Board & Advisors
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
STEPHANIE KHURANA
Stephanie Ralston Khurana is a Managing Director at Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation where she is responsible for identifying, investing in, and supporting social entrepreneurs. Stephanie is an entrepreneur herself having been part of several founding teams, including Cambridge Technology Partners and Surebridge, Inc where she was also CEO and a director. She currently serves on a number of social enterprise boards specifically supporting entrepreneurs on strategy, leadership and organizational development. Some of these organizations include The Tobin Project, Immigration Justice Corp, Braven, and The Computer Clubhouse. Stephanie received a B.S. in Applied Economics with a concentration in International Relations from Cornell University, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an M.P.P. from the Harvard Kennedy School. She received a “Top 40 under 40” award from the Boston Business Journal and was selected among the top 100 women-led businesses in Massachusetts. She also teaches in the HBS Executive Education General Management Program Strategy Group and is currently a Housemaster at Harvard University and has three children with her husband, Rakesh.
HOPE SUTTIN
Hope Suttin currently teaches at the Carroll School in Lincoln, MA. Hope has been actively involved with Step Into Art for several years, joining the Advisory Council in 2012 and the Board of Directors in 2015. Hope is also the Board Chair of Moving Traditions, a national non-profit organization which trains mentors to guide teens through the challenges of adolescence through a Jewish lens. In addition, Hope serves as a member of the advisory board at The Trustees of Reservations. Previously, Hope served as an Overseer at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln and as a member of the museum’s Education Committee. Hope holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s in Education from Lesley University. A longtime advocate for arts and literacy programs for Boston youth, Hope lives in Newton with her husband and three children.
ADVISORY COUNCIL
STEPHEN AMELIA
Stephen Amelia is the founder and president of AGENCY 3.0, a Cambridge-based website design and development firm. Stephen is a web veteran who has helped hundreds of businesses and non-profit organizations leverage design and technology to communicate more effectively with their customers and stakeholders. When he isn’t building websites, he’s chasing his two toddlers and trying to inspire their creativity and love of art.
JANET ECHELMAN
Janet Echelman is an artist who defies categorization. She creates experiential sculpture at the scale of buildings that transform with wind and light. The art shifts from being an object you look at, to a living environment you can get lost in. Using unlikely materials from fishnet to atomized water particles, Echelman combines ancient craft with cutting-edge technology to create artworks that have become focal points of urban life on five continents. Recipient of the Guggengheim Fellowship, the Harvard University Loeb Fellowship, a Fullbright Lectureship, and the Aspen Institute Crown Fellowship, her TED talk “Taking Imagination Seriously” has been translated into 35 languages with more than one million views. Ranked number one on Oprah Magazine’s “List of 50 Things that Make You Say Wow!,” she was named an Architectural Digest Innovator for “changing the very essence of urban spaces.” She recently received the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award in Visual Arts, honoring “the greatest innovators in America today.” Selected prominent works: “As If It Were Already Here,” a 600-ft sculpture reconnecting downtown Boston to its waterfront over The Rose Kennedy Greenway; “Impatient Optimist,” a new iconic piece for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation campus in Seattle giving visual form to their mission; “Skies Painted with Unnumbered Sparks,” a 745-ft sculpture celebrating the TED conference 30th anniversary in Vancouver; “Water-Sky Garden,” a commission for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics; “Every Beating Second” in San Francisco Airport Terminal Two; “Her Secret Is Patience” for downtown Phoenix, Arizona; and “She Changes” on the waterfront of Porto, Portugal.
CAITLIN HOLLISTER
Caitlin Hollister is the Associate Director of the Teacher Apprenticeship Program at Champlain College where she supports career changers in earning their teaching license. A National Board Certified Teacher, Caitlin spent nine years teaching third grade at the Richard J. Murphy K-8 School in Dorchester, where she established a successful partnership with Step into Art. In 2011, Caitlin received the Boston Educator of the Year Award in recognition of her extraordinary contribution to the children of Boston Public Schools. A graduate of the Boston Teacher’s Residency Program, Caitlin holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Brown University and a master’s degree in teaching from UMass Boston. She has played a vital role in Step Into Art, helping develop and nurture SIA’s thriving third-grade partnership program, which began at the Murphy thanks to her leadership, and which has expanded to numerous other Boston public schools with her help. Caitlin lives in Waterbury, Vermont with her husband and two young children.
