Board of Directors

David H. Vaughn, BA
President		 David has over 20 years of experience in non-profit management, consulting, and fundraising.  Over the past five years, he has served on the board of directors of several schools, including the founding board of the Edward Brooke Charter School in Boston, MA and the Mason Pilot School in Roxbury MA.  Prior to volunteering as the full-time president of the Collaborative Learning Project, Mr. Vaughn was a founding director of the Social Innovation Forum, a non-profit organization that supports other non-profits in management, development, and strategic planning.  David also worked for five years as the editor of a National Science Foundation curriculum-development project through the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and served as the staff director of the Community Education Task Force, a joint task force established by the Massachusetts legislature to develop a statewide afterschool initiative.
Charles H. Smith III,
MPA.H.
Treasurer		 Charlie is currently employed as the Assistant Financial Officer at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs in the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Harvard University.  For five years he was an instructor in the Health Management program at Northeastern University.  He has extensive volunteer experience with the Special Olympics Massachusetts, including several years as Co-Director of the SOMA Summer Games, and as an evaluator for various SOMA events.  In recent year he has volunteered in the Son-Rise play-therapy program with a young boy with autism.  Charlie received his Master's in Public Administration with a Health concentration from Suffolk University in 1991.
Jillian D. Walker, M.L.I.S.
Clerk		 Jill is the mother of a typically developing child as well as a child diagnosed with autism.  Her education is in psychology and library information science.  She has degrees from both Colgate University and Simmons College.  Her background work as behavior specialist and mental health councilor as well as children's and young adult reference librarian is a valuable addition to the mission of a progressive-inclusive school.
Marlene Austen, RN Marlene graduated from UMass Boston in 1992 with a degree in nursing.  She worked at Brigham and Women's Hospital in the Renal Transplant Unit and currently serves on the Storybook Ball Committee for the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children.  She lives in Weston with her husband and three children.
Betsy Hlavacek, MA, NCC Betsy's personal and professional lives have always been connected to education.  Trained as an elementary school teacher at the University of Vermont, Betsy was a classroom teacher for the first part of her career.  After her two daughters were born she found multiple opportunities in and around education; as a founding member of two childcare centers, as a member of a home-based team to a one-on-one program for a 4 year old boy with Autism based upon the Son-Rise program, teaching drama, consulting to the Dean of Faculty at The Lawrenceville School on professional development, college counseling and academic support.  Prior to CLP, Betsy was a board member at the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid, NY.  During this time she served as a member of the admissions committee and the board coordinator of an accreditation review.  Most recently, she graduated with a Master's Degree in Counseling at The College of New Jersey.
Patty James, MBA Patty volunteered in a parent-directed Son-Rise play-therapy program with a young boy with autism from 2006-2008.  She is the parent of two daughters who attended the Waldorf School in Lexington from kindergarten through 8th grade.  While her children attended The Waldorf School Patty was involved in all aspects of school activities, including studying the Waldorf philosophy of education and how the curriculum supported children's developmental stages socially and emotionally.  She also volunteered part-time in the business office.  In 1982, Patty received an MBA from Simmons Graduate School of Management, and held positions of Paralegal in a large Boston law firm and Executive Assistant to the President of a small consulting firm in the Boston area.
Robert A. Kenny, Ed.D. Bob is Associate Director for External Relations at the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy.  Bob holds a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Boston University, a certificate of advanced studies from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, a master's degree in Educational Psychology from Seton Hall University and a BA in History from Benedictine College.

