Meet the Mentors
Meet the Mentors
Meet The Speakers
2019-2020
September 7th
Therese Chin-Lee
Leadership Styles
(9th/10th grade)
Therese Chin-Lee is a supervisor at the Westin Copley Boston. Before taking on her current management role at a 4-star hotel in downtown Boston, Therese worked in hospitality and management in Chicago and Trinidad. Therese brings a wealth of experiences and insights from her work as well as her current studies in the MS in Leadership and Administration program at Boston College.
Stephanie Frias
Who am I?
Understanding Our Character
(8th grade)
Stephanie Frias is a Community Outreach and Student Recruitment Manager for Brilla Public Charter Schools in the South Bronx. Her professional experience includes program coordinator for a business school in New York City, teacher trainer in South Korea (for over 150 teachers), operations coordinator in the beauty industry in New York City, and as an educator at a nonprofit organization in the South Bronx. Intuitive and creative, Stephanie loves to coordinate, invent, and put entrepreneurial ideas to work.
October 5th
Mary Brennan
Why Work?
(8th grade)
Mary Brennan is the head of the Customer Engagement team at AdjusterPro, a company that licenses insurance adjusters across the country. She has extensive experience as a freelance proofreader, editor, and writer. Mary lives with her husband David and the youngest of their six children in Franklin, Massachusetts.
Christine Marete
Freedom 'for' versus
Freedom 'from'
(9th/10th grade)
Christine Marete is a Software Engineer currently working in Prudential Financial Services. She was born in Nairobi, Kenya and spent a large part of her early years in Maryland. She received her Bachelors Degree in Computer Engineering in 2016 from the University of Maryland College Park. She worked at CFRA Research as a Software Engineer located in the financial district of New York for two and a half years and recently transitioned to Prudential. She enjoys speaking to young women regarding career and personal development. She currently resides in New York City.
November 2nd
Janice M. Chasse-King
What is this feeling?
Integrating Our Emotions
(8th grade)
Janice M. Chasse-King holds degrees as a BSN from the University of Lowell, MSN in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing and Clinical Nurse Specialist, Board Certified (PMHCNS, BC) from Boston University, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from Regis College. She is an Associate Professor of Mental Health Nursing at Salem State University, School of Nursing as well as holding an attending position on a locked adult, 22 bed psychiatric unit at Holy Family Hospital’s Center for Behavioral Medicine located in Methuen, MA.
Janice has worked with teen/adult victims from domestic violent settings, polysubstance abuse disorders, anxiety & stress related disorders, mood and thought disorders as well as many other mental health issues affecting one’s overall wellness. She recently presented at an international conference in Valencia, Spain (March 2019) as part of a research team at Salem State University studying student nurses’ anxiety when working with clients suffering from a mental illness and reducing the stigma of mental illness.
Michele Gutlove
Beauty as Service
(9th/10th grade)
Michelle Gutlove is a local artist for whom glass has been the primary artistic medium for the last 19 years. She studied watercolor, architecture, and structural engineering. While working as an architect, she discovered kiln-formed glass fusing, and her watercolor paintings morphed into three-dimensional transparent sculptures, as handmade glass elements replaced brushstrokes. In glass, humanity’s first synthetic material, she creates durable shapes in colors that will last for millennia.
Michele's passion for public buildings lead her to create site-specific public art installations, and she enjoys working with community groups and collaborating with engineers.
January 4th
Valerie Wencis
How do I present myself?
Friendship and Social Media
(8th grade)
Tell me more -
Conversation and Effective
Communication
(9th/10th grade)
Valerie Wencis leads The Fletcher School's Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing. With more than 15 years of strategic communications and marketing experience, Valerie has a broad portfolio that includes media relations, brand management and reputation awareness, marketing, publishing, crisis communications, corporate communications, and community relations.
Valerie previously served as Senior Manager of Integrated Marketing for Massachusetts General Hospital, managed media relations for Mass General's pediatric division, Mass General Hospital for Children; spent a year working in France teaching English to elementary school students; and worked with NBC News' Specials Unit on high-profile event coverage, including the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
Bernarda Serrano
Designing a Better World
(8th grade)
(9th/10th grade)
Bernarda Serrano is originally from Ecuador. She studied at MIT, working on the MIT GeneSys Project which aims at contributing to the survival and growth of small businesses in the world, specifically in developing countries, by improving their operations and supply chain management decisions. She currently is the manager of supply chain planning at Wayfair, a boston-based e-commerce home goods business. Bernarda’s expertise lies in the intersection of Business, Engineering, and Research.
While in college, Bernarda spent much time working with TECHO, a youth led non-profit organization with a presence in Latin America and the Caribbean. TECHO brings together young volunteers and families living in poverty to transform slums into thriving communities.
March 7th
Nasya Smith
Will you forgive me?
The Link between Happiness
and Forgiveness
(8th grade)
Nasya Smith is an experienced mental health counselor, who currently works as a clinician and case manager in Woburn, MA. Nasya leads group and individual therapy sessions, and she designs and implements therapy programs for patients. A 2017 graduate of Cambridge College with a degree in psychology, Nasya also studied at UMass before earning a Masters in Counseling and Psychology from Boston College in 2019.
Jenny Driver
We're all in this together
Teamwork and Leadership
(9th/10th grade)
Dr. Jenny Driver is a research physician at the Boston VA Medical Center, a member of the Division of Aging, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Trained as both a geriatrician and an oncologist, her research focuses on the epidemiology, prediction, and prevention of cancer and neurodegenerative disease. She is currently investigating the link between cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as new methods of early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.
In addition to her research work, Dr. Driver cares for vulnerable elderly Veterans with memory disorders and runs a special clinic for older patients with leukemia and other blood diseases at the Dana Farber Cancer Research Institute. She teaches medical students, medical residents, geriatric fellows, and provides research mentorship for trainees and young faculty in both geriatrics and oncology.
April 4th
Michelle and Tony Scordino
Dating in the 21st Century
(8th grade)
(9th/10th grade)
Tony and Michelle first met during the fall semester of 2015 where they studied abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France. Tony graduated with a degree in Theology and Philosophy from Boston College and Michelle received a degree from UNC Charlotte in Civil Engineering. They were married in May of 2018 and live in the greater Boston area where Tony is a Theology teacher at St. Sebastian's high school and Michelle works as an Energy Engineer for NORESCO. Their first baby was born in February of this year.
May 2nd
Kate Schell
What do you mean by that?
Understanding Others, Solidarity, and Dialogue
(8th grade)
(9th/10th grade)
Kate graduated with a BA in English from the College of the Holy Cross in 2005 and married her Holy Cross classmate, Mike, the following year. After stints in Groton, Boston, and Millis, they have settled in Franklin, MA with their 5 children. After college Kate worked on the trading desk at a hedge fund, and then served in various roles at Montrose School in Medfield, MA. Since 2014 she has been a friend and weekly volunteer at The Life Experience School, a day program for young adults with disabilities. From 2016 - 2018 Kate completed the coursework for a Masters in Mental Health Counseling through UMass Boston. For her internship she is currently working at a behavioral health agency in Framingham, MA, serving lower-income populations. After graduating this May she hopes to continue her work there, providing therapy for individuals, couples, and families.