Governance

Mission

Conservatory Lab Charter School empowers students to be scholars, artists, and leaders of their own learning. Through the joy and discipline of daily musical engagement, experiential learning, and service to the community, students learn to effect change as creative and active citizens.

Conservatory Lab Charter School Board of Trustees

View the Board of Trustees for the Conservatory Lab Charter School. This section also includes dates for upcoming board meetings and minutes from previous meetings.

Notices of Board/ Committee Meetings

Minutes of Public Meetings

Executive Committee

Reverend Dr. Gregory Groover (Chair) received his Doctor of Ministry from New York Theological Society Seminary in NYC; his Masters of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC; his Masters of Social Work from Columbia University in NYC; and his B.A. in Sociology from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. He currently serves as the board president of the Hamilton Garrett Music & Arts Center for Performing Arts, and is on the board for The Boston Foundation Trustees and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Further, Dr. Groover was a former chair of Boston’s School Board, where he became knowledgeable on matters related to Boston Public Schools. Dr. Groover is passionate about music education, and is the father of two children who both attended Boston Arts Academy and Berklee College of Music. He currently serves as the Pastor at the Historic Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church in Dorchester, where he lives.

Lynn Cetrulo (Vice Chair) has a BA in Psychology with a minor in Art History, University of Michigan. MA in Social Work, Simmons College with a degree in Psychiatric Social Work. Advanced training and certification in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. She has a deep background in volunteer work, including serving as a trustee in several other organizations in Boston and Cambridge, where she lives. She has a strong background in development, governance, and strategic planning.

Robert Grinberg (Treasurer, Chair of the Finance Committee, Co-chair of the Facilities Committee) was educated at the Wharton School and received a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Currently retired, he founded and ran three national travel companies. He is a partner in Bluestone Company, a real estate investment management firm, and is on the boards of several other companies. He lives in Chestnut Hill.

Martha Kleinman (Chair of the Governance Committee) is originally from West Hartford, Connecticut. She received a BA degree from Adelphi University, where she graduated magna cum laude and later received a degree superieur from the Universite de Dijon, France. Her career in development includes serving as Dean of the 10 person development office at Walnut Hill School and later as a consultant with The Wayland Group. She has also been an entrepreneur, having launched a successful catering business while her two children were young. Always very interested in children’s education, she was a volunteer for 7 years at a Boston public school in the South End as a reading tutor with a program called Generations. Other volunteer activities have included membership on the Boards of NTSAD, (National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association,) and the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, helping them establish a development effort. Her husband, Ron Kleinman, is Physician in Chief of the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children in Boston. They have three granddaughters and one grandson.

Gary F. Gut (Conservatory Lab Foundation, Co-chair of the Facilities Committee) is a former strategic consultant with Bain & Company, and has been a serial entrepreneur for over 25 years. Throughout his career he has provided mission-driven leadership to multiple organizations through thoughtful, data-driven analysis. Most recently, he was president & CEO of the Boston Foundation for Sight, a pioneering nonprofit serving patients with complex cornea disease. Gary has long been passionate about local education, having served as vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, and as a trustee and member of the Advisory Board of The Advent School in Boston. He received an MBA from Harvard Business School, and attended MIT and SUNY Buffalo. Gary lives in Boston with his wife Patricia Casale. Both are ardent fans of jazz, classical and opera music.

Erika Sanchez (co-chair of Education Committee) is a lifelong Boston resident who is passionate about the success of Conservatory Lab students because her children attend Conservatory Lab. She is an active member of the Family Action Network (FAN) which helps organize events for example picnics and intergenerational workshops that get other families acquainted with the school, fundraisers for specific projects, and the annual Scholastic Book Fair which promotes reading by making it possible for students to own their own books.

Dr. Lisa Wong (co-chair of Education Committee) is an Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School and a pediatrician at Milton Pediatric Associates. She is a violinist and Past President of the Longwood Symphony Orchestra and currently a Board member of Massachusetts Cultural Council, co-founder of the Committee on Arts&Humanities at Harvard Medical School and member of the Boston Arts Consortium for Health. She has a particular interest in El Sistema, arts in health and arts integration in education and and in 2012 published the book Scales to Scalpels: Doctors Who Practice the Healing Arts of Music and Medicine.

Trustees

Katharine M. Pell (Founding Board Chair, Lifetime Trustee Emerita) was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Conservatory Lab when the school began and was inducted as a non-voting Lifetime Trustee Emerita on September 24, 2019. She was Chairman of the Massachusetts Rate Setting Commission in the Dukakis Administration. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the Harvard School of Public Health. She lives in Boston. While not a musician, she sang in the Bryn Mawr chorus and has a lifelong love of music. She is particularly interested in the inter-relationship of music and learning.

