be_ixf;ym_202403 d_27; ct_50 YES! I want to make a difference TODAY!

Our alums support our work and drive change in their local communities long after serving with City Year.

Isabel Barros photo
Isabel “Izzy” Barros
(Boston '12, '13) Alum Board Chair; Somerville Public Schools; Vicente Realty, LLC

Isabel is an educational advocate and self-proclaimed comedian. Isabel served as a City Year Greater Boston AmeriCorps member at the Jeremiah E. Burke High School for two years. During her time as an AmeriCorps member, she discovered her passion for working with young people and serving her community.

Following City Year, Isabel taught at a nonprofit teaching business and life skills to 18–24-year-olds. Her reality in education took shape and she started a graduate program to become a school adjustment counselor. She is currently licensed and in that role at a preK-8 in Somerville Public Schools supporting students' mental health and academic needs. She firmly believes in creating a school community that includes parents, educators, students and the greater community as thought partners. In her spare time, Isabel can be found at the beach.

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Danean Balestrieri in a CY red jacket
Danean Balestrieri
(Boston '12, Sacramento '13) Teacher-At-Large at Neighborhood House Charter School

Danean served as a corps member at the Jeremiah E. Burke High School from 2011-2012, and she served as a team leader with City Year Sacramento from 2012-2013. Danean attributes her passion for urban education to her year as a corps member. She currently works as a special education teacher at a middle school in Dorchester. In her spare time, you can find her venturing around the city with her dog, Crosby, running or whipping something up in the kitchen.

Ellie Carver in a CY red jacket
Ellie Carver
(Greater Boston '16, '17) Associate Manager of Internships, College for Social Innovation

Ellie Carver is the associate manager of internships at College for Social Innovation, a nonprofit that brings together colleges and social sector organizations to create fully-credited hands-on learning experiences that are meaningful, accessible and life-changing. Prior to that, Ellie worked for City Year Headquarters as a member of the National Impact team, supporting special projects and operations. With City Year Greater Boston, Ellie served two AmeriCorps years. In her first year, she mentored as a near-peer in Roxbury, then transitioned to co-lead a team through a service year in Jamaica Plain. Ellie received her bachelor’s degree from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, in psychology and Spanish. In her spare time, Ellie loves to run (including to fundraise for City Year) and travel with friends and family.

Ashley Dorion in a CY red jacket
Ayanna Ashley Doiron
(Boston '94) Ashley Doiron Design; Executive Area Manager, Arbonne International

Ayanna served at City Year Greater Boston for half of the year at the Hattie B. Cooper Community Center afterschool program and for the second half in headquarters working on the National Expansion Newsletter as City Year grew beyond Boston with the help of the new AmeriCorps partnership. That experience sparked an interest in layout and design.

After City Year, Ayanna spent time abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia, where she helped translate for an architectural restoration firm. When she returned home, she worked in an architecture firm while completing programs in publishing and then graphic design. Ayanna worked in a large advertising agency and then a small design firm before branching out on her own as a freelance designer so she could be present for her kids. She also has a passion for health and wellness and decided to embark on another journey as an entrepreneur helping others be their best selves. Both allow her the freedom to work from home and determine her own schedule. When not working, she loves spending time family and friends, being outdoors and thinking about how to make the world a better place.

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William Eger in a CY red jacket
William Eger
(Boston '08) Director of Strategic Initiatives, Boston Public Schools

William Eger is a strategic projects manager in the Office of Finance at Boston Public Schools, where he works on re-allocating resources to better serve student learning. Before joining BPS, Will worked for Parthenon on a variety of projects within their education practice group. Prior to that, he taught high school math at Freire Charter School in Philadelphia where he also wrote about education for The Atlantic, Ed Week, Higher Education in Review and The Huffington Post. Will began his career in education as a City Year AmeriCorps member (City Heroes Team!) in Boston after high school. He earned his bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard College, a master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania and is also a Broad Resident.

Briana Gochenour in a CY red jacket
Briana Gochenour
(Boston '12, '13) Assistant Director of Class Activities, Dartmouth College Office of Alumni

Briana Gochenour is an education professional with experience at both the K-12 and university level. She is the assistant director of class activities in Dartmouth College’s Office of Alumni Relations in Hanover, New Hampshire. She served with City Year Greater Boston as a two-time corps member, serving in Orchard Gardens K-8 and on the Boston Civic Engagement team as a Senior AmeriCorps member. Briana continued on with City Year Greater Boston as Civic Engagement manager for three years following her corps service.

After City Year, she joined the Education Development Center, a global nonprofit dedicated to health, education and economic opportunity, supporting two initiatives: MassCAN and the Urban Collaborative, before joining Dartmouth in 2018. During her time at City Year, Bri solidified her passion for social justice and has been committed to providing excellent educational opportunities for all students. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, snowboarding, photography and playing ice hockey.

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Nolan Greene in a red CY jacket
Nolan Greene
(Columbia '07) Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Robotic Automation and Workforce Intelligenc

Nolan served as a Civic Engagement corps member at City Year Columbia from 2006-2007, remaining to serve in multiple staff roles, including recruitment and managing the Young Heroes program, from 2007-2010. From there, Nolan earned a Master of Business Administration with certification in public and nonprofit management from Boston University in 2012. Nolan is passionate about the impact of technology in making the world a better place across sectors. He currently works in product marketing for Pegasystems, a provider of business process and customer relationship management software. In his spare time, Nolan enjoys playing basketball, cooking and hacking ways to see the world on a budget.

