March 29, 2024

Teach For America-Rhode Island Announces New Advisory Board Members

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PROVIDENCE, R.I., January 19, 2018—Teach For America–Rhode Island announced today the appointment of three new members to their regional advisory board. The new members include Donna J. Charlton, principal of Cumberland High School; Paul J. Choquette, Jr., vice chairman of Gilbane, Inc.; and Susan M. Hannon, human resource executive with Bank of America. Teach For America–Rhode Island develops a diverse force of leaders who work in partnership with fellow champions for kids in order to reshape public education and the social and economic factors that influence it. The advisory board members lend their experience and expertise to Teach For America–Rhode Island to ensure that all children, regardless of race or class, can access an education that will prepare them to lead in the 21st century.

“Every child has potential, but children growing up in poverty too often lack access to the quality of education they need to realize it,” said Kristine Frech, executive director of Teach For America-Rhode Island. “We’re grateful for community leaders like Donna, Paul and Susan, who are working alongside us to address discrimination along lines of race, class, and identity that continues to cause far-reaching and long-lasting consequences and prevents Rhode Island’s students from accessing the education they deserve.”

Newly Named Advisory Board Members
Donna J. Charlton
is the principal of Cumberland High School in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Charlton is a career educator with more than twenty-seven years of experience in secondary school education as a classroom teacher and school administrator. She has worked with students and families from a variety of backgrounds and versed in professional development for teachers and building administrators. Beginning her career in 1986, Charlton taught English and special education in Florida, Louisiana and Texas before being appointed as a high school assistant principal in Texas’ Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. Eleven years in this role prepared her for her next appointment as a middle school principal with Arkansas’ Rogers Public Schools. The campus prospered under her leadership and was recognized for enhanced student learning by the state as well as improved school culture and climate by the district. A graduate of Dillard University, Charlton holds a Bachelor of Arts in English, a Master of Arts in teaching from Centenary College, and is a doctoral candidate at Prairie View University.

Paul J. Choquette, Jr. is vice chairman of Gilbane, Inc., the parent company of Gilbane Building Company and Gilbane Development Company, and a director emeritus on Gilbane, Inc.’s board. The sixth consecutive family member to lead the company since its founding in 1873, Choquette is the previous chairman and chief executive officer of Gilbane, Inc. and Gilbane Building Company. A trustee emeritus of Brown University serving on numerous Brown committees, Choquette is a former president, director and board member for the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce and a past chairman for the New England Council. Choquette is a Distinguished Eagle Scout and past president of the Boys Scouts of America’s Northeast Region and continues to serve on the Narragansett Council’s board. He also is vice chairman and a trustee for the Trinity Repertory Company. A graduate of Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in English, Choquette holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Harvard Law School. He has received honorary degrees from Bryant University, Roger Williams University and New England Institute of Technology. An honored member of the Brown University Hall of Fame and the Providence Gridiron Club Hall of Fame, Choquette received the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award in 1985 and the Distinguished American Award from the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Football Foundation in 1991.

Susan M. Hannon is a human resource executive with Bank of America, supporting the global risk management organization. In this role, she is responsible for supporting the global banking, global markets and enterprise credit risk groups, overseeing the human resource manager team and partnering closely with compensation, staffing, learning, diversity and leadership development. She serves as a strategic advisor and is responsible for all human resource delivery across these support functions. Hannon joined Bank of America in 1989 as a retirement client relationship manager and spent nine years in various roles within the wealth and asset management groups. She made the crossover into human resources in 1998, and before assuming roles supporting the private wealth management organization and global risk, she supported the Columbia asset management business in a variety of roles. Hannon holds a juris doctor degree from Suffolk University Law School and is involved with Year Up and The Society for Human Resource Management.

About Teach For America
Teach For America works in partnership with urban and rural communities in 53 regions across the country to expand educational opportunity for children. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding leaders to make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the effort to end educational inequity. Today Teach For America is a force of 56,000 alumni and corps members committed to profound systemic change. From classrooms to districts to state houses across America, they’re reimagining education to realize the day when every child has an equal opportunity to learn, to grow, to influence and to lead. Teach For America is a proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org.

education, business, nonprofit

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