UMass Donahue Institute Report
To gather and organize input from the 11 member communities supporting Whittier Tech, we contracted the UMass Donahue Institute (UMDI) to conduct research, interviews, and focus groups, aiming to complete a report by December 2024. We formed the NECC-WT Planning Group, a team of creative, big-picture thinkers, to guide this process.
FINAL NECC-WT Report for review
PDF: NECC-WT Report 2025
Public Listening Sessions
We sought YOUR feedback on potential future collaboration between Whittier Tech and NECC. Sessions were held on Zoom, audio was recorded, and participation was and voluntary. Four 90-minute sessions were facilitated by UMDI in October and November.
Planning Group
Led by NECC President Lane Glenn, WT Superintendent Maureen Lynch, and UMDI Research Director Mark Melnik, the NECC-WT Planning Group first met on August 27, 2024 to set goals, share resources, and ensure continuous progress in collecting feedback for the report.
Planning Group Members:
Lane Glenn
President, NECC
Maureen Lynch
Superintendent, Whittier Tech
Ember Kane-Lee
Research Manager, UMass Donohue Institute
Mark Melnik
Director, UMass Donohue Institute
Elizabeth Bennett
Associate Commissioner, DESE
Frank Bonet
Executive Director, MassHire Merrimack Valley Workforce Board
Bruce Tarr
State Senator, 1st Essex and Middlesex
Juan Gallego
Assoc. Deputy Chief of Staff to Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll
Lou Mandarini, Jr.
Laborers’ Local 22
Marjorie Ringrose
Director of Education, Smith Family Foundation
Erika Giampietro
MA Alliance for Early College (MA4EC)
Orlando Pacheco
Town Manager, Georgetown
Ben Forman
Research Director, MassINC
Kassandra Gove
Mayor, City of Amesbury
Bob LePage
Assistant Secretary for Career Education, EoE
Nancy Hoffman
Senior Advisor, Jobs for the Future
Bob Schwartz
Senior Advisor, Project on Workforce at Harvard
Dominic Endicott
Consultant
Allison Dolan-Wilson
VP of Institutional Advancement, NECC
Emphasis is placed on the importance of keeping all stakeholders, particularly local elected officials, informed throughout this process. While the group gathers feedback on whom to include in upcoming focus groups and one-on-one interviews, these are the goals:
Replace the current high school with a safe, modern facility.
Expand access to postsecondary education for WT students and the community.
Increase WT enrollment capacity.
Identify additional funding sources (e.g., state higher education capital, foundations, etc.).