Our Staff

We are proud of our diverse, talented staff. Find out more about City Year Boston staff members below.
City Year alumni are designated with an (*) below.

Executive Team

Sandra Lopez Burke, Vice President and Executive Director
Sandra Lopez Burke has a wealth of experience building public-private partnerships that have successfully helped youth reach their full potential in both the sports and academic sectors. Prior to moving to the Boston area, the native Texan worked for the San Antonio Sports Foundation, where she managed national sporting events and helped establish Dreams for Youth, a program aimed at introducing San Antonio’s disadvantaged youth to Olympic sports. She culminated her decade of service in Texas as the Executive Director of the NCAA Men’s Final Four. In 1998, Sandra relocated to Massachusetts and joined Mayor Menino’s millennial celebration committee as the Vice President of Boston 2000. After the turn of the millennium, Sandra joined City Year, Inc. as the Director of Individual Giving. She subsequently served four years as Vice President and Chief of Staff to the CEO and in 2007, was named Vice President and Executive Director of the organization’s founding site, City Year Boston. In addition to her role at City Year, Sandra serves as Board Chair of Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center in Dorchester where she continues to help develop opportunities for economically disadvantaged youth. As evident throughout her career, it is Sandra’s passion to help young people create a positive future for themselves and their communities. Sandra lives in Dedham and is the mother of four children, two of whom are proud City Year alumnae.

Lisa Fortenberry, Managing Director, Program and Service
Lisa joined City Year in 2001 as a Program Manager for the Young Heroes team. After four successful years in the Recruitment Department as both a manager and director, Lisa was promoted to Deputy Director of Programs in 2006. Her responsibilities include overseeing the training and development of City Year corps members, supervising the Whole School Whole Child service model delivered in Boston Public Schools, and managing key education and community-based stakeholder relationships. Prior to coming to City Year, Lisa served as a GED tutor and substance abuse counselor for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections Boot Camp at Old Colony in Bridgewater, Mass., and worked for Lutheran Social Services as a caseworker for a residential boys’ home. Lisa graduated from Bridgewater State College with a B.A. in social work and a minor in social welfare policy. Lisa is an alumna of the 2005 Emerging Leaders Program out of UMASS Center for Collaborative Leadership, of the LEAD City Year program alumna and of the AMEX Non-Profit Leadership Academy with the Center for Creative Leadership in New York City. Lisa is the proud mother of her son, Malik.

Kelly Hughes, Senior Projects Manager
Kelly began her City Year career in November 2009 as the Executive Assistant to Sandra Lopez Burke. In her new role as Senior Projects Manager, Kelly continues to support the Executive Director while managing the daily operations of the Executive Office team and communication with the City Year Boston Advisory Board. Prior to joining City Year, Kelly worked as the Communications Specialist at Kate Mercer Productions and as a Marketing Coordinator at David Jones Limited in Sydney, Australia, where she lived for several months during college. Kelly has a bachelor’s degree in communication from Boston University. She is originally from Stonington, Connecticut and currently resides in Jamaica Plain.

Susanna (Susa) Visuri Monacelli, Managing Director of Resource Development and Marketing
Susa has fourteen years of strategy and business development experience in both start-up and established healthcare and consulting firms. Prior to joining City Year, Susa worked as the Managing Director of New Program Development at Blue Cross Blue Shield and as a consultant at McKinsey. As City Year Boston’s Managing Director of Resource Development and Marketing, Susa leads Boston’s fundraising efforts and is a member of the site’s Executive Leadership team. Susa earned her bachelor's degree in health and society from Brown University and a master's in business administration from Columbia. She is a native of Finland and currently lives in Wellesley with her husband and two daughters.

Bryan Rotach, Managing Director, Strategy and Operations
As Chief of Staff, Bryan manages City Year Boston's Advisory Board and financial, human resource, and strategic planning functions. Prior to joining City Year in 2008, Bryan managed a portfolio of service and civic engagement initiatives for students at the University of Rochester and recent graduates from Rochester-area colleges. Bryan earned his bachelor's degree in anthropology and master's in business administration from the University of Rochester.

