Our Team

David Adams is the Vice President for the College Board’s New England and Middle States Regional Offices, which work in collaboration with the College Board’s member institutions to help all students, particularly those who are underserved, prepare for, enroll in, and complete college. David leads the organization’s partnerships with higher education institutions and systems, states, districts, and non-profits throughout the Northeast that are focused on ensuring that students realize their academic potential and seize the opportunities they have earned. He works closely with regionally elected member leaders and serves as an ex-officio member of both the New England and Middle States Regional Councils. After teaching high school Spanish for several years, he joined the College Board in 2005 as an Educational Manager, serving schools and districts in the New England region. During his tenure in New England, he served as the Principal Investigator on the College Board’s sub-award of a $12.5M Math Science Partnership grant from the National Science Foundation that sought to improve science education from middle school through graduate studies in Boston. In 2009, he began his service as the K-12 Chief in New England, which was soon followed by expanded responsibilities to also lead the K-12 team in the Middle States region. David graduated cum laude from Eastern Michigan University with a B.A. in Spanish. He also holds an M.B.A. in Public and Non-Profit Management from Boston University.

Jeff Davis is an audit partner with EY. He has 15 years of experience in financial services with a focus on the asset management industry. He has spent 18 months in Melbourne, Australia where he assisted clients with the transition from Australian GAAP to International Financial Reporting Standards. Jeff serves on the Board of Directors of Breakthrough Greater Boston. He attended Villanova University, graduating with a B.S. in Accounting and a B.S.B.A in Finance. He is a Certified Public Accountant.

Expert in Cyber Security, Gary Evee co-founded Evee Security Consulting Group, LLC in 2018, and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Gary has 11+ years of experience in enterprise security. He is a former IBM executive with more than two decades of experience addressing complex business challenges across the company’s global business. His tenure boasts many achievements including a consistent and proven track record of successfully managing, and scaling, new enterprises. Under his leadership IBM Security recognized the largest cloud revenue signing for a financial services security solution.   He was most recently a cyber security executive within the IBM Security Division, where he was responsible for the sales force strategy and go--‐to--‐market for IBM’s mobile and financial services cyber security solutions. Prior to this role, Gary was the Chief of Staff for the General Manager of IBM Security, helping to lead the business and technical strategy for IBM’s strategic imperative IBM Security grew to be the #1 enterprise security provider (~$2B revenue).   In his current role he is responsible for the strategy, vision and company direction of Evee Security Consulting Group. He is manically focused on facilitating the company’s activity in consulting, sales, marketing, alliances and growth. Being able to provide clear insight into navigating the complex information security threat landscape is a priority for Gary. Over the past year, he has also acted as a Cyber Security advisor to a number of Higher Education institutions including Boston College, Bridgewater State University and Johnson C. Smith. Gary Evee serves as a Board of Director for Dedham Savings Bank.   In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, travelling, playing golf and is an avid Boston sports fan. Gary Evee grew up in Boston MA and received a Bachelor of Science degree from Hampton University, in Hampton Virginia.

Cecilia is a Principal in Wolf's Commercial Audit Group and has over ten years of experience in public accounting delivering audit services. She has worked with a variety of organizations including start-ups, service businesses, software developers, medical device companies, distributors, franchises, and not-for-profits. Cecilia has also worked in industry at a large foreign-owned biopharmaceutical company which lends a unique perspective to her client relationships having been responsible for financial and benefit plan reporting in that environment. Cecilia's experience includes providing internal control and accounting guidance to start-ups, family-owned and closely-held businesses throughout New England. She is a member of Wolf's Technology Services Team, which provides guidance on accounting for complex debt, equity and revenue transactions to our technology clients. Cecilia lives in Brookline, MA with her son. She delights in listening to NPR podcasts and spending time exploring the city and taking road trips with her son.

Dr. Beth Gamse is an experienced education evaluation leader with broad research and education policy expertise. She has designed and conducted studies with designs that range from mixed quantitative and qualitative methods to random assignment to regression discontinuity to large‐scale descriptive survey‐based efforts of federal, state, and local educational initiatives. She has led studies for federal and state agencies, philanthropic, and nonprofit organizations; her studies have examined implementation and impact of initiatives to smooth college and career transitions, improve afterschool and expanded learning programming, implement policy changes in teacher preparation and evaluation, and launch research-practice partnerships. Her recent work includes consulting with nonprofits and foundations about evaluation strategy and design. She collaborates effectively with evaluation stakeholders to determine evaluation goals, refine study design and metrics as needed, and determine how to present results most usefully. She has an Ed.D. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Ernesto Gonzalez has over 20 years of experience delivering technology solutions to top-tier brokerage and investment management firms. He currently serves as Senior Business Systems Analyst at RA Capital, reporting to the CTO and responsible for delivery of the Data Platform as well as other technology initiatives. Prior to joining RA Capital, Ernesto was VP in Product Management at Charles River Development. Ernesto held management positions at Bain Capital, Wellington Management, Fidelity Capital Markets, and J.P. Morgan. Ernesto was also an independent consultant delivering enterprise data warehouse solutions for financial services firms including MFS Investment Management and State Street Global Exchange. Throughout Ernesto's career he has focused on Latino initiatives and community outreach. He was selected to participate in the Latinos for Education Board Fellowship program which helps place Latino professionals on the governing boards of schools and education non-profit organizations. Ernesto has also participated in mentorship and career enrichment events for Boston High School students, with organizations such as Sociedad Latina and Hyde Square Task Force. Ernesto also worked to improve diversity and inclusion in the investment management sector through recruiting events with ALPFA. Ernesto holds a Master's degree in Urban Planning from Boston University and a bachelor's degree in History from UMass Amherst. Ernesto enjoys being a father of two and spends his free time practicing Krav Maga.

