BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Vice President of Program
The Boston Foundation
Vice President, CRA Division Manager for New England
Sovereign Bank
Director of Development
Pine Street Inn Shelter and Housing for the Homeless
President and CEO
Cartridge World
Vice President, General Counsel
Millennium Partners Sports Club Management LLC
President and Executive Director
Pine Street Inn
BOARD OF ADVISORS
Executive Vice President, Senior Human Resources Business Partner
Consumer and Business Banking, Citizens Financial Group
Managing Director
Foster & Francisco
Senior Advisor for Education Arts & Culture
The Barr Foundation
PARTNERS
AbēkaM services create a roadmap, identifying solutions that involve living into the organizations or project vision and elevating it to a place where success can be sustained over time. We see evidence of this being possible when similarly visioned resources are leveraged in both the surrounding community and beyond. With partners from “The Collaborative” we make this possible.
For a complete list and biographies see The Collaborative.
Jeffrey Arthur, Community Liason
Intel Computer Clubhouse Network
Brandy Cruthird, President & CEO
Body By Brandy/ BBB 4 Kids
Katrina Huff- Larmond
Huff-Larmond Associates
Dr. Franklin A. Tuitt, Director and Assistant Professor, Higher Education Program
Denver College of Education
John Verre, Director
COMPASS Consulting
Carolyn Romano
Bliss Healing
President of Program
The Boston Foundation
Robert Lewis, Jr. is a seasoned civic, community and nonprofit leader who was appointed as Vice President for Program for the Boston Foundation in the fall of 2007. As such, he oversees the $17 million competitive and initiative-based discretionary grantmaking, creating programs for impact in the Greater Boston community.
Preceding that appointment, he served as Executive Director of the Boston Centers for Youth and Families, the City of Boston’s largest youth and human service agency. He is a former President and Executive Director of the National Conference for Community and Justice in Boston, which runs LeadBoston, one of the City’s premier executive leadership programs. Prior to that, Lewis was Senior Vice President of City Year’s national operation and Executive Director of City Year Boston. He has deep experience with grassroots community organizations in Boston as a former Director of Community Initiatives for the Boston Housing Authority, the founder and first Director of the Streetworkers Program for the Boston Community Centers under Mayor Ray Flynn, and a Youth Program Manager with Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA).
A life-long resident of Boston, Lewis grew up in the Maverick Street Housing Projects of East Boston and Villa Victoria in the South End. He has been widely honored for his commitment to Boston and to the youth of the City. In recognition of his service and positive impact on city youth, Lewis was appointed to a life term as Board Chair of South End Baseball in 1998, a sports organization he founded while still a teenager. He also currently serves on the board of Sportsmen’s Tennis Club, Pine Street Inn and New England Blacks in Philanthropy.
Director of Development
Pine Street Inn Shelter and Housing for the Homeless
Over the past eight years, Michelle Caldeira has developed strong work experience and organizational leadership in the nonprofit industry. Following her graduation from Binghamton University in New York, Ms. Caldeira worked in marketing for Liz Claiborne corporate but quickly followed her passion into social work. For the next three years, she recruited and trained volunteers for a Bronx, New York nonprofit organization focused on fighting hunger. Since her relocation to Boston in 2002, Ms. Caldeira has established herself as an experienced fundraiser, grant writer, and events manager in development roles at Boston Renaissance Charter School and Dimock Community Health Center. In December 2008, Michelle was promoted from director of corporate and foundation relations to director of development at Pine Street Inn, where she now oversees four key fundraising and external relations functions that include volunteer coordination, database management, special events planning and grant management. Michelle is deeply committed to creating positive opportunities for urban youth and working with organizations that provide resources for the underserved.
Footwear Design Director
JORDAN BRAND, Nike
D’Wayne Edwards, was born with a gift of being able to draw anything he could see and little did he know that a N0.2 Pencil would help discover and live out his dreams.
In 1989 at the age of 19, he became the 2nd African-American Designer in the footwear industry when L.A. Gear gave him a chance and hired him as an Entry Level Designer. At L.A. Gear he worked on a variety of projects but he made a name for himself by working a series of shoes called Street Hikers, which were some of the company’s best selling shoes.
