Cecily Wardell is an honors graduate of Harvard College where she majored in East Asian Languages and Civilizations. She has lived in Japan and France and worked in a major multinational financial institution in Tokyo; she speaks both Japanese and French. She also taught science and math at Dexter School. Cecily, with Alexis Jette Borggaard, is co-founder of Birches. Her son graduated from Birches in 2021 and her daughter is a 6th grader.

Wendy is a Speech-Language Pathologist and a Reading Specialist. She holds a BA in Psychology from Yale University, an Ed.M. in Language and Literacy from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a MS in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a concentration in Reading Disorders from Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions. Over the past 15+ years, Wendy has taught children with literacy and language weaknesses in a variety of settings. Currently Wendy has a private practice that offers three types of literacy services including consultations, evaluations, and individualized instruction. She prides herself on creative problem solving, the ability to playfully engage students and her wide knowledge base of the most effective ways to build oral and written language skills. Wendy has three children at Birches, one in 2nd grade, one in 1st grade, and one in Pre-Kindergarten.

Merton Flemings, who received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from MIT, is the Toyota Professor emeritus at MIT, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1956. Merton’s research and teaching have concentrated on engineering fundamentals of materials processing, and on innovation of materials processing operations. He is author or co-author of over 300 papers, 30 patents, and two books in the fields of solidification science and engineering, foundry technology, and materials processing. During his career at MIT, he led a project to build a technical college in Iran; initiated and led a center at MIT for materials processing that is now in its 28th year; was Head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering for a decade; initiated and was the first head of a major MIT-Singapore educational and research collaboration; and led for a number of years the Lemelson-MIT Program, a program whose aim is to encourage inventive creativity in young people. The Merton C. Flemings Materials Processing Laboratory was dedicated at MIT in 2015. Merton was a founding member of the Board of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad project. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. One of Merton’s grandchildren graduated from Birches in 2021 and another grandchild is a 7th grader at the school.

Danielle is a special education attorney based on the South Shore of Massachusetts who turned a deeply personal experience with her son into a highly specialized practice devoted to advocating for children with special education needs. She established Exceptional Children Special Education Advocacy LLC in 2019 with the belief that every child is exceptional and not defined by their differences, and parents need to be empowered with the tools to advocate for their children.

Her personal story, combined with her extensive legal background, provides her with a unique perspective which better enables her to support the parents – and children - she represents, giving them a voice when no one is listening. She understands the struggles her clients face, how emotional the process is, and the intricacies of the special education laws and process.

Danielle began her legal career in the financial services industry, where she was able to develop and sharpen her leadership, written and verbal communication, data analysis, active listening, and negotiation skills.

She is a member of the Massachusetts Bar, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA)and the Special Needs Advocacy Network (SPAN). She volunteers as a Special Education Surrogate Parent for children in DCF custody and provides presentations on special education topics to SEPAC organizations, parent groups, and service providers.

Frederique Begin has been working in the human services field since 1993. She has focused the majority of her work and training on children and their families. Through the Children’s Trust Fund she received certifications in pregnancy and postpartum issues; infant and toddler development; and family systems, among others. She was also certified as a developmental specialist through Early Intervention and has worked with children with special needs in a variety of settings. Fredy has experience in equitation therapy (hippotherapy) and expressive therapies and incorporates creative therapies when appropriate in her on-going work with clients. Most recently, her work has focused on children and families who have survived trauma. Fredy has conducted forensic trauma evaluations and has also provided on-going treatment for clients.

Fredy graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in human services from Lesley College and at the top of her class with a master’s degree in social work from Simmons College. Born in the Netherlands and raised and educated in the United States, she speaks both Dutch and English fluently and has experience with cross-cultural issues and issues related to immigration. Fredy’s son graduated from Birches in 2022.

Jane Price Schwartz graduated from Oklahoma State University with a B.S. (Highest Honors) in Economics and Political Science. She then received a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School. After working in several law firms, she spent almost 20 years in the Fidelity Investments Legal Department, retiring as Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel.

Jane is now focused on her passion: non-profit board service. She is a past President of the Board of Legal Advocacy Resource Center, a telephone hotline delivering free legal assistance to indigent clients in the Boston area, and also past Chair of the Board Governance Committee for The Second Step, a social services organization providing transitional housing and multiple services for survivors of domestic violence and their children. At present, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the HOPE for Marshall County Food Pantry in Oklahoma. She is also the President of the Board of Camp Jabberwocky (Martha's Vineyard Cerebral Palsy Camp), a 65-year-old summer camp for children and adults with disabilities.

Jay founded Inwood Capital Partners (“ICP”) in 1995 to fund new domestic and international real estate investment opportunities, including project and global fund development, investments in companies, and portfolio and single asset acquisitions. From 1996 to 2013, ICP was affiliated with the HDG Mansur Group, where Jay served as Head of New Product Development. Since 2013 he has served as Director of Business Development for Josar Group which included development of power distributed generation plants for high-rise commercial office buildings. Prior to the formation of ICP, Jay spent 15 years in the Global Private Bank of Bankers Trust Company, which he joined in 1980 as the deputy division head, to establish a Real Estate Advisory Service for high net worth international and domestic clients. Jay came to Bankers Trust Company from Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (“TIAA”) where he had spent the previous six years in the Mortgage and Real Estate Department engaged in various facets of mortgage lending and real estate acquisition. Jay has an undergraduate degree from Union College, from which he graduated in 1968. After three and a half years as an officer in the United States Navy, Jay entered Columbia University Graduate School of Business where he graduated in 1974 with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration –Concentration in Finance. Jay has two granddaughters at Birches.

