NELRC Staff

Benjamin Bruno, Program Associate

Ben Benjamin Bruno joined the New England Literacy Resource Center in April 2006. He supports a six member team, working in database management, data compilation, website design/upkeep, and new media work. Ben has a bachelor’s degree in Music Industry from Northeastern University.

Sandy Goodman, New England College Transition Project Director

Sandy Sandy Goodman has been the Director of the New England College Transition Project at the National College Transition Network of World Education since November 2006. Prior to joining the College Transitions team, she directed a career ladders project called Partnership for Automotive Career Education (PACE) where she facilitated collaboration between community based organizations, post-secondary and secondary education institutions, and private sector employers. She also directed a community based ABE program in Boston that served approximately 400 people each year, and was active in a number of city and statewide planning and advocacy efforts. Sandy has a BA in Women's Studies/Social Thought and Political Economy from UMass, Amherst and an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government.

Ellen Hewett, The National College Transition Network Director

Ellen Ellen Hewett has been the Director of the National College Transition Network (NCTN) of World Education since June 2008. Prior to joining the NCTN team, Ellen worked for over 25 years with non-traditional college students as an administrator and faculty member at Springfield College. Her responsibilities there included developing organizational capacity and managing satellite campuses, teaching to enhance learners’ communication and critical thinking skills, facilitating interdisciplinary social science and experiential learning curriculum development, enhancing faculty’s ability to better meet the academic needs of non-traditional students, and connecting with community organizations interested in supporting adult learners. Her commitment to learning has led her to teach and consult in programs for adult students in Sweden, China, Mexico, and England.

Ellen earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science (Political Theory focus) from McGill University, and a graduate degree from Southern New Hampshire University in Human Services Administration. She has completed all of her course-work for a doctorate in Adult Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Among her interests are: participatory action research, transformational learning, action learning, multi-cultural competency, and writing.

Silja Kallenbach, NELRC Coordinator

Silja Kallenbach Silja Kallenbach has worked in adult education since 1981 as professional development provider, program developer, administrator, researcher and ESOL teacher. Since 1994, Silja has served as the Director of the New England Literacy Resource Center at World Education, a six-state collaborative focused on staff development for adult educators. Silja provides professional development for adult educators through interactive workshops, courses and publications on diverse topics related to adult learning, such as using multiple intelligences in instruction.

Silja helped design and supervises the New England ABE-to-College Transition Project that has 25 program partners in six states. Silja is co-author of “Pathways to College for Academically Under-prepared Students (Focus on Basics, 2/2004).

From 1996 too 2002, Silja co-directed the Adult Multiple Intelligences (AMI) Study for the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) with staff from Project Zero at Harvard. She co-authored two publications related to the use of multiple intelligences in adult education: Open to Interpretation, Multiple Intelligences in Adult Education (NCSALL, 2002) and Multiple Intelligences in Adult Literacy a Sourcebook for Practitioners (Teachers College Press, 2004) and co-edited Multiple Intelligences in Practice (NCSALL, 2001).

Silja has made varied contributions to strengthening ESOL and adult basic education locally and nationally. Silja is the founder and publisher of NELRC’s Change Agent paper that is dedicated to promoting social justice through adult education. She has published over 20 articles related to social justice themes. She is a co-founder of the Boston Adult Literacy Fund, dedicated to supporting community-based adult education, and served as its Associate Director from 1988 to 1994. In that capacity, she did private sector fundraising and trainings on program and organizational development for adult educators. In 1985, Silja was recruited to serve as the first director of the City of Boston Adult Literacy Initiative where she coordinated network of adult literacy and refugee services for Boston. Silja began her adult literacy career as an ESOL teacher who became an incorporator and coordinator of a Latina women’s learning center in Boston, Mujeres Unidas en Accion. Silja continues to teach and tutor ESOL and EDP students as a volunteer.

Andy Nash, Staff Development Specialist

Andy Nash Andy Nash specializes in projects that integrate adult literacy education with civic engagement, advocacy, and the skills that enable participation in a democracy. She has expertise in staff development; program collaboration; curriculum and resource design; and standards-based instruction and assessment. Andy is the editor of the Civic Participation and Community Action Sourcebook: a Resource for Adult Educators (World Education, 2 nd printing, 2002).

