Penny
Wells
Executive Director
Penny Wells has served as President and Executive Director of SADD since 2000.
As Executive Director, Ms. Wells is responsible for implementing the decisions
of the Board and overseeing operations at the national office. She works in
developing program ideas and policies, raising money to support SADD’s
activities, coordinating with government, corporate and nonprofit partners,
and supporting SADD’s state coordinators and chapter advisors across
the country. As President of SADD, Ms. Wells serves on its Board of Directors.
Ms. Wells is an attorney with broad experience in public policy and management.
Prior to joining SADD, Ms. Wells served at the local, state and federal levels
of government, including as Assistant Secretary of Consumer Affairs and Business
Regulation for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the course of her professional
career, she gained broad exposure to legal and policy issues as diverse as
government licensure of professionals, regulation of alcohol and the treatment
of those affected by alcohol, and the economic pressures on the entertainment
industry. Ms. Wells served as General Counsel and Executive Director of both
the Massachusetts Cable Television Commission and the Massachusetts Board
of Registration in Medicine. Ms. Wells was responsible for chairing or staffing
several task forces on consumer issues, including a task force on the Massachusetts
safe driver program. Currently, Ms. Wells serves on the board of directors
of the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) and the Advisory Committee
of the Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free. Ms. Wells is a graduate of
Wellesley College and Boston University School of Law.
Deborah
B. Henderson
Director of Operations
Ms. Henderson joined the SADD National staff
in August 2003. In her role as the Director of Operations, she manages media
relations, coordinates special projects, including key fund-raising opportunities,
and serves as the liaison for the national conference chairperson. Ms. Henderson
also supports the Executive Director and the Chairman of the Board, as needed.
She supervises office support staff and oversees office management.
With more than 20 years’ professional experience, Ms. Henderson has helped
advance the mission and work of several noteworthy service organizations in
the Boston, Massachusetts, area, including the Massachusetts Adoption Resource
Exchange; Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries; the American Heart Association,
Northeast Affiliate; and the American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay. Ms.
Henderson developed the popular "Wednesday’s Child" television
program, which originated on WBZ-TV 4 in the Boston media market in 1981.
This program has successfully recruited permanent families for older and special
needs children, won two presidential citations, and served as a national model
for similar programs.
Christopher
Egan
Director of Field Services
Mr. Egan joined the SADD National staff in
January 2006. As Director of Field Services, he is responsible for state-level
SADD development and support, including supporting and overseeing SADD state
coordinators, creating and maintaining contacts with key state, federal, and
nonprofit organizations and representatives to mobilize SADD activity, and
strategizing and coordinating startup operations in states without a coordinator.
The Field Services office also supports local SADD chapters through development
of the chapter database, analysis of chapter needs, and responsiveness to
chapter inquiries.
A licensed attorney, Mr. Egan’s career has been spent in youth development
organizations, including Boys & Girls Clubs and Camp Fire USA. In past
positions, he was responsible for overseeing programs and operations serving
thousands of children, developing fund-raising campaigns, and strategic planning
and budgeting. As Legislative Chair of the Massachusetts Camping Association,
Mr. Egan represented the interests of the summer camp industry to lawmakers
and state agencies and served as chief spokesman for the association.
Stacey Hart
Communications Coordinator
Stacey Hart joined the SADD National staff in September 2007. As Communications Coordinator, she is responsible for strategic communications, including media outreach, marketing, and Web site development. Ms. Hart works to promote SADD events and initiatives through public relations materials. She also manages the writing and production of Decisions, SADD’s national newsletter distributed to 49,000 middle schools and high schools across the country. She also coordinates and promotes the SADD Speaker Series.
Ms. Hart brings more than six years of media experience as a staff writer with daily and weekly newspapers in the Greater Boston area. She communicated information about a variety of topics, including budgets, special events, and town meetings, to improve the public’s understanding of issues facing communities. Ms. Hart received a general excellence award from the New England Press Association for one of her articles. She also has managerial experience for two publications, where she coordinated editorial and business aspects of the operations, including overseeing departments and managing a staff of 25 individuals. Ms. Hart is a graduate of Bentley College, where she earned a B.S. in Business Communications.