Tom graduated from Phillips Academy Andover and Yale University.

He has been with Ingleside Investors and its predecessors since 1966. After holding various positions at Ingleside Investors, he assumed the role of Chairman and CEO in 1991.

Tom serves as a Director of Ingleside Investors and is on the Board of Citizens Committee for New York City. He served for many years as a Trustee and Treasurer of Phillips Academy Andover. He is also an Associate of the Yale Child Study Center, a Trustee Emeritus of Riverdale Country School, and a former Trustee of The Masters School.

Tom is a devoted family man. He has three children and five grandchildren. Three of those grandchildren currently attend Birches School.

James McClutchy is the founder and CEO of Performance Building Company, Inc. headquartered in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. He founded his company twenty-six years ago as a general contracting business serving residential, commercial, and industrial clients. Jim and his company have completed numerous projects throughout New England, including the public/private partnership with the University of Massachusetts Lowell for the development of an 810-bed dormitory, fitness center and classroom facility. The university has determined that this facility will be a model for future expansion throughout the University of Massachusetts system. Performance Building Company also specializes in the historic renovation of both residential and commercial buildings, including many Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and Cambridge properties.

Jim was the general contractor who oversaw the renovation of Birches School during 2017 and 2018. He was inspirational in his execution and fine-tuning of the architects’ design. In the spring of 2019, he returned to Birches to work with the 2nd and 3rd graders who were building their own model city. In the summer of 2020, Jim oversaw the construction of an auxiliary building at Birches to help house our students with proper social distancing during the Covid-19 crisis. In the summer of 2021, he supervised a 3000 square foot addition to our school to accommodate an influx of new students.

Akil Mondesir became the Director of the Bedford Public Schools METCO Program in 2016. As a proud graduate of Bedford High School, Akil brings over 25 years of experience and commitment to the education and social emotional wellbeing of students from kindergarten to grade 12. As a past Program Director for the Brandon School & Residential Treatment Center in Natick MA, Akil worked with “at risk adolescents” to help provide stability while they dealt with their traumas. Throughout his years working in residential and public school settings, Akil realized that his passion is to give back, specifically to students and faculty. He returned to school and received his Master’s in Education, concentrating in Administration and Leadership. Working with students to help them navigate their ways through academic and social challenges inspires Akil to believe that we are teaching students to become socially aware citizens with a global outlook. His passion is to see all students working together, understanding differences, and uniting to help each other while building individual competencies and confidence.

Hannah Weiss Muller has been working in universities since 2000, where she enjoys mentoring students as they transition from high school to college and from college to graduate school. After earning her AB from Harvard University in History and Literature, she remained in Cambridge as an admissions officer and a residential advisor for the college between 2000 and 2004. Hannah earned her MA and PhD in History from Princeton University and has taught in a range of universities since then. She has served as a Lecturer in Harvard University’s History and Literature concentration (2011-2013), an Assistant Professor at Denison University (2014-2015), and, since 2016, an Assistant and Associate Professor at Brandeis University. She is currently interested in forging stronger partnerships between academic and public history and is passionate about history education at all levels. Hannah has two children enrolled at Birches: a daughter in the sixth grade and a son in the fifth grade. You can often find her hiking with two canine companions in the Lincoln Conservation Land, taking every opportunity to enjoy the area’s natural beauty after drop-off.

Larry is a founder and managing general partner of FMG Development, a Connecticut based real estate development and management company he helped establish in 1998. He served for 10 years as a development advisor to Nuestra Communidad, a CDC that develops affordable housing and supporting retail services in the Dudley Square neighborhood of Boston. He and his wife, Cathy Ziehl, served on the Advisory Board of the child psychiatry department at Mass General hospital. They have been actively involved with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute for over 20 yrs and currently serve on the visiting committee supporting the work of the Cancer Care Equity Group led by Dr Chris Lathan, whose mission is to offer world class cancer care to the underserved communities of color in Boston. His 3 adult children attended The Chestnut Hill school where he was a member of the Development Committee and served as chair for 2 years. Above all else, he treasures his life as a son, brother, husband, father, grandfather and friend.

Andrew Hudson is a business owner and entrepreneur. An engineer by trade, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor's degree in Materials Science and Engineering and a National Title in Varsity Rowing. After working for an advanced Technology Group at Air Products and coaching women’s crew by night, he went on to pursue his MBA (with a focus on Management of Technology) at Lehigh University. Since 2001, Andrew has parlayed his skills in business technology with companies such as Lucent, Opnetics (a startup company of MIT Lincoln Labs scientists), and ultimately landed in the Commercial Construction Industry. For the last 22 years, he has worked as a subcontractor in Prefabricated Exterior Building Facades, concentrating on Design Assist and Design-Build Projects. In 2018 he founded New England Prefab, a design assist business built around the StoPanel Technology Program that has grown from its 2012 creation to 36 Affiliates in 7 countries, 23 in North America and 13 International. He moonlights as a financial wiz, with considerable personal time spent reading and investing through various financial investment strategies. Previous Board work includes a 5-year term with the Lehigh Valley division of Communities in Schools, a non-profit whose mission is to lower the dropout rate in public high schools across the country. Andrew and his family spend their free time attending theater, exploring nature, and visiting relatives in Maine and Pennsylvania. Andrew and his wife Janis have two daughters at Birches, one in 2nd grade and one in Kindergarten.

KATHLEEN MORENO DORKIN, M.M., M.ED.

ELIZABETH TEN GROTENHUIS, PH.D.

ALEXIS JETTE BORGGAARD, B.A.

ANN KANIA, B.S.

DAVID SPENCER, SC. D.

SANDEEP DAS