BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sammi Robertson
President
Sammi first became involved with the National Alliance for Autism Research (now Autism Speaks) in 2001 shortly after her son, Bailey, was diagnosed with autism.
As a volunteer, Sammi has raised awareness about autism throughout Southern New England; and in 2003, 4 & 5; she chaired the Southern New England Walks for Autism Research held in Providence, RI. Sammi was also a member of the New England Chapter Board of Directors for Autism Speaks from November, 2006 until January, 2008.
As the captain of “Bailey’s Team”, she along with her family and friends, have raised over $590,000 for autism research since 2001 through an annual campaign and charity golf tournament. Her work for Bailey’s Team and as Autism Speaks’ Southern New England Walk Chairperson has earned her recognition both as one of New England’s highest fundraisers and also one of the highest fundraising teams in the country.
She is involved with numerous committees and projects throughout the special needs community and currently serves as a Co-Chairperson of the Rhode Island Autism Coalition. In addition, she served alongside leading professionals in the field of autism on a statewide committee charged with writing a guide for parents on the subject of autism. This project was spearheaded by the Rhode Island’s State Department of Health and the first draft was released in 2006.
Sammi has co-written and helped to implement a new program for the local YMCA called the Integration Initiative. The overall mission of this initiative is to provide an opportunity for children with special needs to participate in an included recreational setting with typically developing peers.
Her last formal employment in the nonprofit sector was with Community Care Services where she served as the Director of Professional Development setting up trainings on a number of topics including autism.
Sammi lives with her husband Doug and their three children – Rachel, age 14; Bailey, age 12 and Spencer, age 10 and she is stepmom to Lindsay, age 28.
Sammi and Doug’s plans to create their own organization finally came to fruition when they founded Bailey’s Team in the summer of 2008; and Sammi serves as President and Chairman of the Board of Baileys Team, Inc.
Douglas Robertson
Vice President
Doug Robertson is a partner at Visual Creations, Inc.; a Rhode Island based manufacturing company specializing in in-house design, engineering and project management of custom designed store fixtures and point of purchase displays. Prior to starting Visual Creations, Doug served the store fixture manufacturing industry as longtime employee of Packaging Concepts, Ltd., another Rhode Island based manufacturing company also specializing in the design and development of point of purchase displays.
Doug has four children – Lindsay, age 28, Rachel, age 14, Bailey, Age 12 and Spencer, age 10. Bailey was diagnosed with autism at 20 months of age and shortly thereafter Doug and his wife, Sammi, became involved with the National Alliance for Autism Research, now Autism Speaks.
Doug, along with Sammi and their family and friends, have raised over $590,000 for autism research and awareness since 2001 through an annual campaign and charity golf tournament; and together they have founded Bailey’s Team in the summer of 2008. Doug serves as Vice President of Bailey’s Team, Inc.
Dan Joyce
Treasurer
A graduate of Boston Latin School, Dan received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Assumption College. His major course of study was Social and Rehabilitation Services. Dan also earned a Master in Business Administration from Rutgers University and is licensed as a certified public accountant in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Early in his career, Dan worked as an auditor and management consultant for Deloitte & Touche in both the New York and Boston offices.
Dan’s post public accounting experience extends across a broad spectrum of the healthcare sector including academic medical centers, specialty hospitals, physician group practices and community health centers within venture capital, acute and municipal settings. In addition to a consulting role, Dan has served as a controller and director of financial planning.
In June 2005, Dan joined Bright Horizons Family Solutions. As Vice President of Compliance & Internal Control, he has been responsible for compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 as well as more traditional internal audit functions.
Dan has been active in community organizations including the American Cancer Society, the Mansfield Challenger Sports Program, the Qualters Middle School PAC, the Little North Attleboro League-Challenger Division, the Hockomock Area YMCA Integration Initiative, and Autism Speaks.
Dan and his wife, Jane, live in Mansfield. Their son, Kevin, graduated from Merrimack College in 2011 and their daughter, Emily (age 18), who has autism, is in a program at Mansfield High School where she is included as team manager for several sports teams.
Amy TonkonogyClerk/Funding Coordinator
Amy Tonkonogy is Executive Producer, Educational Productions, responsible for department oversight and strategic planning, project management, and new project development for WGBH in Boston. She supervises production teams and research staff, oversees budgets and timelines, works with advisors and experts to maintain content integrity, hires and trains new project staff, and represents
projects within the foundation and to the broader education community.
Prior to becoming Executive Producer, she served as a Senior Project Director for Educational Programming and Outreach. Her projects include: Social Studies in Action, Beyond the Bell, Teaching Foreign Languages, Student Voices, Learning Math, Learning That Works, Beyond September 11th, Teaching Reading, and Teachers as Learners.
Amy has been with WGBH since 1990 and has numerous other education-related productions to her credit. She holds a B.S. in Speech Communication from Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, and a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from Lesley College, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Amy resides in Newton with her son, Graham; and serves as Clerk & Funding -Coordinator of Bailey’s Team, Inc.
Thomas Buckley
Director
Tom Buckley is a Captain with the Foxborough Fire Department and has been a firefighter for over 18 years. Tom is also a part time engineer at Bay Colony Group, Inc. of Foxborough. In this position he is responsible for the design of commercial sites and residential subdivisions. He holds an AS in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University and a BS in Fire Science from Providence College.
