Claudio Martinez - Executive Director

Claudio has served as the Executive Director of The Hyde Square Task Force, an organization that builds the skills of inner-city youth through innovative arts and cultural, leadership, lifelong learning, economic development and community organizing initiatives. Under his leadership the Hyde Square Task Force has received numerous recognitions including the Coming Up Taller award, the nation's highest honor for out of school arts and humanities programs given by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, the Best Practice Award in Teen Programming for Youth Leadership and Achievement by Boston’s After School for All Partnership and the Innovations in Education City Excellence Award. Claudio has over 20 years’ managerial experience in both the private and nonprofit sectors and has served as an advisor to several governmental, non-profit and transnational initiatives including Boston Housing Authority’s Monitoring Committee, Boston University Institute of Nonprofit Management and Leadership and the Boston-Haifa NGO Learning Exchange. As a community organizer, neighborhood activist and parent, Claudio has been involved in Boston school reform efforts for the last 20 years. He served for many years as co-chair of the Boston Parent Organizing Network and a board member of the Latino After School Initiative and the Boston Schoolyard Initiative. He also sits on the Board of Directors of The Boston Foundation, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and Boston After School and Beyond. He is a member of the inaugural class of the Barr Foundation Fellows Program. In 2008, he was appointed by Mayor Menino to the Boston School Committee.

Yi-Chin Chen - Deputy Director

Yi-Chin Chen has been with HSTF since 2003. She has over 10 years of professional experience designing and managing social service programs in both community-based and school-based settings. She has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Boston University, with a specialization in Macro Social Work focusing on program planning & implementation and community organizing. She is responsible for the initial creation and implementation of numerous HSTF programs, including the Paths to College & Careers Program, Women Engaged in Physical Activities, and the Health Careers Ambassadors Program. She also serves as the primary liaison in health and economic development collaborations. She represents HSTF on several city and statewide committees, advisory boards, and initiatives on high education, youth leadership, and community health, such as Hyde/Jackson Square Main Street Board of Directors, Children’s Hospital Community Advisory Board, Boston Youth Service Network, and Boston After-School and Beyond Teen Initiative Working Group.

Brenda Rodriguez-Andújar - Director of Program

Brenda has been with HSTF since 2001. A graduate of Regis College, Brenda has over ten years experience working with low-income, minority, and immigrant youth and their parents. Prior to joining HSTF, Brenda worked as a teacher in the public school system, specializing in bilingual education. She also worked for three years as an educator for the Boston juvenile court system, where she designed and led programs with high-risk and first-time youth offenders. At HSTF, she is responsible for the development of the Ritmo en Acción Youth Dance Initiative, which started as a pilot program in 2002. Since the start of the program, it has grown to deliver comprehensive arts and cultural activities to more than 500 children each year. The success of the initiative has earned it the prestigious Coming Up Taller Award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities in 2007. She has also been recognized as a Hero Among Us in 2008 by the Boston Celtics and by El Planeta as one of the 2011 PowerMeter's list of 100 most influential people for the Hispanic community in Massachusetts. Brenda is currently on the Boston Cultural Council and the English High School Site Council. Even with all of her professional successes, Brenda continues to work and invest in the community of Jamaica Plain where she grew up.

Dr. Kenneth Tangvik - Director of Engagment and Organizing

Ken is one of the organization’s founding members. With twenty-five years experience as an urban educator, Ken has a Doctoral Degree in Education, specializing in Literacy and Language Arts. He has taught in the Boston Public Schools, is currently a faculty member at Roxbury Community College, and has developed several award-winning programs at the HSTF over the past 15 years. Ken recently wrote a collection of urban short fiction entitled: Don’t Mess with Tanya: Stories Emerging from Boston’s Barrios that was published by Aberdeen Bay Publishers. Many of the provocative stories in this book are based on experiences Ken had in working with youth at the Hyde Square Task Force and they explore themes of culture, race, immigration, violence, love and spirituality.

Enoes Andujar- Director of Finance and Facilities

Enoes has been with the organization since 2004, first as ESOL Counsel/Office Coordinator and then as Manager of Finance & Facilities  before being promoted to Director in February 2011. She has a degree in Marketing and Administration from the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Before joining the staff, she was a student in the Task Force’s former English as a Second Language Program. Enoes currently serves as a board member of English for New Bostonians, a public-private-community collaborative initiative with a mission to increase access to high-quality English language learning opportunities for adult immigrant residents of Boston.

