human Services (Marilyn Anderson Chase, designee)
Marilyn Anderson Chase, Assistant Secretary for Children, Youth and Families, Executive Office of Health and Human Services, serves as designee for Secretary Bigby
Immediately prior to her appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. JudyAnn Bigby was the Medical Director of Community Health Programs at Brigham & Women's Hospital. She was also an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Harvard Medical School Center of Excellence in Women's Health, where she focused on the health care of low-income and minority women, including breast and cervical cancer and infant mortality.
Dr. Bigby has spent her career addressing health care disparities and the needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. She has published a number of studies and participated in conferences and forums across the country related to these issues. She also edited a book about how health issues present themselves in different racial-ethnic-cultural populations. Dr. Bigby is nationally recognized for her pioneering work in substance abuse education for primary care physicians.
Dr. Bigby served on the Public Health Commission for the City of Boston (since 1996), Teen Voices, and the Medical Foundation. She was also a member of the Institute of Medicine's committee Assuring the Health of the Public in the 21st Century and the Minority Women's Health Panel of Experts for the Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health. Dr. Bigby served on the Council of Graduate Medical Education from 1994-1999.
Dr. Bigby holds a B.A. from Wellesley College and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. She lives in Jamaica Plain.
Sharon Scott-Chandler, Esq.
Executive Vice President of Action for Boston Community Development
Sharon Scott-Chandler, Esq. is currently the Vice President of Head Start and Children's Services for Action for Boston Community Development. Sharon has been engaged in early child policy and services for ten years. She previously served as the Director of Child Care Choices of Boston, the Child Care Resource Referral Agency for the Metro Boston Region. Sharon has a degree in law from Northeastern University and was the former Director of Legislative and Intergovernmental Policy and Assistant Attorney General for Massachusetts Attorney General, Scott Harshbarger. Prior to that, she was also an Associate in a Boston law firm and a Legislative Aide to a U.S. Congressman in Washington, DC. She was a 2005 Schott Foundation Fellow and serves on numerous Boards & Taskforces related to Early Childhood and youth issues. She is a native Bostonian who now resides in Natick with her husband and three young children.
Elizabeth Childs, M.D., M.P.A.
Dr. Childs is the former Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and has an extensive background in serving people with mental illness in both the private and public sectors. She holds Diplomates in Adult, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, an A.B. from Mount Holyoke College, an M.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and an M.P.A. from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She completed her residency in 1990 and her child/adolescent fellowship in 1992 at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center. She is associated with Carney Hospital in Dorchester, MA, serving as the Chief and Director of Psychiatry from 1996-2003. She is appointed to the National Institute of Mental Health Advisory Council. She has been an active member of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, serving as its president 2002-2003. Dr. Childs has held academic appointments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and the University of Cincinnati.
Dr. Childs is a former Head Start parent and member of the Head Start Parent Council and Policy Committee. She has two children, Anamaria (7) and Raphael (10), and resides with her husband in Brookline where she is an elected member of the Brookline School Committee.
Joan Wasser Gish, J.D., M.A.
Joan Wasser Gish brings a breadth of public policy experience to the Board. Currently Principal at Policy Progress, a consulting firm, Joan previously served as a Senior Policy Advisor to United States Senator John Kerry with whom she worked on a wide range of matters including those related to education, children, and families. Joan was also the Director of Research and Policy at Strategies for Children where she produced numerous papers and reports on early education and care. Joan also worked as an attorney on cases related to expanding educational opportunities for all children, and has testified before Congress in support of legislation that would benefit the early education and care field.
Joan Wasser Gish earned a law degree from Columbia University Law School, a Masters degree from Columbia University Teachers' College, and a bachelor's degree from Brown University. She resides in Newton with her husband, Jason, and their daughters ages one and four.
Chi-Cheng Huang. M.D., Vice Chairperson
Chi-Cheng Huang received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and is a physician in pediatrics and internal medicine. He has been affiliated with the Boston University School of Medicine as an assistant professor and is the medical director of the pediatric inpatient service at Boston Medical Center. He is also the President and Founder of the Bolivian Street Children Project a non-profit, social welfare organization that works to address the unique needs of street children in Bolivia. Dr. Huang and his wife have three daughters, ages 1, 2 and 14.
Mary Pat Messmer
Mary Pat Messmer of Centerville is the Executive Director of the Cape Cod Child Development Program - the third largest nonprofit organization on Cape Cod that provides Head Start, Preschool, Afterschool, Family and Teen Parent Early Education and Care and Early Intervention Services to families on the Cape. In addition, she serves as Vice-President of the Massachusetts Association of Child Care Agencies. Previously, she served close to 10 years as an adoption social worker followed by another 9 years as a Program Development Specialist for the Department of Social Services. Messmer has also worked as the Assistant Director of the HALT program in Plymouth, planning and implementing community outreach and education programs. She completed her undergraduate work in Psychology at Rosemont College and received a master's degree in Human Services from the University of Massachusetts. Mary Pat is the mother of two children, Sarah, 25, and Michael, 22.
Cheryl A. Stanley, Ed.D
Dr. Cheryl A. Stanley holds a BA in Child Development with a certification in Early Childhood Education from Spelman College, an MA in Human Development with a certification in Special Education from George Washington University, and an Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in Instructional Leadership. Dr. Stanley joined the Education faculty at Westfield State University in 1993. In September 2010, she was appointed the Interim Dean of Education. In October 2011, appointed Dean of Education at Westfield State University.
As a faculty member of the Education Department, Dr. Stanley has served as the Chairperson, Early Childhood Program Coordinator, and coordinator of the pre-practicum program. Dr. Stanley taught courses in curriculum and instruction and classroom management for education majors seeking licensure in early childhood, elementary and special education as well as for pre-service and in-service teachers at the post baccalaureate and graduate level.
Dr. Stanley has one son. Her favorite hobby is watching him play basketball. Other interests include traveling, walking outdoors and listening to inspirational tapes.
Carol Craig O'Brien
Carol Craig O'Brien, a resident of Westwood, is the Early Childhood Coordinator for Westwood Public Schools and is responsible for a community network of services for professionals and families. She manages multiple Early Childhood grants within the school district and worked as a program developer to create, develop and implement early childhood programs within the Westwood public school system. Previously, she worked in the Needham Public Schools as an Early Childhood Special Educator and was also an Adjunct Faculty Member at Wheelock College as a course instructor and field supervisor for undergraduate and graduate student teacher interns in early childhood, early intervention and special education.
Eleonora Villegas-Reimers, Ph.D.
Dr. Villegas-Reimers is currently Chair of Elementary Education Department and Associate Professor at Wheelock College. She has worked as a high school teacher, an assistant principal and served as an international student advisor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her extensive academic resume includes expertise in child cognitive development and published research on improving teacher professional development, particularly in developing countries, and in values education, particularly democratic values and skills. She also serves on the Subcommittee on English Language Learners of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education's Committee on the Proficiency Gap. Dr. Villegas-Reimers becomes the next representative on the Board filling the role of Early Education Evaluator and is filling the seat vacated by Julie Culhane whose term expired.
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