SUSAN FOSTER JONES
Susan Foster Jones has been a valued teacher and advisor for Step Into Art since 2007, when she was one of SIA’s first interns. A museum educator with over a decade of experience, Susan joined Step Into Art as Senior Educator in the fall of 2014. From 2009 – 2014, Susan was the Director of Education at the Concord Museum in Concord, MA. She continues her work in Concord as the part-time Manager of School Partnerships, working primarily with students from Lowell. Previously, Susan worked with inner-city students from Boston at the Commonwealth Museum, where she taught engaging hands-on history programs. Susan earned a Master’s degree in the Arts in Education program from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a BA in Art History from Mount Holyoke College. She and her husband Tim live in Concord with their sons, Henry and Charles.
LINDSEY KOCUR
Lindsey Kocur is a practicing artist working primarily in mixed-media painting, drawing, and installation. As an independent teaching artist, project manager, and consultant for non-profit youth programs, she devises cross-disciplinary projects that incorporate educational concepts and impart life skills through art in disciplines including painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. She previously founded the Roxbury Prep High School Visual Art Program in Roxbury, MA, where she designed and implemented visual arts programming for grades 11 and 12. Before that, she served as Director of Visual Art at the West End House Boys and Girls Club of Allston, MA. Alongside her other endeavors, Lindsey taught Step Into Art programs from 2013-2018, having first become involved with SIA as an Americorps Teaching Fellow at Mother Caroline Academy from 2009-2011. She holds an MFA in Studio Art from Tufts University in partnership with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, as well as a BS in Studio Art from Skidmore College.
MARLA LIBRATY
Marla Libraty recently joined Brandeis University’s Institutional Advancement Division where she leads Parents Philanthropy and reconnects second-decade alumni to the University through volunteer philanthropic opportunities. A founding Step Into Art Board member who served for ten years and now continues on the SIA Advisory Council, Marla helped establish the foundational partnership between Step Into Art and the Newton Mayor’s Office for Cultural Affairs (2005-2010). She subsequently played a key role in developing the Step Into Art reunion program with the Harvard Business School Alumni Association – HBS Kids (2007-2010). Prior to her role at Brandeis University, Marla spent over 20 years in the corporate sector in brand strategy and marketing for highly recognizable global brands and start-ups including Eveready Battery Company’s Energizer, Mattel’s Barbie brand, Stride Rite Children’s Group (including Sperry, Merrell, Hush Puppies, Keds and Saucony), Curriculum Associates i-Ready Test Prep product line, and Extend Fertility. Marla Libraty’s passion for children’s issues, her expertise in building loyalty and consumer engagement programs, and her community involvement make her especially well-suited for her role in Step Into Art. She holds a B.A. in Communication from UC San Diego and an M.B.A. from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. Marla, her husband and three children live in Newton, MA.
SARAH PERRY
Sarah is a consultant to non-profit organizations in the areas of strategic planning, organizational effectiveness, and donor relations. Previously, Sarah served as Executive Director of The Second Step, an organization that provides comprehensive services to survivors of domestic violence. She has also been Executive Director of Harvard Business School’s Community Action Partners, which provides pro bono consulting to hundreds of non-profit organizations in greater Boston. Sarah worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company in New York, where she advised senior executives of major corporations on strategic issues. Sarah holds a BA from Yale University, an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. She currently serves on numerous boards, including the Anti-Defamation League, The Newton Schools Foundation, Temple Emanuel of Newton, Waypoint Adventure’s Advisory Board, and the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Council at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Sarah has led pro bono consulting projects for many local organizations, including The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, City Year, Citizen Schools, WBUR, and The Boston Foundation. Sarah lives in Newton with her husband and three children.
KENNETH P. PUCKER
Ken Pucker is an operating executive, investor and lecturer with a particular focus on assuring the sustainability of capitalism and natural capital. Ken spent the majority of his professional career at Timberland where he served as Chief Operating Officer. During Ken’s fifteen-year tenure, the brand and business grew from $180M to over $1.6B. Timberland was also often cited as a Fortune magazine top 100 best places to work. Presently, Ken serves as an Advisory Director at Berkshire Partners. In that capacity, Ken supports the work of the consumer and retail group and leads the firm’s ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Committee. In addition, Ken is an investor and Board Chair of Timbuk2 Designs – a San Francisco-based manufacturer of bags and gear and serves on the board of QUINN Foods, based in Boulder, Colorado. Ken also serves as a board member at the High Meadows Institute, GreenCity Force and the Commonwealth School. For the past five years, Ken has taught as a lecturer at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University. His course, Leading Sustainable Enterprise, is focused on the evolving management requirements for 21st century leaders. Ken graduated cum laude from Middlebury College and received a Master’s of Science in Business Administration from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. He lives in Newton with his wife Leslie and their two daughters.
