Development Committee
(she/her/hers)

Board member since 2020

Carla is a professional fundraiser with 20 years of experience, having worked in the healthcare, higher education, food insecurity, and Non-Government Organization sectors. Carla has resided in Andover for over 50 years and follows in her mother’s footsteps serving on the ABC of Andover Board. As a board member since 2020, Carla serves on the Development Committee, and she is looking forward to stepping into a Host Family role for an ABC Scholar (class of ‘28). Carla is the proud mom of a Sapsali puppy, named Lili, from South Korea. Lila gives her great joy and she is happy to share that joy with the Scholars.

Secretary
(she/her/hers)

Board member since 2023

Emily is an Operations & Project Management professional who lives in Manhattan with her family. Emily currently works for a large staffing & consulting company based in Andover, MA where she has been employed for over 10 years. Emily is passionate about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives in all aspects of her life, as well as supporting women and children in any way possible. At A Better Chance of andover, Emily serves as board member & secretary, as well as a member of the Admissions Committee and Sustainability Committee.

Alumni Engagement Committee
(he/him/his)

Board member since 2023

Geno is an alumna of the ABC of Andover program, graduating in 1971. He went on to graduate from Middlebury College in Vermont then entered the US Army. After his service, Geno worked in various management roles within the supply chain field for companies such as Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola, and Diageo. Upon retiring in 2021, Geno has dedicated his time to volunteering with organizations including Habitat for Humanity and Team Rubicon where he helps with home construction and disaster response projects. Geno joined the ABC of Andover Board of Directors in 2023, and not only serves on the board’s alumni committee, he also volunteers a week of his time each summer to support house projects at ABC of Andover and ABC of Simsbury, CT. After moving around over the years, Geno is currently living in Chadds Ford, PA.

President Emerita, House Manager
(she/her/hers)

Board Member since 2010

Susan contributes over two decades of experience in consulting and technology executive leadership to her roles in the program and has been involved in all aspects of running this nonprofit. Following a shift from full-time paid employment, she has dedicated more than 13 years to voluntary service on the executive board, serving as both VP and President Emerita on a full-time or nearly full-time basis. Her experience with both startups and established organizations has informed her approach to nonprofit leadership. Working with startups provided her with insights into agility, innovation, and the importance of a lean approach to operations. Her tenure with established organizations imparted valuable lessons on scalability, structured processes, and the significance of organizational culture. With experiences from both ends of the organizational spectrum, she brings a balanced perspective of innovation and stability and has been instrumental in fostering growth while implementing best practices.

Finance and Investment Committees
(she/her/hers)

Board member since 2024

Lala Cronin is an Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager at Wakefield Co-Operative Bank. With 12 years of solid financial industry experience, Lala excels at helping clients with their financial needs as well as building lasting relationships. Lala joined the ABC of Andover board in 2024 and looks to influence ABC Scholars’ attitude and emotional relationship with money so they feel confident to pursue their aspirations regarding financial stability with confidence.
Lala is active in the community, a volunteer reviewing foster care cases for the Commonwealth and as a banking liaison volunteer for Lawrence Community Works. Lala also serves on the Executive Leadership Committee for the Alzheimer's Association to spread awareness and support across Merrimack Valley and the North Shore.
Lala is an alumnus of Seattle University where she earned her bachelor’s in business management.

Admissions Committee
(she/her/hers)

Board member since 2019

Katarina Curtin is from Haverhill, MA, and her varied experiences have created a deep-rooted connection to the A Better Chance program. She attended Brooks School in North Andover as an ABC National scholar. After graduating from Colby College, she served as a Resident Assistant for ABC Andover, where she lived in the dormitory and supported scholars’ academic and personal growth journeys. She has served as an ABC of Andover board member since 2019, and currently works for the Winchester Public Schools as a data manager.

Development Committee
(she/ella)

Board Member since 2018

Dianne has almost 30 years of experience in education and currently works at Phillips Academy as the Chief of Staff and Assistant Head of School for Strategic Planning. Dianne brings her passion for diversity, equity and inclusion to the board as well as her love of working with youth. Dianne lives in Andover and is also a member of the Town of Andover Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee. She has helped with the ABC Oak & Iron event for the last three years as a member of the team.

