Board of Trustees

Padgett D. Berthiaume ’97 P ’27 ’29

Padgett attended Wheaton College where he earned a B.S. with a concentration in psychology and philosophy and was a captain of the lacrosse team. He then went on to earn a JD at Western New England College School of Law. Following admission to the Massachusetts Bar in 2006, he joined his father and brother and became a partner in the family firm, Berthiaume & Berthiaume, located in North Brookfield. Padgett is an active member of the Worcester County Bar Association having served multiple terms on the organization’s Executive Committee. He also serves as a co-chair of the Parks Committee for the town of North Brookfield. Padgett is an engaged member of the Bancroft community as an alumnus and, through the PFA, as a parent, taking on the lead role in the Fall Family Festival at Homecoming. During the spring season you can find Padgett on the sidelines cheering on the Bancroft Lacrosse teams and his wife, Paige, who is the Head Coach of the girls’ team. Padgett and his family enjoy spending winter weekends skiing and snowboarding in Vermont.

Audit Chair, Governance, Board Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Mary Halpin Carter, Ph.D. ‘83

Mary has served as Head of The Derryfield School since 2013. She relishes working with young people to help them develop their gifts and use them for purposeful lives. Mary received her Bachelor of Arts in History from Dartmouth College, Masters from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Doctorate in Education from the University of New Hampshire. Mary has taught history and coached at Pingree School, Newton North High School and Newton South High School. She was awarded a Columbia University Klingenstein Fellowship for excellence in independent school teaching. Before becoming Head of School, at Derryfield, Mary served as Director of Admission, Academic Dean, Chair of the English Department, Head of the Upper School, Dean of Faculty and Academic Programs, Assistant Head of School for Faculty and Academic Programs, and Interim Head. She is a board member of the Association of Independent Schools of New England (AISNE), and a member of the Headmistresses of the East, the Country School Headmasters Association, the Headmasters Association, and the Independent Schools Association of Northern New England (ISANNE). Mary lives on a blueberry farm in Hopkinton, New Hampshire with her husband Chris, and is the proud mother of three graduates of The Derryfield School.

Finance, Capital Planning Task Force

James P. 'Trey' Cassidy III

Head of School

Finance, Capital Planning Task Force

Susanne Choate P ‘21- PFA President

Susanne grew up in northern New Jersey and attended the University of Pennsylvania
where she earned B.A.s in Mathematics and Political Science. She went on to earn an
M.B.A from Boston University. Susanne has worked over 20 years as a management
consultant with Fortune 100 companies. She has expertise in client relationship
management, strategic planning, business process definition, and integration of new
technologies. Since 2016, Susanne has been a Principal Consultant with CastleHill
Managed Risk Solutions. Susanne lives in Princeton with her husband Jon, and two
sons.

PFA President, BluePrint125 Oversight, Advancement Task Force

Catherine M. Colinvaux P ’15 ‘19

After graduating from a PK-12 independent day school in Columbus, Ohio, Catherine received her A.B. from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges (Russian History and Literature) and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. For more than 20 years, as a lawyer in private practice, Catherine specialized in resolving complex, high-dollar disputes through litigation and negotiation. Among other significant representations, Catherine represented one of the world’s largest insurers in connection with the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and other 9/11 related property losses. She has been named one of a Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s “Top Women in Law” and a Massachusetts Top 50 Female Super Lawyer. Catherine also served as her firm’s Diversity Partner. In 2013, Catherine retired from the law to spend more time thinking, learning, writing, reading, enjoying her children, and engaging in philanthropic work. Catherine is a past president of Bancroft as well as of the Worcester Art Museum, the Massachusetts Reinsurance Bar Association, and Birthday Wishes. She and her husband, Phillip Zamore, live in Northborough, Massachusetts.

