It's our pleasure to announce that over the summer we brought on three new staff members to support our growing program. Please join us in extending a heartfelt welcome to Kari-Elle, Alyssa, and Meredith as they begin their journey at MMB!

Kari-Elle Brown serves as Minds Matter Boston’s Associate Director of College and Career Advising. Originally from central Florida, Kari-Elle has called Massachusetts home since moving here as a Questbridge scholar at Amherst College, where she studied Anthropology and Asian Studies. She began her career in ed tech before moving to undergraduate admissions and residential life at Harvard College. Having recently completed her master's in Higher Education, she joined MMB to help oversee college advising and develop programming for alumni who are current college students.

Alyssa Perea serves as Minds Matter Boston’s Program Coordinator. She recently joined the MMB team after completing a year of service with the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship at the Margarita Muñiz Academy. Originally from Boston, Alyssa is a Minds Matter Boston alum and graduated from the program in 2017. Her passion for working with youth and belief in educational equity inspired her to support other first-generation college students by creating college-access programming that effectively prepares them for the world of higher education. She attended Williams College, where she studied American Studies with a concentration in Latinx Studies.
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Meredith Traquina, MSW serves as Minds Matter Boston's Director of Development. A native of the Greater Boston area, she is a proud AmeriCorps member alum and serves on the Advisory Board of Empowering People for Inclusive Communities (EPIC), a service-learning organization for young adults with disabilities. Most recently, she acted as Senior Director of Corporate & Foundations Partnerships at City Year Greater Boston. Her own formative experiences in education – both as a teacher and student - have inspired her to make those same experiences possible for all students. She studied Education at Bates College and was named Bates’ Young Alumni of the Year in 2019, having chaired the College’s largest business network. She completed her Master’s in Social Work at Boston College with a focus on community organizing, public policy, and nonprofit management.