Colleen Holohan
Director

Colleen came to Massachusetts Promise Fellowship in July 2006. Colleen is from Bethpage, New York and graduated from Providence College with a BA in Social Science and Public and Community Service Studies.

Following graduation, Colleen served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA member with the Massachusetts Campus Compact (MACC). Based at Emerson College, in downtown Boston, she worked on strengthening partnerships between the college and local community organizations.

She also spent two years with MACC as the AmeriCorps*VISTA leader, training and supporting her fellow VISTA members serving on campuses across the state.

Colleen has her MS in Leadership with a focus in Non-Profit Management from the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern.

Colleen is also a board member of Oil Heat Cares, a non-profit foundation that assists needy persons and organizations with the replacement of their oil heating appliances.

Cecelia Auditore
Evaluation and Volunteer Manager

Cecelia joined the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship in August 2008 as a fellow and joined the staff in July 2012. Cecelia is from Medford & Somerville and graduated from Emmanuel College with a BA in History and a minor in Political Science.

Upon graduation, Cecelia served as a Mass Promise Fellow at Mass Mentoring Partnership and Adoption and Foster Care Mentoring her second year. While serving at both sites, Cecelia learned a great deal about mentoring, evaluation, and youth development. Recently, Cecelia lived in Chicago where she worked at the University of Chicago in their development office, focusing specifically on their Urban Health Initiative.

Cecelia has her MS in Global Studies and International Affairs from the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern.  She’s very excited to be back in Boston, working for a program that has contributed tremendously to both her personal and professional growth.  Cecelia loves the Bruins and enjoys— with varying degrees of success — zumba, pub trivia, tennis, and softball. 

Katy Thompson
Member & Program Manager

Katy first arrived at the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship as a Class XII Fellow during August 2010 and came back as a staff member in October 2012. Katy is originally from Mount Sinai, New York and graduated from Cornell University with a BS in Biology & Society and a Minor in Education.

Upon graduation Katy jumped right into two years of fulltime service. The first year was served through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps where Katy was placed at an alternative high school in Oakland, CA. Katy then moved back east to serve a year with the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship to work with a juvenile defense clinic in Roxbury. During this time Katy developed her skills as a facilitator, community builder and youth worker. After graduating from the Fellowship, Katy then worked within the fundraising team of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences where she developed a significant appreciation for the power of philanthropy.

Unable to stay away from service for long, Katy is very happy to find herself back with MPF and looks forward to serve the program that radically changed her life for the better. When not working for the Fellowship, Katy is usually in the midst of 3-5 knitting projects, running around Somerville or trying out new recipes in her tiny kitchen.

Julie Balasalle
Co-Chair

Julie is currently the Government Relations and Political Action Associate at the MA Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Julie returned to her hometown of Dorchester after completing her MSW at Tulane University . She served as a Class VII Fellow with SCI Dorchester. Julie was also a youth participant in a Fellow project out of Health Care for All when she was in high school. Julie graduated with a BA in political science and community and justice studies from Guilford College in North Carolina.

Eli Pimentel
Government Relations Co-Chair

A Boston native, Eli served with the Fellowship for two years at the Youth Advocacy Project as the Community Outreach Coordinator, coordinating trainings for young people, helping to locate jobs and community service opportunities, developing collaborations with community agencies, and attending community meetings. Eli also served as a Senior Fellow in her second year with the Fellowship as the Capacity Building Coordinator where her main responsibilities were to serve on the Fellowship Advisory Board and coordinate the Fellow legacy project. Eli also served as an Americorps VISTA for the Children’s Law Center of MA prior to the Fellowship totaling three years of service with Americorps! Eli continues to serve on the board with the Government Relations Committee and studies social justice and human rights in San Francisco, CA.

Eli graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2007 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Government, African Studies, and Spanish. She also completed her Master’s in Global Studies and International Affairs at Northeastern University in 2010.

