People on the Move

People on the Move

Joan Kagan

Joan Kagan

Following a human-services career spanning more than 45 years, Square One President and CEO Joan Kagan has announced plans to retire. Kagan has served in her current role since 2003. Although her retirement will take effect on Dec. 31, 2020, Kagan will continue to serve the agency as an advisor to support the leadership team during transition. “When you think about the nonprofit community in Western Massachusetts, the name Joan Kagan immediately comes to mind,” said Peter Testori, chair of Square One’s board of directors and dean of Academic Support Services and assistant Title IX coordinator at Bay Path University. “For decades, Joan has been a champion for the well-being and education of our region’s children. Her passion and commitment have positively impacted the lives of thousands of children and families.” Under Kagan’s leadership, Square One (formerly known as Springfield Day Nursery) expanded its offerings from providing child care exclusively to a full menu of family-support services. This expansion was built upon Kagan’s experience as a child and family social worker and her in-depth understanding of the need for all children to have a high-quality early education, nurturing adults to care for them, and a safe and healthy community in which to live. A committee of Square One staff and board members, as well as other community leaders, will conduct a search to determine the next president and CEO.

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Nathaniel Munson

Nathaniel Munson

Leighanne Sullivan

Leighanne Sullivan

bankESB promoted Nathaniel Munson to assistant vice president – portfolio manager, and announced that Leighanne Sullivan has joined the bank’s Marketing Department as its social-media coordinator. Munson joined bankESB in 2018 as portfolio manager, and prior to that was with Westfield Bank for six years, most recently as senior credit analyst. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western New England University and is an active member of the Mountain View Baptist Church in Holyoke, currently serving as a trustee, Sunday school director, and youth leader. Prior to joining bankESB, Sullivan was a marketing assistant with Project Look Sharp in Ithaca, N.Y., and before that was a marketing intern with Westfield Bank and a public-relations and social-media intern with Sarah Hall Productions. She will be responsible for maintaining the bank’s social-media presence across all platforms as well as those of the member banks of its parent company, Hometown Financial Group. Additionally, she will produce video content and serve as the primary administrator for the company intranet. This spring, Sullivan earned her bachelor’s degree in integrated marketing communications from Ithaca College, where she was a participant in the college’s Leadership Academy and a member of the women’s crew team.

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Richard Juang

Richard Juang

Attorney Richard Juang has joined the Royal Law Firm. He brings to Royal a decade of experience working with nonprofits and small businesses on their core operations and transactions. He also provides clients with Massachusetts legislative and public-policy advocacy. Juang’s clients have ranged from human-services organizations to cannabis entrepreneurs to restauranteurs, reflecting the breadth of economic activity that makes Massachusetts a vibrant state in which to live and work. He is available to represent clients in transactions, regulatory and nonprofit compliance, and administrative-law matters. For clients facing legislative, regulatory, or public-policy changes, he is also able to help them navigate the Massachusetts legislative, budgetary, and regulatory landscapes. Juang received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University and his juris doctor from Northeastern University. He is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts.

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Justin Monell

Justin Monell

Elms College announced the hiring of Justin Monell as director of Career Services. Monell will help ensure that current Elms students are career-ready by providing them resources to help determine their career path, find internships in their field of study, prepare for graduate school, or look for employment. He will also be a resource for alumni seeking assistance with job searches, networking, or planning for a career change. Throughout his career, Monell has worked in various roles within student affairs, career services, and student success. Most recently, he was assistant director of Career Development at Clark University in Worcester. He has also worked in the Office of Multicultural Affairs at the University of South Florida and the Center for Advising & Student Success at Florida International University. Monell holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and political science from the University of Connecticut and a master of education degree in student affairs administration from Springfield College.

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Tyra Good

Tyra Good

Elms College announced the appointment of Tyra Good as the college’s first faculty director of the Center for Equity in Urban Education (CEUE). Good has more than 10 years of experience teaching education, and, most recently, she was assistant professor of Practice in Education at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. In this new position, she is responsible for the strategic oversight and management of the college’s efforts to address this issue. The CEUE was launched in September 2019 to increase the number and diversity of qualified teachers in the Chicopee, Holyoke, and Springfield school systems. In these school systems, the racial and ethnic composition of teachers is not representative of the students. This area also experiences an annual 800-teacher gap across K-12 schools, especially in specific roles such as special education, English-language learners, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Through a partnership with philanthropists, school districts, and charter-school networks, and with a reimagined curriculum, Elms College and Good aim to increase the pipeline of teachers, including teachers of color, who are culturally prepared to inspire the students whom they teach. Good is the founder and chief academic consultant for GOOD Knowledge Connections and the founder of the Black Educators Network (BEN) of Greater Pittsburgh. The BEN is a strategic team of K-12, higher-education, and community educators working across school-district and community lines to help ensure the academic and personal success of African-American youth from underserved communities. For her dedication and commitment to diversifying the teaching pipeline and preparing pre-service teachers to work in urban settings, Good has received myriad award recognitions. Most recently, she was awarded a 2019 National Deeper Learning Equity Fellowship through Big Picture Learning and Internationals Network for Public Schools. Good received her bachelor’s degree in business management from Howard University, a master’s degree in teaching from Chatham University, and a doctorate in educational leadership and evaluation from Duquesne University.

