Board of Trustees

Amanda joined the KIPP MA Board in 2011. She is currently the Massachusetts Executive Director at OneGoal, a national organization that works to close the college degree divide between students from low-income communities and their peers from high-income areas. Amanda began her career as a Teach For America corps member in Atlanta, where she was a fourth grade teacher. She is a native of Dorchester, and a graduate of Boston Public Schools. She holds an AB from Harvard College, and a Master’s Degree in anthropology from Emory University.

Matt has worked with KIPP MA for a number of years on various projects and committees, but this is his first term on the Board of Directors. Matt is a General Partner at Ascent Venture Partners in Boston, a leading early stage technology venture capital firm. Over the past 15 years at Ascent, Matt has focused on investments in emerging tech fields such as data analytics, business SaaS and security. Prior to Ascent, Matt worked at Norwest Venture Partners, where he worked on enterprise technology venture investments and at Alex Brown & Sons, a leading technology investment bank, where he helped execute both IPO and M&A transactions. Matt was a double major in computer science and economics at Yale University where he was also captain of the rugby team. He later earned an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (Tuck Scholar). Matt was also an Overseer at the Boston Museum of Science and an advisor to the Sarah Greenwood School in Dorchester.

Nikki is the Executive Director of KIPP Massachusetts. Nikki joined the KIPP MA Team and Family in 2013 as a 6th grade humanities teacher at KIPP Academy Boston Middle School. Nikki has spent her professional career teaching in and advocating for public schools. She has over 20 years of classroom experience in elementary, middle and high school.

After serving as the Dean of Students at KIPP Academy Boston in 2014, she became the School Leader in 2015. Under her leadership, KIPP Academy Boston experienced some of the highest student growth in the state of Massachusetts, including three grade levels performing among the top ten schools in the KIPP Network with the highest reading growth on the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment

Nikki’s accomplishments as a teacher include being the first Black classroom teacher to earn National Board Certification in the state of Virginia. She was also one of two teachers chosen to represent the state of Virginia at the National Teacher Forum in 2000 held in Washington, DC. She also has nearly 10 years of experience working in educational non-profit organizations focusing on teacher quality issues and minority community outreach including overseeing a multi-million dollar partnership with The Tom Joyner Foundation to increase the number of fully licensed teachers of color in high minority, high poverty districts.

Nikki is a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic University (1991) and Virginia Commonwealth University (2003) where her graduate research around Teacher Leadership led to the creation of the VCU Center for Teacher Leadership.

Nikki is the proud mother of her two children: Adrianna and Jordan, both of whom are teachers at KIPP Boston.

Tom is the President of Kate Farms, a medical nutrition company that offers plant-based formulas designed for improved tolerance with organic ingredients and without dairy, soy, gluten, corn or nuts. Prior to Kate Farms, he was the CEO of Cartera Commerce, a venture-backed, Boston-based loyalty marketing company. Prior to Cartera, Tom was CFO and later CEO at Imagitas and a consultant at Bain & Co. He attended Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School. Tom is married and has two children.

Doug joined the KIPP MA Board in 2014, where he Chairs the Compensation Committee and serves on the Teaching and Learning Committee. Doug is a Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer at New Profit. In addition to managing New Profit’s finances and internal operations, Doug has worked closely with several of New Profit’s portfolio organizations, including Achievement First, iMentor, KIPP, Year Up, and currently serves on the boards of Leading Educators, New Classrooms, and UnboundEd. Prior to joining New Profit, he worked as a program and logistics officer with Save the Children, where he was part of a team that started up field operations in the Sudan, and created and managed a multi-million dollar relief and development operation. Doug has served on the boards of a number of growing organizations, including Venturcom, iMarket, and Computers for Youth. He graduated from Princeton with a BS in engineering, and received his MBA from the Stanford Business School, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar.

Ive is a Human Resources professional with over 20 years of successfully developing and delivering Human Resources programs to include talent acquisition, diversity and inclusion, employee relations, talent management, federal and state regulatory compliance in various industries. Ive joined Eastern Bank, the largest and oldest mutual bank in the country, in 2004. She currently holds the position of Vice President, Talent Acquisition and Inclusion Director and is responsible for identifying and addressing strategic HR issues that impact business performance to include implementing and managing talent acquisition strategies, diversity and inclusion programs and partnership opportunities with diverse, civic, professional and nonprofit organizations. Proudly born and raised in Lynn, MA, Ive is committed to the community serving on several boards including Family and Children’s Services of Greater Lynn, Lynn Business Education Foundation, La Vida, Inc., the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce, as well as serving as a Mentor with Raw Arts Works. Ive is passionate about giving kids and young adults the opportunity to learn and thrive. Ive holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a minor in Business Administration from Merrimack College and a Masters degree in Management Communications from Emerson College. Additionally, she is an alumna of three leadership programs for high potential professionals, The Emerging Leaders Program at UMASS Boston, The Partnership, Inc., and Conexión. She is also a graduate of the INROADS program.