Rich Bielecki
Government Relations Co-Chair

Rich Bielecki is serving as the Government Relations/Outreach Chair for the Advisory Board. Rich is not a Fellow alumnus but is a retired 25 year employee of the Gillette Company.  He comes to us via our partnership with the Taproot Foundation.  Rich served as the account director for our Taproot Foundation grant.  This grant produced our current web site.  While working on the grant, Rich was impressed by  the great work being done by the Fellowship.  He hopes to bring a different perspective to the Massachusetts Promise Board.

Annemarie Sharkey
Fundraising

Annemarie is serving her second year as a MPF at CD Recreation in Fall River, MA as the Youth Leadership Coordinator.   In her Senior Fellow Role, Annemarie serves as the Capacity Building Coordinator, assisting the other Fellows in the Legacy Project as well as serving on the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship Advisory Board. 
Annemarie is originally from New Jersey.  She attended college at Western New England College and is now pursuing her M.S. from Northeastern University in Leadership with a specialization in Project Management.

Kori Redepenning
Government Relations

Kori has been a member of the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship family for nine years. She came to the Fellowship in April of 2003 as a second year AmeriCorps member and served as the sole Senior Fellow. After that year of service, Kori was hired on as the Director of Training and Evaluation for the Fellowship. In March of 2006, Kori took over as Director of the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship, a role she recently transitioned from. Prior to her service and work with the Fellowship, Kori completed a year of service as the *VISTA Service Coordinator with Peace Games in Boston, where she coordinated the volunteer program and created an internship program.

Born and raised in Minnesota, Kori studied in Thailand, England and Ghana and graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a BA in Entrepreneurship. Kori also holds an MBA from Northeastern University, with a concentration in marketing and entrepreneurship. Continuing her own commitment to service and civic engagement, Kori is a former board member of Families for Depression Awareness- a non profit organization that strives to help families recognize and cope with depressive disorders, encourage and facilitate treatment, and prevent suicides, as well Boston Connects, Inc.
Kori is a huge Minnesota Vikings fan and is anxiously awaiting the day when they win the Superbowl! She is relocating to back to Minnesota and will be serving as the Director of Youth Policy Initiatives with the MN Alliance With Youth.

Yves Singletary
Senior Fellow

Yves served his first year in MPF at the City of Brockton Mayor’s Office supporting various youth initiatives for the city, including coordinating the Brockton Youth Council and serving as a member of the Brockton’s Promise Coalition.  He is excited to be spending this year at The Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) as the Engaging Men & Boys Fellow, where he will be facilitating workshops for males across the City of Boston around deconstructing masculinity, dating violence prevention and promoting healthy relationships.

As a Senior Fellow, Yves is the Capacity Building Fellow which means he serves on the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship Advisory Board representing the voice of the Fellows. He also supports Fellows as they create and finish their Legacy Projects by the end of their service year.

Yves recently received his B.A in Youth Development from Springfield College. A life-long Boston resident, he is proud graduate of TechBoston Academy in Dorchester and also Tenacity’s Middle School Academy. When he’s not working chances are you can find him at the local tennis courts hitting his picture perfect one handed back hand. After his time with MPF he hopes to continue working in a leadership capacity supporting youth across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Jeff has been involved in the MPF Community for 11 years, especially during his role as Vice President of Government Relations and Community Relations at Northeastern University.  Jeff received his BA, MPA, and MBA from Northeastern University and continued his work there for 19 years.   He is now the Chief of Staff at Merrimack College and in his spare time likes to golf, sail, and travel. 