Carla Poulos - Manager of Organizing and Policy Initiatives

Carla joined HSTF in 2009, relocating from Brooklyn. Her past experience includes labor organizing and organizing on issues related to immigrant youth and families. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Clark University and her Master’s in Social Work, with a specialization in Community Organizing, from CUNY-Hunter College in New York City. At HSTF, Carla has worked with the youth organizers on fighting to have Sex Ed and condom availability in BPS High Schools as well as changing the way that transit police treat young people. As a staff member of HSTF, she is a part of the Boston United for Students coalition.

    Tel: (617) 524-8303 x 314

    Email: carla@hydesquare.org

Ana Almeida-DoRosario - Manager of Youth Community Development Programs

Ana has been with HSTF since 2002. A graduate of Brown University, Ana has developed curriculum and managed several after-school programs for elementary, middle and high school students. At HSTF, Ana has been responsible for after school programs at the John F. Kennedy Elementary School and the Curley K-8 School, as well as the Youth Literacy Tutors.  She currently has oversight of HSTF’s YCD/JEA programs and the WEPA program.  She is a former member of the Curley Consortium, and has represented HSTF in the Boston Girls' Sports Coalition, the BostNet Middle School Advisory Council, and the BostNet Statewide Advisory Board.

Barbara Civill - Manager of School-based and Cultural Programs

Barbara graduated from Northeastern University in May 2008, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Services and International Affairs. She has spent time studying in South Africa and Mexico. She started with the Hyde Square Task Force in July 2006 and began working with Ritmo en Acción in January 2007.  As the Coordinator for Ritmo en Acción, she was instrumental in planning the first annual Ritmo en Acción Cultural Showcase in May 2007. Since then, her role has evolved to include managing other Hyde Square Task Force Arts programs, including the Learn Thru Dance program and the Music Clubhouse. She has enjoyed helping the Dance Programs grow, and will continue to work so even more young people have the chance to learn and grow through the arts. She has also participated in the Boston Youth Arts Evaluation Project since 2008.

Aimee S. Tejeda - Music Clubhouse Coordinator

Aimee obtained her Masters in Music Education (09) as well as her Bachelors in Music Studies (07) from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She is a state certified music educator and a classically trained vocalist. Aimee worked for the Music Clubhouse program at the Lawrence YMCA for 5 years before joining the Hyde Square Task Force team in 2009. She has also worked as a substitute music teacher and in numerous out-of-school time music programs for youth ranging from 18 months to 18 years old. Since then, Aimee has been actively working to create a music program that inspires musical growth and creates a sense of community among the young people who participate.

     Tel: (617) 524-8303 x312

     Email: aimee@hydesquare.org

Jazmin Bernabel - Ritmo en Accion Coordinator

Jazmin graduated from Regis College in 2009, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. She joined Hyde Square Task Force as a youth participant in the Youth Community Organizers and in our award-winning Ritmo en Acción dance troupe in 2001. Before being promoted to Program Coordinator, Jazmin was a counselor and then coordinator for 'Arts in the Summer' and HSTF Facilities Coordinator. Besides working with us full time, she teaches dance as part of the Learn Through Dance program to kids at the Kennedy Elementary School.

     Tel: (617) 524-8303 x357

     Email: jazmin@hydesquare.org

Alexis Agrinsoni - Rookie Runners Coordinator

Alexis attended Becker College and received his Bachelors of Arts in Psychology in 2008. After graduating Becker he worked as a Case Manager and then Assistant Director of an Adolescent Detoxification unit in Worcester. While working with these youth Alexis realized the importance of health and wanted to help youth better themselves in a positive way. Alexis has participated in numerous races including Triathlons, 5Ks, and his most recent, which was a tri-state-trek which he rode his bike from Boston to New York and raised $3,600 to find a cure for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease).

     Tel: (617) 524-8303 x358

     Email: alexis@hydesquare.org

Cristina Ovalles - Health Careers Ambassadors Program Coordinator

Cristina joined Hyde Square Task Force in October 2011.  She graduated from Harvard in May with a degree in Sociology and a Secondary Field in Spanish.  Prior to working at HSTF, she volunteered as a Youth Facilitator and Local Coordinator for Global Potential (GP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering inner-city youth.  As a GP staff, Cristina had the opportunity to live in a village near the Haitian-Dominican border where she helped to run a community day camp, a Dengue Prevention Campaign, and an open-space conference.  Cristina was also an intern at the Community Bank of Medications Refuot, a program that provides free medicine to poor, chronically-ill patients in Argentina.  With the HCAP youth, she hopes to raise awareness about the health issues that affect our community. 