Development

Tara Evin, Events Manager
Tara joined City Year, Inc. in 2005. Over the past six years, Tara has led the operations and planning for all National Development events at City Year. She recently joined the Boston team in the fall of 2011 to lead signature events, including the Women’s Leadership Breakfast, the Legal Community Breakfast, Starry Starry Night and Graduation. Tara has extensive experience in event planning and development. Prior to joining City Year, Tara worked as an independent research and event consultant working with organizations including the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the Profiles in Courage Award, The Boston Public Library Foundation and the Belmont Hill School. Tara lives in Hingham, MA with her husband and three children.

Duke Guthrie, Foundations Manager
Duke joined City Year Boston in 2010. Prior to working at City Year, Duke served as Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at the Children’s Trust Fund, a statewide child abuse prevention agency, and as Senior Program Officer at Urban Edge, one of New England’s largest community development corporations. Duke also spent five years in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he served as resident director for the Council on International Educational Exchange study abroad program. Duke graduated with a B.A. from Princeton University and holds graduate degrees from Brown University and Boston University. Duke lives with his wife and two sons in East Boston where he served for six years on the Board of Directors of Zumix, a non-profit serving youth through music and the arts.

Donna Quirk, Individual Giving Officer
Donna joined the Boston development team in February 2010 to assist with the Starry Starry Night gala and is now a permanent member of the staff as the Individual Giving Officer. Working alongside Board members and the Starry Starry Night committee, Donna has generated excitement among our individual champions for Boston's future and scale plan. Donna has a master's degree in education administration from Boston College and serves on the Board of Heading Home.

Jana Rayfield, Development Operations Manager
Jana joined City Year in November 2010. Prior to working at City Year, Jana worked at Combined Jewish Philanthropies for seven years as Senior Event Planner, managing the organization’s fundraising events, maintaining relationships with volunteers and committee members, training new staff in the department and organizing event registration and mailings. Jana is a graduate of Northeastern University with a degree in communication studies, where she was also a member of the Varsity Women’s Crew Team. Outside of work, she spends her time volunteering for the Susan G. Komen Organization, training for charity bike rides and marathons and spending time with her nieces and nephew.

External Affairs

Laurie Herschman, Communications Manager
Laurie joined the external affairs team in 2010 as Boston's Communications Manager, leading efforts to share our stories with existing champions and promote our work throughout Boston. After graduating from Boston University with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications, Laurie served for a year with AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps, at America SCORES Chicago. After relocating to Boston, Laurie was Site Coordinator of the Youth Education Program at Castle Square in Boston’s South End. Most recently, she worked at the Dorchester Community Center for the Visual Arts and was a freelance graphic designer for varied local non-profit organizations and social businesses.

Igor Kharitonenkov, Communications Coordinator
Igor strongly believes in the power of new media in delivering a message to mass audiences. As Communications Coordinator at City Year Boston, Igor is spearheading online communications efforts. Some of his duties include facilitating the CYB blog, Tweeting incessantly, and hunting for stories. Prior to joining City Year in 2011, Igor was a freelance filmmaker and writer and was fortunate to use his skills to promote social and environmental causes. He has worked with MIT, Backpacker Magazine, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, Bootstrap Compost, and the Dorchester Environmental Health Coalition. Now he is excited to share the story of City Year Boston. Igor enjoys outdoor adventure, soccer, film, and writing an occasional ballad on his acoustic guitar. He was born in Russia and has lived in Germany and Indiana.

Jonathan Palumbo, Director of External Affairs and Government Relations
Jonathan is responsible for building greater public understanding of and support for City Year Boston’s work. Previously, he was Communications Director at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education working closely with the Governor and Secretary of Education to advance strategic policy and reform initiatives in primary, secondary and higher education. In the nine years prior to joining the Secretary’s team, Jonathan served as the Spokesman and Media Relations Specialist for Boston Public Schools and was the Assistant Director of Media Relations and Spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Education.

