Staff & Board
Staff
Abigail Norman, Director
Jean O’Leary, Assistant Director
Charlie Sandler, Building Superintendent
Nicole Murray, Youth Program Coordinator
Jessica Burko, Green Crafts Coordinator
Bonnie Day, Office Assistant
Abigail Norman (Director) has been at the Eliot School since 2007. Previously, she was Program Coordinator at Forest Hills Educational Trust (best known for the annual Lantern Festival at Forest Hills Cemetery), and before that Director of Somerville Community Access Television.
Jean O’Leary (Assistant Director) has worked at the Eliot School since 2005. She is also half-time Administrator of the First Church Unitarian Universalist in Jamaica Plain. She was previously a paralegal and case worker for the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association, Director of Bay Area Women Against Rape and an administrator at University of California at Berkeley. She home schooled her two children and taught children’s art classes for six years, some of them at the Eliot School.
Charlie Sandler (Superintendent) has worked at the Eliot School since 1969 as Director, Instructor, and currently Superintendent. He is certified in Vocational Education and Industrial Arts and holds a Masters of Education. He has taught and supervised teachers at Hubert H. Humphrey Occupational Resource Center, Fitchburg State College, UMass, Roxbury High School, Dorchester High School and elsewhere in addition to the Eliot School.
Nicole Murray (Youth Coordinator) joined the Eliot School in 2009. She has taught English as a Second Language at Boston Language Institute. Before that, she worked as an attorney, specializing in real estate development and affordable housing. She is a trustee of The Park School and Urban Improv and a member of Edvestors’ Education Review Panel.
Jessica Burko (Green Craft Coordinator) initiated our Green Craft program in 2009. As an artist, she works in photography and mixed-media; she is also a curator and professional arts marketer through her company, Burko Design. Burko is the founder of Boston Handmade, a collection of Boston area artisans.
Bonnie Day (Office Assistant) moved recently to Boston from Portland, OR, where she practiced and taught ceramics.
Trustees
Charles Fox, Co-Chair
Marilyn Mase, Co-Chair
Bob Cunha, Treasurer
Joy Silverstein, Secretary
David H. Friedman
Curdina Hill
Carolyn Ingles
Terry Murray
Laura Peabody
Asri Onur Sergici
Charlie Fox (Co-Chair) is an architect specializing in residential design. He served on the board of the Jamaica Pond Association from 2001 to 2007, chairing its Zoning Committee for part of that time. He sat on the Zoning Committee of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council from 1986 to 1993.
Marilyn Mase (Co-Chair) is an artist, an adjunct faculty member at Wentworth Institute of Technology, a member of Experimental Etching Studios and a past trustee of Community Music Center of Boston and Ballet Rox. She has shown her art most recently at Mills Gallery, Duxbury Art Complex Museum and May Snow Gallery, and her illustrations can be seen in the Boston Red Sox children’s book, Wally the Green Monster.
Bob Cunha (Treasurer) is a Principal at Market Metrics, a market research firm focusing on investments and insurance. He has served on boards of several nonprofit organizations including Boston Cares and Hands On Network. He is also a trustee of Milton Academy.
Joy Silverstein (Secretary) is owner of Fresh Hair Salon, which she founded in 1982. She is past President and long-time member of Jamaica Plain Business & Professional Association. She sat on the Shule Committee of Boston Workmen's Circle from 2000 to 2006.
David Hodes Friedman is Professor of Architectural History at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, chair of MIT’s Architecture Department for this academic year, and a member of the College Art Association and the Society of Architectural Historians. He has received numerous fellowships and awards for his work on urban design and architecture in Renaissance Italy. He is a woodworking student at the Eliot School.
Curdina Hill is Interim Executive Director of City Life/Vida Urbana, a grassroots, multi-issue, bilingual organization in Jamaica Plain with a focus on affordable housing and tenants’ rights. She is also an organizational development consultant, leadership and life coach. Her practice, ClearWays to Freedom, focuses on the design and facilitation of strategic planning and community planning processes, program development and evaluation, with experience in cultural competency, leadership and team development in diverse or multi-cultural groups or settings. She serves on the Community Advisory Board of the Martha Eliot Community Health Center and on the board of Women Transforming Communities.
Carolyn Ingles is Director of Staff Development & Training at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital and serves on the board of Shattuck Partners, which supports the needs of Shattuck Hospital patients. She has also produced Community Health Update, a weekly show on BNN-TV, for over 15 years.
Terry Murray is Managing Member of Eliot Street Capital LLC, a real estate investment firm, with past experience as an attorney. He is a member of the Real Estate Committee for Partners Healthcare. He served as trustee for Providence Country Day School through 2009 and for YouthBuild Boston through 2007.
Laura Peabody is Senior Vice President, General Counsel of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and chairs the Board of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation. She served on the Board of the Women's Bar Foundation from 2005 to 2008 and is currently a trustee for the New England Chapter of UNICEF. She is a Member of the Boston Bar Association Council.
Asri Onur Sergici earned his Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Science in Finance in 2009 from Carroll School of Management at Boston College. He has worked as Research Associate at State Street Associates, specializing in international investments. Onur’s grandfather was founder of one of Turkey’s foremost furniture companies. He comes to the Eliot School through the Business on Board program of the Arts & Business Council.