Teresa Soares-Pena
Executive Director
t.soarespena @squashbusters.org
617-373-7366

Teresa Soares-Pena has spent a career implementing effective educational programs for urban middle school age students. Born in the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of West Africa, Teresa immigrated with her family at the age of 11 and attended schools in Providence, Rhode Island, and Seekonk, Massachusetts. She earned Bachelor of Science at Boston University, and went on to complete her Masters in Public Health at Columbia University in 1987 and her Masters in Education at Harvard University in 1993, focusing on school leadership.

Teresa's teaching and administrative career has taken her from coast to coast. Her professional career encompasses multiple educational positions including health and science teacher within the Boston Public Schools and a principal at the Columbia Neighborhood Center in California which included supervising a middle school with 870 students, a preschool, and a health clinic. In addition to her dedication to urban education, she has improved health care for students and their families in underserved communities as a recruiter of physicians to underserved areas in Georgia, managed a teen pregnancy prevention program in Chicago, and developed and implemented programs for eligible migrant students throughout the north central region of Massachusetts. Most recently she served as the principal for seven years at the Dearborn Middle School in Roxbury, Massachusetts, one of SquashBusters' partner middle schools. During her tenure at the Dearborn, students showed continuous improvement in MCAS scores.

Teresa's many experiences in the health and education fields demonstrate a life-long pursuit for improving the lives of children. As the Executive Director of SquashBusters, Teresa looks forward to working to ensure many more successful years for the organization.

Program Staff

Kate Nimick
Program Director
k.nimick@squashbusters.org
617-373-7373

Kate joins the program staff after being an active volunteer since 1996. Kate brings a varied range of experiences to her new position. Upon graduation from college she was engaged in volunteer service for a year and then returned to mid-coast Maine to begin a career as a high school history instructor and adult education coordinator. Moving to Boston in 1986 was an opportunity to take on new career challenges and Kate spent the next 23 years working for Novartis Pharmaceuticals in a variety of sales/medical liaison positions. In the fall in 2008 Kate took on a more intensive volunteer role at SquashBusters which resulted in her joining the staff in the fall of 2009.

Jennifer Lillis
Academic & Community Service Coordinator
j.lillis@squashbusters.org
617-373-5086

Although she grew up in Florida, Jenn attended the University of Michigan and received her degree in political science. She taught environmental education in New England, California, and the Bahamas before returning to school and getting her master's degree in special education. Since then, she's taught in New York City, Monteverde Costa Rica, and Oaxaca, Mexico. Jenn has worked with students from elementary school through high school, and focused on helping struggling students with reading, writing, and math.

She loves teaching and is very excited to be in Boston and to be joining the Squashbusters team. She's also excited to be learning Squash and hopes the Squashbusters students will help her improve.

Doug Lifford
Squash Coordinator
d.lifford@ squashbusters.org
617-373-7368

A life long resident of Boston, Doug brings thirty years of squash playing experience to SquashBusters. He is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and Harvard University, where he was co-captain of the squash team and a first team All-American. He has played professionally for twenty years including as a doubles partner with Greg Zaff. He won the National 40 and over men's doubles championship in 2007 with Chris Spahr and he has won multiple state singles and doubles titles.

Doug, along with fellow coaches Luke Hammond and Dan Karlin will emphasize technique, strategy and fitness in their coaching as well as the idea that squash is a thinking person's game. They will require SquashBusters students to learn to think critically about all aspects of their game, and the choices that they make both on and off the court.

Luke Hammond
Squash Coordinator
lu.hammond@ squashbusters.org
617-373-7374

Luke is excited to join the SquashBusters team as Squash Coordinator. He received his B.A. from Kenyon College in Ohio, where he captained the Squash Team, played varsity lacrosse and lead expeditions for the Kenyon Outdoors Club. At Kenyon, Luke studied Environmental Studies as well as Philosophy with a concentration in Classical Philosophy. For the past few summers Luke worked for a youth adventure program leading biking and community service trips in Hawaii, Nova Scotia and along the Pacific Coast.

Dan Karlin
Squash Coordinator
d.karlin@squashbusters.org
617-373-7369

After volunteering and working for the Squashbusters summer camp in 2007 and 2008, Dan joins the program staff this year as team 7 coach. Previously, he studied economics and played four years of squash at Tufts University, and worked at a resort in Montana. He enjoys working with Squashbusters students on court and in the classroom, while they help him expand his vocabulary and taste in music.

Emily Royce
Academic & Community Service Coordinator
e.royce@ squashbusters.org
617-373-5041

Emily was born and raised in Michigan, but attended college at Smith in Northampton, Massachusetts. There she majored in Education and received her certification to teach middle school humanities. After school, Emily moved to Georgia to work with an outdoor therapeutic program for adjudicated youth. She served two years as a counselor and a third as a supervisor. After traveling through Mexico and Central America for eight months, Emily came to Boston to work with SquashBusters as an Academic and Community Service Coordinator

Matt Mulder
Academics & Community Service Coordinator
m.mulder@ squashbusters.org
617-373-7371

Matt attended Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.  After graduation, he flew to Kenya on a fellowship to assist in the start up of a school.  He returns to the United States after six months abroad as the new Director of Middle Academics & Community Service for the 6th Grade. He is looking forward to getting to know the new 6th graders in the program, planning their curriculum and service projects.   

Support Staff

Julia Morgan
Coordinator of Alumni Outreach and School Placement
j.morgan@squashbusters.org
617-373-7373

Julia received her B.A. in French and art history from Connecticut College and was co-captain of the squash team. She earned her Masters in Literature from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland) and played squash for the university's team as well. After many years as a boarding school French teacher, coach, dorm parent and admission officer at Millbrook School, Julia returned home to Boston in the hopes of using her background in education and sports to work with urban students. She originally began her association with SquashBusters as a squash volunteer but now joins the team as the Coordinator of Alumni Support and School Placement

Dominique Farinaux-Dumas
Managing Director
d.farinaux-dumas@ squashbusters.org
617-373-5426

Hailing from Belgium, Dominique attended Université Libre de Bruxelles in Brussels and majored in Computer Science and Human Science. Later, she moved to the United States and earned her MS in Business Administration at Colorado State. Integrating her interests in both computers and people, Dominique worked for various technology companies, rising to the position of Software Development Manager at Oracle.

As a life-long squash player, active member of the MA Squash association, and fan of kids, she volunteered at SquashBusters and fell in love with the program. Consequently, when she felt a need for change in her life, Dominique left the corporate world and now applies her administrative expertise at SquashBusters.

Nicole Belliveau
Office Manager
n.belliveau@ squashbusters.org
617-373-7782

Returning to Boston after living in Upstate New York, Nicole is excited to join the Squashbusters community as the Office Manager. Nicole graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY where she double majored in Political Science and Women's Studies. While in school, she had many wonderful experiences working with youths in various educational settings such as the public school system of Geneva and the Boys and Girl's Club. Having never played squash before, Nicole is eager for the Squashbusters team to show her just what this game is all about.