JULIE SHERMAN
Julie Sherman is the owner of J Sherman Studio LLC, a boutique graphic design firm in Newton, Massachusetts, which she founded in 2007. Julie’s work and study experience include a strong emphasis on studio arts (photography and painting), art history, museum experience, architectural graphics and textile design. Julie passionately believes in art education, and she and her team create all the graphic design and visual communication materials for Step Into Art. Julie holds a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Cornell University and a Masters of Science in communications management from Simmons College. She lives in Newton with her husband and two young children.
AMY SILBERSTEIN
Amy Silberstein serves as Director of Development and Donor Services for the Brookline Community Foundation, a foundation devoted to building a more vibrant, engaged, and equitable Brookline. Prior to her current position, Amy worked for 17 years in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at Brandeis University. As Associate Director of Leadership Gifts, she focused on major gift fundraising in the arts and co-founded the Brandeis Arts Council for outreach and alumni engagement, formed to raise funds for, and bring greater attention to, the university’s fine arts, theater, and music departments. Amy comes from a family with a unique art legacy. Her maternal grandmother, Hilde Gerst, ran New York’s Hilde Gerst Gallery on Madison Avenue for over 50 years. Amy and her mother continue this tradition by showcasing the work of French Post-Impressionist artists and some of the major American artists of our time at the Ruth Silberstein Gallery, which they own and operate. In addition to serving on the Step Into Art Advisory Council, Amy has been an active volunteer for many non-profit organizations in the Boston area, including Cradles to Crayons, Birthday Wishes, and Community Servings. In 2011, Amy co-founded Food To Your Table, a non-profit that provides fresh vegetables to low-income residents of Newton. The goal is to bring food “from those who grow it to those who need it.” Amy holds a BA in American Studies from Brown University. She lives in Newton with her husband and has three children.
VINEETA VIJAYARAGHAVAN
Vineeta Vijayaraghavan, a novelist, leads the writing component of Step Into Art’s sixth-grade programs. Joining English teachers at Epiphany School and Mother Caroline Academy, she invites the students to write a creative composition inspired by the paintings they have studied. Vijayaraghavan’s novel Motherland was published by Soho Press in 2001. The Boston Herald called it “a tour de force, taking the reader into those rituals of grief and release where one marvels at the particular and recognizes the universal.” Motherland won a 2002 Alex award from the American Library Association, honoring the best books published for adults with special crossover appeal for teens. The novel was also selected by the New York Times as a “New and Noteworthy” paperback. Motherland has been taught at both universities and high schools, and Vijayaraghavan has been invited to present to school assemblies, book groups, and ethnic associations. In 2010, Motherland was chosen by Skokie, Illinois as their citywide reading selection for the year. Vijayaraghavan was born in India and raised in the United States. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard University. She lives in Newton, Massachusetts with her husband and two daughters.
ELLEN WINNER
Ellen Winner is Professor and Chair of Psychology at Boston College, and Senior Research Associate at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education. She directs the Arts and Mind Lab, which focuses on cognition in the arts in typical and gifted children. She is the author of over 100 articles and five books: Invented Worlds: The Psychology of the Arts (Harvard University Press, 1982); The Point of Words: Children’s Understanding of Metaphor and Irony (Harvard University Press, 1988); Gifted Children: Myths and Realities (Basic Books, 1997, translated into six languages and winner of the Alpha Sigma Nu National Jesuit Book Award in Science); How Art Works (Oxford University Press, 2018); and co-author of Studio Thinking: The Real Benefits of Visual Arts Education and Studio Thinking2: The Real Benefits of Visual Arts Education (Teachers College Press, 2007 & 2013). She served as President of APA’s Division 10, Psychology and the Arts, in 1995-1996, and in 2000 received the Rudolf Arnheim Award for Outstanding Research by a Senior Scholar in Psychology and the Arts from Division 10. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 10) and of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics.