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Marie Downey is Executive Director of BEST Corp. and manages all operations, strategic planning, and development. She brings over 25 years of experience working for hotel workers as Vice-President of Modern Assistance Programs (MAP), a comprehensive employee assistance program. In her work at MAP she developed programs to address the needs of working families and in particular became familiar with the challenges facing the largest segment of employees in the hospitality industry, immigrants. After working as a banquet waitress at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel Marie received a Masters in Social Work from Boston College. Marie was appointed to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Workforce Investment Board, and was recently nominated to the Mass Workforce Training Fund Advisory Board.

Joan Abbot, Assistant Director, has over 15 years of experience as an ESOL teacher, teacher trainer and supervisor both in the U.S. and abroad (Sudan and Thailand). She has taught workforce development for hospitality in pre-employment and incumbent worker programs. Joan speaks French and has a Masters in Education from Harvard University. At BEST Corp., Joan works closely with the Executive Director on large, multi-stage projects.

Marlene Moise comes to BEST from Catholic Charities/Haitian Multi Service Center where she counseled students, handled intakes and updated the database, many of the same tasks that she does at BEST. Marlene also has 30 years experience in the financial services industry. A native of Haiti and a US citizen, Marlene speaks Haitian Creole and French. Certified in both REEP and BEST Plus, Marlene also has an Associates Degree in Accounting and a BA in Human Services Management. Marlene is BEST Corp.’s Office Manager and Intake Specialist.

Patrick Yu is BEST Corp.’s bi-lingual tutor and office assistant. Patrick has many years of experience working in the restaurant industry and also is trained as a literacy and ESOL tutor. At BEST Corp., Patrick works one-on-one with Chinese students in literacy and citizenship prep and does a myriad of other administrative office tasks.

Mary Cronin brings over 30 years of experience in professional kitchens to BEST Corp.’s Hotel Training Center. For 16 years, Mary managed kitchens for Piccadilly Pub Restaurants where many of the staff spoke Portuguese. She is fluent in Portuguese and also taught ESL for four years. At BEST Corp., Mary is the Skills Training Program Manager and she designed and teaches the Basic Culinary Skills class. Mary is a certified Trainer in TiPs, TEAM, Red Cross Chokesaver and Food Safety.

Marie Napier is a full time career coach at the Hotel Training Center. Marie brings years of varied and relevant experience to her role at the HTC: She has worked at the Sheraton Boston, she has been active with UNITE/HERE Local 26 and she has taught English in the U.S. and abroad. Marie has a BA from UMass Boston. She speaks Japanese.

Joe Coughlin is the financial controller at the Hotel Training Center. He has over 21 years of financial management experience at other non-profits such as Father Bill’s & MainSpring, Inc., the Bromley Health Tenant Management Corporation and Volunteers of America in Jamaica Plain. Joe has a BS in Management from the University of Massachusetts. At the Hotel Training Center, Joe handles all the financial operations.

Katherine Donnelly, Education Coordinator, started her career at the Hotel Training Center as an English for Hospitality teacher. She now supervises the English, computer and citizenship teachers. She has taught in other Boston programs, has a TESOL certification from the School for International Training and graduated from Smith College.

Emily Caulfield has one of the longest tenures at BEST Corp., having started as a volunteer while still a junior at Chelsea High School. She has taught several computer classes at BEST Corp. and has taken on a myriad of other responsibilities, such as assisting students with on-line job applications and coordinating the pre-GED program. Emily is currently a full-time student at Boston University.

Nelly Chan has been a caseworker at Modern Assistance Program, the employee assistance program for Local 26 hotel workers, since 1997. In that role, she has helped hundreds of hotel workers and their families with their mental health, substance abuse and alternative care issues. At BEST Corp., Nelly has taught literacy and is a career coach. Clients work with her to get a job and/or a promotion and reach other personal goals as well. Nelly speaks and writes English, Cantonese and Mandarin.