Kamau is a Vice President and investment team leader for Prudential Private Capital, the private debt investing unit of Prudential Financial. Kamau is focused on originating, underwriting, and monitoring debt and equity investments in middle market companies. Kamau is principally responsible for a $1.8 billion portfolio of investments in New England, Long Island, and Eastern Canada, where he works closely with client management teams, intermediaries, and private equity funds to structure and execute transactions. Kamau invests across a broad spectrum of industries, providing capital to facilitate acquisitions, growth, recapitalizations and leveraged buy-outs. Prior to Prudential, Kamau focused on Restructuring Investment Banking at Gordian Group, and Asset Backed Securitizations at UBS Investment Bank. He began his career as an Analyst at Credit Suisse, in the Media and Telecommunications Investment Banking Group. Kamau earned a BA from Morehouse College and MBA from Columbia University. Kamau lives in New York City with his two small children.

Chris Horan has more than 25 years of experience in communications, political and policy advocacy, and education. As the founder and managing partner of Horan Communications, Chris provides coaching and consulting services in strategic communications to school districts, public agencies, non-profits and emerging businesses. He brings expertise in message development, communications assessment and planning, media relations, crisis communications, policy development and execution, and integrated on-line and social media strategy. Chris previously served as the first Chief Communications Officer for the Boston Public Schools, designing and executing the launch of an award-winning communications strategy for the largest public school district in New England, aligning media, public relations, branding, marketing and technology strategies to advance public opinion, policy and funding in support of education reform and improved academic outcomes. Operating in the fifth largest media market in the country, Chris crafted low-cost, high-impact strategies and built a network of partnerships to leverage targeted messages to increase exposure and positive coverage about the work of the district. As a result of his success, Chris has served as a consultant and coach to Superintendents and other district leaders across the country in strategic communications to advance academic and operational priorities. Chris’ unique perspective is deeply grounded in the education, nonprofit and public sectors. A former Chief of Staff for Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant, Chris has extensive experience in the design and application of national education policy. He is a veteran of numerous political campaigns and served as Director of Speechwriting for Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. As a Board member and former Board chair for several community non-profits, Chris has led several rebranding initiatives and has launched community service projects to promote volunteerism, literacy, civic engagement, and leadership development. An accomplished writer and editor, Chris received a BA from Princeton University and an MFA from Emerson College. He has been cited as among Boston’s future leaders and has taught at Tufts University and Emerson College. Chris is often sought as a speaker and presenter on the concept and practice of using communications to increase visibility and promote social impact and outcomes.

Fran Kelly is a graduate of Amherst College and The Harvard Business School, and a forty year veteran in the field of branding, advertising, and integrated marketing. Fran is currently President & CEO of CEOVIEW Branding LLC. From 1994-2014, Fran helped build and lead Arnold Worldwide, one of the nation's top advertising firms, serving in the roles of CMO, President, CEO, and Vice Chairman. Arnold's Drivers Wanted campaign for VW and Truth anti-smoking campaign for The American Legacy Foundation both won industry recognition as the most admired campaign in the world. Well known Arnold success stories include VW, Volvo, Titleist, Truth, Ocean Spray, Jack Daniel's, New Balance, Hershey, Reese's, Progressive Insurance, and Fidelity Investments. Fran began his career in marketing on Madison Avenue in 1978 at Young & Rubicam, working on iconic American brands like Jell-O, Johnson & Johnson, and Certs. He left Y&R in 1981 to attend Harvard Business School where he received his MBA in 1983. Upon graduation he co-authored the book What They Really Do Teach You at the Harvard Business School.  In 1983, Fran left Harvard but stayed in Boston, joining Humphrey Browning MacDougall.  In 1989, Fran moved to one of America's most creative shops, Leonard Monahan in Providence, RI. Teaming with creative partner David Lubars, LML was renamed Leonard Manahan Lubars & Kelly. Over five years, Fran helped LML&K attract and win over a dozen high profile new accounts while also winning numerous prestigious regional and national creative awards. During this time Fran also served as president of the Boston Ad Club. In January of 1994, Fran joined Arnold as Chief Marketing Officer where he helped the agency shape its successful Brand Essence strategic philosophy. In 1995 he helped develop the now famous "Drivers Wanted." campaign for VW. Fran became President of Arnold in 2001, was named CEO in early 2006 and became Vice Chairman in 2010. In March 2014, Fran launched his consulting firm, CEOVIEW Branding LLC. CEOVIEW's mission is to help growth oriented CEOs better understand the high ROI of superior branding and to help them develop the most powerful brand vision and direction for their unique enterprise. CEOVIEW specializes in working with passionate CEOs of interesting brands across categories and at different budget levels. CEOVIEW Branding has helped 40+ interesting organizations improve their brand building over the past 5 years. When not working, Fran is an avid golfer and proud father of adult twins. He is a member of the Boston Ad Club Hall of Fame and co-author of a second book, The Breakaway Brand.

