Our Team & Partners

Meet Our Team

Milly Arciniegas

Executive Director

Marcelo Alvarez

VP FINANCE TREASURY

We are thrilled to introduce our new Vice President of Treasure, Marcelo Alvarez, a highly accomplished professional with a Master's degree in Economics and an exceptional academic background. With his extensive experience overseeing the finances of the city of Hartford, Marcelo has demonstrated remarkable proficiency in managing complex financial matters. His dedication and expertise have now led him to extend his support to small nonprofits, where he is diligently overseeing their financial affairs. Marcelo's strategic vision, coupled with his strong commitment to financial stability and growth, will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in steering our organization towards even greater success.

Deborah Bigelow

PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Deborah Bigelow serves as the Program Coordinator of Hartford Parent University. She is responsible of developing the parent programs and providing technical support and training to the HPU parent coaches. Over the past five years, Deborah has been Hartford Parent University (HPU) graduate and Facilitator. As Program Coordinator some of her duties include: Providing technical, administrative and moral support to the HPU Coaches. In addition, Deborah also supports the Executive Director with the planning, coordinating and implementation of HPU’s Learning Sessions, Community Based Meetings and Events. She also holds monthly meetings with Hartford Public Schools district wide Parent Teachers Organizations (PTO’s) and School Governance Council (SCG) members.

Our Board

Sam Irizarry, President

Diane Jones, Vice President

Carmen Sierra, Treasurer

Attorney Cynthia Jennings, Secretary

Delmarys Serrano

Beayanka Pinckney Naraine

Estela Morales Segarra

Michael Buhdram

Meet Our Coaches

Tynima Toney

Tynima is a graduate of Hartford Parent University (HPU) and the No Child Held Back (NCHB) program. She’s an HPU Coach and Facilitator and has been affiliated with HPU for approximately 5 years. Her experience with HPU has taught her who to go to when she has an issue or concern and she loves sharing that information with parents and care givers. Tynima is very passionate when it comes to parents and their children and when it comes to supporting them and their rights.

Lucy Smith

Lucy is a graduate of Hartford Parent University (HPU) and the No Child Held Back (NCHB) program. She’s an HPU Coach and Facilitator. She has been affiliated with HPU for approximately 6 years. By being a part of HPU she feels that she has gained a better understanding of how to help her children navigate their way through the Hartford Public School system and loves sharing that information with other parents.

Milagros Vega

Milagros is a graduate of Hartford Parent University (HPU) and the No Child Held Back (NCHB) program. She’s an HPU Coach and Facilitator and has been affiliated with HPU for approximately 7 years. She also provides support for our Spanish speaking parents with children with special needs, teaching them the planning and placement team process. She is and has always been a big supporter of parent engagement and is affiliated with other Community Based Organizations.

Drupatti Phulbas

Drupatti has been a HPU facilitator for eight years and a HPU coach for a year. She was an active volunteer prior to HPU and one of the first to graduate as a HPU facilitator in 2012.

Natalie Delgado

Natalie is a Hartford Parent University (HPU) Coach and Facilitator. She has been affiliated with HPU for 4 years. She provides verbal communication of HPU’s informational documents for our Non-English speaking parents and care givers. Her passion is helping parents understand their rights as it relates to our school system and helping their children get the quality education they deserve.