Recruitment

Evan Carper, Admissions Coordinator*
Evan served his corps year in 2006-2007 on the Bain and Company Team, working in kindergarten and third grade classes at the Aggasiz Elementary School. Since his corps year, Evan spent two years attending Denison University in Ohio, and then transferred back to Boston where he has finished his junior year at Boston College. Evan plans to graduate in 2011 with a major in English and a minor in marketing, and is very excited to be a part of the CYB team again.

Christian Correa, Recruitment Director
Christian began his career with City Year more than four years ago as an Admissions Manager, then moved on to become Outreach Manager, and is currently serving as the Recruitment Director. Prior to coming to City Year, Christian served as the Director of Youth Transition and Placement for the Massachusetts Department Youth Services at The Metropolitan Youth Detention Center, in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Christian is a proud father and husband who currently resides in Winthrop, Massachusetts.

Ann Holland, Recruitment Coordinator*
Ann Holland has recently joined the City Year Boston staff team as Recruitment Coordinator. Prior to this, Ann served two years with City Year Boston. As a first year corps member she served on the Young Heroes team as the Special Events Coordinator, and returned as a Senior Corps member to work as a Project Leader in the Boston recruitment department. She has a degree in English and creative writing from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Ben Marshall, Admissions Coordinator
Ben joined the recruitment team at City Year Boston in August 2011. Prior to working at City Year, Ben has spent his time travelling and working with children in program development, mentoring and counseling environments. Most notably, running a summer school in Geneva, Switzerland for children where English is not their first language and teaching Outdoor Education to inner city youth’s on Cape Cod. Originally from the UK, Ben completed a degree in business and sports studies at Southampton Solent University in 2007 and has worked for nonprofits in Portland, Maine and for the YMCA.

Jamaal Williams, Recruitment Manager*
Jamaal joined City Year Boston in 2009 as Program Manager of the Young Heroes team, and is now excited to share his City Year experiences with prospective corps members as part of the Recruitment Department. Prior to working at CYB, he served as a corps member and senior corps member at City Year New York on the Long Island City Young Heroes team, where he planned and ran middle school service-learning programs. Originally from Jamaica, New York, Jamaal grew up with a dedication to helping others. After receiving a B.A. in psychology and africana studies from Cornell University, Jamaal discovered City Year as the perfect opportunity to be civically engaged with youth in his community program and service.

Program Directors

Chris Farnkoff, WSWC Director of School and Community Partnerships*
Chris first became part of City Year as a corps member in Boston, serving at the Umana- Barnes Middle School in East Boston. After receiving a B.A. in history and sociology from Bridgewater State College, he returned to City Year to serve as a senior corps member in the founding year of CY Louisiana. Following that year he returned to Boston as a Program Manager. As a Program Manager, Chris oversaw one of our national pilot projects, leading the team at the Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester. He now works as one of our Directors of Community and School Partnerships, overseeing service at five of our partnering schools.

Chris Plummer, Corps Director*
Chris joined City Year as a corps member in 2003 and returned as a senior corps member the following year. Joining staff in 2005 as Program Manager, Chris led two teams providing whole school support in two Dorchester elementary schools. Currently in his fourth year as Corps Director, he oversees all training and support for 177 corps members serving in Boston. Prior to joining City Year, Chris graduated from University of New Hampshire with a double major in psychology and philosophy.

Nikki Tabron, Senior Director of School and Community Partnerships*
Nikki has been a part of the City Year community for 12 years. She is a City Year Columbia alumna where she served as a corps member and senior corps member. Upon completion of her corps experience she joined the Founding Team of City Year New Hampshire. During her time at CYNH she served as a Program Manager, Program Director and the Program and Service Director. She truly enjoyed her start-up experience and gained a wide variety of skills which aided her in her next role at City Year; In 2004, Nikki joined Care Force. As a Project Manager, she created and implemented large-scale service events for corporate partners across the country and internationally. While she worked with several corporate clients, she specifically managed the relationships with PepsiCo and CSX. Two years later Nikki joined City Year Boston as Service Director. Nikki has been on CYB's leadership team for five years. In this evolving role she has been a leader of the development and implementation of our service in Boston.

