Welcoming a new board chair

We’re excited to announce a change in board leadership at Strategies for Children. 

After 23 years of dedicated service as the chair of Strategies for Children’s board, Paul O’Brien, president of The O’Brien Group and former president and CEO of New England Telephone, has stepped down, and the Strategies for Children Board of Directors unanimously voted in Sally C. Fuller as the next chair. Most recently, Fuller, led early literacy efforts before retiring from the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation in Springfield. 

In 2000, when O’Brien became Strategies’ first board chair, his presence sent an important message: business leaders cared about early education and care. O’Brien’s commitment was exemplary. From 2000-2012, he co-chaired Strategies’ Early Education for All Campaign with Mara Aspinall, a Boston-area healthcare executive. He called on state officials to make sure that children had strong reading skills in the early grades. 

He also knew that talking the talk wasn’t enough. Massachusetts also had to invest in children. So in 2013, when a group of business leaders supported then-Governor Deval Patrick’s early education plan, which included a tax proposal, it was O’Brien who told The Boston Globe: 

“Nobody loves taxes, but we feel that this is less of a tax and more of an investment… New revenue is going to be needed if we want to improve our early education.”

In 2021, while the pandemic ground on, O’Brien oversaw the launch of a new strategic plan that focused Strategies on four areas:

• Advocacy
  
• Researching, analyzing, and distilling information
  
• Convening communities and building relationships, and
  
• Communicating and sharing information

Although the pandemic had taken a wrenching toll, O’Brien, who was undaunted, explained that, “We have an opportunity to build back stronger—to reimagine a better early education and care system that works for all. The resiliency of the Commonwealth is dependent on the improvements we make today.” 

Reflecting on O’Brien’s time as chair, Amy O’Leary, Strategies for Children executive director, says, “I am so grateful for Paul’s leadership and commitment to Strategies for Children and to ensuring high-quality early education and care for young children and families in the Commonwealth. I started working with Paul when I joined Strategies in 2002, and he has supported me and my professional development from being an Early Childhood Field Director to becoming the Executive Director of this organization.”

As the new board chair, Fuller brings years of experience and commitment.

“Sally is the perfect choice to lead the Board at this critical time, not only for the organization but for the larger movement,” O’Brien says. “As I look back over the last twenty years, I can honestly say that in all that time that no one has formed more partnerships or had more momentum, determination, and hope in finding effective solutions to systemic challenges. Sally is a thoughtful, savvy leader with a persistent drive and a deep passion for this work.”

Fuller joined Strategies’ board in 2019, after retiring from theDavis Foundation. Her board service is one of many examples of how, as a colleague said, Fuller was “failing” at retirement. 

It’s no surprise that Fuller is still busy. At the foundation she worked tirelessly on many of the challenges that children in Springfield faced. Fuller became the project director for Cherish Every Child, the foundation’s early childhood initiative. And Cherish Every Child was a key ally in the successful passage of universal pre-K legislation in Massachusetts. 

Fuller also played a leadership role in the 2009 launch of the Read! Reading Success by 4th Grade (RS4G) campaign, which grew from the Cherish Every Child Initiative. RS4G worked with the national Campaign for Grade Level Reading, and in 2012 and 2017, Springfield won the All America City Award for its progress in boosting community-wide reading. 

Anyone attending a meeting about early childhood or reading in Springfield—or a hearing at the State House—had a good chance of running into Fuller, whose deep commitment springs in part from her mother, a 46-year teacher of English, who always read, sang and immersed her daughter in a rich world of language.

As Sally takes on this new role she says, “This is an exciting time. The pandemic has demonstrated clearly the important role early education and care plays in the lives of young children, their families, and our thriving workforce writ large. Now, it’s time for all of us to take action. That’s the message Strategies for Children is sharing, that everyone can help build a better world for young children. With all that Strategies for Children is doing—through The Early Childhood Agenda, The 9:30 Call, and the Advocacy Network—I am proud to serve this organization, which has been leading the way for over twenty years.”

Fuller and O’Leary will work together to lead Strategies for Children in the coming years. They will continue to implement the organization’s strategic plan, expand the board, and fundraise for growth and sustainability. This foundational work will help Strategies have a greater impact on the early childhood system here in Massachusetts. 

We are deeply grateful for Paul O’Brien’s decades-long commitment to Strategies and to this state’s children. And we are happy to welcome Sally Fuller as our new chair.