Chaci Ciano
Youth Voice

Charles “Chaci” Ciano is currently the Grants Administrator at YouthBuild USA.  In this position he ensures federal financial compliance for over 50 YouthBuild programs across the country and multiple international grants.  Chaci has over 6 years of experience working with national service programs and federal contracts.  Previous to his arrival at YouthBuild USA, Chaci worked as a Program Officer with the Massachusetts Service Alliance (MSA), the state commission on community service.  At MSA, Chaci administered multiple state and federal grants to sub-grantees (including AmeriCorps and mentoring programs), this is where he began working with the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship.  During his time at the commission, Chaci oversaw both fiscal and programmatic reporting and management, while providing technical assistance and training to programs.  Chaci received his B.S. from Emerson College in Integrated Marketing Communications, and his M.S. in Human Services with a specialization in Non-profit Management from Northeastern University.

Alia Hamada
Government Relations

Alia served two years as a Massachusetts Promise Fellow at 826 Boston in Roxbury as the In-School Project Coordinator. She managed the elementary and middle school in-school tutoring program and publishing projects, as well as coordinated 826 Boston's field trip program and creative writing workshops. Alia also served as a Senior Fellow during her second year of service with MPF. Originally from Phoenix, AZ, Alia graduated from Emerson College with a BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing in 2007. After college, she worked in several different departments at a children's book publishing company in Cambridge. She now has her MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University and is the Program Manager of Service Projects at Boston Cares.

Yves Singletary
Senior Fellow

Yves served his first year in MPF at the City of Brockton Mayor’s Office supporting various youth initiatives for the city, including coordinating the Brockton Youth Council and serving as a member of the Brockton’s Promise Coalition.  He is excited to be spending this year at The Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) as the Engaging Men & Boys Fellow, where he will be facilitating workshops for males across the City of Boston around deconstructing masculinity, dating violence prevention and promoting healthy relationships.

As a Senior Fellow, Yves is the Capacity Building Fellow which means he serves on the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship Advisory Board representing the voice of the Fellows. He also supports Fellows as they create and finish their Legacy Projects by the end of their service year.

Yves recently received his B.A in Youth Development from Springfield College. A life-long Boston resident, he is proud graduate of TechBoston Academy in Dorchester and also Tenacity’s Middle School Academy. When he’s not working, chances are you can find him at the local tennis courts hitting his picture perfect one handed back hand. After his time with MPF he hopes to continue working in a leadership capacity supporting youth across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Ellen Reavey
Senior Fellow

Ellen Reavey is serving her second year with Massachusetts General Hospital's Center for Community Health Improvement (CCHI) as the Youth Programs Team's Science Fair Mentoring Fellow. CCHI's Youth Programs Team is committed to generating genuine excitement around and providing exposure to STEM subjects and careers for Boston students. The Science Fair Mentoring program that Ellen manages fulfills this commitment by engaging Boston middle schoolers with MGH employees in completing the students' school science fair projects. Ellen's service includes managing mentor and student recruitment and engagement, and working one on one with students to ensure that they are proud of their projects.

As a Senior Fellow, Ellen serves as the Fellow/Alumni Liaison to engage MPF alumni in Fellow programming and to work with the Alumni Host Committee to coordinate alumni events and outreach.

Ellen is originally from just outside of Scranton, PA, and moved to Boston to pursue her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering at Boston University. After her time with MPF she hopes to enter into education.

Christian Appel
Senior Fellow

Christian is serving his second year with MPF at The Food Project as Community Engagement and Service-Learning Program Fellow. He is working with a group of youth Interns to create, implement and evaluate a three-tiered, multilingual workshop program to engage both the North Shore and Boston communities in positive food system change. In addition, he will be managing a full time summer employment program for youth interns working throughout the Greater North Shore.

In his Senior Fellow position as the Social Justice Coordinator, Christian will be developing and implementing a social justice curriculum of workshops and activities to be delivered at each monthly Fellow  training and retreat. In addition he will be organizing a social justice film series to complement the workshop materials. 

Christian graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in Anthropology and soon after participated in the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs in Pittsburgh, PA. After serving this second year with MPF he plans to pursue a master's degree in Social Work or Sustainable Community Development. He hopes to work in the youth development field with a focus on empowering youth to be leaders in implementing radical social change.

