Leadership
Thomas E. Hassan, PresidentTom Hassan joined SYA in June 2016 and brings more than 35 years of educational experience to his new role, including three years as an SYA board member. As the former Principal of Phillips Exeter Academy, he served in many capacities during his 26-year tenure, including as math instructor, director of college counseling, director of admissions, assistant principal, acting principal and principal. Prior to Exeter, Tom worked at Brown and Harvard Universities as well as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Under his direction, Exeter became a leader in efforts to further global outreach programs for students and faculty. A graduate of Brown University, he earned his M.A. and Ed.D. degrees at Harvard University.
Mina M. Qadir, Resident Director, SYA FranceMina Qadir joined SYA France in 2015. She first assumed the role of college counselor and test site supervisor in Rennes. Most recently, she served as the Dean of Students. She also has over ten years of experience teaching French Language and Culture at both the K-12 and college levels. Mina is fluent in three languages: French, English and Farsi. She has lived on three continents and has earned degrees from both French and U.S. universities, including a D.E.U.G. in French Literature from the Université de Rennes 2, a B.A. in French from Cal State East Bay, a California Teaching Credential, and an M.S. in School Administration from National University.
Patrick Scanlon, Resident Director, SYA ItalyPatrick Scanlon joined SYA Italy in 2002 serving as the English teacher and college counselor for two years. In 2005 he became the Resident Director, a post he held until 2015 before taking a sabbatical year. He recently returned for the 2016-2017 academic year. After college, he spent three years teaching English and perfecting his Italian-language skills in Milan, Florence and Crans-sur-Sierre (Switzerland). Following this, he taught chemistry, general science and English at Albuquerque Academy for 16 years prior to joining SYA Italy. Pat earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees at the University of New Mexico and St. John's College (NM), respectively.
An experienced educator who has lived in various countries, Rocio will bring to her new role a commitment to strong language proficiency and intercultural competence, two principles that lie at the heart of SYA’s mission. Raised in Toledo, Spain, Rocio attended Spanish universities in Madrid and Barcelona before coming to the United States twelve years ago, where she interned in the Consulate General of Spain in Boston. She started her teaching career in a charter school serving a diverse, international community outside of Boston.
In 2015 she moved to one of SYA’s founding schools, St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH, teaching Spanish and heading a girls' dormitory. She and her fellow educator husband, Andy Gray, along with their son, Nico, moved this past year for teaching and administrative positions to an international school in Warsaw, Poland. There, Rocio taught Spanish while heading the boarding house and establishing rules and regulations for their expanding boarding operations. Among the highlights of her time in Warsaw was the opportunity to welcome to the boarding house and work with a number of students arriving from Ukraine. Rocio looks forward to her leadership role at SYA, a program that she has admired for years given the great experiences of her St. Paul’s students.
Michael McCarthy joined SYA as CFO in September of 2015 bringing more than 30 years of financial experience in the private sector. His professional experience includes senior financial positions leading teams responsible for international finance and operations, business strategy, and mergers and acquisitions. He has also served on the boards of several non-profit organizations. He earned a B.S. in Accounting from Merrimack College and completed a Master's certification in International Business from Southern New Hampshire University.
Rachel Keegan Kelley spent the first nine years of her career in various administrative roles in independent schools. At Miss Porter's School, she spent four years as associate director of financial aid. Following a year at Harvard's School of Education, she returned to admissions at Episcopal High School. In addition to her admissions responsibilities at Episcopal, she was an advisor to junior girls and an assistant dormitory dean. After returning to the Boston area, she joined the development office at Milton Academy, where she held a number of roles including major gifts officer and stewardship director, and was instrumental in planning Milton's 1999 bicentennial celebration. Having spent 10 years in business, Rachel brings to SYA a wealth of corporate marketing experience. She has worked two stints for BT Conferencing, most recently in brand marketing, where she led a multinational group in redesigning the company's website and developed other marketing campaigns that helped the company more than double in size. Previously, at Kronos Software, she managed a staff of five responsible for running marketing campaigns for six different business lines. She is a graduate of St. George's School, Wellesley College and received an Ed.M. from Harvard. She spent her junior year of high school at a public school in England and personally knows how transformative a year abroad can be.
Erin Stone Ericson joined SYA in 2015, first serving as the Director of Annual Giving. In 2017, while continuing those responsibilities, she also assumed the role of Associate Director of Advancement. In July 2019, Erin became the Director of Advancement, bringing with her a cumulative 11 years of experience in philanthropy and community relations. Before coming to SYA, she spent seven years at Eastern Nazarene College (ENC) in Quincy, Mass., in the Office for Institutional Advancement while completing her M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy. She has a B.S. in Clinical and Research Psychology, also from ENC.