Host Family Coordinator
(she/her/hers)

Board Member since 2020

Sheila has been involved with ABC since 2016 when her family had the privilege of being a host family for four years. Currently, Sheila serves as Host Family Coordinator. Active in the Andover community, she has served as the president of The Mother Connection and Andona and has been involved in the PTO at her children's school. Sheila has both an Analyst and an HR background. She lives in Andover and has three children.

Events Volunteer Chair
(he/him/his)

Board Member since 2021

Rodney “RJ” works for a global experiential event agency as an Executive Director, Account Operations. He brings 25 years of event and marketing operations experience to the program leading many global event and a SF-based event that drew 140,000 attendees. He has the skills to envision large high-level marketing experiences and activations and lead large teams. RJ successfully executed the 2022 A Better Chance Gala and looks forward to using his experiences to help plan and execute additional events for the ABC organization. RJ and his husband live and work in Andover with their 11-year-old son.

Assistant Treasurer
(she/her/hers)

Board member since 2023

Lauren currently works part time as an accounting assistant, and is a mother of three children. Throughout her life in Andover she has been actively engaged as a volunteer within the Andover schools. Lauren has previously served as the President and Treasurer of the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) at High Plain Elementary in Andover. Once she joined the ABC of Andover Board of Directors in 2023, Lauren quickly jumped into the role of assistant treasurer utilizing her professional background. Lauren is also involved in the Scholar Admissions process and will step into an academic advisory role this year.

Admissions Co-Chair
(she/her/hers)

Board Member since 2021

Leanne is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley Investment Management in the Municipal Bond Research Department. She brings over 25 years of financial analysis experience to the program. Beyond her current role as the board’s Assistant Treasurer, she has guided ABC Andover scholars in searching for scholarship programs. She and her husband, Tony, live in Andover with their college-aged daughters.

Admissions Committee
(she/her/hers)

Board Member since 2020

Claire has been an active volunteer at Andover ABC for 12 years. She currently serves on the board Admissions Team and is the Health and Wellness Coordinator and Head Chef at the ABC house. Claire has held many PTO positions at LLL Preschool, Shawsheen and Bancroft Elementary Schools, Doherty Middle School, and Andover High School. She has also served on boards for Family Services, Andover Coalition for Education, and the Andover Youth Foundation. After recognizing the extensive financial and social needs of low-income families in the area, Claire co-founded the Family to Family program in 1998 and continues to be actively involved today. In addition to her community leadership initiatives, Claire is a trained Merrimack Valley Hospice volunteer and Trauma Intervention Program volunteer providing emotional support to victims and their families in the first few hours following a tragedy. Claire and her husband have raised five children and have lived in Andover for 31 years.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging Committee
(she/her/hers)

Dr. Gloria Rosario Wallace is a Black Dominicana educator-scholar-activist committed to supporting racially conscious, human-centered school and organizational leadership. In her professional and personal worlds, she aspires to center and hold space for Black women and femmes and celebrate Black joy in its many forms. 
As a former Global History teacher, Lead Teacher, Staff Developer, Assistant Principal, and Principal her focus remained on developing loving, safe, affirming, intellectually curious, and culturally reflective communities for our children. She spent thirteen years working in transfer high schools where she co-founded a high school in Brooklyn, NY for overaged, under-credited students. An opportunity that allowed her to use Liberatory and Critical pedagogy to design an inclusive learning community. 
Gloria is a proud graduate of the Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development, the Bank Street College of Education, and the Urban School Leadership division within the Graduate School of Education at Fordham University.  Currently an Executive Director on the SPACE (Strategic Partnerships for Advancing Collective Equity) Team within the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging office in the NYC Department of Education, and the principal consultant and founder of GRW Together, LLC  which offers organizations, collectives, and individuals support through strategic consultation, empathic coaching, and systems design to live and work in equitable, just, and healthy teams. Gloria is also a founding member of the BLESS (Black Liberation in Education, Schools, and Society) Research Collective, which is currently collecting data on the lived experience of Black Multilingual Learners in public schools during and after the COVID-19 lockdown.

Academics Chair
(she/her/hers)

Board Member since 2022

Delia is a marketing executive at software company, Boomi. She has over 25 years of experience in marketing and strategy, and she holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. Delia first joined A Better Chance Andover as a Host Family to Abby Shugert ('21) from 2017-2021 and then became an Academic Advisor to Janay Cox ('25) before joining the Board of ABC. She lives in Andover with her husband and two children.