Courage in Schools: Leadership Team

Leadership Team 

Pamela Seigle, M.S. is Executive Director of Courage & Renewal Northeast and founder of the nationally recognized Open Circle Program, a social and emotional learning program based at the Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley College. She is co-author of the Open Circle Curriculum and the Open Circle Parent Program. She is on the Leadership Council of the Initiative on Contemplative Education at the Garrison Institute and the Passageworks Advisory Board. Pamela is a community activist in Boston. She served as a Trustee of the Boston Public Library and chaired its Trustees' Education Committee, which she founded to link the Library with public schools. She was a Director of the Boston Public Library Foundation and the Urban Libraries Council. She is currently a member of the Library's Compass Strategic Planning Committee. Pamela is on the board of the Conservatory Lab Charter School and the JazzBoston advisory council. Pamela is the program director and a lead facilitator for this project. 

Chip Wood, M.S.W. has been an activist in the fields of education and child development for the past forty years. He most recently served as Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development for the Gill Montague Regional School District in Turners Falls, MA. He has extensive experience as a classroom teacher and principal in both public and private schools. He served as a national trainer and consultant for Gesell Institute of Child Development. He was a co-founder and co-developer of The Responsive Classroom® approach of professional development, and executive director of its non-profit organization, Northeast Foundation for Children. He is author of Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom, Age 4-14 (NEFC, 2007 revised), Time to Teach, Time to Learn: Changing the Pace of School (NEFC, 1999), and co-author of Responsive School Discipline: Essentials for Elementary School Leaders (NEFC, in press) as well as numerous book chapters and articles. He writes a blog for parents and teachers at www.yardsticks4-14.com. He served on the Massachusetts Governor's Readiness Panel Sub-Committee on Expanded Teaching ad Learning Time. He is also a facilitator with Courage & Renewal Northeast in Wellesley, MA, helping to provide retreat and renewal experiences for the teachers and school leaders. Chip will is a lead facilitator for this project. 

Lisa Sankowski, M.Ed. is Associate Director of Courage & Renewal Northeast at Wellesley College. Courage & Renewal Northeast is an affiliate of the Center, and provides retreat-based programs to educators, leaders in health care, and others in serving professions. Lisa has worked for over twenty-five years in leadership roles in non-profit organizations that serve adults and children in creative learning environments, including the Boston Children's Museum and the Open Circle Social Competency Program. She is also an artist and a hospice volunteer for the Visiting Nurses Association Care Network in Massachusetts. Lisa is the lead administrator for this project.