Our Team

The Brooke Schools Team

Network Team

Jon Clark, Co-Director and Middle School Principal

B.A., Oberlin College
jclark@ebrooke.org
Jon Clark was a founder of the original Brooke middle school in 2002. Before coming to Brooke, he was a founding teacher at South Boston Harbor Academy where he also served as math department chair for four years. Mr. Clark also taught junior high school math for two years in Belle Chasse, Louisiana and worked as a researcher for a professor of International Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Clark was a 1992 Teach for America corps member.

Kimberly Steadman, Co-Director and Elementary School Principal

B.A., Harvard College; J.D., Harvard Law School; M.Ed., Harvard Graduate School of Education
ksteadman@ebrooke.org
Kimberly Steadman joined the Brooke staff in 2004, where she served as a lead teacher, math teacher, and professional development coordinator. She then spent the next school year planning and founding the original Brooke elementary school, which opened in August of 2006. Prior to joining Brooke, she worked as a 5th grade teacher for the Chelsea Public Schools and as a 4th grade teacher in Washington, DC. Ms. Steadman was a 1997 Teach for America corps member.

M. Scott Knox, Chief Operating Officer

B.A., Boston College; M.A., Harvard Kennedy School of Government
sknox@ebrooke.org
Scott Knox returns to the Brooke for a second year as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining the Brooke, Scott co-founded the National Partnership for Educational Access, served as Vice-President of National Expansion for The Steppingstone Foundation, and worked with Jumpstart as the National Director for New Site Development.

Lorea Barturen, Director of Talent

B.A. University of Michigan; M.Ed. University of Colorado
lbarturen@ebrooke.org
Lorea Barturen comes to Brooke via Education Pioneers as an Analyst Fellow. For the past two years, she has taught Spanish at the high school level in the Denver Public Schools as a Teach for America corps member. Prior to that she worked for several years as a management consultant with Accenture, in both Washington D.C. and New York.

Lauren Woo, Director of External Affairs

B.A. Bates; M.A. Pace University; M.Ed. Harvard University
lwoo@ebrooke.org
Lauren Woo comes to Brooke having just earned her Master’s degree at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. Her previous experience includes two years as a special education teacher in NYC public schools through Teach for America and one year as a Learning Specialist with Achievement First, New York. Her development experience includes internships with Year-Up and Mass-Insight Education through Education Pioneers.

Deborah Nicholson, LICSW, School Counselor

B.A. University of Massachusetts, Amherst; MSW Simmons College
dnicholson@ebrooke.org
Deborah Nicholson is returning to the Brooke community as the School Counselor. Previously, she worked with adolescents and their families as a clinical social worker at The Arbour Hospital. She also completed an internship in the Newton elementary schools providing individual and group therapy.

Danielle Lipman, Speech and Language Therapist

B.S. New York University; M.S. at Brooklyn College
dlipman@ebrooke.org
Danielle Lipman is returning to the Brooke community as the Speech and Language Therapist. She is a bilingual speech pathologist, with experience providing therapeutic intervention for communication and swallowing impaired adults, children, and toddlers.

Elaine Morgan, Assistant Director of Finance

B.A. Northeastern University
emorgan@ebrooke.org
Elaine Morgan has worked for the Brooke for over five years, coordinating accounts payable, and most recently administering payroll and staff benefits. Prior to joining the Brooke, Elaine worked at Bullhead Technology managing benefits and 401k programs for their staff.

Kelly Alfaro, High School Placement & Transitions Manager

B.A. Saint Anselm College; Ed. M. Boston University
kalfaro@ebrooke.org
Kelly Alfaro joined the Brooke at the end of the 2010-2011 academic year as the Brooke’s High School Placement and Transitions Manager. Prior to joining the Brooke, Kelly spent five years in college admissions, and most recently as the assistant director of admissions for her alma mater, Saint Anselm College.

Sarah Holden, Director, Office of High School & College Success

B.A. Wheaton College; M.Ed. Lesley University,
sholden@ebrooke.org
Sarah Holden joins the Brooke community as Director of the Office of High School & College Success. Prior to the Brooke, Sarah was a guidance counselor and directed the guidance department at an alternative high school in Watertown. Before starting her career in school counseling, Sarah was a campus director and program manager with Citizen Schools.

Will Wong, Graduate Services Manager

B.A. Kenyon College; M.Ed University of Pennsylvania
wwong@ebrooke.org
Will Wong joins the Brooke after teaching high school for the last two years in the Philadelphia public school system. Prior to teaching in Philadelphia as part of Teach for America, Will was the Dean of Students with the Breakthrough Collaborative.

Our Board

2011-12 Board Meeting Schedule:

September 13, 2011
November 14, 2011
February 7, 2012
May 29, 2012

All meetings will be held at 6:30PM at Brooke Mattapan located at 7 Elkins St., Boston, MA 02127.

Quarterly Meeting Agenda

Brett Alessi

Executive Director, Education Pioneers – Greater Boston and New England
Brett currently leads the Boston arm of Education Pioneers, a national nonprofit dedicated to developing talent for the education sector. In that role, he’s launched a new Fellowship program, helped guide national strategy, and led an aggressive expansion, doubling the number of Fellows in the Boston area. Previously, Brett founded the corporate social responsibility arm of a leading healthcare group and served as Deputy Director of a global youth civic engagement think tank. Brett has also taught in charter schools and published on an array of education topics. He holds a B.A. from Middlebury College and an M.A.T. from Brown University.

Edee Alexander

Probation Officer, Massachusetts Trial Court
Previously, Edee worked as a faculty research associate at the Boston University Graduate School of Social Work and as Program Director at Perrin House for Community Services, Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Lincoln University and Cambridge College and is currently working towards her Ph.D. at Boston University. Edee is a Boston resident and the proud parent of a student from the inaugural graduating class at Edward Brooke. She joined the board in 2006.

Hillary Berkman

Vice President, Finance, Candlewick Press
Hilary brings to the board 18 years of experience in corporate finance. Prior to taking her position with Candlewick Press, she served in similar roles for a technology company and for Houghton Mifflin. She earned a B.A. from Carleton College and an M.B.A. from University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Hilary was a founding board member at the original Brooke Charter School.

LaRoy Brantley

Cambridge Associates, Managing Director
LaRoy brings over ten years of experience in financial management to Brooke. In his current role, he provides investment guidance to endowments, foundations, and individuals, with oversight of over $5.0B in assets. He also spearheads his firm’s outreach to minority-owned businesses. Earlier in his career, he taught Classics for seven years at Roxbury Latin School. He played Varsity football and track and played professional football with the New England Patriots. He holds a B.A. from Amherst College and an M.B.A. from the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T.

Bart Bussink

Real Estate Developer
Bart has more than 20 years of experience in both for-profit and non-profit real estate development, coordinating projects ranging from $1.2 million to $8 million, and extensive experience working with affordable housing and limited equity components. He earned his B.A. from Hampshire College and a Masters in Theology from Harvard Divinity School. Bart joined the board in 2006.

Scott Oran (Board Chair)

Founder and Managing Director, Dinosaur Capital Partners
Previously, Scott served as Executive Director of Morgan Stanley where he was responsible for its real estate investing activities in New England and the Mid-Atlantic United States. Earlier in his career, he was Partner and Regional Director of TA Associates Realty, Vice President of Fleet Bank in Boston, and Director of Acquisitions for Unihab. He earned his B.A. from Princeton University and and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Scott joined the board in June 2010.

Jill Reynolds, Treasurer

Senior Consultant, Public Consulting Group
Jill has served as the Deputy Education Advisor to the Governor, as Special Assistant to the Executive Office for Administration and Finance of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and as Internal Auditor for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. She played a key role in drafting the landmark School Building Assistance Program reform legislation. Jill is a Boston resident and was a founding board member at the original Brooke Charter School.

Jacob Grossman (Advisory Board)

Bay North Capital
Jake previously worked at Cushman & Wakefield where he was involved in a variety of institutional real estate transactions totaling more than $2.5 billion. He is actively involved with the National Association of Office and Industrial Properties (NAIOP), The Roxbury Latin School, Combined Jewish Philanthropies and Jewish Big Brother Big Sister.

Senator Edward W. Brooke (Honorary Advisory Board Chair)

Senator Brooke is the first African-American elected to the U.S. Senate and the only black senator from Massachusetts. The Edward W. Brooke Charter School is named in his honor. Senator Brooke was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1966. During his two terms as Senator, he fought for the right to equal opportunity in employment, for fair access to quality housing, and for equality between the sexes in access to credit, access to education, and access to health care. In 2004, Senator Brooke was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2009, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Building great teachers. Closing the achievement gap.