Controller

ABOUT THE ROLE:

As our ideal Controller, you will bring your expertise in nonprofit accounting and grant management to lead our financial operations. You will be responsible for managing our financial systems, processes, and team while ensuring compliance with all relevant regulations and standards. Your key responsibilities will include:

Managing month-end closing and financial statement preparation
Conducting regular account reconciliations and journal entry reviews
Overseeing accounts receivable and account reconciliations
Assisting in building budgets and managing progress against financial and operational objectives
Collaborating on regular updates on actuals vs. budget and resulting updates to our financial forecasts
Assisting in identifying expense controls and streamlining spending throughout the organization
Preparing for and managing our annual audit

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

CPA Certification preferred
MS in Accounting, or 10+ years of non-profit accounting experience
Deep understanding of and significant experience using QuickBooks
Grants Management experience, including building and maintaining Net Asset Restrictions and liaising with the Development/Fundraising personnel in grant budgeting, reporting, and management.
Experience with Federal A-133 and GAGAS requirements, and Federal “Single Audit” processes.
Experience managing or supporting annual financial audits, and interfacing with third-party auditors
Experience managing small teams
Experience in a fast-paced start-up environment in a growing organization.
Experience with ERP, Procurement, and other cost saving system implementations.

COMPENSATION

The Possible Zone offers a robust compensation and benefits package including high-quality health benefits and an employer contribution to your 401(k) plan.

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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Statement

TPZ believes every member of its team and student body deserves opportunities for growth, success and inclusion. The organization recognizes that for many of its students, staff and communities, their life journeys run through oppressive structures and systems (e.g. classism, racism, sexism) — and that’s what makes the organizational culture and work so necessary and important.

TPZ believes that diversity in perspective, backgrounds, ethnicities and lived experience is a strength, and from that strength, the organization can accomplish great things with the students it serves. Together as students, staff, organizations, communities, volunteers, and partners, TPZ is intentional about creating safe spaces where all members can speak authentically and be themselves.

TPZ is committed to Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity. For members of The Possible Zone community, progression along this ongoing journey raises thoughtful questions, reveals biases, and opens conversations. TPZ celebrates one another and are unified in its commitment to young people, excellence, and innovation. This work is the organization’s shared responsibility and its opportunity to welcome all members who share in its mission and strive to provide pathways that further prepare students in achieving their desired success.

Program Details

What if all young people could follow their dreams? What if they had the opportunity to design and launch a company or social-venture they were passionate about? What if they knew what an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, industrial designer, data scientist, marketing executive, electrical engineer, biotech researcher, advanced manufacturer, roboticist, game designer, journalist, nonprofit leader or mayor does and why? What if they were given the opportunity to intern in these positions and work settings while still in high school? And what if they had the chance to learn the foundational professional and technical skills needed to succeed in any of these careers? And very importantly, what if they develop a mindset, where their imagination and creativity can be fully explored, where everything is possible and where no boundaries exist? Would young people believe they could pursue these careers or any others they choose? Would they become what they had dreamed?

At The Possible Zone, our resounding answer is YES! We are on a journey to develop a transformative model and facility in the heart of Boston’s most diverse and youth-populated communities.

TPZ is an eleven-year-old non-profit organization that has served well over 1,000 students with programming, internships and advisory services during high school toward the mission of economic equity. Our program has demonstrated strong impact in terms of high school graduation, matriculation into post-secondary education and careers, and strong Social Emotional Learning and Identity Development. As we further expand into Boston, TPZ Programming will catalyze a Boston Community Ecosystem that will include students, parents, high schools, community organizations, large corporations, local entrepreneurs, technology companies, venture capitalists, and postsecondary education institutions. Our intent is to join and continue to enhance a Student Ecosystem in Jackson Square and surrounding communities that are similar to those that have emerged in other Greater Boston areas such as Kendall Square and the Seaport District. Collectively we will dream, learn, work, and ultimately create leadership opportunities for economic mobility and prosperity for our students and their surrounding community. Importantly, TPZ is highly committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in everything we do. And as we establish success in our Boston Headquarters, we will scale our efforts to replicate TPZ’s blueprint at a National level.

