Who We Are
“Segregation exists as a prime impediment to cross-racial understanding and racial justice. Racially diverse schools and school desegregation efforts provide the opportunity for cross-racial understanding but not the means unless there are deliberately planned opportunities for dialogue, inquiry, and social interaction.”
Jon Sills
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Kimberley Anderson
Kimberley Anderson
Kim is the President and Executive Director of Boston Bridges Initiative and the former President and a Founder of the Parents Diversity council (PDC), a non-profit organization. This group seeks to create opportunities for Bedford Public School parents to foster a culture of inclusion and diversity for all students and families, with a special focus toward issues of racial equity. Kim is a graduate of the New York School of Nursing and spent six years working in hospitals and long-term facilities in New York City. She is a wife and mother to four children and is now studying paralegal law with a concentration in civil rights and business. Experiencing life as a woman of color born in Scotland and a mother of interracial children, Kim is dedicated to being a representative for the voices of other persons of color in efforts to bridge the differences with the understanding of many cultures that must coexist.
Akil A. Mondesir
Akil A. Mondesir
A proud graduate of Bedford High school, Akil was part of the Bedford METCO program, class of ‘98. After several years working in residential programs, he realized his true passion was in giving back, specifically to the students and district that he felt have given him so much. Akil returned to Bedford and after several years became the METCO Director. Working with the students and helping them to navigate their way through academic and social challenges inspires him to believe that we are really teaching global citizens. It is Akil’s passion to see students working together, understanding differences, and coming together to make each other better.
Jon Sills
Jon Sills
Jon has been an anti-racism activist since the 1960s and an educator prioritizing educational equity for close to 50 years. Jon served as high school principal and superintendent in Bedford, MA from 2000 to 2020, and as department chair and history teacher both in Brookline and Boston during the previous 17 years. His education work has focused on deep anti-racism cultural change and opportunity gap-closing programs like the Tenacity Challenge. An adjunct professor at Boston University, he teaches Equity and the Law and Equity Practices, and he has given workshops on Equity Leadership to principals and superintendents. Recently retired from the superintendency, Jon now works as a facilitator and coach in the New Superintendents Induction Program. Jon has served on the METCO, Inc. board of directors for the past five years.
Jessica Castro
Jessica Castro
Jessica Castro is a Program and Operations Officer at the Trefler Foundation, where she supports the implementation of the foundations core programmatic areas of focus, specifically education, health disparities, workforce development cancer prevention and treatment. She implements and manages the day to day finances of the Foundation inclusive of payroll and benefits administration billing paying and accounting with outside vendors and contractors Jessica holds a Master’s in Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts in Human Services. She has thirteen years of experience in program management and development in the nonprofit sector and assisting individuals with barriers to self-sufficiency, including welfare dependence, limited work histories and ex-offenders. She is a collaborative and dedicated leader, with excellent interpersonal and communication skills and a proven record of fostering partnerships with government officials, corporations, employee and community representatives. Jessica is dedicated to nurturing a work environment that encourages collaboration and optimizes team performance and is recognized as having exceptional planning and organizational skills, with a leadership style that invites group participation and cultivates and elevates staff competency.
Jennifer Kelley
Jennifer Kelley
Kelley, who lives in Bedford, Massachusetts, has many years of work and volunteer experience in both the public and non-profit sectors. She is currently a Realtor with Barrett Sotheby's International Realty and has a strong working knowledge of many communities Boston Bridges Initiative serves. Kelley also serves as Coordinator of Private Partnerships for the Lynn Public Schools. Additionally, she holds volunteer leadership roles for the Bedford Education Foundation and the Town of Bedford's Volunteer Coordinating Committee.
Kelley received her Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies from Middlebury College and a Masters of the Arts in Teaching form Tufts University.
Howard Wolk
Howard Wolk
Howard Wolk is co-president of the Cross Country Group, one of the largest privately-held companies in Massachusetts. Howard has served on the boards of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and several other non-profits, as well as Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. He co-produced two films on METCO, On The Line and Codeswitching. A graduate of Lexington High School, Howard lives in Weston with his wife and two daughters.