In 1993, he was sought out by urban fashion designer and pioneer Karl Kani, to design his signature collection of footwear, licensed by Skechers USA. As the Brand Manager/Head Designer for the Karl Kani label, D’Wayne was instrumental in creating a new style of hybrid footwear that created a new category in the footwear industry.
In 1998, after building the Karl Kani division into a successful business, Skechers USA offered D’Wayne his own footwear brand, SITY, spelled with an “S” for style, which offered a diverse range of footwear from sneakers, boots, casual and dress shoes. In just one year the brand was referred to as the “freshest collection in years” by many of the top urban buyers and was voted the number 2 brand to watch out for in 2000 behind Brand JORDAN by Sporting Goods Business magazine.
In 2000, he fulfilled a childhood dream when he joined Nike Inc. Today, D’Wayne Edwards is the Footwear Design Director of the JORDAN Brand. Under his design leadership the JORDAN Brand’s revenues have increased from 250 million over 1 billion in just 8 years. During this time D’Wayne has designed signature footwear for Michael Jordan, Carmelo Anthony, Derek Jeter and Roy Jones Jr. D’Wayne has mentored over 20 aspiring footwear designers that have gone on to get jobs, he created the first high school design competition for Nike/Jordan by the name Future Sole that has reached over 20 million people, he has designed over 500 styles over his 20 year career that have sold well over 1 billion dollars worldwide.
Vice President, General Counsel
Millennium Partners Sports Club Management LLC
Betty Francisco is the Executive Vice President, Legal and Administration and General Counsel for Millennium Partners Sports Club Management LLC, which owns and operates six premier fitness clubs around the country under The Sports Club/LA and Reebok Sports Club/NY brands. Betty joined Millennium Partners Sports Club Management as General Counsel in 2006 and was promoted to EVP in 2008. Her management responsibilities include legal, administration and risk management. In her role, she provides legal counsel to the Company and its clubs.
Before joining Millennium Partners Sports Club Management, Betty was a senior associate in the Business Law Department of the Boston law firm of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge. There her practice focused on representing public and private companies in financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and general corporate matters.
Betty obtained her law degree and an MBA from Northeastern University in 1998.
President and CEO
Cartridge World
Soma Coulibaly is President and CEO of Cartridge World Greater Boston, LLC. He is opening and operating a series of stores and a distribution & manufacturing center in the greater Boston area for the premiere ink and toner cartridge re-manufacturing company in the world.
Over the last three years, Mr. Coulibaly has significantly grown the company; tripling or doubling revenue three years in a row.
Soma Coulibaly is the former Senior Vice President of Supply Chain at Houghton Mifflin, a $1.3 billion publishing company headquartered in Boston, MA and owned by 3 private equity firms: Thomas H. Lee, Bain Capital, and Blackstone. He joined Houghton Mifflin in May 2002 as Vice President of Corporate Procurement. During his tenure, Mr. Coulibaly created significant value in the company. Consequently, Soma was promoted to Senior Vice President of Supply Chain and appointed Corporate Officer.
Prior to joining Houghton Mifflin, Mr. Coulibaly had a distinguished career at Hallmark Cards, a family owned company, with revenues of $4.3 billion. During his tenure with the company, he held a variety of positions in Supply Chain and Operations: Director of Global Procurement, with sourcing authority over all its production facilities worldwide. Past positions held include: Director of Materials and Litho Purchasing, Graphic Arts Engineering Manager, Operations Quality Manager, etc… Soma began his international career in 1985 as a Petroleum Engineer with Schlumberger in London, UK, covering most of Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
Soma has been involved in many professional organizations, holding leadership positions. He is also on the board of directors of several not-for-profit organizations as well as a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. Soma has lived in Africa, Asia, Europe, and America. He has a keen understanding of the business dealings on all these continents as well as the cross-cultural issues.
Soma received a BS in Petroleum Engineering and a MS in Manufacturing Systems, both from Texas A&M University. Soma’s main hobbies include reading, traveling, cooking, and photography
President and Executive Director
Pine Street Inn
Ms. Downie came to the Inn as the result of reading the obituary of Paul Sullivan ’57, who founded and essentially built the Inn. She was so inspired by his life story that she needed, she has said, to work at Pine Street. No job was too small for her, nor too large. Beginning as an administrative and clerical assistant in 1984, she has held positions at every level of the organization from heading the operations of the Men’s Inn, to overseeing public affairs and subsequently development, to serving as Vice President for Programs. As a result, she has the most thorough base of knowledge of anyone in the organization and knows intimately the circumstances of many of the Inn’s guests and tenants firsthand.