We envision a program and space that serves tens-of-thousands of students over the next decade(s). When a student enters the program, they will be:

Greeted, coached, taught, counseled and supported by highly trained, caring staff and partners in entrepreneurship and business, leadership and team building, passion and perseverance, learning and accountability and empathy and integrity.
Challenged to pursue their passions and launch ventures in everything from electronics, software, digital media, services, fashion, food, to consumer goods
Equipped with the life skills essential to thrive in the emerging economy
Building social networks through connection to professional mentoring and internships with hundreds of local companies
Supported when needed through wrap-around services in academic tutoring, ESL, mental health, food security, and college success by partner organizations

Ultimately, through their experiences and growth at TPZ, and with our partners, our students will be prepared and inspired to attend college, alternative post-secondary education and launch careers in their community, where they will pursue their passions in business, STEAM, Community and Entrepreneurial organizations.

TPZ’s students – all students – deserve to live their possible.

TPZ is in its second decade of operations; having served well over 1000 students in the greater Boston area the organization is launching a 35,000 sq. ft. Innovation Center that can serve up to 1,000 students annually. The organization employs 35+ professionals with plans to grow significantly in Boston over the next 3 years, as well as other cities beyond 2025. TPZ offers a strong professional development ethos; a fast-paced entrepreneurial culture, innovative curriculum & pedagogy, and a commitment to excellence and student impact.

COVID Vaccination Policy

The Possible Zone is requiring that all employees receive a primary series of COVID-19 vaccination as well as a booster dose. Being fully vaccinated means that an individual is at least two weeks past their final dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine regimen, and receives a booster dose when eligible. In order to be qualified for employment at The Possible Zone, final candidates must comply with the vaccination requirement or receive an approved exemption.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The Possible Project is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, cultural heritage, ancestry, political belief, age, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability or veteran status.

MANAGEMENT

Becky Levin
Executive Director

Becky Ruhmann Levin is the Co-Founder and Board Member of The Possible Zone (TPZ), assuming the role of Executive Director in May 2014. Prior to her current role, Becky founded and oversaw an international executive search firm serving the biotechnology industry for 29 years. Levin and Company staffed some of the leading biotechnology companies throughout the country at the VP, CEO and board levels. Actively involved as a philanthropist for the healthcare field, children’s issues, education and the arts, she has contributed to many international and national charities. She served as a board member of The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, The College of Social Innovation, The Newport Film Festival, Partners in Health and The Possible Zone. Her hobbies include fiction writing, photography, painting and traveling. She also relishes time with her husband and daughter, three cats and a dog.

Lori Neuner
Chief Talent Officer

Lori brings over 20 years of leadership and Human Resources experience to her role as Chief Talent Officer. As TPZ’s CTO, Lori leads the organization’s Human Resources and Talent strategy, and co-leads the organization’s efforts to continue to drive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Lori began her career working in the Boston healthcare sector, at multiple major teaching institutions in various operational and Human Resources (HR) roles. She found her niche and served as an HR and talent development leader at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Franciscan Children’s Hospital Officer and Bottom Line. Lori was drawn to TPZ because of her deep passion and commitment to youth development and educational equity.

Pete November
Chief Operating Officer

Pete manages finance, facilities and operations at TPZ, and played a lead role in the design and buildout of the organization’s 36,000 square foot Innovation Center in Boston. He brings extensive experience in non-profit leadership, especially strategic planning, and has helped organizations navigate periods of significant change and expansion. Prior to joining The Possible Zone, Pete worked as a consultant to support operations and key initiatives across multiple clients.

Previously, Pete served as Chief Strategy Officer at iMentor, COO at the Center for Time and Learning, and as Regional Vice President at City Year.

Meg Riordan, Ph.D.
Chief Learning Officer

Positively impacting the lives of students and teachers has been central to Meg’s career in education, which spans more than 25 years. Prior to joining us, she was the Director of External Research at EL Education, where she spearheaded several key projects, including a five-year Investing in Innovation randomized controlled trial to study the impact of curriculum and coaching on students’ achievement and teachers’ practice. She also served as the Regional Director at NYC Outward Bound Schools, supporting a network of 11 EL Education middle and high schools. She guided leaders in their strategic planning, facilitated professional learning, and provided instructional leadership to EL Education coaches. Meg’s publications include Going to Scale with New School Designs: Reinventing High School (Teachers College Press, 2009) as well as numerous journal articles in the Journal of Experiential Education, Teacher Education Quarterly, and Equity and Excellence in Education, among others; and blog posts (The Huffington Post, Quiet Revolution, and Edutopia). Meg’s research centers on teacher professional learning and students’ learning experiences, deeper learning and equity, scaling up educational models, continuous improvement, and experiential education. Meg earned her B.A. in Education from Marquette University, her M.A. in Writing from DePaul University, and her Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning from New York University. Meg taught middle and high school English in Milwaukee and Chicago and English as a Second Language at DePaul University and as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan. She was in the inaugural cohort of the Deeper Learning Equity Fellows and serves on the Advisory Board of the University of Pennsylvania’s Project-Based Learning Teacher Certificate Program. In her free time, Meg runs ultra-marathons and studies circus arts (trapeze and aerial fabric).

