ABOUT US

Team

Advisory Board
Paul F. Deninger, Founder, and Vice Chairman, Jefferies & Co
Lori A. Colella, Founder
Frank H. Hwang, Director of External Relations
Amelia Alberghini, Financial Analyst, John Hancock
Angel dos Santos , Director Middle School Initiatives, TechBoston

Paul F. Deninger, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Broadview Holdings

Paul is Vice Chairman of Jefferies & Co. and Chairman of Broadview, an investment bank serving IT, communications, healthcare technology and media companies. He serves on the Boards of Directors of Netegrity (NASDAQ - NETE); Globe Newspaper Company, publisher of The Boston Globe; is Co-Chairman of TechNet Massachusetts, a bipartisan political organization serving the interests of the technology industry; sits on the Board of Overseers for the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and serves on the Board of Trustees, the MATCH School, a media and technology charter high school of Boston. Paul holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School and a BS degree from Boston College.

A strong believer in the benefits of philanthropic community efforts, Paul and his wife Lori established the Paul F. and Lori A. Deninger Foundation in 2000 to provide all children with an equal opportunity to succeed. The Deninger Foundation incubated WiredWoods and completely funded the first two summers of operation. Paul continues to play an integral role in the on-going development of WiredWoods and will spearhead fundraising efforts to solicit private support, corporate donations and strategic partners to ensure the program can continue its rollout and become self-funded.

Key WiredWoods Personnel

Dana B. White, Executive Director

Paul recruited Dana to head up this non-profit venture to draw upon her keen understanding of the technology industry and her 14 years of diverse business experience. As a mother of four, Dana has a vested interest in igniting positive change in the way children are taught the valuable skills needed to succeed in this age of technology. Prior to joining WiredWoods, Dana was in technology marketing at Microsoft and Avid Technology. She also has worked in investment banking with Broadview and Morgan Stanley. In addition, Dana taught marketing at Boston University . Dana holds an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School and a BSE from Princeton University .

As Executive Director, Dana is responsible for all aspect of the program, including camp relations, site preparation, computer studio operations, curriculum development, hiring staff, program evaluation, finance and marketing.

Lisa Radden, Teacher and Manager, Year Round Programs

Lisa Radden joined WiredWoods in the spring of 2003 as Manager of Year-round Programs. Lisa focuses on driving forward the success of the program by establishing new partnerships with community-based organizations, camps, and schools, and supporting existing sites. She works closely with WiredWoods participants to strengthen their interest in a technology pathway by connecting them with appropriate programs, schools, and resources in their community. In addition to her management duties, Lisa teaches the WiredWoods curriculum at TechBoston Academy, a pilot Boston Public High School that integrates technology into its curriculum. She is enrolled in the Certificate of Education in Technology program at the Harvard Extension School, and holds a Bachelor of Science in science-computing with a concentration in art design from the University of Notre Dame.

Before WiredWoods, Lisa was a web designer and marketing assistant in a Cambridge-based e-learning software company for three years before making the switch to education and the non-profit sector. She maintains her own freelance web design company, LKR Design, as well.

Stacie Cassat Green, Academic Advisor

As the Principal of 64 Crayons, Stacie is an accomplished consultant lending educational expertise on content and tool development, as well as professional development, to support the integration of technology in education. In addition to her work developing the unique curriculum for WiredWoods, she currently is working on the development of online professional development courses for Education Development Center (EDC). She also is on the adjunct faculty at the Harvard Extension School, where she has taught “Integrating Technology in Project-Based Learning” and “Introduction to Computers in Education.” Previously, she designed and directed the development of a Web-based suite of tools for Co-nect Schools (formerly of Bolt, Beranek & Newman) that support educators involved in comprehensive school reform. She designed and facilitated numerous professional development workshops for teachers implementing the Co-nect design, as well as for the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). Additionally, Stacie has also worked on the Seeing and Thinking Mathematically curriculum and Graph Action software at EDC.

Stacie actively supports educational organizations, serving on the Board of Directors of Integral Learning and on the Advisory Board of Youth Tech Entrepreneurs. She holds a B.A. in Government and Creative Writing from Oberlin College and an Ed.M. in Technology in Education from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Julie DiPasquale, Teacher

A computer/science teacher at Healey Elementary School (Somerville) since 1994, Julie was our lead teacher at Crossroads for Kids in 2003 and 2004. An eleven year veteran of the Crossroads for Kids staff, Julie brings a strong combination of computer knowledge, experience with at-risk youth and ability to liaise between our organizations.

