September 4, 2008

 Contact: Nick Lorenzen 781-348-4239

Nellie Mae Education Foundation

Announces New Senior Team

Staff additions integral to achieving

 strategic goal of transforming education

Quincy, MA – As a new school year begins, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, the largest philanthropy in New England devoted exclusively to education, has enhanced its Senior Team to support the Foundation’s new strategic goal of stimulating transformative change in public education.

The Foundation has hired José Massó as Director of Communications; Beth M. Miller Ph.D. as Director of Research and Evaluation; and Charles M. Toulmin as Director of Policy. The three join recently-hired Vice President of Programs Mary Sylvia Harrison, Director of Finance Michael Carey, and President and CEO Nicholas C. Donohue as members of the Foundation’s leadership team.

“We’re excited to be able to add such intelligent, passionate people to a staff that is already rich in experience and talent,” said Donohue. “The Foundation’s goal is to help transform public education systems so that all learners – regardless of age or socio-economic status – achieve success.  Our soon-to-be-released report, What It Takes To Succeed In The 21^st Century – And How New Englanders Are Faring, reinforces the decisions behind both our new strategic agenda and the expansion of our staff:  If we want to provide people with the skills and knowledge to become civically engaged, self-sufficient citizens, we must begin to cultivate a wider range of educational opportunities and pathways that expand previous notions of how, when, where, and from whom people learn. This work must - and will - engage the New England community in partnerships in order to investigate and promote innovative practices. We will also increase our own presence and knowledge in the arenas of public policy and public understanding.  We are confident that, with the addition of our new senior team, we now possess the organizational capacity necessary to move this challenging, but vital, work forward.”

José Massó, Director of Communications – José Massó’s notable career includes prominent and groundbreaking positions in education, communications, politics, entertainment and sports. Mr. Massó produces and hosts the award-winning Latin music show ¡Con Salsa! on WBUR- FM. His previous positions include Regional Director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration New England Regional Office. During the 2004 presidential elections, he served as the Trip and Event Director/Member Relations for Hispanos Unidos Con Kerry Democratic National Committee campaign throughout the 1-4 corridor in Central Florida. For a number of years, Mr. Massó worked for Northeastern University. He was Senior Associate Director and Chief Operating Officer at the Center for the Study of Sport in Society, and later was named Assistant Director of Government Relations and Community Affairs.  Prior to Northeastern, he was executive director of Patria Enterprises, Inc., handling publicity, public relations, marketing, contract negotiations and special events and promotions, as well as identifying and developing the Latino market in baseball and entertainment. Mr. Massó moved to Boston in 1973 after completing his studies at Antioch College with a B.A. in Secondary Education.

Beth M. Miller, Ph.D., Director of Research and Evaluation – Dr. Beth Miller was previously the President of Miller-Midzik Research Associates (MMRA), and a Senior Research Advisor at the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST), Center for Research on Women, Wellesley College.  Her reports for the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Critical Hours: Afterschool Programs and Educational Success and The Learning Season: The Untapped Power of Summer to Advance Student Achievement, have been widely disseminated.  Over the past 20 years, Dr. Miller has conducted many influential evaluations, research projects and policy analyses.  Her work has focused on bridging the worlds of research, policy and practice in education and out-of-school time.  Dr. Miller presents frequently at conferences and meetings and has been quoted in local, national and international media. She holds a B.A. from Hampshire College and a Ph.D. in Social Policy from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.

Charles M. Toulmin, Director of Policy – Charles M. Toulmin was previously employed at the National Governor’s Association (NGA), where he was a Senior Policy Analyst in the Education Division of the NGA’s Center for Best Practices. While at the NGA, he led the Center’s efforts in the last two years to offer policy recommendations and technical assistance to governors and their staff on how to strengthen science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education for all students as a key support of innovative state economies.  Prior to his stint at the NGA, he served in several state level education policy positions, including Deputy Director of Charter Schools for the Massachusetts Department of Education and School Finance Analyst for the Wisconsin State Legislature. Charlie holds a B.A. in History from Harvard University, a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, and a Master’s Degree in Education from Harvard University.

Mary Sylvia Harrison, Vice President of Programs – Mary Sylvia Harrison is the former President and CEO of The College Crusade of Rhode Island, which she joined in 1994. Under her leadership, The College Crusade became the state’s most comprehensive college-readiness and scholarship program for students in low-income urban school districts. Program participants have significantly outperformed their peers in the urban districts with regard to high school graduation and college-going rates. Ms. Harrison served on the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education from 1994 to 1999 and represented The College Crusade as Core Partner with the Providence Public Schools in a Carnegie Corporation-funded High School Redesign initiative. Prior to joining The College Crusade, Ms. Harrison was for six years Executive Director of Times2, a non-profit organization that provided math and science enrichment programs for underserved learners. She holds a B.A. from Villanova University and a J.D. from Antioch School of Law.

In addition to the new senior team, the Foundation recently added Delia Arellano-Weddleton as a Program Officer and promoted Stephanie Cheney to the position of Senior Grants Manager.

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation is the largest philanthropy in New England that focuses exclusively on promoting access, quality, and effectiveness of education. The Foundation provides grants and other support to education programs and intermediary organizations in the region to dramatically improve underserved students' academic achievement and to investigate and promote high quality, varied approaches that allow students to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary in the 21^st century.  The Foundation also funds research that examines critical education policy issues and public understanding about education in order to better inform efforts to improve education. Since it was established in 1998, the Foundation has distributed nearly $83 million in grants. Currently, it primarily provides funding through five strategic initiatives: Early Learning, Pathways to Higher Learning, Time for Learning, Adult Learning, and Systems Building. For more information, visit www.nmefdn.org