Over the past 20 years, Andy’s work in adult education has included English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), workplace, and family literacy teaching; program evaluation; and staff, program, and resource development. Her publications exploring participatory teaching practice include Talking Shop: a Curriculum Sourcebook for Participatory Adult ESL (co-author), “Participatory Workplace Education: Resisting Fear-Driven Models” in Participatory Practice in Adult Education (Pat Campbell and Barbara Burnaby, eds., Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001), and a host of theme-based curricula.

From 1990 to 1997, Andy was adjunct professor in the Graduate Bilingual/ESOL Studies Department of the University of Massachusetts at Boston. From 1993 to 1996, she worked with the Massachusetts Department of Education (DOE) to provide technical assistance to workplace education partnerships throughout the state and to draft program standards for DOE-funded workplace adult education programs.

Now on the staff of the NELRC, Andy divides her time among several projects. Part of her time is dedicated to the Equipped for the Future (EFF) initiative, developing and disseminating this national model of standards-based system reform of adult education.

Andy also coordinates, develops and promotes NELRC’s civics projects, offering professional development activities and an on-line collection of resources for teaching about civic participation and citizenship. She outlines NELRC's approach to civic participation in her 2005 CATESOL article, "Thinking Beyond 'Increased Participation' – Integrating Civics and Adult ESOL." Currently, Andy is editing a book that celebrates 10 years of The Change Agent.

Finally, Andy provides technical assistance and resource development for the field of ESOL. This has included: writing video discussion guides to accompany the ITVS/PBS documentary series “The New Americans” and the AFSC film "Echando Raizes/Taking Root," program-based support for programs expanding or improving their ESOL services, and co-management of the LINCS on-line ESL Special Collection. She is currently working with the Center for Adult English Language Acquisition (CAELA) to build ESOL capacity in 22 states recently impacted by increased immigration.

Cynthia Peters, Change Agent Editor and Production Coordinator

Cynthia Peters has been the editor of The Change Agent since June 2007. Before that, she taught ABE, ESOL, Bridge to College, and Adult Diploma Program through the Worker Education Program in Boston. She was also a member of the South End Press book publishing collective for 13 years, and she has extensive editing and writing experience. Her essays appear in Z Magazine, ZNet, Dollars and Sense, as well as other publications and several books. In Boston, she has been a long-time community activist involved in anti-war efforts, tenants’ rights, and grassroots neighborhood organizing.

Leah Peterson, Publications Coordinator

Leah Leah Peterson has been working with the New England Literacy Resource Center since March, 2006. She manages the sales and distribution of The Change Agent and other NELRC publications. In order to improve visibility for NELRC publications Leah sends promotional materials to adult education conferences across the country and participates in marketing efforts to introduce new readers to NELRC's materials.

Prior to coming to NELRC/World Education Leah worked as a volunteer coordinator, assistant curator, graphic designer, and administrative assistant in a number of small non profit organizations. Leah has a BA in Art History and in Latino Studies from Simon's Rock College.

Steve Quann, Web Design and Curriculum Specialist
Instructional Designer

Steve Quann Steve Quann, M. Ed., has 30 years of experience in the classroom and presently uses his technological expertise to design web-based curriculum. His background includes:

Experience as an ESOL teacher: taught in community-based organizations as well as in a local community college, with an emphasis on reading and writing courses;
Web and Instructional Design: he has created numerous interactive Web sites, including online courses using audio, video, and Flash technology;
Workshop presenter: facilitates workshops nationally on technology use in the classroom.

