Alisa previously served as the Chief of Pathway to Post-Secondary Success at Tenacity. Before joining Tenacity, Alisa worked for Wediko Children’s Services (merged with The Home for Little Wanderers in April 2020) for over ten years, where she last served as a Program Director. As a proud native of Boston, she has devoted her career to the service of its youth and families. Alisa has over a decade of experience working in the field of human services for state agencies and local nonprofit organizations. Her breath of experience includes direct service; training and capacity building; and program development and management. Alisa is a staunch advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and seeks to bring this lens to her professional and personal endeavors.

Amanda is a 30-year-old lifelong Boston resident, who serves as the Director, Youth and Young Adult Pathways at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. From 2021-2023 she served as a member of the MA LGBTQ Youth Commission. From 2019-2022, she served as a Youth Transition Funders Group (YTFG) Economic Well-Being Youth Fellow.

After dropping out of high school, Amanda attended BDEA, which provided her with a supportive environment, including the flexible schedule she needed to work overnight while earning a diploma. After graduation, Amanda was offered an internship at the school, as a teacher’s assistant, her first formal experience working with young adults. In this role, Amanda provided one-on-one support, designed and facilitated lessons, and assisted with post-graduate planning.

In April 2015, she became an advocate for resources for out-of-school youth, planning and hosting youth-centric events, and building partnerships with other youth-serving organizations across the city with Youth Voice Project. Amanda has spoken about her work across the country, as well as designed and led workshops on the importance of amplifying youth voice through storytelling, self-care and healing for opportunity youth, designing inclusive youth programming, and inter-generational relationship building. In 2017 she was recognized by Mayor Walsh and the Aspen Forum for Community Solutions for her local and national leadership. Since joining United Way in 2019, Amanda led a collective impact effort funded by the state’s investment of over $1 million by providing individualized coaching to 18-24 year olds in subsidized housing across Boston.

Cherina D. Wright, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, is the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs at Suffolk University, where she serves on the senior leadership team and advises university leadership on student engagement, equity, and inclusion initiatives. In this role, she provides strategic direction, programmatic support, and services for all students–undergraduate, graduate, and law. She is also the Founder and CEO of Diversitas Consultancy Firm, offering coaching, training, and guidance to organizations nationwide on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles and practices.

Previously, Cherina held multiple leadership roles at Suffolk University Law School, including Interim Associate Dean of Students, Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Director of Student Engagement & Inclusion, where she developed programs supporting diverse and non-traditional students, implemented DEI initiatives, and enhanced the overall student experience. She is also an adjunct professor and published author on DEI topics in the Boston Bar Journal.

Cherina is a proud alumna of Hampton University, where she earned her B.A., and Suffolk University, where she received her J.D. and M.B.A. In addition to her professional work, she is an active community member, serving as Massachusetts State Director of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and participating in the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association.

Boston native Christian Walkes is a Ph.D. candidate in Education at Harvard University, where his research explores the history of African American education, Black geographies, and civil rights. His dissertation, “Landscapes of Freedom: Black Educational Architects and the Historical Geographies of African American School Grounds,” examines the spaces Black communities built for learning and liberation.

Christian’s work bridges scholarship, public history, and community-based education to illuminate and sustain Black educational legacies. He also serves as Director of Education and Interpretation Programs at the Museum of African American History and teaches at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Cris is the Executive Vice President, Chief General Counsel at Sarepta Therapeutics. Prior to this role, she worked as the Executive Director of Institutional Initiatives for the Office of Technology Development (OTD) at Harvard University. In addition, she served as the Director of Technology Transactions at OTD and the Executive Director of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science. Prior to joining Harvard, Cris served as the Director of Intellectual Property and Corporate Counsel for pSivida Ltd., an innovator of drug delivery technologies. She also has worked as a litigation associate in law firms in Boston, MA, and Greenwich, CT. Cris holds a JD from the University of Connecticut School of Law and a BA from Yale University. In addition to her professional work, Cris is the founder of the REAL Ride, a 5000 mile, gravel cycling event that raised funding for Boston Day and Evening Academy.

Dr. Kelly Cameron is a higher education leader with nearly two decades of experience in student development, career education, and institutional advancement. He most recently served as Career Development Officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Real Estate, where he expanded employer partnerships, launched an executive mentoring program, and strengthened global alumni engagement.

Previously, Dr. Cameron held leadership roles at Northeastern University and Boston Public Schools, advancing experiential learning, workforce readiness, and college access initiatives. He has also served in governance roles with Bunker Hill Community College, Crossroads, Inc., and the Center for Collaborative Education.

Dr. Cameron holds a Doctor of Education and a Master of Science in Leadership from Northeastern University and a Bachelor of Science in Aviation and Management from Bridgewater State University.

Born and raised in Boston, Dre Woodberry is a class of ‘07 BDEA alumnus.  Before graduating from BDEA, Dre was experiencing homelessness which inspired him to use this as a topic for his capstone project and the short film “What it’s Like to be Homeless in Massachusetts” to shed light on the experience of others dealing with homelessness. Dre was presented the Best Youth Filmmaker award at the Roxbury Film Festival in 2007. Shortly after, he received the James Baldwin Scholarship — a full scholarship at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA where he earned his bachelor’s degree.