Ellen Gillander
Senior Fellow

Ellen is serving her second year with MPF at CD Recreation in Fall River as the Youth Leadership Fellow. As the Youth Leadership Fellow, Ellen runs all of CD Recreations youth leadership development programs including Promise Leaders of Tomorrow (PLOT) , and The Youth Leadership Council (YLC). In conjunction with the YLC Ellen is working on creating a Youth Master Plan for Fall River that will serve as a guideline for the city’s approach to youth in the years to come.

As a senior fellow Ellen will serve at the Youth Coordinator and will work to engage youth involved with MPF’s many host sites in college access programs, career exploration, and the MPF organization.

Ellen moved to Canton Massachusetts as a child and considers herself a native. She recently graduated from Stonehill College with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology and Criminology. After her time with MPF, Ellen hopes to enter the school system as a school psychologist.

Sahar Momand
Senior Fellow

Sahar is serving her second year with Girls Inc. of Lynn as the College Mentoring and College Access Programs Coordinator. She organizes and coordinates the academic year long mentoring program that pairs high school seniors with volunteer mentors to guide them through the college application process and holds a group mentoring session with juniors to help prepare them for the initial steps of applying to college. Sahar also organizes college tours, financial aid workshops and college access opportunities for the Teen Programs at Girls Inc.

In her Senior Fellow position as the Fellow Ambassador, Sahar will be writing and maintaining a blog documenting MPF fellow experiences throughout the year. She will also be planning fellow celebration and recognition activities.

Sahar graduated in May 2011 with her undergraduate degree in International Relations from Mills College in Oakland, California. After serving this second year with MPF she plans to pursue her master's degree in Public Policy.

Melissa Hector
Senior Fellow

Melissa served her first year in MPF at the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health in Fields Corner area of Dorchester. As the Teens Lead at Work (TL@W) Media and Communications Fellow, Melissa served her first year helping TL@W teens launch a Parent Education Initiative to educate guardians on how to start conversations with their young people about what is going on in their workplace. Every year over 8,400 teens are sent to the hospital for work related injuries. Melissa helped coordinate workplace health and safety trainings for youth organizations through Greater Boston with the youth of Teens Lead at Work. She’s excited to serve as second year with MassCOSH and implement a college preparatory curriculum for the youth of TL@W.

Melissa serves as the Government Relations Coordinator. She will be creating and facilitating a training for Fellows on speaking with elected officials about the work of MPF,  supporting Fellows in identifying their elected officials and inviting them to events as well as helping to coordinate the MPF event day at the State House.

Melissa is a recent graduate of Bentley University with a B.A in Media and Culture and Business Studies. She is currently pursuing an M.S in Global Studies and International Affairs with a concentration in Non-Profit Management. After her time with MPF, she hopes to pursue a career in Corporate Social Responsibility or make her way into the political arena as a Legislative Aid.

Catalina Tang Yan
Senior Fellow

Catalina served her first year in MPF at Sociedad Latina where she recruited and trained college student volunteers and provided support in additional academic and enrichment youth programs. She is excited to be serving a second year in MPF at Viet-AID (The Vietnamese American Initiative for Development) in Fields Corner. At Viet-AID, she serves as the Community Teens Council Fellow and works to develop and implement a sustainable college access and youth leadership development program for high school students.

Catalina serves as the Fellow Engagement Coordinator. She will be creating and publishing a fellow monthly newsletter, planning and facilitating trainings to develop fellows' civic engagement and social capital, and creating interactive and engaging events and trainings for InterCorps and other AmeriCorps programs to participate. 

Catalina graduated from Boston College with a BA in Sociology and Linguistics and is currently pursuing a MA in Nonprofit Management with a concentration in Project Management at Northeastern University. She hopes to work in the youth development field with a focus on research and community organizing in the Asian Latino Diaspora community.