C-town Spirit and Entrepreneurship Education Foundation, Inc

Michael Wanyo - Chairman/Secretary
Business Consultant

Mr. Wanyo is a private business consultant providing financial, managerial, and operational services to a diverse base of small business organizations. He has been a principal in several start-up companies and in a number of different industries.

Mr. Wanyo is an at-large board member of The Bromley Heath Tenant Management Corp, a board member and principal in EMA Services, Inc., and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the American Society for Quality (ASQ), the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS), and the Association of Turnaround Managers (TMA).

Mr. Wanyo is actively involved in the Vitale, Caturano & Company Foundation which supports Greater Boston charities and local community services.  He also served as president of UNICO-Boston, an Italian-American nonprofit that raises funds for local social service and healthcare organizations. Additionally, he served for 5 years as a Director on the New England Region Board of Advisors for the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

Mr. Wanyo is one of the original incorporators of C-town Spirit and Entrepreneurship Education Foundation, Inc. which provides alumni entrepreneurship students with the opportunity to run their own business, as a team, while providing support to their class, school, and community. 

Mr. Wanyo received both his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Professional Paralegal Certification from Northeastern University.

Lama Jarudi - CEO
Charlestown High School

Lama Jarudi is a teacher of Finance & Economics Pathway at Charlestown High School since September 2001 after teaching for a year in Cambridge. She is a graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she received her certification in History and English and completed an M.Ed in the Arts in Education. Ms. Jarudi was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 2004 to study in Egypt, and teaches Arabic and Economics as well as entrepreneurship. In 2006, she helped launch C-town Spirit at the school which gives NFTE alumni the opportunity to help run an operating business

Michael A. Bartucca, CPA/Treasurer
Vitale, Caturano & Company

Mr. Bartucca is a vice president and partner in the firm’s general business practice. He has been with Vitale, Caturano & Company since he began his career in public accounting 18 years ago. His specialties include accounting systems design and business start-up consulting.

He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Bartucca graduated from Bryant College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy and earned a Master of Science degree in Taxation from Bentley College.

Elizabeth M. Phillips
President, EMP Resources

Ms. Phillips is a consultant with extensive expertise in all areas of human resources. She has worked with both large and small companies in the public and private sectors for almost 20 years.
As the President of EMP Resources, Elizabeth assists her clients with recruiting and talent selection, employee coaching, human resources operations and workflow, policy and procedure development and implementation, performance management, compensation planning and development, and competitive assessment of HR disciplines. She takes a collaborative approach to assignments; experienced working with key representatives at all levels of client organizations to enhance the credibility and acceptance of results for successful implementation. Oftentimes, Elizabeth will take on an active role as a member of a company’s leadership team until such time that a successful transition can be made.
Ms. Phillips obtained her BA degree from the University of Massachusetts and completed her Human Resources Certification at Bentley College.

Cedric Turner
Universal Benefits Service

Mr. Turner received his degree in Economics & Finance from Miami University (Ohio). While at Miami University, Cedric started a professional placement organization for minority students while also playing football and running track.

After college, Mr. Turner was a budget coordinator for the Boston Public Schools where he was responsible for allocating more than $600 million for programs within the school system.

Mr. Turner also worked for John Hancock Mutual Life where he taught security training among his other responsibilities.

In 1997, Cedric Turner started Universal Benefits Services, a full service benefits company that offers customized products and services to small, medium and large businesses, as well as individuals and non-profits.

Mr. Turner currently teaches financial literacy at the Ron Burton Training Village as well as at community centers and organizations throughout the state.

Mr. Turner has received numerous awards including MBE (Minority Business Entrepreneur) of the Year by the Worcester Massachusetts Business Council, as a “NFTE 50” honoree in recognition of his work as an entrepreneur, the NFTE Star Award which is given to volunteers working with students to help them develop business plans, and the Bank of America Local Hero Award for outstanding community services.

Thaddeus Miles
MassHousing

Mr. Miles is Director of Public Safety at MassHousing. As Director of Public Safety, Mr. Miles is responsible for designing and implementing crime prevention strategies affecting several thousand housing units throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In order to help bridge the technology divide between low-income residents, and at the behest of MassHousing and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Mr. Miles spearheaded the development of eleven community-run computer centers in the Roxbury and Dorchester areas of Boston. The eleven Neighborhood Network Centers offer a variety of programming for all ages.

Mr. Miles later worked with HUD to create a consortium of all of its New England Neighborhood Network Centers. This consortium, entitled MassIMPACT, for which Mr. Miles serves as Executive Director, concentrates its energies on Improving Peoples' Access to Computers and Technology. MassIMPACT has a special focus on Digital Media technology, including Digital Storytelling, as a means of providing communities the opportunity to capture and share their stories and experiences through technology.

In 2001 at MIT he served as an invited Reflective Community Practice fellow, focusing on helping others understand the important lessons learned in bringing technological resources to public housing. He has also served on several panels at MIT and Harvard, dealing with bridging the digital divide. Mr. Miles is also part of an on-going Harvard Law School initiative exploring ways of using technology to facilitate the rehabilitation process of prisoners in third world countries.

Mr. Miles himself is an expert computer animator and owns Dream Benders Studio which specializes in 2D/3D animation products and services. He sits on the board of directors of a number of non-profit, community-based organizations in Boston , Lowell (MA), and Virginia Beach ; and is the recipient of numerous community, business, and military commendations and awards. Mr. Miles is also an accomplished photographer.

Ranny Bledsoe,
Headmaster, Charlestown High School

Ranny Bledsoe is the Headmaster of Charlestown High School.  She has been working with the Boston Public Schools for 8 years, first as an 8th Grade Mathematics Teacher at the Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Dorchester, and then as a Mathematics Coach in several Boston middle and high schools.  Last year, she was a Boston Principal Fellow at Brighton High School.  Before working at with the Boston Schools, she was a professor of Mathematics at the college level for over fifteen years, working in the United States at Bard College in New York and at the Universidad de Oriente in Venezuela. Ranny earned a Bachelors and Masters degree in Mathematics from the University of Louisville - Kentucky, and a Masters and Ph.D. in Mathematics from New York University.

Jim Geraghty,
Executive Director, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management

Jim joined Morgan Stanley in 2001 and specializes in the coordination and implementation of tailored investment solutions for wealthy family groups. Jim’s expertise also includes restricted stock transactions, asset allocation and working with the firm’s proprietary investment vehicles. He manages over $1 billion in assets and is responsible for a team of wealth management professionals with over 50 collective years of wealth management experience. Jim also sits on the VIP Committee for the Morgan Stanley Foundation.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Jim was a Principal at Robertson Stephens in Boston from 1999 to 2001. He was also a Vice President at Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette from 1994 to 1999 and at Kidder Peabody from 1985 to 1994. Jim is actively involved in the Boston community and is the founder of the Massachusetts’ Children’s Hockey Foundation and Friends of Irish Hockey. Jim graduated from Brown University in 1985