Serving children and
families in
Charlestown, MA.
Since 1964
Kennedy Center Leadership & Staff

Kennedy Center Board Officers

Eileen Ward                                President
Thomas S. Cunha                       Vice President  
Eric Philippi                                 Co-Treasurer
Carol Bratley                               Co-Treasurer
A. Elizabeth Davis                       Clerk

Kennedy Center Board Members

Donna Wood                                
Susan Mullen
Kaitlyn Greeley
Jack Kelly
Edward M. Katz
John L. Tobin
Phyllis Hickey


To contact a member of our staff teams, click their name to open an e-mail message window

Katherine McDonough         Executive Director                                            ext 1112

Joseph Maciel                      Controller                                                         ext 1118

Sarah Siepierski                  Director of Children’s Programs                       ext 1340

Eleanor Pansar                    Director of Community Services                      ext 1114



The Kennedy Center has 52 Staff - 30 full-time and 22 part time. 38 staff are
Charlestown residents.

In the summer, the Kennedy Center employs 6 to 8 youths through the MassPort
Summer Program.
The Kennedy Center
Kennedy Center Bios
Contact Us

Phone: (617)241-8866
Fax: (617)241-5466
Email:
info@kennedycenter.org
Katherine McDonough, Executive
Director

Kate’s vision for the Kennedy Center
is based on 40 years of human
services experience and a philosophy
based on giving individuals a hand
up, not a hand-out.  She graduated
from Boston College with dual
bachelor degrees in Biology and
Education.  She served as Executive
Director of several women’s health
services in California and New
Hampshire before becoming
Executive Director of The Kennedy
Center in 1985.  During her tenure
she has raised $2,000,000 to
renovate its early education facility,
overseen the accreditation of its
programs by the National Association
for the Education of Young Children,
and overseen the provision of a
variety of human services to
Charlestown residents.  She has also
been a leader on the Boston
Community Partnerships for Children
Governing Council.

Joseph Maciel, Controller

Joe Maciel, who has been with the
Kennedy Center since 2000,
graduated from Northeastern
University with a Bachelor of Science
in Business Administration.  His
diverse experience with property
management firms and several non-
profit health care entities provides a
firm foundation for his current
responsibilities to various external
customers, such as funders, the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
the Federal government, and to
internal customers at the Kennedy
Center.

Sarah Siepierski, Director of
Children’s Programs

Sarah is well qualified to operate the
Kennedy Center’s Children’s
Programs since she has both a
Master’s degree in Education in Early
Childhood, with a focus on curriculum
development, as well as eleven years
of experience as the assistant
director and business manager of a
large not-for profit Child Care
Center.  She has also served in the
classroom for Head Start in Jamaica
Plain and developed curricula for a
large multi-generational Center in
Cambridge. She is a key problem
solver noted for her flexibility and for
establishing high expectations of staff
and students.

Eleanor Pansar, Director of  
Community Services.

Eleanor brings over thirty years
experience working in the many
neighborhoods of Boston in a variety
of roles: Master’s level social worker,
program administrator, management
consultant.  A graduate of Wellesley
College, she has an MSW from
Boston College and a Master’s
Degree in Health Policy and
Management from the Harvard
School of Public Health.  At the
Kennedy Center she has served as
Interim Program Director of Children’s
Programs,  Supervisor of Home Care
Programs, and  Director of
Community Services. She is also the
primary proposal writer for the
agency.