Jeremy Taylor
Chief Research & Evaluation Officer

Jeremy began his career as a youth mentor and has spent his entire professional experience committed to improving opportunity across a wide range of public policy areas from youth development to housing to education, and beyond. He shares our deeply held belief in all students. Jeremy brings with him more than a decade of experience in research and a nationally recognized expertise in Social and Emotional Learning, improvement science, assessment, and system-wide implementation. He most recently worked as the Director of Assessment and Continuous Improvement at the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) where he oversaw efforts of continuous improvement and technical assistance to 17 partner districts across the country serving more than two million students. Over the course of his career, his research has earned funding across 10 different projects, he’s presented at more than two dozen conferences and symposia, and he has been published more than a dozen times.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Cynthia Harmon
Chief Operating Officer of NorthStar Asset Management, Inc.

Cynthia A. Harmon is currently the Chief Operating Officer of NorthStar Asset Management, Inc., a socially responsible investment management firm. She joined NorthStar in September 2018 after completing twenty-three years of service to The Park School in Brookline, where she held a variety of positions, including the Head of School. From engagement in strategic planning to curriculum and program development to faculty recruitment, evaluation, and professional development, Cynthia demonstrated vision, skilled leadership, and worked tirelessly to increase the school’s diverse populations. She has presented at the National Association of Independent Schools’ People of Color Conference and served on numerous academic committees as well as on the boards of Thompson Island Outward Bound Educational Center and Boston Center for Community and Justice. As an educator and administrator, Cynthia has been required to balance both big-picture thinking and attention to detail, and she sees those skills as essential elements to running a successful, mission-driven institution. Her new role at NorthStar allows her to bring a fresh perspective to the systems and processes that support the company’s Client Services, Investment, and Operations Teams. Cynthia eagerly supports organizations whose missions are dedicated to social justice, education, and youth leadership. In 2010, she began her exciting Possible Zone journey as one of the founding members on the Board of Directors. In addition to her ongoing work with TPZ, she serves on the Board of Trustees at the Cambridge School of Weston and on the Board of Visitors at Fenway Health. A native of Philadelphia, Cynthia holds a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music degree in classical voice.

Becky Levin
Co-Founder and Executive Director, The Possible Zone

Mark Levin
Co-Founder, The Possible Zone

Mark has been in pharma, biotech and venture capital over the last 45 years. He is a Co-Founder of The Possible Zone. He previously founded Third Rock Ventures, a leading biotechnology venture capital firm, in 2007. To date, Third Rock has been involved in the founding and/or funding of sixty companies. Mark was previously the founding CEO of Millennium Pharmaceuticals. 23

Maria Z. Mossaides, Esq.
Director of the Office of the Child Advocate

Maria is currently the Director of the Office of the Child Advocate. She previously served in many prestigious positions for the state, including Executive Director of Cambridge Family and Children’s Service, General Counsel and Acting Commissioner of the Office for Children and Deputy General Counsel to the Department of Social Services. For nine years Maria worked for the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, first as the Executive Assistant to the Chief Justice and then as the Administrative Assistant to the Justices, the first woman appointed to the position. Maria graduated cum laude from Mount Holyoke College, received her law degree from SUNY at Buffalo, and a MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She currently teaches a course in Law and Ethics for Non-Profits at Suffolk University. Maria is active in numerous civic and business organizations and was honored by Massachusetts Law Weekly at their 3rd annual “Top Women of Law” event.