Weston Willard, Consultant

Weston is a gifted teacher who was in charge of WiredWoods at Crossroads for Kids in 2002, at Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries Fresh Air Camp in 2003 and WiredWoods@MATCH in 2004. Weston also taught at the MATCH School while earning his Masters in Education degree at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Previously, he ran the Special Education department for a K-12 Hawaiian Emersion school in Honolulu. He has since returned to Hawaii to work with another start-up charter school but provides us with input remotely. Weston graduated from Wake Forest with a BS in Business and a minor in Russian.

Lars Hasselblad Torres, Consultant

An artist, writer and educator, Lars joined WiredWoods in the summer of 2001 as a member of the teaching team at Crossroads for Kids. Deeply excited about the program and its impact on children, Lars remained a consultant to WiredWoods, helping revise the curriculum, hire new staff and train the 2002 teachers. In addition to his work with WiredWoods, Lars is Program Associate and web designer at AmericaSpeaks, a volunteer technology consultant for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, volunteer web instructor at the Booker T. Washington Public Charter High School for Technical Arts, and founding principal of tagstudio.net. Lars lives in Washington, DC with his wife and baby daughter.

Advisory Board

Lori A. Colella, Founder

Believing that all children should be given equal opportunity to advance in life, Lori co-founded WiredWoods in 2000 with her husband Paul. Outside of WiredWoods, Lori balances her time between a part-time professional career, volunteer work and being a full-time mother of two.

Lori's professional position is with a private investment advisory firm. Prior to this, she worked in corporate finance for JP Morgan Chase in New York City. She holds an MBA from the Wharton Business School and a BS from Boston College.

Her current volunteer efforts include serving as Committee Chairperson of the Community Outreach Program (C.O.P.) at her children's elementary school in Wayland. Lori is one of two coordinators of the school's "Just Like Me" program, a unique program that exposes children to the challenges of the disabled. Previously, Lori served on the Board of Directors at the Red Barn Nursery School. With her husband, Lori also supports the Boston Symphony Orchestra's DARTS educational program for youth in the Berkshires and the Horizons Initiative, a program for homeless children.

Frank H. Hwang, Director of External Relations

With a strong interest in various forms of education, Frank believes in the need for vehicles that spark the passions of underserved children and provide them with tools for success. Before WiredWoods, Frank worked for Shackleton Schools, Inc. as their Talent Scout recruiting and supporting staff, volunteers, donors and students. While there, he also provided technical assistance in IT, digital photography, video, Adobe Pagemaker and Photoshop. He also has worked for two high-tech entrepreneurial ventures, supporting their growth: ActiveCyte, a Boston Consulting Group initiative and Circles, an online personal assistance firm. Frank has an A.B. from Bowdoin College in Biology and Environmental Studies and is also a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School. While at Bowdoin, he was a rugby athlete-coach, outdoors leader and snowboard instructor. When not managing WiredWoods’ partnership and expansion efforts, Frank can be found roaming the countryside or Internet with his Black Labrador mix, Casco.

As one of a group of graduate students who translated Paul Deninger’s vision into the first WiredWoods business plan, Amelia has been involved with WiredWoods since its inception. Before starting her current role as a Financial Analyst with John Hancock, Amelia architected WiredWoods’ first school year program plan. Prior to her connection to WiredWoods, Amelia spent three years at the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, a national not-for-profit founded to spark new thinking about the business potential of inner cities. Amelia has a longstanding interest in inner-city youth, having served as a mentor to at-risk elementary school students and as a tutor to teens in a juvenile detention center. Amelia currently sits on the Board of the Hattie Cooper Community Center in Roxbury/South End where they have a computer room and a volunteer who offers classes for children and the community. Amelia holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BA from SUNY Geneseo.

As the Program Director for Middle School Initiatives at TechBoston, Angel promotes the use and education of technology throughout the Boston Public School system. Her work has been crucial in the creation of TechBoston Academy and the proliferation of robotics and web development throughout Boston. She is passionate about computers and actively searches for program such as WiredWoods that can support her endeavors. Previously, Angel was the Chief Information Officer at Citizen Schools, architecting their technology programs and currently is on the Advisory Board of Girls’ Coalition of Greater Boston.

Angel holds a BA in Communication Studies with a Business and Administration Specialization from the University of California, Los Angeles.