Some Recent Publications:

Books: Project Care: Health Care Case Studies, Multimedia, and Projects for Practicing English, copublished by University of Michigan Press and World Education
Learning Computers, Speaking English: Cooperative Activities for Learning English and Word Processing, published by University of Michigan Press
Teacher Guide: Under Construction: Building Web Sites as a Project-based Learning Activity for ABE/ESOL Classes
Curriculum: Computers in Action: Integrating Computer Technology into the ESOL Curriculum
Article: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy's Journal,
Focus on Basics, entitled, Teaching ESOL Using Word Processing: A Communicative Approach
Article: New England Literacy Resource Center's, The Change Agent, entitled, Eight Quick Tips to Reading Online

Cynthia Zafft, Senior Advisor to National College Transition Network

Cynhtia Zafft Cynthia is the Senior Advisor to the National College Transition Network (NCTN). Her areas of expertise include transition to postsecondary education for non-traditional students, network and coalition-building, professional development for educators, technical assistance around issues of disability in postsecondary education, experiential education, and grant and publication writing. Cynthia oversees the Web resources on the NCTN Web site at www.collegetransition.org.

Prior to coming to NELRC/World Education, Cynthia coordinated several federally-funded transition projects for the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. One of the projects, the College to Career Networks, connected women college students with disabilities to career mentors and developed extensive career development curriculum for use by colleges. Another project, the Community College Connection, connected 5 large urban school systems and their local community college to develop supports so that students with intellectual disabilities could participate in the traditional college coursework. All projects included building inter-agency collaboration, project monitoring and evaluation, and providing extensive technical assistance to participants and the wider educational community.

From 1994-1999, Cynthia coordinated the Disability Services Office on the Wellesley campus of Massachusetts Bay Community College providing support each semester to approximately 280 students with disabilities. She also taught College Study Skills (elective) and Critical Thinking (required for graduation), and Critical Thinking for Nursing as part of the Mass Bay faculty. In a pilot for Roxbury Community College, Cynthia taught Study Strategies for Fundamentals of Nursing for students who were re-applying to the nursing program after being placed on academic probation. The college went on to include the course in its offerings after the successful pilot.

Cynthia is currently completing her doctoral education in Higher Education Administration at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. Her dissertation topic is access to experiential education. She has a BS in Earth Science with a Secondary Education Teaching Certificate and a masters degree is in Critical and Creative Thinking with a concentration in math and science. Ms. Zafft is also a registered nurse and holds a current Massachusetts license.

Recent publications:

Nott, M. & Zafft, C. (in press). Career-focused experiential education for college students with disabilities: An outline of the legal terrain. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability.

Blest, R. & Zafft, C. (2004). Careers to Go. Boston: Institute for Community Inclusion, University of Massachusetts. Available at http://www.communityinclusion.org/careerstogo. A Web-based career development resource for all students.

Zafft, C., Hart, D., & Zimbrich, K. (2004). College Career Connection: A study of youth with intellectual disabilities and the impact of postsecondary education. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 39(1), 45-53.

Waugh, A., Jordan, M. & Zafft, C. (2003). College students with disabilities putting their education to work. College to Career Networks. Boston: Institute for Community Inclusion, University of Massachusetts.

Zafft, C. (2003). Thinking about college (video). http://www.communityinclusion.org/de/sc/videos/cz.html

Hart, D., Zimbrich, K., & Zafft, C. (2001 Winter). Creating access to college for all students. The Journal for Vocational Special Education, 23(2), 19-31.

Gilmore, D., Schuster, J., Hart, D. & Zafft, C. (2001 Winter). Postsecondary education services and employment outcomes within the Vocational Rehabilitation system. Disability Studies Quarterly, 21(1). Available from the World Wide Web at:
http://www.dsq-sds.org/_articles_pdf/2001/Winter/dsq_2001_Winter_08.pdf.

Bergin, M. & Zafft, C. (2000 Spring). Creating full access for all: Quinsigamond Community College. Impact, 13(1), 14-15.

Schuldenfrei, P. & Zafft, C. (1997). The flight simulator for management education in nursing, TheScholar, Fall, 1997.

Schuldenfrei, P. & Zafft, C. (1995). Innovative teaching of management skills. Nurse Educator

Zafft, C. (1995). Enhancing thinking ability in beginning nursing students. Boston: University of Massachusetts, (Master's thesis)

Zafft, C. (1995). Teaching in the outdoors. Learning 95, October/November issue.