Nicole Yongue, Director of School and Community Partnerships*
Nicole Yongue joined City Year Boston as a corps member in 2004-2005. After her corps year, Nicole returned for another year of service as a Team Leader. She joined staff as a Program Manager in 2006 and has held various positions in the program department. She is currently serving as one of Boston's Directors of School and Community Partnerships. Nicole graduated from Florida Southern College with a bachelor’s degree in pre-medical studies.

Program Staff

Travis Bickford, WSWC Program Manager
Travis joined the City Year Boston team in 2010 as Program Manager at Agassiz Elementary School, and is now Program Manager at Harbor Middle School. He has a master's degree in education from Brown University. He served for four years in the Army including a one year tour in Iraq, taught for a year at Lowell Public Schools, and taught for two years at the Academy of the Pacific Rim as a 7th grade History teacher. Most recently, Travis spent a year in Bahrain teaching English at a private international school and English as a Second Language at a night school.

Kim Bohling, WSWC Program Manager
Kim is serving her second year as the Program Manager at the Blackstone Elementary School after joining the City Year Boston team in 2010. Kim has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska and joined us after serving for two years with Generations Incorporated as an AmeriCorps State member and a State Lead. She began her career in the non-profit sector as part of the development team at the Lincoln Community Foundation in Nebraska.

Alexandra DeGenova, WSWC Program Manager
In her second year as a Program Manager, Alex now heads up the Diplomas Now initiative at the McCormack Middle School in Dorchester. Alex joined the City Year Boston team in 2010 as Program Manager after completing an M.A. in urban and environmental policy and planning from Tufts University. Prior to joining City Year, she served with several non-profits including Bikes Not Bombs and the Institute for Educational Leadership, and completed an AmeriCorps term with Social Capital Inc. and Girls Incorporated in Lynn, Massachusetts. Alex is also a proud Fordham University alumna, graduating in 2006 with a B.A. in history and in french literature and language.

Kayla Faust, WSWC Program Manager*
Kayla Faust joined City Year in 2009 as a corps member and returned in 2010 as a Senior Corps member leading City Year Boston’s first high school team at the Jeremiah E. Burke. This year, as a Program Manager, she leads the Diplomas Now initiative at English High School. A South Carolina native, she received her B.A. in biology and spanish from the College of Charleston in 2009. She has been involved in many service organizations including Alpha Phi Omega community service fraternity and the Boys and Girls Club in Charleston, South Carolina.

Claudeline Jean-Baptiste, WSWC Program Manager
Claudeline joined the City Year Boston team in 2010 as Program Manager at the Elihu Greenwood Leadership Academy, and is now Program Manager at Holland Elementary. Claudeline has a master's degree in international education from the School for International Training, and she is fluent in French-Creole, French and Spanish. She joins us after serving a year as an AmeriCorps*VISTA member with Boston Public Schools in the Department of Extended Learning Time, Afterschool and Services.

Danielle Joseph, WSWC Program Manager
Danielle joined the City Year Boston team this summer as Program Manager at the Neighborhood House Charter School. Prior to joining City Year, she coordinated the Connecticut Youth Forum, an after-school program focused on youth development through diversity and cultural enrichment. She is a proud AmeriCorps alumna, and served with Public Allies and in Hartford Connecticut. Danielle has a bachelor’s degree in history and ethnic studies from Albion College.

Nicole Kfoury, WSWC Program Manager*
Nicole joined City Year Boston in 2009 as a corps member serving in a 4th grade classroom at the William H. Ohrenberger Elementary School, and she returned in 2010 to serve a second year as a Team Leader at the Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School. This year, she joins the City Year Boston staff as a Whole School, Whole Child Program Manager at E. Greenwood Leadership Academy. Prior to joining City Year, Nicole volunteered with many service organizations including The Shattuck Shelter, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, and the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities. Nicole graduated from Assumption College in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a criminology concentration. Nicole is currently pursuing a master’s degree of science in crime and justice studies with a concentration in youth justice from Suffolk University.

