Meet the EFA Team

Dr. Regine Philippeaux-Pierre has 20 years of experience in the field of education. She began her career in higher education and later became a teacher in Boston where she taught high school mathematics. She also worked as a researcher and professional development manager at the National Center for Restructuring Education Schools and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. From that role, Dr. Pierre moved on to manage a large project for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to revamp their professional development system. Currently, Dr. Pierre is the Director of the Excellence for All initiative at Boston Public Schools. She has expertise in instruction, professional development systems, policy implementation, and project management. Dr. Pierre earned a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Teachers College, a Masters in Education from Harvard University and a Bachelors of Science from Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Alain helps manage the day to day operations of Excellence for All. He also manages Excellence For All’s STEM and Communications/Engagement initiatives. Prior to joining Boston Public Schools, Alain provided free legal services for hundreds of immigrant New Yorkers with Immigrant Justice Corps for two years. Alain earned a Master’s degree (Ed.M., Education Policy and Management, 2017) from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Bachelor’s degree (B.A., English, 2014) from New York University.

Sophia Boyer taught middle and high school for fifteen years before venturing into instructional coaching. As an instructional coach Sophia works in a variety of schools whose administrators have requested coaching services or professional development supports for teachers. Sophia is experienced in humanities instruction, ESL teaching, program administration, teacher training, curriculum development, professional development and program planning and evaluation. Sophia was born in Haiti, educated in the U.S. and currently resides in Cambridge. She earned her undergraduate degree in Sociology/History from Regis College, postgraduate degrees in Human Development and Urban Education from Wheelock College, and is currently pursuing her EdD in Higher Education Administration from Regis College.

Angel Calvin is the program coordinator for EFA. She manages the Scholars Program which involves three components: ISEE Prep, Executive Leadership Academy, and High School & College Advising. Before joining the EFA team, Angel interned with Catholic Relief Services headquartered in her hometown of Baltimore. Angel also served as an AmeriCorps Fellow with Reading Partners, where she managed a volunteer-based literacy center in a West Baltimore elementary school. Angel Calvin is a recent graduate of Harvard Divinity School where she earned her Master’s in Religion, Ethics and Politics. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Virginia in Politics and African-American and African Studies.

Charlie Hubbard manages external partnerships for EFA. Charlie earned a Master's Degree in Educational Testing and a Bachelor's Degree in Special Education from Boston College. He began his career as a special education teacher. His career also includes experience in the commercial sector with firms such as Xerox Corporation. Charlie strongly believes no organization in today’s complex environments can excel on its own and thus strategic partnerships are necessary for success.

Rachel Jules helps manage the scholars program. She also supports the day to day operations of the Excellence for All initiative. Before joining the EFA team, Rachel worked in the Boston housing sector for 2 years. Rachel also served as an after-school coordinator with Youth and Family Enrichment Services in Hyde Park, MA. Rachel also teaches piano to students ages 5-17. Rachel Jules is currently at UMASS Lowell majoring in Information Technology with a focus in Network Engineering.

Margaret has taught in various grades Kindergarten through University level for twenty-eight years, specializing in Special Education, Gifted and Talented Education, and Reading Intervention. She earned a Master's Degree in Reading Instruction from Curry College and her Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Teachers College. Margaret is currently the intervention specialist at EFA. Margaret's interest is in school-wide coordination of reading best practices, family involvement, and mentorship of new teachers.

Elizabeth MacDonald is a veteran educator and instructional coach within the Boston Public Schools. Liz is currently leading the SFL writing team within EFA. Liz is passionate about exploring the complicated issues of urban education in a supportive community of peers. As co-author of “The Mindful Teacher,” a workshop and support network for overtaxed urban public school teachers Liz provided opportunities for thought, reflection, relaxation, inquiry, and practice. Liz is also passionate about teaching writing and finds writing to be one of the most challenging challenges elementary school teachers face. Liz credits and works closely Lynch School professor and English language learning specialist Maria Estela Brisk’s with easing her effort—and pushing students to a singular success of understanding the structures of writing and the love of writing.

Nicole Mendoza is the Budget Analyst for Excellence For All. Nicole started as a liaison between the EFA program and the Harvard Initiative to expand EFA. Nicole created a system to keep up with budgetary processes and manages the current year's budget. Nicole identifies and monitors funds and proposes potential solutions to improve the program. Nicole recently graduated from Suffolk University with a B.S.B.A in Entrepreneurship & Management with a concentration in Business Analytics.

Lisa Portadin is an EFA Writing Coach with 20 years of experience teaching literacy. She began her career teaching both high school and middle school English, and most recently, she was a Literacy Coach at a BPS elementary school. Lisa is also an Instructor and Teacher Candidate Supervisor at Northeastern University in the MAT program, where she teaches both the foundations of reading as well as electives in ESL. Lisa earned both a B.A. and M.A. in English (Rutgers, 1996; Simmons 2005).

Dr. Claire E. White was recently hired as Senior Specialist for Targeted Populations for the Excellence for All Initiative at BPS. Her specific expertise is improving academic achievement outcomes for second language learners, immigrant and refugee children in pre-k through the middle grades. Until June of this past year, she taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Wheelock College in the Language and Literacy department. From 2007—2011 White served as a consultant on issues relating to the education of struggling readers and English Language Learners (ELLs) for the New York City Public Schools, the Fall River Public Schools (MA), the Lawrence Public Schools (MA), among others. She recently finalized a three-year project with the Metro Nashville Public Schools to better serve ELL students. Prior to this work, White was an education specialist at the Massachusetts Department of Education in the Office of Language Acquisition and Academic Achievement, assisting districts to better assist their limited-English-proficiency students. White was an instructor at Harvard's Graduate Teacher Education Program, where she taught courses to middle and high school teachers on ways to improve instruction for both struggling native English speakers and second language learners. White was previously a tenured professor at the National University in Bogotá, Colombia, teaching Applied Linguistics and Theory and Practice of Translation in the Linguistics and Foreign Languages Departments. White was also an elementary school teacher in Massachusetts as well as an ESL and bilingual teacher in the U.S. and in Latin America. White has master's degrees in English as a Second Language/Applied Linguistics and Latin American Literature. Dr. White completed her doctoral dissertation at the Harvard Graduate School of Education on the support of low-income Latino parents for the development of their children's literacy. She lived and worked in six Latin American countries.

Karen White brings over 20 years of experience in urban education to the EFA Team. Her previous roles include classroom teacher, school administrator, and district level coach in the Baltimore - DC Metro Area. Prior to joining EFA and BPS, she worked as a School Transformation Coach for a local non-profit organization. Karen also wrote History and Social Science curricula at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She is a native Bostonian from the Madison Park neighborhood of Roxbury. Karen earned a B.A. in History from Loyola University Maryland, an M.A. in Education from Tufts University and a C.A.G.S. in Education Leadership from Hood College. When Karen is not working she enjoys non-fiction, historical documentaries, and discovering little known facts about US and world history.