Finance, Capital Planning Task Force, Advancement Task Force

James “Jim” Condon ’83 P’19 ’24

Jim received his BA in Business Administration from Assumption College and an MBA from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Jim is the Director, Human Resources and Risk Management for Wagner Automotive Group. Before joining Wagner, Jim had his own human resources consulting business working with a variety of organizations from start-ups to mid-sized companies, regionally and nationwide. He also held positions as Director of Human Resources, Director of Maintenance, and Facilities Manager at Table Talk Pies and as a Project Manager at O’Brien & Gere Operations in Syracuse, NY. Jim serves on the board of the Automotive Insurance Compensation Corp., a captive workers compensation insurance company serving the automotive industry. Jim has long been active in the Bancroft Alumni Association, serving as the Alumni Council President from 2003 to 2013. Jim and his wife, Isabel, live in Holden.

Finance, Capital Planning Task Force

John J. Duggan ‘77

John is Vice President of Real Estate Operations at Reliant Medical Group, a multi-specialty group practice with 20 clinical locations throughout Central Massachusetts. In his capacity at Reliant, John is responsible for all leasing, construction, planning, design and maintenance of Reliant’s real estate. John has been involved with facilities management and real estate development for over 25 years, including the construction of the Worcester Medical Center. John and his wife Marybeth are the parents of two adult children. John is a familiar face to Bancroft as he served as the Assistant Coach for the Boys Varsity Basketball team for many years.

Executive First Vice President, Capital Planning Task Force Chair, Finance

Khurston S. Ellia-Epple ’86 P ’23

Khurston is an IT Project Management professional with 20 years’ experience delivering complex, highly visible projects on time and within budget. She is an Agile evangelist and is passionate about coaching teams to constantly improve the quality and value of their deliveries. Khurston is a Program Manager at PrismHR in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, the leading payroll, benefits and HR software provider for human resource outsourcing organizations. She is a skilled facilitator and collaborator and excels at helping her teams break down big ideas into actionable plans, then guiding them to deliver on those plans. Khurston received her BA in Political Science from Skidmore College and a JD from Western New England University School of Law. Khurston and her husband Chris have a daughter who has attended Bancroft since kindergarten. Khurston enjoys cooking, crafting, and all things Pixar, and the entire Epple family are huge supporters of the New England Patriots.

BluePrint125 Oversight Chair, Goverance

David Fahlstrom P ’07 ‘11

A lifelong Worcester resident, David attended the Worcester Public Schools, Worcester Academy, and Suffield Academy before going on to Worcester Junior College—where he graduated with a degree in Business Administration. Dave continued his studies in the business
program at Clark University. Following his family’s interest in real estate investment and management, David obtained a Massachusetts Real Estate Broker’s License in 1958 and has been active in the management, development, investment and general brokerage in commercial real estate holdings in Worcester and Cape Cod, including through his company, Fahlstrom Realty Management Company. David has been active in political circles and campaigns since his early 20’s. He has served on the Worcester Republican City Committee, served as an election warden for several years in Worcester and has been active in local, state and national campaigns for many years. He, and his wife Paula, have homes in Worcester and Harwichport. On the Cape, David serves a member of the board of directors of Allen Harbor Yacht Club and as a Commodore of the Half Seas Over Yacht Club in Hyannis Port. David and Paula have four daughters, two of whom graduated from Bancroft.

Goverance, Audit

Dr. Terence “Terry” R. Flotte P ’13 ’16

Dr. Flotte currently is the Provost/Dean and Celia and Isaac Haidak Professor at UMass Medical School, with faculty appointments in the Department of Pediatrics and the Horae Gene Therapy Center. Dr. Flotte is a pediatric pulmonologist and has been the principal investigator of multiple clinical gene therapy trials, including the first-ever human use of AAV vectors, a trial in cystic fibrosis patients that began in 1995, and recent trials in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and Tay-Sachs disease. His research has been continuously NIH funded since 1993.  Since 2015, he has also been Editor-in-Chief of his field’s oldest journal family, Human Gene Therapy.