Julia Leb, WSWC Program Manager
Julia joined the City Year Boston team in 2010 as Program Manager at the Burke High School. Julia has a master’s degree in education with a focus on adolescents from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She was also a Fulbright Grantee in South Korea, where she taught high school English. Julia most recently worked at Charlestown High School as an education intern.

Jackie Levine, WSWC Program Manager*
Jackie first joined City Year Boston as a corps member in 2005-2006, and after went on to earn a dual bachelor's degree in severe special education and liberal studies. She returned in 2010 as a Team Leader at Agassiz Elementary, and Jackie now joins the City Year Boston staff as a Program Manager at the Dever Middle School. Jackie has been a volunteer coach with the Special Olympics of Massachusetts since 2004, and is originally from Hopkinton.

Myk Malesardi, WSWC Program Manager*
Myk is the Program Manager at the Young Achievers Pilot Math and Science K-8 School. After serving as a corps member and senior corps member on the HIV Outreach Prevention Education Team of City Year Washington DC, he moved to Boston to be Program Manager of the City Heroes team, a leadership program for high school students. Originally from Long Island, New York, Myk studied psychology at the Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Michael McGinn, WSWC Program Manager*
Mike joined the City Year Boston team in 2010 as Program Manager at the Tobin K-8 School. Mike has a bachelor's degree in political science from Providence College and served for two years in the Boston corps. Mike is also the Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of the non-profit We Care to Give.

Jane Nicholson, Service Operations Manager
Jane joined the City Year Boston team in August 2011 to support the site's service impact measurement and assessment. Prior to working at City Year, Jane served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member for the Boston Public Schools Office of Welcome Services, building capacity for the ‘Team BPS’ program of goodwill ambassadors for the district. Jane is originally from Durham, North Carolina and has a Bachelor's of business administration from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she was a member of the Honors Leadership Program and the 2010 National Champion Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team.

Kaitlin O'Donnell, WSWC Program Manager*
Kaitlin joined the City Year Boston staff team in 2011 as Program Manager at the Washington Irving Middle School in Roslindale. Kaitlin served for two years in the City Year Boston corps, most recently as co-Team Leader at Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School in Roxbury. She also served as a literacy tutor and mentoring coordinator at Boston Renaissance Charter Public School in 2009-2010. Kaitlin graduated magna cum laude from Providence College with a degree in psychology and minor in political science.

Ravi Prasad, Training Manager
As Training Manager, Ravi is responsible for implementing and evaluating the Training and Leadership Development Program we provide the corps. An AmeriCorps alumnus, Ravi most recently worked at Emerson College in their Academic Advising Center. He is a graduate of Brown University and has a master's degree in professional higher education administration from University of Connecticut.

Mollie Puskar, Civic Engagement Program Manager*
Mollie is serving as the Program Manager for the Civic Engagement Team. Mollie has a bachelor’s degree in government from Colby College in Waterville, Maine. She is a proud AmeriCorps alumna of the Maine Conservation Corps and City Year Boston, having served as a corps member in 2008-2009.

Miguel Andres Quinones, WSWC Program Manager*
In 2011, Miguel joined City Year Boston as Program Manager at the Dearborn Middle School. He served as a City Year Boston corps member in 1996-97. After corps graduation, Miguel joined the Citizen Schools organization and worked there for eight years starting as a part-time staff member to a Senior Campus Director in his final year, helping the local organization turn national. After Citizen Schools, Miguel became the Youth Coordinator for Action for Boston Community Development (A.B.C.D) and was self-employed leading trainings around behavior management, curriculum design and after-school and summer program operations for various organizations in Massachusetts.

Khoi Tau, WSWC Senior Program Manager
Khoi Tau came to City Year Boston in 2009 as a Senior Program Manager. Prior to joining CYB, he taught middle and high school for four years in and around the Boston Public Schools system. Khoi grew up in Worcester, MA and moved to Boston where he received B.A.s in secondary education and history from Emmanuel College. He attended graduate school at Simmons College and received a master’s in teaching.