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Loretta Dansereau

Loretta Dansereau

River East School-to-Career Inc. announced that Director Loretta Dansereau will retire in August after more than 16 years of service to the organization. Dansereau has been the driving force behind growing the organization since 2004, when it was still in its infancy, to be a recognized local business and education partnership under the MassHire Hampden County Workforce Board and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. In addition to helping incorporate as a non-profit 501(c)(3), she has been instrumental in building a community of more than 300 business partners, increasing partnership awareness, and mentoring numerous students. Under Dansereau’s leadership, River East School-to-Career has become a model for other school-to-career organizations in Massachusetts. In the just the past five years, the organization has impacted the lives of more than 1,000 students in Hampden and Hampshire counties by bringing together schools, businesses, and organizations to create career-exploration opportunities. The aim is to help students make informed decisions regarding their career and educational goals through work-based learning and internship opportunities, co-op placements, career days, and work-readiness workshops. Dansereau will be succeeded by Amy Scribner, who has been part of the organization in various capacities for more than 10 years.

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Christopher Silipigno

Christopher Silipigno

Christopher Silipigno, chief operating officer and managing director at Renaissance Investment Group, LLC, earned the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) professional designation from the American College of Financial Services. Candidates for the ChFC designation must complete a minimum of eight college-level courses and 18 hours of supervised examinations. They must also fulfill stringent experience and ethics requirements and participate in continuing education to maintain professional recertification. Since its inception in 1982, the credential has been widely regarded as a premier standard of knowledge and trust for financial-planning professionals. The ChFC program prepares professionals to apply advanced skills to address the financial planning needs of individuals, families, and small-business owners in a diverse environment. Having held licenses in mortgage lending, property and casualty insurance, and real estate, Silipigno provides Renaissance clients with a wide breadth of experience and expertise. In addition to fulfilling his role as COO, he works directly with the firm’s high-net-worth clients and foundations in the areas of investment management, cash-flow analysis, estate planning, charitable-giving strategies, and other complex financial-counseling domains.

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Jeremy Therrien

Jeremy Therrien

The Westfield Starfires announced the addition of Jeremy Therrien to the staff as Game Operations and Promotions coordinator. Therrien, a Westfield native and senior at Springfield College, has served in that position since late in 2019 and has spent much of the 2020 season implementing the organization’s COVID-19 readiness plan. For three consecutive years, Therrien has served as a student leader at the Hoophall Classic, an annual, Springfield-based tournament that features the top high-school basketball players and teams from around the country. He is also a Game Operations supervisor for the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League.

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Scott Ganhao

Scott Ganhao

PeoplesBank announced the appointment of Scott Ganhao as the manager of its new banking center located at 450 Center St. in Ludlow. He has more than 13 years of financial services and banking experience. In his new position, Ganhao will aim to ensure the banking center meets and exceeds service and sales goals, provides excellent customer service, operates according to all bank policies and procedures, and serves as a leader within the community. Ganhao earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Western New England University. He is the president of the Our Lady of Fatima Preservation Society and a member of the board of directors of the Wilbraham Rotary Memorial Foundation Inc. and the Lusitania Institute. He is a member of the Wilbraham-Hampden Rotary Club and has served as chairman of the Our Lady of Fatima finance committee, president of the Our Lady of Fatima Parish council committee, and director of the Our Lady of Fatima Festa committee. He is fluent in spoken Portuguese.

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Jennifer Halpin

Jennifer Halpin

Florence Bank promoted Jennifer Halpin to the position of Employee Relations officer in the Human Resources department at the main office in Florence. Halpin joined Florence Bank in 2014. Prior to her recent promotion, she served as the Employee Relations manager. She holds a bachelor of business administration degree from UMass Amherst. During her tenure at the bank, she has been the recipient of the President’s Award, which is awarded to employees who demonstrate superior levels of performance, customer service, and overall contribution to the bank.