Richard Knight in a red CY jacket
Richard Knight
(Boston '12)

Richard Knight is a New Englander at heart. Born in Rhode Island and a Bostonian for the past eight years, you will likely find him running along the Charles River during the week or hiking in New Hampshire on the weekend. Richard's time serving as a corps member with City Year Greater Boston solidified his belief that young people are our future and their education is of utmost importance. Professionally, he studied accounting and began his career at PwC, until moving to John Hancock Financial Services in risk and controls roles. Richard hopes to see City Year's work continue to positively influence our youth and to see our alums continue on to do great things.

Ethan Linksy in a CY red jacket
Ethan Linsky
(Boston '12, ’17) Youth Programs Specialist, Empowering People for Inclusive Communities

Growing up in Newton, Massachusetts, Ethan’s passions for education, community health and sports drove him to participate in and coach a variety of adaptive athletic programs. He began his work in adaptive athletics through playing sled hockey with the Mass Hospital School Chariots and went on to play wheelchair basketball for the University of Missouri Tigers, his alma mater. At the University of Missouri, Ethan studied psychology, sociology and human development and family studies with an emphasis on multicultural studies.

After graduating from the University of Missouri, Ethan returned to the Boston area in order to give back to the community that raised him. Ethan has spent two years working in Boston Public Schools as a City Year AmeriCorps and senior AmeriCorps member. His work with City Year Greater Boston reiterated Ethan’s desire to advocate for holistic academic services that are accessible and valuable to all students. In addition to adaptive athletics, namely coaching youth basketball teams, Ethan also loves to participate in the performance arts, especially improv comedy. Much of his comedy work includes the themes of education, athletics and disability advocacy! He is excited to join EPIC’s team as youth programs specialist and put both his professional experiences as well as personal passions to work.

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Chris Martin in a red CY jacket
Chris Martin '09
(Boston '09) Senior Financial Analyst, Paytronix

Chris Martin is a 2009 alum of the City Year Boston Civic Engagement team. After serving with City Year Boston, he attended the University of Wisconsin. After graduation, he started a career in finance and currently works with Paytronix Systems, a software company in Newton, working on finance and strategy. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with his wife and dog, skiing, scuba diving and running.

Jenny Nute in a CY red jacket
Jenny Nute
(Boston '96, '99) Chief Impact Officer, West End House

Jenny Nute holds nearly 20 years' experience in youth development. She joined West End House in 1999 and, during her tenure, has transformed the program delivery model to balance interest-based with needs-based programs across all four core program areas. Jenny launched teen programming at West End House, introducing year-round employment opportunities, building progressive leadership development programs and expanding arts opportunities. Jenny has also focused organizational resources to include professional development opportunities for staff. Prior to joining West End House, Jenny served as a City Year Team Leader at the West End House and corps member at the Blackstone School. Jenny is a proud resident of Roxbury. She loves cooking, long walks all over the city, music and meditation.

Kalpita Patel in a CY red jacket
Kalpita Patel
(Los Angeles '16) Consultant, Life Sciences & Health Care, Deloitte

Kalpita Patel is a life sciences consultant with Deloitte in Boston, Massachusetts, focusing on risk and financial advisory within the life sciences sector. After serving in City Year Los Angeles 2015-2016, Kalpita moved back to Boston to pursue a master's degree in public health from Boston University’s School of Public Health. This allowed her to focus on program and project management, as well as consulting/communication techniques in various project roles in a global setting. Outside of work and school, she enjoys running, improv and rock climbing- as well as long backpacking trips around different countries. Kalpita hopes to continue to partner with City Year through her work with Deloitte, as well as through engaging fellow City Year alums across the nation.

Allison Paul in a CY red jacket
Allison Paul
(Boston '15, '16) Trainer, The Posse Foundation

Allison served at Young Achievers Math and Science Pilot School as a City Year AmeriCorps member for two years. In her two years, she reaffirmed her passion for youth development and mentoring in the realm of education. Her favorite part of City Year was the focus on teamwork, something she still holds close today.

After City Year, Allison transitioned into working with college students through the Posse Foundation. She supports high school seniors and college students as they attend selective colleges around the country, ensuring that they are building community and team to feel supported.

When she’s not working, Allison enjoys reading books from the New York Times Best Seller list, running and trying new restaurants in Boston.

David Polito in a CY red jacket
David Polito
(Boston '98, '99) Visual Art Teacher, Salem Academy Charter School

David Polito is a design professor at Newbury College and North Shore Community College. He has had a distinguished 20-year career in graphic design and art direction that he draws upon in creating real-world projects for his classrooms. David earned his Master of Education and educational specialist degrees in educational leadership from Gordon College and is working towards his educational doctorate from the University of Arkansas to merge his experiential design background with his love for education to help create the learning environments of tomorrow. A founding member of the City Year Greater Boston Alumni Board since 2013, David was also elected to the Hamilton Wenham Regional School Committee in 2016 where he currently serves as board chair. David lives in Wenham, Massachusetts, with his girlfriend Maire Lee, his sons Dante (nine) and Rocco (six) and his stepdaughters Dylan (15) and Maren (11).

National Strategic Partners
National Partners