During her tenure as President, a position she assumed in 2000, Ms. Downie has transformed Pine Street, creating partnerships with other non-profits, state legislators, business leaders and philanthropists to facilitate the Inn’s work. As a result of her efforts, Pine Street is now the largest developer of affordable housing in the region for very low-income individuals. With a keen understanding of the complex causes of homelessness and proven methods to combat it, Ms. Downie has been tapped to serve on a number of committees and boards. Most recently she was selected by Governor Deval Patrick to participate on the Massachusetts Commission to End Homelessness. She also was recently named a Barr Fellow, through the Barr Foundation’s program to honor the most gifted and experienced non-profit leaders in the region.
Ms. Downie graduated from the Program for Developing Managers of Simmons College's Graduate School of Management and the University of Vermont/Burlington. She and her husband live in Norton and they have two daughters, whom they adopted from the foster care system.
Vice President, CRA Division Manager for New England
Sovereign Bank
Mrs. Alleyne Matthews is a graduate of Dorchester High School, received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics with a minor in Political Science from Northeastern University and holds a Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in State and Local Government from Suffolk University.
She is the recipient of numerous citations from the Massachusetts State Senate, House of Representatives, Boston City Council and the Mayor’s award for community service. Recipient of the 2008 MLK Award for Community Service, the recipient of the Hidden Heroes 2005 Award for Civic Leadership, the first recipient of the 2005 United Ways of New England’s Community Capital Award for Exceptional Project Management, the 2004 recipient of the Rebecca Lee Award from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2004 Outstanding Community Award from Stajez Dance Academy, 2003 Unity Sports and Cultural Award for Community Service, YMCA Black Achiever and was a two year recipient of the Sawyer School of Management Scholarship Award at Suffolk University. Fellow of the Partnership, Class of 2005 and of the UMass Emerging Leaders, Class of 2006.
She was recently appointed by Governor Patrick to the Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program and recently appointed to the Board of Overseers of the New England Aquarium. Appointed by former Governor William Weld to the Massachusetts Fair Plan where she served for six years. Chair of the Givers Group, Co-Chair of the Lead Action Collaborative, Vice Chair of Youth Build Boston, Past President of the Corporate Volunteer Council of Boston, Board Member of the Roxbury Community College Foundation, Member of the New England Blacks in Philanthropy, Trustee of the Rutland Corner Foundation, Board member of Grant Makers Council of Rhode Island, Member of the event committee for Ailey Camp, Teen Empowerment, Edvestors, School on the Move Prize, the Boston Children’s Chorus, Community Gems, Peace Games, Celebrity Juror, Executive Panelist for Citizens Schools and a participant of the Black Professionals Consortium at the John McCormack Middle School. She is Past President of the Board of the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston, Past Chair of the Banking Services Committee for the Massachusetts and Banking Council (MCBC); she is also a Notary Public.
Mrs. Alleyne Matthews is a Member of the Women’s Network Advisory, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and a member of the MassGap Task Force on Housing and Commonwealth Development. Advisory Board Member of the Caribbean American Carnival Association of Boston, Secretary of the Caribbean American Scholarship Association, Past Clerk of the Melville Park Neighborhood Association, Past Member of the Codman Square House Tour Committee, volunteer on the Deval Patrick and Tim Murray campaign for Governor and Lieutenant Governor and member of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mattapan where she is Co-Chair of the Scholarship Ministry.
Mrs. Alleyne Matthews resides in the Melville Park area of Dorchester and is married to Peter Matthews and is the proud mother of two beautiful daughters, Tyisha and Kayia.
Managing Director
Foster & Francisco
Paul is a Managing Director and Co-founder of Foster & Francisco LLC, an executive search firm based in Boston, focusing on the recruitment and retention of senior managerial and executive level diverse talent across a number of diverse industries, and non-for-profit organizations.