Susan Follett Lusi has worked in both urban and suburban settings, and in practice, policy, and research, during her over 30-year career. She has led Mass Insight Education & Research for five years. Prior to joining Mass Insight, she most recently served as Superintendent of Schools in Providence, R.I., where she was credited with increasing student achievement and opportunity. Most notably, she improved graduation rates as well as reading proficiency scores for Grades 4 and 11, particularly among English Language Learners. Sue was a champion for Providence students. To enhance their college and career readiness, she and her team increased Advanced Placement, Career and Technical Education, and dual credit offerings in all high schools, as well as established partnerships with institutions of higher education. Sue also collaborated with the Providence School Board and Providence Teachers’ Union to develop board policy and teacher contract language supporting increased school autonomy. Sue previously served as Superintendent of Schools in Portsmouth, R.I., Chief of Staff for Providence Schools and Assistant Commissioner for the Rhode Island Department of Education. She started her career at Brown University working for the Coalition of Essential Schools and the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, as well as serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Taubman Center for Public Policy. Sue is the author of The Role of State Departments of Education in Complex School Reform (Teachers College Press, 1997). She holds a B.A. in Economics and a M.A. in Teaching Social Studies from Brown University, and a M.P.P. and Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University.

Paula is the Global Society Program & Partnership Manager at Wolters Kluwer Health, where she forwards the company's mission to improve the quality and effectiveness of healthcare worldwide. Paula is passionate about being involved in non-profit organizations where she utilizes her skills and leadership to give back to the community and help others succeed in their careers. Paula previously served on the board of ALPFA Boston, and currently serves as an advisor to the New England Association for Colombian Children (NEACOL). Beginning her professional career in Boston, Paula worked for a leading hedge fund and several software companies in various sales, client service, and marketing roles. Paula has given speeches on the topics of Online Personal Branding and Social Media for various organizations such as the Boston Business Journal and ALPFA Boston. Paula is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a bachelor degree in Communications and Minor in Marketing. At the University of New Hampshire, she was president of the largest student organization on the campus, the Diversity Support Coalition.

Jill most recently worked as director of education policy at Abt Associates, where she led projects for the Massachusetts Departments of Elementary and Secondary Education and Early Education and Care. Prior to that she worked at the state’s Executive Office of Education as a senior policy adviser in the Patrick administration. There, she helped establish and oversee a $3 million grant program supporting summer enrichment programs for English learners in gateway cities, supported the creation of a first-in-the-nation social innovation fund for adult education, and developed programs for career pathways for middle and high school students. When the Baker administration came in, she was one of a handful of staff in the Executive Office of Education who were kept on. She helped lead a project that compared Massachusetts’ assessments and made recommendations to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, which ultimately led to its decision to revise MCAS and replace PARCC. Prior to joining state government, Jill was the Executive Director of the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy from 2008-2012. During her tenure, the organization grew through funding and staff, doubled the research and events output, and led statewide research on topics like building 21st-century skills, revising state assessments, reforming school discipline policies, and identifying best practices in special education and for English learners. Prior to the Rennie Center, Jill was the Director of Professional Development for the New England School Development Council (NESDEC), where she worked with educators throughout the six New England states to develop targeted professional development for K-12 teachers and administrators. Prior to NESDEC, Jill managed the customer service department for Tom Snyder Productions, an educational software publisher. Jill received her B.A. in Elementary Education from Michigan State University, where she spent an additional year completing a full year internship and graduate courses in Teaching Curriculum. She also attended the National Center for Montessori Education-New England and earned her Primary Teaching Certificate. Jill earned her M.Ed. from Harvard University where she focused on Education Policy and Management. She has been a public school teacher in Michigan and Massachusetts.

Dick Taggart is the global head of operations for State Street Global Advisors. Dick was previously responsible for State Street’s Investment Management Services business. Prior to joining State Street, he was senior vice president and head of Global Operations at AllianceBernstein, responsible for institutional investment management operations, fund services, and broker-dealer operations. Dick also served on the board of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, the organization providing central clearance and custody for the securities markets in the United States. He spent the majority of his career at Morgan Stanley as a managing director, where he was responsible for a variety of operations functions, including Transformation Services, Institutional Equity Operations, Global Custody Operations and MSCI Product Development. His international assignments have included Tokyo, London and Geneva. Dick also served as a principal in two start-up firms in technology and business process outsourcing. He was senior vice president and head of Global Business Architecture at JPMorgan Chase Global Investment Services and vice president and head of Research Operations at Greenwich Associates. Dick serves on the Board of Managers of Omgeo. He received a Master of Science in industrial engineering and operations research from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from St. Lawrence University.