     Tel: (617) 524-8303 x328

     Email: cristina@hydesquare.org

Matt Gellman - Youth Literacy Theater Coordinator

Matt attended Boston College and graduated in 2010 with a BA in International Relations and Spanish. He joined the Hyde Square Task Force in 2010 as the AmeriCorps Ambassador of Mentoring, providing HSTF youth with college readiness skills and assisting seniors through the college application process and preparing them for their transition from high school to college. He has worked with youth for over eight years as a tutor at two Kumon centers and as a mentor to Media High School students. He has also been a member of various theater communities over the past ten years. As YLT Coordinator, Matt and his team of youth will be bringing children’s books to life and inspiring children to become engaged in their learning.

     Tel: (617) 524-8303 x302

     Email: matt@hydesquare.org

Anny Sanchez - Program Administration Coordinator

Anny has been with the Hyde Square Task Force since 2001, when she joined the After School Tutoring Program. Once she turned 14 she joined the team as a Youth Literacy Tutor and later became a Ritmo En Accion leader. Anny graduated from Stonehill College in 2010 with a Bachelor's of Science and Business Administration degree in Accounting with a minor in Communications. Anny returned to HSTF as the part-time bookkeeper and was recently promoted to Program Administration Coordinator. Anny also volunteers with the PCCP program as a mentor for a youth.

     Tel: (617) 524-8303 x353

     Email: anny@hydesquare.org

Joél Mora - Manager of College and Career Success

Joél oversees the Path to College and Careers Program (PCCP). He graduated from UMass Boston in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in Spanish and Education. While there, Joél was a Pearson Teaching Fellow and a participant of the Latino Leadership Opportunity Program and the Beacon Leadership Program. He also served as the coordinator of Casa Latina, the Latino Student Center at UMass Boston, and as the Regional President of the Coalition of Latino Universities. He is a member of the Latino Professional Network and was recently named as a Latino leader in El Planeta's 100 Powermeter of Massachusetts 2010.  As a former lead pre-school teacher at the Nazareth Day Care Center in Jamaica Plain, he now combines his passion for education and community service and is inspired to help all youth excel in their dreams and goals.

    Tel: (617) 524-8303 x313

Email: joel@hydesquare.org

Catherine Medina - Lead Transitional Coach

Catherine Medina is the Lead Transitional Coach for Success Boston Initiative. She works with college freshmen for their first two years of college. She received her BS from Suffolk University on May 2011 in Sociology with a concentration on Criminology and Law. Her journey with HSTF began in 2004 as a Youth Literacy Tutor at the John F. Kennedy Elementary School. She was also a part of the Youth Community Organizers working on the Sexual Harassment campaign. In 2007 she joined the Youth Advocacy Council, where she was able to go to monthly board meetings and serve as a voice for all youth teams. From Fall 2007 until Spring 2009 she was the Assistant Coordinator of Learn Thru Dance at the Kennedy Elementary School. In February 2011 she became an After School and Literacy Specialist, working both at the Kennedy Elementary School and with the Youth Literacy Tutors.

    Tel: (617) 524-8303 x305

Email: catherine@hydesquare.org

Ruben Carrizosa - Ambassador of Mentoring

Ruben is the 2011-2012 HSTF Ambassador of Mentoring as part of the Highland Street Corps.  He graduated from UMass Amherst in 2010 with a Business Management degree. He works on recruiting mentors for our high school students who have their sights set on college.   He also provides support to the youth and their mentors as they work on their college applications, leadership and study skills, and overall preparation for higher education.  He spent the summer volunteering in Tanzania, teaching English at the United African Alliance Community Center, and helping out at their orphanage. 

    Tel: (617) 524-8303 x318

Email: ruben@hydesquare.org

Kiley Ford - Grant Writer

Kiley received a Bachelor's degree from Sarah Lawrence College in 2010, where she studied Writing and Education. During that time she also worked on several local environmental and social justice campaigns. Before joining HSTF as a Grant Writer in 2011, Kiley worked as The Orchard Coordinator for the The Food Project, where she scheduled and lead groups of youth and volunteers in weekly orchard harvests. Kiley is passionate about youth programming and was excited  to join the Hyde Square team!

    Tel: (617) 524-8303 x310

Email: kiley@hydesquare.org

Oliver De Leon - Facilities Coordinator

    Tel: (617) 524-8303

Email: oliver@hydesquare.org