Prior to starting Foster & Francisco, Paul was Vice President for Veritude’s Client Relationship Management group. In this capacity he provided strategic guidance and client relationship management to Veritude client companies. Veritude, a Fidelity Investments Company provides Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) services, Staffing Services, Managed Services, and Consulting Services to a variety of clients in a wide range of industries including; Financial Services, IT, Insurance and Manufacturing.
Prior to joining Veritude, Paul was a Senior Vice President for Bank of America’s Consumer Staffing Division. In that role, he managed a large team of senior recruiters responsible for talent acquisition for the Consumer Bank’s branch management in New England, New York, Mid Atlantic, Southeast, Florida and Central Divisions.
He has also held a number of HR positions at companies like Amica Mutual Insurance Co, where he managed the college recruiting program in support of Amica’s 42 nationwide offices, The Gillette Company, where his role required his expertise in the search of mid- to- senior level diverse associates for key positions within The Gillette Company and its subsidiaries. His experience includes, Claims Adjusting, Training and Development, Workforce Diversity, Diversity Recruitment, and Client Relationship Management.
Paul is a former NFL player, having been part of the New England Patriots team of ’94-95. Paul is a graduate of Boston University where he majored in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations. He has also done graduate work at BU’s Metropolitan College, and is a graduate of the UMASS Boston, College of Management Emerging Leaders Program of the Center for Collaborative Leadership. His project work with ELP teamed him up with the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) to help craft a Reunification Program for incarcerated mothers and their children. Paul is also alum of The Partnership’s Inc. Associates and Fellows Leadership Development Programs.
Paul is an active member of ALPFA (Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting), where he currently serves as the Boston Chapter’s President. He is also a Trustee for the Epiphany Middle School in Roxbury, a member of the Committee for the Downtown Harvard Club of Boston, a member of the National Football League Retired Players Association, and an active member of NEPAC (New England Patriots Alumni Association) whose mission is to give back to the community by supporting the growth and development of youth football in New England.
Paul is regularly featured as a guest speaker and lecturer on Diversity and HR topics at many local universities including, Northeastern University, Bentley College, Suffolk University, and Babson College. He has also appeared as guest on Channel 7’s Urban Update, Channel 4’s Centro, and Telemundo Channel 60 Encuentro Latino program.
Paul's recognitions include receiving the award as one of the 2007 “Top 40 under 40” by the Boston Business Journal, as well as one of the 2007 100 Most Influential Latinos in Massachusetts by the Hispanic News Press. He was named 2008 Volunteer of the Year by American Training Centers. He was also awarded the 2008 Arnold Z. Rosoff Award for Individual Achievement. This award recognizes outstanding individuals who have had an impact in diversity initiatives in the Boston community.
Senior Advisor for Education Arts & Culture
The Barr Foundation
Klare Shaw is Senior Advisor for Education, Arts and Culture at the Barr Foundation where she has been working since 2000. The Barr Foundation is dedicated to the quality of life in greater Boston. Formerly, Shaw was Executive Director of The Boston Globe Foundation, where she had been employed for almost a decade in several positions. She joined the Globe in 1990 after two years in charge of Boston contributions for the Bank of New England, NA. Prior to that, Shaw was head of community arts and education at the agency now known as the MA Cultural Council. Earlier nonprofit employment is as follows: Action for Boston Community Development, the Children's Museum/Boston, and the YWCA - Aswalos House.
Executive Vice President, Senior Human Resources Business Partner
Consumer and Business Banking, Citizens Financial Group
Lucille is currently the Executive Vice President of Human Resources for the Consumer and Business Banking division at Citizens Bank. She has been with Citizens Bank for 15 years. Lucille has 29 years experience in the financial services industry within the business and human resources.
Lucille currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Lung Association of Rhode Island (ALARI). Cavan also serves on the Board of Directors for the American Lung Association of New England. The volunteers who comprise the ALARI Leadership Board work to uphold the mission of the American Lung Association, which is to prevent lung disease and promote lung health. She is also an active board member at the Meeting Street School in Providence, Rhode Island. The Meeting Street School is known for helping children with a broad range of challenges including minor delays, multiple and severance challenges.
She holds an A.S. in Business Management from Mitchell College in New London, Connecticut and B.S. in Business Administration from Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, Connecticut. She has also attended several Harvard Business Programs through the RBS Business School. She resides in North Kingstown, Rhode Island with her husband Scott and has two grown sons.