Leadership

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Alexis Steel
President

Alexis Steel became President of St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children in September 2020. Prior to assuming this role, Ms. Steel was the center’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) and acting president since January 2020. She joined St. Mary’s Center in February 2018 as Senior Vice President of Operations and Compliance and was appointed COO in December 2019.

In her role at St. Mary’s Center, Ms. Steel oversees all of the agency’s internal operations, including eight residential, education, employment, and prevention programs.  She also oversees government contracts, human resources, facilities management, and security.

Throughout her career, Ms. Steel has worked within communities to better the lives of women and children via global health initiatives and programs. Before joining St. Mary’s Center, she served as senior global operations manager at Consortium for Affordable Medical Technologies (CAMTech). Ms. Steel managed internal and external operations for domestic and international programs, provided financial oversight, and lead evaluation and strategic planning. She brings extensive experience in program and financial management, working with leading academic hospitals internationally and large multinational corporate companies in the tech, healthcare, and pharmaceutical spaces. In addition, Ms. Steel has previously served in a grant oversight capacity for federal and private foundations for Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Trent University, graduating with a double major in global studies and culture studies.

Cassandre St. Louis
Chief Financial Officer

Cassandre St. Louis joined St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children’s leadership team in December 2019 as the Vice President of Finance. Her primary responsibilities include budget planning, financial reporting, and oversight of agency policy and procedures. Before joining St. Mary’s Center, she has served as the Director, Sponsored Programs and Accounting at Brandeis University, where she supported the Post Award Accounting Office for over ten years. Ms. St. Louis has developed a strong sense of dedication for the non-profit sector for Uniform Guidance (formally A-133) Audit and Compliance for more than $62 million in grants and contracts awarded by federal programs, government agencies, and corporate and private foundations. In addition, she has experience in public accounting working within the audit and assurance practice for non-profits. Ms. St. Louis received a bachelor’s degree from Suffolk University and a master’s degree in finance from Brandeis University’s International Business School.

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Tina Brounsuzian
Chief Human Resources Officer

Tina Brounsuzian joined St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children in July 2019. As Chief Human Resources Officer, Ms. Brounsuzian leads St. Mary’s Center’s human resources department overseeing employee recruiting and hiring, training, professional development, employee engagement, employee relations, compensation and benefits, and policy implementation. Previous to St. Mary’s Center, Ms. Brounsuzian spent nearly the last decade leading the human resources department of an organization offering a continuum of care to children and families with a history of trauma. Additionally, she served as a trainer for the agency, incorporating the modeling and teachings of the Traumatic Stress Institute. Ms. Brounsuzian is a member of the Society of Human Resources Management and the National Human Resources Association. She earned her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was the recipient of the prestigious 21^st Century Leaders Award.  

Nora Lehan
Director of Development

Nora Lehan joined St. Mary’s Center in July 2021. As Director of Development, she manages strategic, long term fundraising goals as well as volunteerism, events, marketing and communications, and community partnerships. A graduate of University of Massachusetts Amherst, Ms. Lehan began her career in direct service, spending two years serving as an AmeriCorps member in Boston Public Schools with the education non-profit City Year Boston. Prior to joining St. Mary’s Center, Nora held leadership positions with the Museum of Science, Teach for America, and City Year, fundraising to increase equity and access in public education for underserved and underrepresented communities both locally and nationally. She is a proud alumna of AmeriCorps and a former board member of the Blackstone Innovation School.

Naffeesa Massaquoi
Chief Program Operations Officer

Naffeesa Massaquoi, St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children’s Chief Programs Operations Officer, joined the leadership team in January. Ms. Massaquoi oversees all of the agency’s programming, including Adult Family Shelters, Young/Teen Pregnant and Parenting Program, Transitional and Permanent Housing, and Education and Workforce Development. However, a native of Rhode Island, she brings her New York urban experience as a skilled and holistic-focused licensed clinical social worker and nonprofit leader to the New England area.  Before joining St. Mary’s Center, Ms. Massaquoi was the Director of Foster Care and Aftercare Services at Child & Family in Rhode Island. She had over 19 years of child welfare experience, including family preservation, therapeutic foster care, adoption, and juvenile justice services. Ms. Massaquoi also worked with South Asian, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and African communities related to child welfare in New York City.  Her additional experience and specialties include child and family services, youth development, domestic violence, child/sex trafficking, early forced marriage, female gentile mutilation, mental health, case management, psycho-education groups and workshops, evidence-based practice, trauma-informed care, client advocacy, program development, and inter-agency partnerships. Ms. Massaquoi’s passion and scholarly interests entail underserved and immigrant communities and access to resources for impoverished groups, particularly women and children. She earned a Master of Social Work from Lehman College in the Bronx, New York, and a Master of Science in nonprofit leadership from Fordham University in New York City.      

CROSSROADS FAMILY CENTER

Charles Smith – Program Director     

Ruby Figueroa- Assistant Program Director

MARGARET’S HOUSE

Odalis Rull – Program Director

Mary Kerr- Assistant Program Director

MASS MATERNITY TRANSITIONAL HOUSING

Mengee Khasu – Director, Young Parenting and Housing Programs

ST. MARY’S HOME

Mengee Khasu – Director, Young Parenting and Housing Programs

Richard Dorsey, Assistant Program Director

ST. KEVIN’S UPHAM’S CORNER

Lorraine Anyango, Residential Service Coordinator

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES

Renee Da Silva, Clinical Program Manager