Michael is currently serving his fifth year on the KIPP MA Board. In his five years on the board, Michael has seen KIPP MA grow from one middle school serving nearly 320 students in Lynn, MA, to two districts in Lynn and Boston, MA serving nearly 1,900 students in grades K-12. He is a partner in Goodwin Procter LLP’s Private Equity and Technology Companies Group, and focuses his corporate finance and securities practice on private equity and venture capital transactions, mergers and acquisitions, public securities offerings and representing emerging growth companies. He advises a variety of companies in industries including software, information technology, telecommunications, information services, biotechnology, healthcare, financial services, and retail. Michael is listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Best Lawyers in America, Boston’s Best Lawyers, and has been recognized as a Massachusetts “Super Lawyer.” Michael is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and Boston University Graduate School of Management.

Paul is responsible for investment origination and asset management for AEW’s series of Opportunity Real Estate Funds. He leads the firm’s hospitality group with responsibility for investment origination and asset management for all hotel investments in North America and has been involved in transactions with all of the major hotel brands. Additionally, Paul is also responsible for office, retail, residential and industrial acquisitions in the greater Boston, MA., Chicago, Il., and Washington, D.C. regions. Since joining AEW in 2004, he has been involved in over $1.5 billion dollars of equity and debt related real estate transactions. Additionally, Paul currently manages a portfolio of investments with a gross value of approximately $750 million. During his tenure at AEW, Paul has been involved in acquisitions, dispositions, financing, capital restructurings, development and asset management for a wide variety of commercial real estate product types across North America. Prior to beginning his commercial real estate career, Paul was a professional musician and a teacher at, and director of Harvard University affiliated Child Care Centers. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and is a graduate of Tufts University (B.A.) and Boston University School of Management (MBA). Paul lives in Winchester with his wife and two sons. He continues to be an active musician and coaches multiple youth sports.

Shenkiat (Shen) is the Vice President for People Strategy at City Year, an organization that provides additional support to students in high-needs communities to ensure they reach the 10th grade on track and on time. Prior to joining City Year, Shen was Vice President for Staff Support & Administration at Teach For America where he led the team responsible for human assets strategy, compensation, benefits, and HRIS. Other professional experiences include product development at Fidelity Investments and HR consulting with the Hay Group (now Korn Ferry). Shen’s journey in social justice began as a Teach For America corps member, when he spent two years teaching fifth grade social studies in rural Mississippi. Since that time, Shen has been committed to supporting the work of organizations like KIPP that seek to ensure that all kids have the opportunities they deserve. Shen is on the board of the The Collective-Massachusetts (Teach For America’s association for alumni of color) and plays violin with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra. He is a graduate of Harvard University and received his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Stephanie Oliveras is a Senior Vice President, Senior Relationship Manager for Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Healthcare, Education & Not for Profit Group (HENP). Stephanie is responsible for leading commercial banking teams that deliver financial and treasury solutions to clients located in New England.

Stephanie joined Bank of America in 2006 and spent twelve years in Community Development Banking, a division of Commercial Real Estate Banking. Stephanie leveraged a deep understanding of the real estate industry to effectively structure financing packages for affordable multifamily, senior, mixed-use and supportive housing projects. Most recently, she led the effort to expand the charter school lending platform nationally. She brought an interesting perspective to the role having worked in the Bank’s NYC, LA, Washington D.C. and Boston markets.

Stephanie is passionate about serving charter schools that focus on closing the achievement gap. She serves as a Board of Ambassador member for Brooke Charter School and Excel Academy. She also serves on the finance committee for KIPP MA. She is an avid traveler, enjoys volunteering for homeless organizations and is a financial literacy advocate/volunteer.

Shellina Semexant is a devoted wife, mother of three children, educator, and advocate for social justice. She holds a BA from Lesley College and an MBA in Special Education from Grand Canyon University. She has been a resident of the City of Boston for over three decades. Shellina has been part of the KIPP Boston community for over six years, and is the President of KIPP Boston Parent Council. Shellina is the co-founder of KIPP Academy Boston’s Families and KIPPsters Together (FAKT) Parent Engagement Team. She is the Program Coordinator for Boston Schools Finder, a non-profit organization that helps “families in choosing a school that is the right fit for their families”. Shellina also serves as a Parent Leader for Union Capital Boston where they believe in “transforming social capital into opportunities by rewarding communities’ engagement”. Shellina’s mission is to engage families in the discussion of education, equity, and equality around Boston by closing the gap of engagement between families and schools.