Tuesday, October 13, 2020 submitted by Liz Klein
The Trustees of Hingham Education Foundation are pleased to announce the selection of Eryn Kelley as its new President and Kate Dennis as its new Vice President. Combined they have over ten years of experience in various roles within the Hingham Education Foundation.
“Kate and I are thrilled to take over these roles”, says Kelley. “This year has presented significant obstacles, yet it has provided us with an opportunity to get back to our core mission which for the last thirty years has been to champion innovation, creativity and growth for our students.”
For the past 3 years, HEF has been focused on enabling computer science literacy for our students. They had tremendous success with this work thanks to the unwavering support of the community and partnership with the Hingham Public School administration.
This year HEF will focus on funding grants that address academic, social, and emotional health of our students through fun and engaging learning experiences at a time when stress is at an all-time high.
“We understand at Hingham Education Foundation just how hard the teachers are working to educate our children this year. We want to highlight and fund those teachers who are persevering through unpreceded conditions. We feel we need to champion those teachers and administrators that despite these challenges are fostering excellence on behalf of our students” says Dennis.
The Hingham Education Foundation grant program will kick off November 1st. Grants are open to all Hingham Public School teachers, administrators and staff.
“Reviewing and supporting grant applications is by far my favorite part of being a part of Hingham Education Foundation”, says Kelley. “The applications we receive are chockfull of inspiration. It makes me feel so lucky that our students get to have these experiences.”
About Eryn Kelley: Eryn Kelley developed a keen awareness and interest in the Hingham Public Schools through her six years in the Hingham Advisory Committee and five year run in Hingham Education Foundation.
Eryn brings a long-range perspective of a parent with young children who is excited about and invested in our schools and our town. She also brings valuable experience from her twenty-year career in financial services. Specifically, she has experience managing budgets and leading teams that will prove useful in helping determine how the foundation allocates its grant dollars.
In March of 2014, Eryn left her career working for companies such as Thomson Reuters and Fidelity Investments. She has fully enjoyed the transition to being home with her family and looks forward to advocating for the children of Hingham.
She intends to leverage her can-do management style and concise communication skills honed in her career for the benefit of Hingham Education Foundation.
She and her husband, Tom, have been residents of Hingham since 2005. She has a thirteen year old son at the Hingham Middle School and a ten-year-old daughter currently at East Elementary School.
Eryn is a graduate of the University of Vermont with a degree in Economics.
About Kate Dennis: Kate Dennis joined the HEF board in 2018 and has been a “heavy lifter” since day one. While working in Human Resources for a global asset manager and raising her young family with her husband she brings renewed energy and ideas to the Hingham Education Foundation. Kate is eager to support HEF’s mission of empowering innovation and excellence for Hingham Public School students and teachers.
The Hingham Education Foundation is lucky to have Kate’s professional background. Throughout her career, Kate has been consistently focused on employee development and growth. Her fresh perspective and focus allows her to leverage her communication, strategy and execution skills to deliver an impactful agenda for our community. Kate views the opportunity to work on the Board as an absolute privilege and opportunity to impact the near and long term experiences of our students and teachers.
Kate is a graduate of Lafayette University with a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs.