EDWARD STREET - Key Persons
Amina Bristol joined the Edward Street Board of Directors in November 2017. Originally from East Orange, NJ, she relocated to Worcester after graduating from the College of the Holy Cross in 2016, where she began a fellowship in the college's Office of Alumni Relations. She started as the Administrative Coordinator for Clark University's office of Multicultural & First Generation Student Support in July 2019. Currently, she is the Assistant Director of Student Inclusion & Belonging in the Office of Diversity Equity & Inclusion. Amina is committed to learning more about and contributing to the Worcester community through her work with Edward Street.
Job Titles:
- Special Education ( SPED ) Coach
- Vice President of Initiatives & Aligned Programs / Di - Ann Ethier
Di-Ann Ethier is our Special Education (SPED) Coach at Edward Street. She is passionate about empowering Preschool/Pre-K children with diverse learning needs to thrive developmentally and personally.
Her mission is to champion every learner's unique ability and provide coaching and mentoring to educators that will personalize strategies that foster growth, confidence, and independence.
With over four decades of experience in the early education and care field and with her master's degree in special education, Di-Ann has worked closely with children, families, and educators to create inclusive and supportive learning environments, ensuring cohesive and effective educational experiences.
Job Titles:
- Director for Community Engagement & Oureach at the UMass Chan Medical School
Domenica Perrone joined the Edward Street Board of Directors in November 2021. Domenica is currently the Director for Community Engagement & Oureach at the UMass Chan Medical School. Prior to joining UMass, Domenica was at Clark University as Director for the Office of Community Engagement and Volunteering from May of 2022. From 2019-2022, she worked as a Project Manager for the Commissioner of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the City of Worcester. Previous to her role in HHS, she worked with the Latino Education Institute at Worcester State University and as a Research Assistant for the Collaborative for Youth and Community Justice at Clark University. She graduated in 2020 from Clark University with a Masters in Community Development and Planning and an MBA. As a Latina and immigrant with lived experience, Domenica has a passion for educational equity and social justice for BIPOC communities. She is committed to working with Worcester organizations, leaders, advocates, and youth toward these goals.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of Outpatient Services at Arbour Counseling Services
Eric Roldan LICSW, Executive Director of Outpatient Services at Arbour Counseling Services, is a clinical social worker with a demonstrated commitment to leadership and direct service to underserved and hard to serve populations. Prior to his current role, he has held leadership and clinical roles in opiate treatment, therapeutic foster care, care coordination and homelessness support. He is a member of the Leadership Worcester Class of 2023 and was named to the Worcester Business Journal 40 Under 40 in 2014. He holds a master's degree in social work from Springfield College, in addition to a Trauma Informed Care certificate.
Eve Gilmore is the CEO of Edward Street, having worked throughout the past decade to advance awareness, professionalism and the importance of high-quality early education and care for young children and their families. A non-profit professional for 30 years, she has also held positions at the United Way of Central Massachusetts and the YWCA of Central Massachusetts and remained active with multiple boards and committees in the fields of early education and care and social services. A Worcester resident, she graduated from the College of the Holy Cross, has a MSW degree from Boston College School of Social Work, and has raised three children. She is a recent recipient of the YWCA's Katharine F. Erskine Award.
Job Titles:
- Financial Advisor and Senior Vice President With Morgan Stanley in Worcester, Massac
George A. Joseph is a Financial Advisor and Senior Vice President with Morgan Stanley in Worcester, Massachusetts. He is a native of Worcester and a former owner of one of the area's private child care centers. After working in the child care field for 13 years, he entered the financial service industry. Mr. Joseph brings experience from each phase of his professional life to bear in his work with the Edward Street Board. He is a past president of the Edward Street Board and sits on a number of committees. As a life-long resident of Worcester, he is dedicated to improving the state of childcare in the city and the lives of the city's children.
Job Titles:
- Master
- Master Teacher / Director of Educational Services
Jo Ann Borinski is a Master Teacher at Edward Street. She has over 34 years in the early childhood profession but her passion is still interacting with preschool children and their teachers. As a Master Teacher, she observes, models, and coaches teachers in teaching teams and individually. Throughout her career she has advocated for children, families, and staff by serving several terms on the MassAEYC Board of Directors as Clerk, and the WAAEYC Board of Directors as Co-President. Jo Ann presents professional development to early childhood educators especially in the areas of trauma, social emotional learning and approaches to play and learning, and curriculum. She was also recently recertified as a CLASS Reliable Rater for Preschool. Jo Ann graduated from Fitchburg State University with a BS in Elementary Education/Specialization in Early Childhood. She has an MS in Early Childhood Development from Wheelock College in Boston.
Julie Shaw is the Development Manager at Edward Street. As Development Manager she is responsible for donor development, stewardship, annual appeal, major donor cultivation, special event coordination, grant management and support of marketing and communications. Julie has been involved with nonprofit development work since 2012. Before working in nonprofit Julie taught second grade. She holds a BA in Business Management from Regis College and a MA in teaching also from Regis College.
Karen O'Neill joined the Edward Street Board of Directors in September, 2018. She has worked with children and families in the Central Massachusetts area for over 25 years as a teacher, director, administrator, advocate, consultant and coach. Karen has a Bachelor of Arts degree in ECE from Rivier College and a Master's degree in ECE from Lesley University. She currently is a Professor of Early Childhood Education at Quinsigamond Community College where she has taught since 2013. Community work with young children and families has been a life passion for Karen. She resides in Shrewsbury with her husband and their daughter.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Initiatives & Aligned Programs
- Vice President of Initiatives & Aligned Programs / Di - Ann Ethier
Kim Davenport is Vice President of Initiatives & Aligned Programs. She brings more than 25 years of experience in early education and non-profit management. At Edward Street she leads city-wide birth to 3rd grade alignment efforts for educators, community organizations and leaders to connect and strengthen the continuum of education for young children and families. She represents Central MA on several state-level advisories to impact policy solutions and systems change. Prior to her work in Worcester, she was the Chief Program Officer at Jumpstart for Young Children, a leading national early education non-profit organization, where she led a team to research, create, pilot, and roll out an evidenced-based curriculum that increased preschool school readiness skills. She also created the first national early education teaching fellowship program, the Pearson Teacher Fellowship, which launched the careers of nearly 150 early childhood teachers. Her career also includes work in non-profit, higher education, and business.
Currently, Kim serves on several ECE Higher Education Advisory Councils, and holds adjunct faculty positions with Fitchburg State University, Worcester State University, and Quinsigamond Community College. She serves as Board Chair of the Worcester Education Collaborative, and is on the Steering Committee for the Worcester Education Equity Roundtable. She is on the WPS Head Start Policy Council. She served on Parenting Magazine's Mom Congress Advisory Board and was recognized as a national Emerging Leader by Child Care Exchange in 2016. She is a 2018 Leadership Worcester graduate and lead the Alumni Network. Kim holds an M.A. in Child Development from Tufts University and a B.A. from Villanova University.
Mark Vining joined the Board of Directors at Edward Street in 2003 when his oldest child was receiving excellent center-based care in Worcester. He has been a practicing pediatrician at UMass Memorial Health Care since 2001. He is committed to helping the children of Worcester grow up in good physical and mental health and believes access to quality early education and care is essential to insuring that can happen. In addition to practicing general pediatric primary care, he is the medical director of the newborn nursery at UMass Memorial Health Care and the Associate Program Director of the pediatric residency program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is married with two sons, and resides in Worcester.
Ms. Nutter works in the Office of Advancement for the College of the Holy Cross. She has many years of volunteer experience working with mentally challenged adults and coordinating Red Cross blood drives. Ms. Nutter is married, has two children and lives in Charlton, MA.
Tom Belton has served on the Edward Street Board of Directors since 2007, and served as President from 2014-2018. A U.S. Navy veteran, he has had a twenty-year career with Worcester's Bay State Savings Bank, where he is Senior Vice President of Information Technology, Security and Facilities. He and his wife have two children and are natives of the Worcester area.
Job Titles:
- Executive Administrator of Operations Management & Support
- Executive Administrator of Operations Management and Functions
Toni Ostrow joined the staff at Edward Street in October 2016 as Executive Administrator of Operations Management and Functions. She holds a BFA degree from New York University and has worked as an editor and executive assistant in the publishing and electrical construction fields. As a mother of two and a Worcester native, she has many ties to the community, through her volunteer work at the IHN Family Shelter and through the management and performance of her band, the Hip Swayers, who are active in the local music scene.
Job Titles:
- Consultant, Author, Trainer
has over 25 years of experience in human services and in the area of health/wellness. For the past 15 years her focus has been on teaching mindfulness and other strategies for emotional awareness and regulation as well as skills to support overall well-being. Wendy has extensive experience teaching children and those who care for them, which informed her recently published children's book Breathing Makes It Better, co-authored with Christopher Willard. Wendy consults with businesses, schools, not for profit organizations and individuals to develop sustainable strategies to support well-being and mental health. Wendy facilitates mindfulness groups for adults in her community and runs workshops on mindfulness and other related topics including her most popular series on Happiness. She is an active community volunteer with a passion for supporting services and programs that empower children and their families, was a former chairperson of the Women's Initiative of the United Way of Central MA and was the recipient of the 2019 Advocate for Girls Award.