Staff
Donna DiFillippo, Executive Director
Donna has been advocating for young children and their families for her entire career: first as a teacher, then as an administrator, and finally at Dartmouth College where her responsibilities as Coordinator of the Child Care Project included training and technical support of area early childhood professionals from the states of New Hampshire and Vermont. During her tenure at Dartmouth, she worked as a consultant to the Vermont Council on the Humanities where she developed curriculum for a new initiative called “Never Too Early,” an early literacy program designed to engage early care providers as literacy ambassadors to the parents of children in their care. The goal was to get books into the hands of families, while encouraging the parents to share them with their children on a daily basis. This work, combined with her experience in child development and early education, has prepared her for the challenges faced at RAR MA. Donna earned her BS from Boston University and her MA from Dartmouth College, with specific focus on child development, early childhood education, and cultural studies.
Dana Kowalchyk, Development Manager
Dana, a life-long lover of story time, joined the Raising A Reader, MA staff in April 2008. The book “Matilda”, by Roald Dahl is her all time favorite story. Her professional experience includes Development Manager for CityKicks, Inc., Grant Writer for the Boston Children’s Museum, Development Assistant for the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology, and an internship at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis in corporate sponsorships and annual fund. She has a Masters of Public Administration from the Rockefeller College at the State University of New York in Albany with a concentration in nonprofit management.
Sara Pollock DeMedeiros, Program Director
spdemedeiros@raisingareaderma.org
Sara joined the Raising a Reader team in January 2009. Her earliest memories are of story-time with her family, and she has worked her entire career to bring similar positive interactions with reading to urban youth. After graduating from Cornell University with a BA in Anthropology and a concentration in Women’s Studies, Sara worked as a Teach for America corps member, teaching English and Geography to English Language Learners in Washington, DC. Most recently, Sara worked for Tenacity, a youth development organization bringing literacy and tennis out-of-school time opportunities to Boston middle school students. She holds her Masters in Education with a focus on Risk and Prevention from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Christine Ward, Operations Manager
christine@raisingareaderma.org
An avid reader and proponent of early literacy, Christine joined Raising A Reader MA as Operations Manager in January 2010. One of her recent favorite children books is “Wild About Books” by Judy Sierra and Mark Brown. Her passion for reading is supported by her volunteer work including co-chairing the library committee for several years at a nursery school- increasing funds raised year over year. Other charitable work includes serving on Hill House Council (a community organization), as a parent-teacher coordinator, and supporting numerous community events and fundraisers. With a background in marketing and working for entrepreneurial companies, Christine brings for-profit experience and insight to the non-profit world. Most recently, Christine worked as a Vice President for Progress Partners, a boutique investment bank. With an MBA from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College, and a concentration in marketing, Christine is excited to share her enthusiasm and entrepreneurial ideas with Raising A Reader MA.
Lori Jorge, Early Literacy Program Coordinator – Lawrence
Lori Jorge came to Raising A Reader Massachusetts after working in the human services field for the past 25 years in the Lawrence area, including 15 years with the Department of Social Services. Lori has a strong background in working with family child care providers, including her work as a Family Child Care Licensor, where she monitored a caseload of 300 providers and as the Director of Clarendon Family Child Care. In both roles, she provided ongoing training and professional development opportunities to family child care providers. Most recently, Lori directed the Even Start Family Literacy program at the Greater Lawrence Community Action Council, where she transformed the program from being on probation with low attendance to successfully graduating students in just one year. Lori recently completed her portfolio for submission to Lesley College and is now a Bachelor’s degree candidate in Counseling Psychology.
Heloísa Micheletti Alvarez, Early Literacy Program Coordinator – Greater Boston
Heloísa is a big fan of the Brazilian book “Flicts,” which tells the story of an unusual color in search of its own place in the universe. She brings to Raising A Reader 10 years of experience as a clinical and community psychologist in both Health and Education institutions in Brazil, a strong background on Early Childhood Development and Child Psychology, and the personal commitment to foster better opportunities for underprivileged children.
Heloísa recently received a Masters in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and she also has Psychologist and Bachelor in Psychology degrees from PUC-RJ, a Specialization degree in Children and Adolescent Mental Health from the IPUB/UFRJ, and a Specialization degree in Psychoanalytical Theory from PUC-SP.
Siury Pulgar, Early Literacy Program Coordinator – Greater Boston
Siury grew up in Venezuela thinking that books were only useful for homework and that libraries were boring, old, and dusty places. In fact, visiting a library or taking books home was never part of her childhood. But, years later, she discovered that reading cannot only be fun, educational, and a wonderful habit to cultivate, but that it also has the potential to reduce social inequalities. So, Siury decided to change her career from journalism to education and to focus her energy on spreading the benefits of book sharing practices everywhere in the world. She found in Raising a Reader a wonderful environment to do just that and she is excited to work with families who, like hers, are just discovering the power of children’s books.
She holds a masters degree in International Education Policy from Harvard University, and an undergraduate degree in social communications, with a concentration in journalism, from Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas. Siury’s free time is largely spent working with community leaders to open children reading rooms and to promote reading among low income families in Venezuela.
Diana Ospina, Assistant Coordinator – Lawrence
Ever since Diana was a small child in Colombia, she saw how education could be a flicker of hope to a better future. As the Office Manager at Notre Dame Education Center, she met many immigrants from across the world-from the shores of China to the mountains of Chile-whom she helped obtain citizenship, housing, and register for English classes. She continued her work with the community as a Family Advocate for Head Start where she helped parents join the community and informed them of the resources available to them. In May of 2010, Diana joined the RAR MA Team, with a firm belief that education is the foundation of a better future for everyone. The earlier we begin…the better! Working with children ages 0-5, and being able to continue her work with Lawrence families, made perfect sense! Diana is currently working on her Bachelor’s Degree in Cambridge College. Diana’s favorite childhood book was “Alice in Wonderland.”