Audit

Peter A.  Janhunen Jr. ’85

Pete considers his opportunity to attend Bancroft in the seventh grade as a defining moment in his life. He subsequently graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1989 and earned a Masters in Public Communications from Syracuse University in 1997. After spending 7- plus years on active duty as an Army officer, Pete made his way to Washington, DC, where he had the opportunity to work as a communicator and leader for several outstanding organizations, including The Pew Charitable Trusts, the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and the Air Line Pilots Association. He played a key role as the IAFF's public relations director after the union lost 347 members on September 11, 2001. Pete now runs his own communications firm in Providence, with clients ranging from the Rhode Island Department of Education, to the European Union, to a variety of trade associations and advocacy groups.

Execuative at Large, MVV Task Force Chair, BluePrint125 Oversight

Elvisi Mena P ‘21

Elvisi Mena is a healthcare business professional at Reliant Medical Group. After migrating to United States in 1995, Elvisi pursued her college education at Clark University where she earned a BA in Psychology and continued on to receive an MBA at Clark’s Graduate School of Business. With over 20 years of experience in care delivery, Elvisi is skilled in healthcare analytics, business strategy and negotiations. In her current role, Elvisi serves as the Director of Business Operations at Reliant Medical Group where she provides financial and business management direction to all specialty and ancillary services. Elvisi partakes in various wellness activities from running and cycling, to yoga and reading self-actualization books. She lives in Worcester, Massachusetts with her husband, Stephen, and her son.

Finance, BluePrint125 Oversight

Susan Onffroy P ’18 ’20 ’23

Susan J. Onffroy has over 24 years of experience in human health and nutrition and is a Licensed & Registered Dietitian. Early in her career she served at the Clara Barton Camp for diabetic girls and at St. Joseph’s Manor Care and Rehabilitation Center. Later, as Brown University’s Administrative Dietitian, Susan developed the student dining hall menus as well as specialized menus for students with special food requirements. She has mentored college dietetic students and delivered nutrition workshops for athletic teams and students in college, high school and middle school. Susan has been a principal in the entrepreneurial startup of two businesses: the first, an Anytime Fitness club franchise and, more recently, a recipe assembly business named MVPantry. She also provides personalized, healthy eating consulting for clients on an ongoing basis. Susan received her B.S. in Human Nutrition from UMass Amherst and completed her dietetic internship at Beth Israel Hospital. She has served as a member of the Winthrop School Committee as well as the President of the State Student Advisory Council and a voting member of the Massachusetts Board of Education. She has been an active parent volunteer at Bancroft over the past 8 years. Susan lives in in Shrewsbury with her husband, JP, and three children. She enjoys cooking, playing tennis, family travels, watching movies and attending live concerts.

Board Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Advancement Task Force

Michael Palermo P ’10 ’15

Michael was a senior vice president, head of Institutional Relationship Management at Pyramis Global Advisors, a Fidelity Investments company until 2014. In this role, he was responsible for overall relationship management for institutional clients at Pyramis. He joined the firm in 2011 and played a significant part in building and executing a strategy to establish a greater presence for Pyramis in the institutional asset management industry by developing and implementing strategic plans in all critical markets. He was an active and valuable member of the Executive Management team. Prior to joining Pyramis, Michael was a senior vice president and a director of Sales, Consultant Relations, and Marketing at The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC from 2005 to 2009. Prior to assuming that role, he served in two different business development roles as a senior vice president of Sales and a vice president, senior sales representative at The Boston Company Asset Management from 1996 to 2005 and Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Company/ Mellon Trust from 1990 to 1996. In those roles, he was responsible for marketing and client service for corporate, public, and Taft-Hartley pension plans, endowments, foundations, and sub-advisory entities. He has been in the investments industry since 1990. Prior to these roles, Michael held Sales and Client Service roles at Wang Laboratories and Dancorp Industrial Supply. Michael earned his bachelor in science from the University of Connecticut. He also was a member of the Board of Directors for Pyramis Global Advisors Trust Company and Pyramis Global Advisors, LLC. He held the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Series 7, 24, and 63 licenses. Michael and his wife, Martha, live in Grafton.