In 2020, Dre joined the Iota Chi Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and currently serves as the chapter’s vice president. He has received three awards in two years of being a member which makes him the first and youngest member to receive multiple awards on the chapter and district level in such a short period of time in the district’s 100-year history. These awards include the chapter and district’s Superior Service awards and this year’s Omega Man of the Year award.

Currently, he is Director of Family Engagement at The Possible Zone. With over 15 years of experience in youth, family, and community engagement, he has also served as a Youth Development Specialist for the Boston Public Health Commission, Teen Director for the Yawkey Boys and Girls Club of Roxbury, and Admissions Director for Boston Green Academy. Because of his love for technology, he has also started a tech education program for the elderly with the Iota Chi Chapter. More recently, Dre has worked closely with another Hampshire College alumnus to create a technology drive for the Omo Child Home in Jinka, Ethiopia. They have collected over 120 devices for the school and organization, and they have traveled there to personally meet and connect with the students, staff members, and local tribal leaders.

Jumaane Kendrick is the Director of Programs and Partnerships of MissionSAFE – a community diversion program created to divert youth from the school to prison pipeline and the Founder of Beyond The Block Youth Solutions Inc. a nonprofit youth entrepreneurship and mentorship organization that engages young people to be both accountable for their actions and capable of finding their abilities to make change and find success in their lives. He has earned a Masters Degree in Business Administration at Lasell College in Newton, MA and an undergrad degree in Business Management at Bays State College of Boston.

In addition, Jumaane was a gang interrupter with Ten Point Coalition mediating battles between rival gangs, and a Coordinator at The Violence Intervention Advocacy Program who provides support and resources to all gunshot and stab wound victims who enter Boston Medical Center’s Emergency room providing trauma response support and resources to help survivors recover emotional, mentally, and physically to live healthy lives.

Jumaane is described as an “exemplar of forgiveness” and is the definition of resiliency and overcoming adversity from being a high school drop out, ex-offender, ex-gang leader, and a survivor of street violence. Today Jumaane has successfully transitioned from the “streets to the boardroom” and decided that his life wasn’t going to end on the sidewalk or in a life prison sentence. Jumaane committed to preserving the lives of his friends and himself, but with a lack of opportunity in his neighborhood, while childhood friends dying daily he set out to put in end to preventing himself and others from losing anymore friends to street violence Jumaane started Lasell Denim & Co. a clothing and production company in remembrance of his friend Terrance Lasell Jacobs who was killed in 2009. Jumaane’s focuses were to occupying his friend’s time and provide a safe place to be to prevent further retaliation or incarceration. Through his efforts several of his friends created their own companies, went off to college, found career paths, or have left the streets in the past.

Maddrey Goode is the Executive Director of the New England Culinary Arts Training (NECAT), where he leads efforts to provide career pathways and economic mobility through culinary workforce development. A lifelong advocate for equitable access to opportunity, Maddrey brings over two decades of leadership experience in workforce development, public service, and community engagement.

Before joining NECAT, Maddrey served as Chief of Staff for the City of Boston’s Office of Black Male Advancement and as Director of the Morgan Memorial MassHire Boston Career Center, where he oversaw strategic initiatives supporting job seekers and employers across the region.

He currently serves on the Massachusetts State Workforce Board and the Commission on Black Men and Boys.

Meena Kothandaraman is an Experience Strategist and Co-Founder of twig+fish, a Boston-based human-centered research practice that strengthens the connection between organizations and the people who shape their products, services, and experiences. With more than 25 years of experience in qualitative research and experience design, she focuses on integrating empathy-driven insights into strategic decision-making.

In addition to her consulting work, Meena has served as a lecturer at Bentley University for over two decades, teaching graduate students about the organizational positioning and practice of qualitative research. She has also taught at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and held senior roles in research and strategy at Motivate Design and Human Factors International.

Meena holds a Master’s in Human Factors from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Commerce in Management Information Systems from the University of Ottawa.

Norvia M. Peña is an accomplished management executive with extensive experience in operations, program management, finance, and strategic planning. She currently serves as President, CFO, and General Manager of Pena & Nova Corporation, overseeing all aspects of business operations, budgeting, and staff development.

Previously, Norvia held leadership roles in public health and nonprofit organizations, including Program Manager and Fiscal Manager at the AIDS Program at Boston Public Health Commission, where she directed multi-million-dollar budgets, administered grants, and ensured fiscal integrity across programs. She also managed finance and human resources functions for several community-based organizations, bringing strong expertise in financial oversight, staff management, and process implementation.

Norvia earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Emmanuel College and is fluent in Spanish. She holds certifications in ServeSafe, Crowd Management, and the Lee Institute Licentiate degree, reflecting her commitment to professional development and operational excellence.

Salesia Hughes-Hibbert, affectionately known as C.C., is a native of Boston, Massachusetts.  A graduate of Cambridge College with a Bachelors in Juvenile Justice, a master’s in counseling psychology and a certificate of advanced graduate studies in Marriage & Family Therapy. Currently, Salesia is the Vice President for Behavioral Health Services for Children’s Services of Roxbury and has a private practice as an independent licensed Mental Health Counselor. Salesia has over 20 years in the mental health field.

Outside of her work life, Salesia is an active member of the Parent Council at Boston Day & Evening Academy, volunteers on a consistent basis for Edward Brooke Charter school and Little Leaders Prep School. Salesia is also very involved in her Sorority Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Chi Eta Zeta Chapter.