A former Associate in Education at the Center for Moral Education at Harvard University, Mr. Kenny is known for his work training young people to develop the political skills needed to participate in the democratic process.  Mr. Kenny co-founded the New England Conference for Democratic Schools and has written extensively on the subject.  His published works include numerous articles and the book, (published in English and Russian) Preparing for Citizenship: Teaching Youth to Live Democratically.  Currently, he serves as chair of the Board of Directors of Democracy.org, a non-profit organization based in Seattle, whose mission is to promote education for democratic citizenship and assist individuals and organizations to make and act on decisions based on ethical principles.
Karen Ketterer, M.B.A. Karen was born and raised in Hong Kong and has spent more than half her life living and working overseas, mostly in Asia.  She has nearly 20 year experience in finance and marketing, encompassing investment banking, risk management, project finance, capital markets, wealth management, and micro-finance.  She holds an M.B.A. in Finance and Multinational Management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an A.B. in Economics and a minor in Spanish Language and Literature from Bryn Mawr College.  Karen has worked with several multinational firms, including Citicorp's Investment Bank in Hong Kong and GE Capital Global Projects and Structured Finance Group in both Stamford, Connecticut and Hong Kong.  She moved to Singapore in 1995 to become the Assistant Director of Strategic Planning and Operations for the Centre for Environment, Gender & Development (ENGENDER), assisting micro-enterprises across Asia.  She then returned to the corporate world to work for Citibank's Investment Products Group, also in Singapore.  She later served as the Head of Investment Product Marketing for ANZ Grindlay's Private Bank in London before returning to Singapore to join the Southeast Asian wealth management division of Standard Chartered Bank.  Karen moved to the US in 2003 and has since been actively involved in volunteering her at her children's schools.  She resides in Natick, Massachusetts with her husband and three boys.
D. Scott McLeod, Ph.D. Scott is the Executive Director of YouthCare at Massachusetts General Hospital.  YouthCare supports social skill development for children, teens and young adults with Asperger's Syndrome and related challenges.  Dr. McLeod is a clinical psychologist with degrees from Wesleyan University and Boston University.  His professional experience as a clinical psychologist with Massachusetts General Hospital; Executive Director of Youthcare; Clinical Instructor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School as well as his practice in individual and family psychotherapy are indispensable for the needs of a school that puts strong emphasis on the social and emotional development of a diverse student population.  Dr. McLeod is also on the Board of the Asperger's Association of New England.
Gerard O'Connor, J.D. Jerry has a wide-ranging business law practice that focuses on finance transactions; mergers and acquisitions; Securities law and intellectual property matters.  He represents clients in a variety of industries, including venture capital and professional services.  Mr. O'Connor assists early stage companies with formation; securities offerings; employment; Joint ventures and development efforts and intellectual property transactions.  Jerry's practice has a particular focus on advising early stage energy technology companies and software companies in all aspects of their formation and growth, including negotiating and carrying out angel and VC financings, strategic alliances and joint venture agreements.  Jerry works at the law firm of Morse, Barnes-Brown and Pendleton.
Lauren K. Weeks, Psy.D. Lauren is a clinical Psychologist who holds degrees from Boston College and Chicago School of Professional Psychology.  She is a Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) Certified Consultant for families with an ASD Child.  She regularly conducts school consultations for children with ASD as well as neuropsychological evaluations.  She is the member of numerous organizations including the APA, MPA, and Autism Association of America.  Ms. Week's deep knowledge of children, as well as her understanding of family dynamics as they pertain to special-needs students, strongly support the philosophy of the Collaborative Learning Project's approach to education.
Amy Wheeler, M.Ed. Amy is the Upper School Director at Beaver Country Day School, an independent, co-educational day school in Chestnut Hill, MA.  Previously she served as Assistant Head of School, The Sage School, in Foxboro MA.  At Sage, her duties included: managing day-to-day operations for the co-ed day school for 175 students; overseeing faculty and staff; and soliciting donors for a $2 million capital campaign.  In addition, Amy served as Director of Secondary School Placement, during which time she placed students successfully in top secondary schools throughout New England.

At Beaver, Amy manages the Upper School, responsible for duties including: supervising and evaluating faculty; working with department heads and deans on the academic and social life of students; spearheading strategic planning; overseeing the admissions committee; and handling interactions with students and parents.  Amy has also been a special education teacher in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  She received her Masters in Education from Boston College in 2009.