He and his family became involved in the autism community in 2001 shortly after his nephew, Louis, was diagnosed with autism. Tom and his wife, Linda, founded “Long Strides for Louis” their fundraising team which has raised over $100,000 for autism research (first for the National Alliance for Autism Research and then Autism Speaks) by manning a concession stand at Gillette Stadium, participating in walks with national autism groups and at an annual golf tournament. In 2008 they opted to donate proceeds raised to benefit the Boston Higashi School in Randolph, MA where Louis is a student.
Tom is affiliated with the Autism Law Enforcement Coalition (ALEC) as an instructor where he trains firefighters how to interact with children and adults with Autism. He is also an elected member of the Foxborough Board of Assessors and a former board member of the Foxborough Lions Club and a 25 year member of the Foxborough Knights of Columbus.
Tom and Linda reside in Foxborough with their two children, Danielle, age 17 and Thomas Junior (TJ), age 14.
Sheila Burgess
Director
Sheila Burgess is the Principal of the Early Learning Center, a pre-school in the North Attleboro Public School System that provides both typically developing children and children with special needs the opportunity to thrive in an integrated setting.
Sheila’s background in general and special education has enabled her to intuitively meet the needs of all her students and their families. She has helped to develop her most experienced staff – a number of education professionals that have come to provide a caring and respectful environment for all students. Sheila’s interest in and commitment to these very special children begin as they enter her program at age three following their participation in “Early Intervention.”
She volunteers in the community alongside parents of children from her student body in an effort to contribute to numerous causes including the North Attleboro “Relay for Life” program, the Southern New England Walk for Autism and the Hockomock Area YMCA’s Integration Initiative whose mission is to provide children with special needs the opportunity to participate in extra-curricular activities in a recreational setting where they may learning from typically-developing peers; a model of her very own school program.
Sheila and her husband, Joe, live in Cumberland, Rhode Island and have two grown children both whom are educators. In addition to Sheila’s work in the special needs community, she enjoys serving on the Board of the State Ballet of Rhode Island and as head seamstress for their annual performances.
Tony CalciaDirector
Tony Calcia is the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the Hockomock Area YMCA where he has served since January of 2002. Prior to working at the Y, he was the Director of Park & Recreation for the Town of North Attleboro for fourteen years. Tony serves on the North Attleboro School Committee and the Board of Directors for both The Arc of Northern Bristol County and the North Attleboro Scholarship Foundation. He is very involved in the community and enjoys working in human services. Among his numerous accomplishments at the YMCA, Tony co-developed and helped to implement a new program for the local YMCA called the Integration Initiative. The overall mission of this initiative is to provide an opportunity for children with special needs to participate in an included recreational setting with typically developing peers. In addition, The Legends Ball, which supports this initiative, has become a very special event in the Hockomock YMCA’s numerous communities attracting over 300 patrons honoring past and present local athletes representing both the New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox. This event has grossed over $100,000 since its inception in 2006. Tony lives in North Attleboro and has been actively involved in the community since his childhood. He is passionate about providing opportunities for children with special needs and their families. Tony’s nephew with multiple needs and disabilities passed away in May of 2008. His nephew, along with his sister’s and brother-in-law’s strength, inspired him to take extra steps to help families living with challenges in order to live their lives to the fullest so that they may truly participate in their community.
Ruth HoshinoDirector
Ruth Hoshino is the School Nurse Leader for the city of Newton, [MA]; responsible for the school health services program that supports the district’s academic mission. She is a member of the administrative management team and supervises thirty nurses/health assistants. She is responsible for managing the Massachusetts Essential School Health Services Grant that provides funding for support of school health infrastructure and collaboration to the Newton private schools and two partner districts; and directs the Massachusetts mandated school health services and advances the expanded role of the school nurse.
Prior to becoming the School Nurse Leader, Ruth worked as an elementary school nurse and provided care for both typical students and those with special needs including autism.
Other professional experience has included acute care in a hospital setting as well as a cardiac research study in an outpatient clinic; and she has volunteered extensively in school and civic organizations.
Ruth holds a B.S. Degree in Nursing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Ruth resides in Newton with her husband, Peter and has three children, Sarah, Kenny and Danny.
Thomas Pereira
Director
Tom Pereira, Vice President and Director of Structured Finance, is the Fund Manager for the Boston Capital Affordable Housing Mortgage Fund. He is also responsible for portfolio structuring, deal pricing and arranging credit facilities for equity transactions.
Prior to joining Boston Capital in 2003, Tom managed the underwriting group for two years at Deutsche Bank Berkshire Mortgage, one of the largest underwriters of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and mezzanine multifamily loans in the U.S. Previously, he served as Vice President at MMA Financial (formerly Lend Lease) for four years where he structured and closed low-income multifamily tax credit investment partnerships. He also worked at Berkshire Realty Co. for nine years in various roles which included structuring and managing its REIT’s credit facilities, arranging single asset financing and structuring work-outs.
Tom received an MBA with a concentration in Public Non-Profit Management and a BS in Business from Boston University. He serves on the board of directors for the Real Estate Finance Association in Boston and is an instructor at Boston University.
Tom and his wife, Donna, live in North Attleboro with their three children, Alex - age 15, Nick - age 13 and Andrew – age 11. Their son, Nick, has been diagnosed with a developmental disability and as a result, Tom has become an active member of the special needs community serving as a member of the Leadership Committee for the North Attleboro Special Needs Advisory Council. Tom served as Treasurer of Bailey’s Team, Inc. from its inception in 2008 through 2010.