Nicole Cheschi
Director of Finance and Administration
Nicole Cheschi joined the SADD National staff in April 2007. As the Director of Finance and Administration, she is responsible for the fiscal and personnel operations of the SADD National office. In addition to overseeing the day-to-day functions of the office, she assists with fund-raising initiatives, supervises grant compliance, and serves as the primary liaison for the financial aspects of the annual SADD National Conference.
Ms. Cheschi brings more than 12 years of progressive success in accounting and finance, including revenue management for a $110 million company. With extensive experience in domestic and international accounting as well as government accounting and reporting, she has led several companies through growth, survival, and turnaround. Prior to joining SADD, she served as Controller for CBL Systems in Milford, Massachusetts, a start-up company involved in the design, development, and sale of fiber-optic routers and ethernet switches. In this role she was responsible for managing both finance and human resources. She spent more than eight years at Education Development Center in Newton, Massachusetts, working with accounts payable and receivable, governmental and non-governmental financial reporting, and revenue analysis. Ms. Cheschi also worked for the Visiting Nurses in Lincoln, Rhode Island, in the finance department both during college and after graduating from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.
Ashley Conners
Assistant Director of Programming
Ashley Conners has served SADD National since 2000. Her current role is Assistant Director of Programming. In this position, Ms. Conners works directly with the Director of Programming and assists in the development and implementation of all SADD programs. She supports the development of key programs and activities to support SADD chapters nationwide, including grant-funded campaigns and research sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
She is also staff advisor to the SADD National Student Leadership Council (SLC), a position she has held since 2004. In this role, she supports and guides the SLC members to become stronger leaders and to develop their skills. Ms. Conners was a member of the SLC for two years and in 2002 was named SADD National Student of the Year. She graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary English Education and a minor in Substance Abuse Prevention Services.
Meredith Kent
Youth Program Coordinator
Meredith Kent joined the SADD staff in December 2007. As the Youth Program Coordinator, she supports the initiatives of the Massachusetts Youth Program, including event planning and management and youth programming. On the national level, Ms. Kent assists with the planning, coordination, and management of the annual SADD National Conference.
Emily Socha
Youth Program Assistant
Emily Socha joined SADD after graduating in May 2008 from Bryant University with a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Psychology and a minor in marketing. As the Youth Program Assistant, she will provide key assistance to the Field Services Department and perform administrative tasks for the SADD National Office. Ms. Socha will also support the Massachusetts SADD network of students, advisors, partners and staff.
During Ms. Socha’s time at Bryant, she was an active member of the university’s Psychology Association, and during her senior year she was the association’s treasurer. Also during her senior year, she served in an internship at the Samaritans, a suicide prevention hotline, where she successfully completed training to become a Samaritan Befriender. Ms. Socha also served in an internship at Hudson High School and Middle School, working with the school guidance counselors and school psychologist. Ms. Socha brings experience to SADD in raising awareness about women’s body image issues, including planning and organizing events to call attention to women’s body images in the media and make requests for change and supporting the belief that eating disorders should be handled as physical illnesses by insurance companies.
Karen
Andrasko
Administrative Assistant for Program Services
Ms.
Andrasko has worked for SADD since 1992. In addition to her office organization
responsibilities, Ms. Andrasko maintains the national chapter database, fulfills
information requests, and coordinates many aspects of the national conference.
Prior to her employment at SADD, Ms. Andrasko worked as a secretary and as
an assembler for several businesses in the Marlborough area. She also ran
the Baking Department at Assabet Valley Vocational-Technical School. A dedicated
volunteer, Ms. Andrasko is also active in several church and community activities.
Marlene
Faria Connelly
Executive Assistant to the Board
Ms. Connelly has served as Executive Assistant to the Board of Directors of SADD since 1998. She oversees the activities of the Board of Directors, plans Board meetings and events, prepares meeting briefing materials, and maintains official board records. She also serves as copyeditor of materials produced by the organization, including the national newsletter, the SADD National website, public relations materials, and programming content.
A graduate of Clemson University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Ms. Connelly previously worked as Office Manager and Executive Assistant to the Secretary of Economic Affairs of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and to the Secretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. During her tenure in state government, she served on the Governor’s Council for the Massachusetts Clean State Initiative, the blueprint for making state agencies environmentally compliant. Prior to working for the Commonwealth, Ms. Connelly served on the staffs of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights in Boston and the Democratic National Committee in Los Angeles.