Shonnese Devon Grant was born in North Carolina and raised in Palo Alto, California. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in African-American Studies and Political Science from Duke University, she made her way to Boston where she would earn her Master’s degree in Deaf Education from Boston University. Shonnese has worked as an educator in the public school setting for over 10 years and has 3 children who have been educated in public school, charter school, and through the METCO program. She has been actively involved in each of her children’s education and has held governing roles including: Governing Board Co-Chair, Governing Board Secretary, METCO Parent Group Treasurer and membership on various school site councils. 

Susan Keller has worked in the real estate business for over 40 years, having retired from Harvard University Housing in January 2020, where she was involved with Graduate Student and Faculty Housing for 30 years. As a result,  she has experience in financial operations, real estate development and facility management.  Prior to her real estate experience she was Co-Director of  a Montessori School for 5 years where she developed a passion for education and learning. She also is on the Board of Family Nurturing Center which is located on Bowdoin Street in Dorchester.  This program offers education and support for families in the area.  Susan has an interest in the support and education for children in Boston.

Jane Feinberg is founder & principal of Full Frame Communications, a consulting practice focused on communications and change management. Much of her current work is helping school districts better serve neurodiverse students. Jane began her professional life as a television developer, writer, and producer for programs including MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, American Experience, Frontline, and PBS specials on Amelia Earhart and the Honorable Thomas P. O’Neil, Jr. Jane’s work directing a statewide public service campaign about youth won the Service to America Award and launched her into work in the social sector. Jane has consulted to numerous non-profit and governmental organizations, served as Director of Communications for Boston Public Schools and Senior Associate of Frameworks Institute, a communication think tank based in Washington DC. Jane holds a Master’s Degree in journalism and will obtain a Ph.D. From Antioch University in 2021.

Gary Prado is Senior Legal Counsel at Fidelity Investments, where he serves as chief counsel to Fidelity’s private equity/venture capital business, Devonshire Investors. Prior to Fidelity, Gary was an associate at Ropes & Gray, practicing in its private equity transactions group, where he represented private equity firms and public and private companies in leveraged buyouts, direct investments, and other strategic transactions.

Danna Mauch, PhD is President and CEO of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health (MAMH). Dr. Mauch brings organizational leadership, operations management, evaluation research, and strategic consulting experience gained in private and public sector enterprises to inform her public policy, knowledge dissemination, and legislative advocacy work for MAMH. She also serves as Court Monitor for the U.S. District Court of Western Washington, addressing reforms at the intersection of the health, disability, and criminal legal systems. Her prior service in the private sector includes ten years as Senior Fellow/Principal at Abt Associates, Inc. after service in Chief Executive roles at Comprehensive NeuroScience, Inc., Magellan Public Solutions, Inc., and Integrated Health Strategies, Inc. Dr. Mauch’s prior service includes Special Master for the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, and State Division leadership roles at the Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals and the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health.
Dr. Mauch is a published author covering topics on the financing and organization of care for children and adults with complex and disabling health conditions. She has served as a volunteer officer of several governing boards, including a regional health care conversion foundation, a national youth development and prevention organization, an urban elementary and middle school, and state and legislative commissions on health promotion and prevention, behavioral health and criminal justice, health policy, and health care reform initiatives. She is a member of the national CEO Alliance for Behavioral Health Reform. Dr. Mauch holds a PhD in Social Policy from the Heller School at Brandeis University.

Sue Kahn (Finance Committee) is an experienced non-profit leader and corporate business development professional. Sue served as Executive Director of National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association (NTSAD), a patient advocacy group for rare diseases.  Prior to NTSAD, Sue held finance and business development roles at Genzyme Genetics and Siemens Diagnostics.  Sue does volunteer consulting in the Boston area. Her consulting clients have included Boston schools and music education programs.  At her synagogue, Sue served as co-president and chair of the nominating and development committees.  She has an MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College and an undergraduate degree from Brown University. Both Sue and her husband, Dan, enjoy going to concerts and playing musical instruments. Sue plays clarinet and Dan is a violinist.

Alexander Pham serves as an Associate Director in Clinical Development Sciences at Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease, overseeing and monitoring clinical trials for the safety and efficacy of the investigational drug product being studied as a treatment for light chain amyloidosis. Before joining Alexion, Alexander made a significant contribution to pharmacovigilance, where his responsibilities included assessing adverse events and safety profiles of therapeutic drug products, along with ensuring drug safety-related regulatory compliance to support global expansion initiatives. Alexander holds a PharmD and an MBA from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Conor Fernandez is a Principal at THL Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm. Prior to joining THL, Conor worked at Apple as a Global Supply Manager for iPad. Previously, he was with Snow Phipps Group, a New York-based private equity firm, and worked in the Global Industrials Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Conor holds a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Conor lives in Boston with his fiance. Both are avid outdoor enthusiasts and enjoy reading and traveling in their free time.