Executive at Large, Finance

Martin S. Richman

Martin is currently vice president of philanthropy at Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH) for Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge. Before moving to BILH, Martin served as executive director of advancement for UMass Memorial Medical Center and as vice president of philanthropy and executive director of the Milford Regional Healthcare Foundation. A Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), Martin was also the director of development and marketing for the Worcester Art Museum. Martin is a graduate of Clark University with a Masters degree in professional communication and teaches public speaking at Clark's School of Professional Studies. Moving to Worcester with his wife, Joanne, in 1990, Martin first worked in a number of roles in alumni relations and fundraising at Bancroft School, ultimately leading the development office through the late 1990s before leaving Bancroft in 2000 to serve as director of development at St. Mark's School.

Executive Treasurer, Finance Chair

Dr. Sheena Sharma ’89 P ’24 ’26 ’29

Sheena graduated from Wellesley College in 1993 and from Boston University School of Medicine in 2001. She completed her Internal Medicine training at Boston University and University of California, San Francisco in 2004, and went on to complete an Echocardiography Fellowship at UCSF. Sheena returned to Worcester and completed a Fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine at University of Massachusetts. She then fulfilled a lifelong dream and joined her father at InterMed Associates in Webster, MA. Sheena is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Echocardiography, and Cardiovascular Medicine and enjoys practicing all aspects of outpatient cardiology, with a special focus on Preventative Cardiology, and Echocardiography, and remains an active affiliate of St Vincent and UMASS Hospitals. Sheena's husband, Joe Cotten, is a research anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, and they reside in Northborough with their three boys. In her free time Sheena enjoys playing tennis and cheering her boys on at their matches.

Executive Vice President, Finance, Board Diversity, Equity and Incluion Chair

Katy K. Sullivan P ’19 ‘21

Katy has been active in the Bancroft community for the past fifteen years. Currently serving as Board President, she has held many roles including trustee, BluePrint125 Strategic Planning Team Chair, Advancement Committee Chair, Out in Front capital campaign advisory committee member, Bancroft Fund Chair, Room Parent and substitute art teacher. Katy recently completed a master’s degree in Museum Studies at Harvard University. With a particular interest in financial sustainability, equity, and education, her research focused on how museums can create programs that build sustainability by engaging more diverse audiences. She volunteers with a number of Worcester organizations, including the Worcester Art Museum where she contributes as a Docent, Corporator and Collections Advisory Committee member. She also serves as a Trustee Associate at the Nativity School and a Board member at the Worcester Club. Katy was the Executive Director of Worcester Local First, a non- profit network of local independent businesses, and General Manager of Worcester radio stations WSRS and WTAG. She has worked as a consultant in marketing and communications and holds a bachelor’s degree from Smith College. She lives in Princeton with her husband Peter and their two children - both Bancroft “sandboxers”.

Board President

Polly Tatum P ’04 ‘08 

Polly A. Tatum is the founder of Law Office of Polly A. Tatum/Mediation Advantage Services. Polly provides Comprehensive Estate Planning Services for with a focus on empowering individuals and families with children to make wise choices to protect what they love the most. Polly is also a leader in the field of Divorce Mediation and Conflict Resolution in Central Massachusetts helping families to uncouple with dignity with a focus on Families First. Polly A. Tatum was the 100th President of the Worcester County Bar Association. She was the third female and the first African American to preside over the Association, which during her tenure celebrated its 125 Anniversary.

Polly has a long history with community involvement in Worcester County. She has served on various nonprofit boards both past and present to include the Current Vice Chairwoman of the YMCA of Central Massachusetts. Former Board Member and Current Mentor at Girls Inc., The Links Incorporated, The United Way of Central Massachusetts, and The MLK Jr. Business Empowerment Center. She was the 2012 Outstanding Women in Business Award Recipient from the Worcester Business Journal and 2005 Katherine Forbes Erskine Award Recipient for Business and Law.

