Leadership

Danielle Ferrier has more than 25 years of experience in the human services industry and holds two master’s degrees: Master of Business Administration from Simmons School of Management and Master of Social Work from Boston University. Before joining the Heading Home team in July 2017, she was the Deputy Commissioner for Clinical Services & Program Operations at the Department of Children & Families. Danielle holds the highest level of independent licensure in social work (LICSW) and was a practicing clinical therapist for 15 years. Her training and primary practice are with “high-risk” children, youth, and families with a clinical specialty in trauma and attachment. Danielle’s programs at Rediscovery specialized primarily with “aging out youth,” and unaccompanied homeless youth. Additional areas of professional interest and expertise include early childhood development, dyspraxia, and autism. Prior to heading Home, Danielle developed an innovative program, YouthHarbors, which is based in high schools and designed to prevent unaccompanied high school students from becoming homeless or to rapidly house these youth when they are experiencing homelessness. Danielle has served on many task forces designed to evaluate and address the issues facing homeless, unaccompanied youth, and youth involved in state care.

Danielle has taught at the Boston University School of Social Work in the Policy Department and provided expert consultation on cases related to the clinical impact of foster care and programs designed to work with young-parenting adults who have experienced trauma and substance abuse. She has trained nationally on topics related to homeless youth, education, and youth aging out of foster care.

Lisa Kaplan brings more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit management and performance measurement to her role as Chief Operating Officer at Heading Home. Before joining Heading Home, she spent five years as the Director of Impact Assessment at the Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit advisor and resource for mission-driven organizations and philanthropists. Her extensive nonprofit experience also includes leadership positions at Pine Street Inn, City Year, and Project HEALTH (now Health Leads). Lisa received her MBA from Harvard Business School. As COO of Heading Home, Lisa oversees all internal operations, ensuring the implementation of our vision and goals throughout the organization.

Suzanne Picher brings a unique combination of the private sector and non-profit experience to her position as Chief Development Officer at Heading Home. During her extensive tenure in financial services, predominantly at Putnam Investments, Suzanne honed her branding, marketing, and relationship-building skills. As the Executive Director of a small nonprofit at Babson College and later, in senior leadership at the Fidelity Foundations, Suzanne built a keen understanding of nonprofit fundraising and outcomes measurement. Suzanne received her BA in Economics from Boston College. At Heading Home, Suzanne leads the Development team in fundraising $3.75M annually.

Fran Hurley comes to Heading Home with extensive experience working with both non- and for-profit organizations. Most recently, Fran was CFO/COO at Legacy by Gersh, Crotched Mountain, a school serving students with Autism. Previously he has been CFO at Arc of Opportunity and President/CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of MetroWest. His for-profit experience has been primarily in the retail Finance and Operations areas with a number of organizations, including Filenes, Lord & Taylor, Barnes & Noble, and the May Company Corporate office.

Fran is motivated by Heading Home’s critical mission to end homelessness and is committed to delivering first-class financial support for the Heading Home team and organization.  Fran is a resident of Marlboro, MA, where he lives with his wife, Rita, son, Kyle, and 4 lb. Maltipoo dog – Bella Boo – who runs the house.

Julie DeLillo has over 25 years of Human Resources experience with 15+ years in human services.  Prior to moving to Human Resources, Julie spent 5+ years as an internal auditor in both financial and retail organizations.  Julie has a Master’s of Business Administration from Fitchburg State College and a Juris Doctorate from Suffolk Law School.  Before joining Heading Home, Julie was the VP of HR at Making Opportunity Count and before that at Perkins School for the Blind and Vinfen.  Julie is an active member of the Employer Advisory Board for Suffolk University where she enjoys working with students through mock interviews, job shadowing, and mentor programs.  Julie is also an active member of Suffolk University’s Human Services and Social Impact career community through Career Services.

Gretchen Carleton comes to Heading Home with 25+ years of Human Services experience. Prior to joining Heading Home, Gretchen spent eight years working for the Department of Children and Families supporting a network of contract management and compliance teams and collaborating on child welfare services systems. In her role as Senior Director of Contracts and Compliance, Gretchen helps the entire agency in fulfilling government and private funding contracts, managing cross-department projects expanding Heading Home’s work, and seeking efficiencies in policies and protocols in place.

Gretchen holds two Master’s degrees from Suffolk University – her MPA from Sawyer School of Management and a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling. In addition to her role at DCF, Gretchen continued to be a member of the BMC BEST mobile crisis team and consulted on projects for local community and elder care service programs.

David Parilla comes to Heading Home with 10+ years of Social Justice and Human Services experience. In his role as Senior Director of Data and Operational Planning, David oversees strategic initiatives involving client data to ensure Heading Home makes cross-department, data-informed decisions. David also oversees the management of all client-related data entry systems and ensures Heading Home continues to excel in the timeliness, completeness, and accuracy of data for the 1,400+ clients Heading Home serves annually.

Prior to joining Heading Home, David conducted criminal justice and police department reform across the country for over five years, working with federal agencies such as the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the National Institute of Corrections. David holds a Master’s degree from Suffolk University in Criminal Justice.

Mary Shannon Thomas, LICSW has been working in the mental health and housing realm for more than 15 years. She holds a Master’s in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, along with a Certificate in Nonprofit Management. She has worked with area nonprofits and municipalities providing a variety of client-facing services from outreach to crisis evaluation to housing stabilization. She works closely with local universities to supervise social work students and provides training to a range of nonprofits and community organizations. She also consults service providers in grant writing and housing creation.

In her role as Senior Director of Programs, she oversees Heading Home’s four primary program departments: Individual Services, Family Services, Economic Mobility Services, and Clinical Services. Mary Shannon joined Heading Home as the Director of Clinical Services in May 2022 and remains focused on supporting the trauma-informed and client-focused work of the agency.

Outside of her work with Heading Home, she is on the board of her community’s Affordable Housing Trust and Vice President of their Community Development Corporation.

In her downtime, she’s likely to be found in the garden with one of her several pets.