Laurence Reid, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer, Decibel Therapeutics

Laurence has been CEO at Decibel Therapeutics since January 2020. He also serves as an entrepreneur in residence at Third Rock Ventures, where he focuses on novel drug discovery and development opportunities. Previously, Laurence served as CEO of Warp Drive Bio, a small molecule company focused on novel oncology and antibiotic drug discovery based on natural products, until its merger with Revolution Medicines in 2018. Prior to that, he was the senior vice president and chief business officer of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for the company’s business development, finance and legal functions. Before coming to Alnylam, Laurence was the chief business officer at Ensemble Discovery, where he led the company’s strategic planning and corporate development efforts. Laurence previously spent ten years at Millennium Pharmaceuticals in a range of general management and business development positions. In addition to his professional interests and his work with the Possible Zone, Laurence is a board advisor to Life Science Cares. He earned his Ph.D. from King’s College, London and his B.A. from Cambridge University.

Dr. Michelle Sanchez
Principal, Epiphany School

Dr. Michelle Sanchez earned her B.A., M.Ed. and Ed.D. at Boston College. While at Boston College, she was in the Donovan Scholars Program for teachers committed to urban education. In 2010, she completed her doctorate at Boston College in Educational Administration with a focus on strengthening the family and school partnership. She began her career as a founding Math and Science teacher at Epiphany School in 1998 when the school first opened, and served as the vice principal and director of the school’s summer program before taking on the role of principal in 2002. Currently, she is working with Epiphany to find ways to make a greater impact on the community at large and has opening the Early Learning Center. This center begins working with mothers and fathers prenatally and will serve children in our state of the art child care center. The center serves high need families and children until the age of 5 and will continue to support the students and families throughout their schooling as is done in the middle school. Epiphany is an independent, tuition free, school for children of economically disadvantaged families from Boston. In her role as principal she has partnered with numerous community and educational agencies to assist families, graduates and staff. One of her proudest accomplishments has been building a partnership with Boston College that enables Epiphany teaching fellows committed to a future in urban education to earn their Masters’ Degree while serving full-time at the school. This partnership has helped to create a diverse pipeline of urban educators who are spreading their influence all over the country! Outside of Epiphany, Michelle served as an adjunct professor at Boston College, and for the Urban Catholic Teacher Corp. She is a board member at Fessenden School, Bridge Boston, ABCD, a current member of The Partnership’s Next Generation Executive Program and serves on the Boston College, AHANA Alumni Council. In addition, she has served as a District 4 Community Cabinet Member and on the School That Can Leadership and Advisory Council. She partnered with a team of educators and community leaders to write the successful charter for the Bridge Boston Charter School, a school based on the Epiphany model that serves Pre-K to 8th graders. Dr. Sanchez is married and lives with her husband, Lino Sanchez, and two sons.

Steven Singer
Retired Partner, Wilmer Hale

Steven Singer has more than three decades of experience as a corporate attorney who has represented clients in a wide range of transactions. He has advised numerous companies in the life sciences industry, focusing on joint ventures and strategic alliances, corporate and securities law, public offerings and venture capital transactions. Mr. Singer is consistently recognized in the areas of corporate and life sciences for successfully handling complex deals and collaborations in the technology transactions and licensing sector. Practice Mr. Singer has focused his practice in the life sciences industry for nearly three decades. He has served as counsel for public and private companies in the life sciences sector, including biotechnology, medical device and pharmaceutical companies. His practice focuses on joint ventures and strategic alliances, corporate and securities laws, public offerings and venture capital transactions. Mr. Singer has worked with the following public company clients, among others: Achillion, Agios, Aveo, Catabasis, Cerulean, Curis, Editas, Infinity, Karyopharm and Syros. Representative private company clients include Ataxion, Constellation, Cydan, Denali, Fulcrum, Visterra and X-Chem. Mr. Singer has also worked with pharmaceutical companies, including Becton Dickinson, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis and Wyeth. Mr. Singer has also worked with New York-based medical and academic institutions in the establishment and operation of an independent, nonprofit genome sequencing center and the Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute.

Robert Tepper, M.D.
Co-Founder, Third Rock Ventures

Robert “Bob” Tepper is a distinguished physician-scientist with over 30 years of experience building and operating leading R&D operations. Bob co-founded Third Rock Ventures in 2007 and focuses on the formation, development and scientific strategy of TRV portfolio companies as well as actively identifying and evaluating new investments. Prior to joining Third Rock Ventures, Bob was President of R&D at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and was vital in its expansion from a drug discovery company to a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company. Bob holds an AB in Biochemistry from Princeton University and his MD degree from Harvard Medical School. Bob serves as an adjunct faculty member at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and is an advisory board member of several leading health care institutions including the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University. Bob is a board member of several leading biotechnology companies in the Boston /Cambridge area. He also served on the Council of the National Center for the Advancement of Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).