Polly Tatum was born in Ayer Massachusetts, and adopted at 6 months old and raised in Central Massachusetts. She has a close relationship with her biological family, which hails from Bermuda. Additionally, she is a long time resident of Worcester, Massachusetts. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from New Hampshire College, J.D. from Massachusetts Law School in Andover Massachusetts in 1994, and an LLM in Estate Planning and Elder Law from Western New England College School of Law in 2009. She is the proud mother of three young adult daughters, Jasmine who is a Social /Wellness Entrepreneur and proud Bancroft Graduate Class of 2004, Jamese who
also completed her law degree and works at Polly’s Firm, and Jamelah who is a Registered Nurse and proud Bancroft Graduate Class of 2008.

Goverance, Board Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Josephine (Herron) Truesdell ’72 P ’02

After attending Bancroft’s Upper School, Jo graduated from Middlebury College, then came back to Bancroft with the intention of staying for one year.  Forty-one years later, having taught Kindergarten throughout that time and having been an admission associate for most of that time, she retired from Bancroft, after which she and her husband embarked upon new careers as owners of TidePool Bookshop in Worcester which they opened in 2020.
Although both programs are on hiatus this year, Jo is a volunteer facilitator at the Worcester Children’s Friend Society’s Carriage House, a grief counseling center for children, and works with the Reading Together Program at Clark Street School through the Worcester Education Collaborative.  She also currently sits on the board at the Worcester Historical Museum and is a trustee of Rural Cemetery.

Alumni Council President, Board Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Advancement Task Force

Elizabeth Wambui

Elizabeth Wambui is the Director of Advancement at Nativity School of Worcester, the
city’s only private, tuition-free middle school for boys from low-income backgrounds.
Prior to joining Nativity Worcester, she served as a Major Gifts Officer and the Regional
Financial Development Specialist at the American Red Cross of Massachusetts. She has
also served as the Development Associate at Easter Seals Massachusetts. Elizabeth’s community involvement has included serving as a committee member on the Veteran’s Inc. Gala committee, Holy Cross Club of Greater Worcester Alumni club, Diverse Professionals Roundtable member and past Board Member for Creative Hub Worcester. She currently serves as a Greater Worcester Community Foundation Early Childhood Committee member, Modern Mechanics Guild Member and Worcester Art Museum Corporator. Elizabeth holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross. She was part of the Leadership Worcester Class of 2016-2017 and was one of the honorees in the Worcester Business Journal’s 40 under 40 Class of 2014.

BluePrint125 Oversight Chair, Board Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, MVV Task Force

Bill Zujewski P ’16 ’18 ‘21

Bill Zujewski is currently the Chief Marketing Officer of the Green Business Bureau and
is responsible for building the company’s brand and promoting the value of being a
certified green business. He is passionate about helping businesses become more
sustainable and socially responsible. Bill and his wife Sue reside in Grafton, MA and have 4 children. Matthew and Jonathan both graduated from Bancroft and both currently attend UConn. CJ is currently a Junior at Bancroft and captain of the basketball and baseball teams. Their daughter Annie attended Notre Dame Academy of Worcester and UConn and is a marketing manager for Truly at the Boston Beer Company.

Bill has over 30 years of global marketing experience in the high tech and software
industry and has led marketing organizations at 4 hyper-growth companies with 4
successful exits. He was CMO of Tulip Software from 2016-2019 and helped the startup
raise $40 Million from Kleiner Perkins. He was CMO for 5 years at a software company
called Axeda which was acquired by PTC in 2015. Before that, Bill held executive
leadership positions at ATG (acquired by Oracle), eDocs (acquired by Oracle),
BroadVision and Informix (acquired by IBM). Bill holds a B.S. in Computer Science from UConn and an MBA from Boston College.

Goverance, MVV Task Force